《The Max Level Hero Strikes Back!》 CH 1 Episode 1 A great hero, or an unbeatable person. There was a time when strong people dominated an era only through their presence and their names. There was an emperor who established his empire and the leaders of many men. There were medical clinics that saved countless patients, there were strong people who didn¡¯t seem like they belonged anywhere, and there were people who were praised by many others. There were warriors who defeated the devil, and there was a man named ¡®Cheonma¡¯ who unified the continent with his power, increasing the noble¡¯s influence. However, when Davey heard about them, he spoke both confidently and firmly. ¡°Heroes? Ah, they take ten-year-old kids and push them around as far as they can, and if they don¡¯t like it, they¡¯ll start beating them like a dog.¡± ¡°When they¡¯re forced to become stronger and reach a certain ground, they¡¯ll hand out another task and start pushing them again.¡± ¡°They¡¯ll throw humans into lava, hang them off a cliff, and right into a fire pit. And they¡¯ll tell you, ¡°It¡¯s for your own good!¡± You¡¯re talking about those nobles, right?¡± Whether they were a hero or an outstanding human being, most of them certainly had some screws missing! It felt like a thousand years to the soul! It was already six years later when the powerless chamber prince, Davey, returned to his original body. [Half a day after arriving at the Hall of Heroes.] The Corridor of Heroes, or Hall of Heroes. It looked like a place where the souls of legendary heroes and great men who remained in legends and myth lingered. Apparently, it was an underworld space designed to elevate the pride of those who accomplished great achievements. Nobody knew who had built this place. Everyone seemed to have curious expectations for me, but the truth was, there were no outstanding factors that made me a hero. [Third day after arriving at the Hall of Heroes] Even the heroes who had been sleeping woke up after hearing that a new kid had arrived. Apparently, there weren¡¯t a lot of new recruits because there weren¡¯t many qualified people. Of course, they must¡¯ve had thought I had some sort of great achievement to end up here. A child who was only about ten years old was amazed and danced excitedly around. I felt guilty because I didn¡¯t have much of anything, but I might get fired back if I told them, so I instinctively shut my mouth. [A week after arriving at the Hall of Heroes] He patted me on the back and gave cringy compliments every time we met. Ignorant man. He was so strong that it honestly felt like he was trying to break my shoulders. Sometimes I saw them doing some play fighting, but they were playing on a continental scale¡­ I was getting even more scared. If they find out that I¡¯m an ordinary person that has nothing¡­ [Two weeks after arriving at the Hall of Heroes] I got caught¡­ [A month after arriving at the Hall of Heroes] It was cold. A dagger then flew out and pierced my heart. But no worries¡­no, not this. I was an ordinary human being that had nothing, so I shouldn¡¯t get a ticket to a place like this. I seemed to have scratched their pride. [A month and fifteen days after arriving at the Hall of Heroes] They were noblemen in their own way, and they didn¡¯t bother me anymore, but I still didn¡¯t feel comfortable with their stares. I couldn¡¯t even swallow my food anymore because they treated me like a useless person. Those who are already dead and left with only their souls and heroes who once enjoyed their era. Why were they so cheap with their food? [Two months after arriving at the Hall of Heroes] There wasn¡¯t much happening, but I still felt bothered by the way they looked at me like I was a useless person, so I ended up yelling and getting upset, which had soon become the source of more trouble. I should¡¯ve just kept my mouth shut¡­ [Two months and three days after causing trouble at the Hall of Heroes.] They had ongoing meetings the past few days to figure out why I had come here without any power or achievement. It was already the third day of quiet meetings. You could hear them fighting and shouting at each other if you moved close to the door of the huge hall. I began to worry that they might blow my head off, for the reason that I deceived them. After a long time, the meeting ended. I couldn¡¯t say anything as I watched them return with a grim face. [Two months and fifteen days after causing trouble at the Hall of Heroes.] Finally, someone came to me. It was the big man who brought a bag full of delicious snacks and urged me to eat them when I first came here. ¡°I decided to comply with your request. It¡¯s not even your fault in the first place, but it¡¯s funny that we¡¯re getting upset about it. It has been so boring until now, so this is fun? You¡¯re our family now, so I¡¯ll take responsibility for you, follow me.¡± That was how it started. [It had been a year after causing trouble at the Hall of Heroes.] [If the new kid who arrived at the corridor isn¡¯t a hero, he can be raised to be a hero no matter what the situation is!] The big guy¡¯s name was Hercules. He said that he would give me survival training. I thought that I heard a similar name somewhere, but¡­ I was afraid this wasn¡¯t the same. I followed his words to just believe in him, that he would make me perfect, and I regretted it exactly half a day later. One year. There was the time he threw me into a forest full of unidentified monsters and left me unattended! Poisoned food¡­water¡­predators attacking day and night are all over the place¡­they were all terrible. They wanted to help before I was nearly dead. [Two years after causing trouble at the Hall of Heroes.] I was surviving in the desert. [Three years after causing trouble at the Hall of Heroes.] It looked like I was in a tunnel this time. The sharp teeth of a medium-sized sandworm that broke through the wall yesterday to chew on my body were still vivid in my mind. I didn¡¯t know what it had picked up and eaten, but even though its body was strong, its teeth were all ruined. [Seven years after causing trouble at the Hall of Heroes.] God damn Hercules! [Twelve years after causing trouble at the Hall of Heroes.] During the survival training over the last ten years, my body hadn¡¯t grown a centimeter or aged one bit. What should I do with that giant who¡¯s dancing and saying that I¡¯ve grown more than he expected? He patted my exhausted back and said something scary to me as if it was nothing. ¡°Alright! This is enough for my training! I won¡¯t be embarrassed to call you my disciple with those skills! Pahahahaha! Then let¡¯s go to the next training with the old sword god!¡± I should have put my fist in the man¡¯s face¡­ [Twelve years and a day after causing trouble at the Hall of Heroes.] He told me that it would be an older man, but he was quite young and outgoing. I wasn¡¯t saying it because I had a 10-year-old kid¡¯s body, but my past life, present life, and life at the Hall of Heroes combined weren¡¯t really very short. Guided only by Hercules, who only liked doing whatever he wanted, the man was like a loose cannon who didn¡¯t look serious at all. The man seemed to be a legendary figure who remained in the ancient books of the continent of Tionis, where I was reborn. He used to be an average person, but the gentleman held a sword and soon became the sword god. Haris was a lot more fun and sharper than the stern image I was expecting. Haris, I was sure I had heard the name before. He was a great man who had some considerable achievements, so I had some fantasies, but it took less than a day for them to break down. Perhaps he wasn¡¯t the sword god, but the god of laziness instead. [Fifteen years after causing trouble at the Hall of Heroes.] A near-disaster talent. That was what Hercules had said, so I guess I had some pretty good talent. What he offered to teach me were his now forgotten sword skills. Thanks to Hercules, it wouldn¡¯t be as hard as the first time, but¡­in a different sense, it fit well with the expression ¡°hell.¡± I shouldn¡¯t have caught the wooden sword and metal bag he threw me¡­ [Twenty-five years after causing trouble at the Hall of Heroes.] That damn sword! The sword alone made me want to vomit! I never wanted to hear the sound of a sword swing again! [Forty years after causing trouble at the Hall of Heroes.] Sure, I had my own talent, but it still took some time to surprise him. He seemed to be appalled, but I¡¯d still have to invest decades of training to beat him at this rate. [Sixty years after causing trouble at the Hall of Heroes.] I met a man who called himself the spirit of archery. He had a cheesy face and voice. Even his personality was the same. He kept calling out to a woman named Daphne, a saint whom he loved. I think I got a hard one in store this time. Why wasn¡¯t I running away? If dozens of people came looking for me with their eyes lit up, I would just be a flea in a bottle. [Eighty years after causing trouble at the Hall of Heroes.] P¡­Please! Sa-save me¡­ [One-hundred-and-twenty years since I fell into this shit.] My dream came true. Yeah, I survived for a long time, but I didn¡¯t feel alive here. [One-hundred-and-seventy years since I fell into this shit.] Except for the heroes who had lost interest and fell asleep again, most of them were committed to training, which was actually just torture in disguise. Magic, spears, swordplay, chains. Fighting¡­work! Among them, there was an absolute psycho called the revolutionary wizard, a woman named Odin. It was a place where only the exceptionally crazy gathered¡­ [Two-hundred years since I fell into this shit.] I met Hercules during my training. I tried to pierce a hole in his stomach with a bamboo spear, but when I finally came to my senses, I was already in a deserted field. Apparently, his powers as a survival expert were the highest among the heroes in this place. [Three-hundred years since I fell into this shit.] I was getting tired of trying to master martial arts with my ignorant head. That must¡¯ve been why I got a psychosomatic disease. One of the heroes who was observing my condition had said there might be a solution and brought someone who was asleep. She was called the god of medicine. Her name was Hippocrates¡­ which also seemed to be a strangely familiar. However, it did sound like it had been changed. What conversation did she have with Hercules? She said it¡¯s time for my medicine. While undergoing her new acupuncture treatment, she asked if I was interested in learning medicine. [Three-hundred-and-fifty years.] Acupuncture, surgical medicine, blood vessels. Completely curing different symptoms of diseases. I was learning whatever she threw at me. She told me this time that there would be some scary training. My talent was shining through! Ohhhhhhh! CH 2 Episode 2 [Five-hundred years] Five-hundred years had already passed when I finally came to my senses. What was interesting was that the memories of my past and present life still remained clear. I had started to stare into the sky more often now. The Hall of Heroes was dark at night, but the afternoon skies proved to be so beautiful. Suddenly, I started to wonder why I was being pushed around, struggling, and being beaten up every-day trying to learn these things. I couldn¡¯t even get out of here anyway. Even if heroes could create something new using their knowledge, it was impossible to transfer existing knowledge, but I was starting to think there were no such restrictions on me. Was that why? They were sitting around trying to push me! [Seven-hundred years] They said that time was the cure to all ailments, and I started to relate to that a little bit. I had become a loafer, and it felt like I had returned to the time when I first arrived at this place. Acting all serious didn¡¯t suit me. They had been living as spirits for thousands of years, so I guess I was becoming one of them. I wondered why they were so frivolous even though they were quite old, but they would say it was because of time. Daphne had come to see me. She was the saint who repeatedly cast hundreds of curses on me to teach me about divine magic and the curse system. She looked strangely happy, as if she had kicked the flirty Apollo in the groin. She said she wanted to drink with me because she found some good alcohol. However¡­something felt weird. It was almost as if she was trying to hide something. [Nine-hundred and fifty years] Most of the heroes who trained me then came to see me. Even the God Ko-Jun, who never showed up because he was the lazy King of Conquest and boasted every time he drank that he was a great emperor, had come to see me. Most of them were heroes who used to be involved with me, and they were also people who had tortured me under the guise of training. Why did they train me like that? I couldn¡¯t even leave this place anyway. If I tried asking that question before, I would¡¯ve been beaten near death. When I greeted them with a grumpy face, the goddess who used to take care of me most, Hippocrates, gave me a faint smile. This woman wasn¡¯t interested in me before, but she started taking care of me as if she were my real sister. It was an unexpected banquet. Everyone was chatting for several days. Hippocrates, who had been sipping alcohol, quietly spoke, and the banquet came to an end. ¡°Our youngest. I found a way for you to go back.¡± I couldn¡¯t say anything to her for a while. I felt strange. [Nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine years] I think today was my birthday. It had been a long time since I forgot how old I was, but there was still a small anniversary. They then began to unite. They didn¡¯t tell me the reason, or why, or how. They were separate beings who could no longer interfere with the world. They were the type of people who wouldn¡¯t do anything or work together even if the world collapsed right now. But somehow, they decided to unite with each other for the second time. The people who used to scold me all the time suddenly started to say good things and be nice to me as if they were high. The day had finally come. I asked them what they wanted to do, and they would tell me that they wanted to eat well and live a good life. It looked like they took the first step toward achieving that dream. This was a safe place if you had power, but you wouldn¡¯t feel alive. They asked me if I had anything to say for the last time. In one corner, Yuriana, the master spirit who tried to throw me into the pool of magma after being immersed in the deep sea, was starting to cry. Sigh¡­I was starting to feel bad for no reason¡­ As they were asking me questions calmly, my body began to get surrounded by a light, regardless of my thoughts on the matter. This must be my last time. I thought and smiled at them. ¡°Let¡¯s never see each other again! And how long were you old grandmas expecting me to call you¡¯ sister¡¯?¡± It was quite refreshing to see their last expressions. The most furious of all was the saint, Daphne. ¡°Hey! You Fu*king idiot¡­¡± However, they shut their mouths when they noticed the sorrow I was feeling. I didn¡¯t want to leave them crying. I smiled at those who waved at me. And then, the world changed. * * * Flap!!! ¡°Haaa¡­haaa¡­¡± I looked around blankly at my surroundings, almost as if I had awoken from a long dream. My blurry vision was blindingly painful to the point of tears as I hadn¡¯t seen the light in a long time. As I lowered my blurry eyes, I saw a strange liquid flowing from an IV into my arm. [Restore.] A short murmur. Contrary to my expectations, no changes occurred at my fingertips. Everything was starting to feel real now. I had escaped from the Hall of Heroes and returned to my original body, Prince Davey. I couldn¡¯t think of how to explain it. When reality struck, I lost strength in my body and closed my eyes again. I wanted my mind to be blank for the time being because the sense of exhaustion was eroding my whole body. The rough but strangely cozy blanket was also tempting me never to leave the bed. To be exact, I didn¡¯t even have the strength to lift a finger. After lying for a while, my vision slowly began to adjust. My focus was blurry, so I wasn¡¯t sure if my eyesight had returned completely yet, but I thought this was okay. ¡°Umm¡­¡± When I struggled to speak, a raspy voice came out. It was a muffled sound, but it was clear. Even though I came back after a thousand years, I still had a clear memory of it, so I smiled bitterly. ¡°Ah¡­Ahhhh. Ahhhhhh~¡± When I started to make a voice as if I were practicing vocalization, my cracked voice began to change slowly as if it were adjusting. ¡°Ahhhh.¡± I repeated that for a while. Now that I was able to pronounce words properly, a familiar but slightly different voice came to my ears. They said my voice sounded mellow, but honestly, it was just a plain voice that didn¡¯t sound too bad. ¡°Restore.¡± One more try. There was no significant change this time as well. However, I wasn¡¯t feeling impatient. Since I was tortured under the guise of training for a thousand years, I had experienced all kinds of situations. Of course, I had experienced this situation before. ¡°Hia once said that when a person falls into a coma, you slowly lose your muscles, and it was the same for mana and divine power.¡¯ I was the only person who called Hippocrates, the God of medicine, ¡®Hia.¡¯ What could I do? She asked me to call her that. If it was unfair for them, then one should try and befriend her. Hia taught me medicine with her unique ability and let me treat numerous patients. Among them, there were definitely patients in my current situation. The solution was¡­ ¡®Time.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t good to restore muscles that had been damaged due to a lack of nutrition in a short time. Eating in a hurry would make you sick. I had to build up physical strength so I could move my own body. Fortunately, the IV stuck in my arm was providing me with some nutrition. You could possibly starve to death if someone didn¡¯t come to feed you when you couldn¡¯t even move. Such a situation wasn¡¯t welcoming for me either. When I thought of it, I felt relaxed and smiled. I laid down comfortably, smirked, and began to focus on flicking my fingers. I think they say that rehabilitation training starts from your fingers. Now I just wanted to be immersed in the fact that I had come back. * * * No one came into that quiet room for days. No, it would be very rare for anyone to enter this palace, where I was located. Even if someone did come in, it would¡¯ve been one or two maids in charge of my nutritional supplements. I think it was like that before I fell into a coma and went to the Hall, so it seemed unlikely that it had changed. When I reached out a shaky hand and looked at the wooden calendar, I saw the time [Baldis Calendar year 278]. I had been shot by an arrow during a hunting competition held in the year 272. I immediately arrived at the Hall of Heroes that time, so it had been about six years since then. If so, it meant that I was sixteen now. By the standards of this continent, it also meant that I was at the age of adulthood. The thousand years I spent in the Hall of Heroes were only six years here. Was it because time ran differently? Or was there some other reason? Whatever it may be, it was a familiar phenomenon that time was indeed different. If one left Earth and went to space right now, time would still be different. However, of course, this wasn¡¯t Earth. This was a different dimension from Earth called the Tionis Continent, and this was my hometown during my second life. It was a hell of a place, but it was a place where people lived. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t be laying down for too long.¡± I started to concentrate slowly with my eyes closed even though I was mumbling. Except for the time when I was doing my rehabilitation training, this is what I usually did. It was hard to lift a finger at first, but thanks to my constant effort, I was able even to raise my upper body after a few days. Of course, the difficulties leading up to the process proved to be beyond explanation. Just because I was used to pain didn¡¯t mean that this was easy for me. ¡°Restore.¡± I closed my eyes and focused, lifting the white energy that was asleep in my body. Divine power. In the words of the saint Daphne, my divine power couldn¡¯t reach those who were naturally born with it. However, nobody would be able to reach my level, given my proficiency. Even those famous popes or saints. That meant that I was short of power. In Daphne¡¯s case, she was a hero who would remain in history since she had to learn how to harness her God-given powers by herself. The reason I acquired as much power as I had was due to her hard teachings. Of course, it was natural that nobody could reach my powers, as most people build their divine power slowly by praying. Divine power was just another form of power. It was impossible to build it up quickly just by praying. In fact, that woman with a bad personality rarely praised God when she taught me. Tsk, tsk. And they call her a full-fledged saint. ¡­ She probably trained me to use divine power so she could get me to clean the entire hall. I calmly tried to use the divine power, but there was nothing happening. ¡°Stop being so stubborn.¡± CH 3 Episode 3 I felt worried about losing all my mana, divine power, and ability to command it. I had gotten used to using magic, but it was useless without its main source, which was mana. Fortunately, most of my powers arrived safely with my soul. The problem was that it was hard as a rock, and it would take a long time until I could use it. I had clearly heard that it would take some time to loosen these hardened things. ¡®Move.¡¯ I uttered basic divine magic to express my strong will. ¡°Restore.¡± However, there was still no change. ¡®Move.¡¯ At this point, I thought it would be time for even a small amount to come out, but it was too stubborn. Once it started to flow, it would accelerate and wake up on its own, but the start wasn¡¯t at all easy. They say that the beginning was half the battle. It would be a lie if it weren¡¯t this difficult. If it were stubborn, I wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything about it. The stubborn power was shameless. However, I kept asking for it to awaken. ¡®Move.¡¯ Once again, when I spoke with a strong will, I felt as if my hardened divine power flinched very weakly. It was very weak, but I wouldn¡¯t miss out on the opportunity. I held back my laughter and tried it once again. I asked the stubborn divine power politely. ¡®Get a move on before I really explode.¡¯ Whoooosh!!! Flash!! I heard something crack in my body. At the same time, my eyes opened wide. I couldn¡¯t miss this opportunity. ¡°Restore!¡± After shouting fiercely, the divine power, which had currently been moving weakly, finally began to move more powerfully. The warm white energy slowly escaped from the hardened divine mass and began to wrap around my body. I was delighted as I finally succeeded in moving the divine power. ¡°Nice!¡± If others saw me, they would think that I was lying in bed talking nonsense like a crazy person. But it was whatever. There was no one watching anyway. The Restore magic, which wrapped around the entire body as if it were a warm blanket, was a basic form of divine magic that healed inner wounds. The structure itself was simple, so it was magic that most priests who accepted divine power could use. But of course, if you ignore basic magic, you would see little efficiency. The characteristic of divine magic was unlike other magic in that it could increase the level of lower magic and amplify the effect. That¡¯s why there was a difference between the ¡®restore¡¯ of the high-ranking priest and the ¡®restore¡¯ of new priests. ¡°Wow¡­¡± Did they say it was an equivalent exchange? Even though a lot of physical strength was used to boost recovery, this power couldn¡¯t be regarded as fraudulent magic. Increasing recovery by consuming physical strength could be a dangerous act that might be harmful to patients like me. However, I didn¡¯t stop. Whoo¡­whoo! As the white light slowly dissipated, my senses slowly began to return to the side of my leg. And when it completely disappeared, I was satisfied that my toes could finally move. The first was my toes. The second was my ankles, and the third was my knees. I slowly lifted myself up while trying not to overdo it. I desperately felt like I was in danger, like I was going to collapse right away if I wasn¡¯t holding on to anything. ¡°Restore.¡± Of course, I wouldn¡¯t just stop here. After using restore once again, I was starting to feel hungry. However, if I suddenly increased the number of fluids that provided me nutrition, it would only be a matter of time before my body started to break down. The effect of the restoration was remarkably beginning to heal the body and show noticeable changes. When I raised my body very slowly, I started to feel a strange joy. This was how parents probably felt when they saw their baby crawling around and slowly standing up! Although, considering it, this was my body. As I raised my body by supporting myself with one hand on the wall, my view slowly widened. ¡°Hmm, the air above is better.¡± I was saying useless things as I tried to move slowly and softly. Then, I looked out the window. Although I couldn¡¯t see any signs of people, the sun in the sky was shining brightly as if it were showing off its presence. ¡°Oh, I really wanted to try this.¡± I stood upright with my legs. Then I raised my hands at a 45-degree angle towards the sky and opened my palms. It looked like the letter ¡°Y¡± of the alphabet. ¡°Pr¡­¡± Strongly! ¡°Praise the sun! Rattle. Shatter! At the same time, there was the sound of the door opening from behind me and glass shattering on the ground. ¡°Ahhhh?!¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Great timing. As I turned my head slowly and stiffly, I saw a small girl with a frightened look. She looked like she was in her mid-teens. Given that she worked as a maid, she must be the daughter of a poor man. It was weird to say this since I was a mid-teen myself, but I thought she was still a little too young to work as a maid. Perhaps it was because of the unexpected and embarrassing situation, but the strength in my legs gave way, and my body collapsed. I could see the girl running with a scream. ¡°Prince! Wake up!¡± I lowered my head without even thinking about responding. I wished she hadn¡¯t seen me like this¡­ ¡°Ha, just put me back into a coma¡­¡± * * * ¡°Hmm¡­.¡± An older man with a suspicious look on his face swept a hand through his beard. The older man¡¯s name was Ramdas. He was a man from the royal court. He had the position of examining the king¡¯s personal safety and preventing the king from getting sick. ¡°You¡¯re quite a strange one; the condition of your body is surprisingly better. Are you experiencing any pain you¡¯re not telling me about?¡± ¡°I¡¯m okay, just a little tired.¡± When I answered calmly, he nodded with satisfaction. If I were living in my previous life, I wouldn¡¯t have thought of treating an older man so rude. However, this life was different. I didn¡¯t like it, but I understood my current status. Davey Al Rown. It was the full name given to me since birth. I am a ¡®Rown,¡¯ a member of the royal family of the most insignificant kingdom. As you may have noticed, those who used the surname ¡®Rown¡¯ in the Kingdom had one thing in common: We were royals. Among them, I was the first son of the king. It felt weird to say it myself, but I was the first prince of the nation. ¡°Hmmm¡­ How tenacious.¡± I heard a sharp voice while I was lying in bed blankly, and my eyes turned. What I saw at the end of my gaze was a woman with a fancy look and a fierce impression. Behind her were two boys that looked as if they were laughing at me. The current queen, Liness Varietta. And her sons, the second prince Carlos and third prince Benedict. ¡°I agree. I didn¡¯t know that my body was this strong either.¡± ¡°Right, did you see the ungrateful man who shot the arrow at you?¡± ¡°Not really. The arrow came flying out of nowhere. Oh, did you capture him? Because he¡¯s a big sinner.¡± ¡°No.¡± She answered with a lot of meaning, and she spread her fan to cover half of her face. She was trying to hide her frown. Queen Liness. Her name was Liness Varietta before she became queen, and she was the eldest daughter of the ¡°We¡¯re all done. I¡¯ve done the basic treatment. You can call the priest regularly for treatment, and you will recover in a few years. From tomorrow morning, you can start giving meals to Prince Davey. I¡¯ll send you a special fluid diet so that it¡¯s easy on his stomach.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± When he answered calmly, Ramdas bowed his head and got up from his seat with a stern face. ¡°I shall take my leave.¡± When the maid followed him, there were only Queen Liness, Prince Carlos, and Prince Benedict left in the room. Silence hung heavy in the room because we didn¡¯t have a good relationship. ¡°You should¡¯ve just died like that¡­¡± ¡°Are you disappointed that an eyesore came back to life?¡± ¡°Hmph!¡± The light voice then caused Queen Liness¡¯s eyebrows to wriggle. However, I was still the prince, and she was the queen. Originally, it was a mother-son relationship, but everyone knew that my relationship with Queen Liness wasn¡¯t so comfortable. Slam! When Queen Liness stormed out, Carlos and Benedict, who looked like they were laughing, quietly followed. ¡°It¡¯s a disgrace that the first prince will never be in the kingdom again when he was attacked and put into a coma. Let¡¯s go, Benedict.¡± With repeated provocations. The room suddenly calmed down. It was so calm that I thought it was too much for the room of a person who woke up after sleeping for nearly six years, but I didn¡¯t say it because it was almost too sad. Perhaps it wasn¡¯t the scene I was used to before I fell into a coma. To be cool-headed, this was far better. ¡°You¡¯re a disgrace to the kingdom.¡± As I slowly controlled by divine power with my eyes closed and with a smirk, I could feel the warmth of my body again. Although I was openly using divine magic, it was safe to say that there was no person who could notice the divine power in this imperial palace. It was the same logic that it is difficult to see through the essence of the opponent if there was too much of a difference in the level of power. Was it because I had put all my attention into recovering my body right after I woke up? Even if it weren¡¯t easy to move right now, it would be possible to walk around within a few days. Mana would gradually accelerate the speed and regain its original form alongside the divine power. It was clear that my recovery would gradually accelerate. * * * I spent about two weeks bedridden without being able to go anywhere. Perhaps it was because I had been focusing on recovering, but it felt like time was rapidly flying. CH 4 Episode 4 ¡°Hmph¡­¡± I felt lighter when I moved my body with short breaths. Everyone would be shocked when they heard that a prince lying in bed for more than six years in a coma could now move like this. Of course, my bones were damaged, and my muscles were almost gone, so I wouldn¡¯t be able to recover easily, even with the priest¡¯s continued healing magic. Moreover, most of the priests who had come for treatment were Queen Liness¡¯s people. And so, they didn¡¯t perform proper healing. Yeah, to put it bluntly, this castle was a very indecent place. As the queen wanted to kill the prince, there was no such thing as family affection. We used to be family in the past because we proved to be partners that had to spend our whole lives together. Because of this, I approached them personally and believed in them. It didn¡¯t take much time to understand that was a stupid judgment. The first life on earth and the second life at this place were different. There was no such thing as family love in this country, where people sold their children for the sake of instant success and used them as tools for a political marriage. They didn¡¯t give a shit. Of course, not all nobles were like that. In fact, Queen Liness was a woman who cared so much for her own sons. But what if they weren¡¯t blood-related? What if he was the one who was standing in the way of her biological son? Queen Liness wasn¡¯t my biological mother. She was a person with distinctly different blood than I. My mother, who used to be the queen, was killed by someone who poisoned her about five years after I was born. They failed to catch the criminal, and my mother¡¯s death ended in grief. It was Queen Liness who took over my mother¡¯s position afterward. She was an ambitious woman that wanted to get rid of me, the son of the former queen, and push her son to be the next king. Of course, she was also a woman that had power. In the Kingdom of Rown, the maternal relatives had the strongest power, with the Duke of Liness¡¯s direct family was none other than the Duke of Varietta. Unless you were an idiot, you would understand that they were in cahoots. In the meantime, my life had been quite monotonous. Mana, divine power, and command mana used to increase my recovery. I had exercised in my spare time to restore my body¡¯s muscles. In addition to this, I quickly sought recovery by eating all the meals that the chambermaid Amy brought. Recovery magic used immediate divine power and showed a tremendous pace of recovery. For me, who had learned the knowledge of Hippocrate and studied extremely hard about the human body and the medicine directly under them, this recovery wasn¡¯t a very difficult challenge. In the process, my appetite had improved so much that I was excitedly forgetting the budget allocated to the prince¡¯s castle, but who could say anything about it when it was my money anyway? ¡°Still, they probably took more than half of the money that was supposed to come in.¡± You could tell by looking at the condition of the castle. Who would think of this place as the first Prince¡¯s castle? There was a lot of split marble on the floor, and weeds were sticking out. Compared to other places in the royal castle, it was as good as a deserted house. The appearance of the royal castle was a great disadvantage to the prince¡¯s reputation, that was, to my image and position. However, it wouldn¡¯t change unless I replaced the people who were taking half of my money. Therefore, recovery was important. No matter what I wanted, my body needed to be healthy. Revenge on the useless second Prince and third Prince, who were believed to have caused me to fall into a coma, and Queen Liness, who was believed to have caused the death of my mother. I had the freedom to because I had become quite a strong man. ¡°Ha¡­¡± When sweat poured out of my body like rain because of the exercise, I raised my hand without saying a word and chanted. ¡°Clean.¡± With a short murmur, droplets of water appeared in the air, covering my whole body, and soon my body was washed clean and turned cool. Magic was a fairly convenient power. Wasn¡¯t there a saying that laziness was the key to scientific development? Odin, who taught me magic, told me that, but I believed in it very much. ¡°Prince. It¡¯s me, Amy.¡± ¡°Come on in.¡± After organizing the messy clothes and lying on the bed, Amy, a girl with a very stern face, came in with her head down. In this royal castle, I was more known as the black sheep instead of the prince. Both nobles and servants ignored me behind my back, so Amy was quite faithful in that sense. ¡°I brought you a meal.¡± Her calm words made me smile. ¡°Thank you.¡± I didn¡¯t reject courtesy. Amy, at least not this long after she came to this castle, was the only one who didn¡¯t get involved in dirty politics. For now, anyway. Apparently, she had been demoted to this place because she was sent out of the queen¡¯s sight while working at the castle. ¡°The first prince¡¯s castle is a place where servants get demoted to¡­ this is a mess.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing. You did a good job. Go back and rest for today.¡± ¡°But Prince, today¡¯s rehabilitation training¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take care of that, so go back and rest.¡± She looked up at me with a tremble as if she weren¡¯t going to listen. Hey, don¡¯t look at me like that. If you look up with that puppy-dog expression, you will make me feel guilty for no reason. She swallowed her words, and when I patted her head, she blushed, and then she bowed her head. ¡°So¡­sorry!¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough. Go back now.¡± ¡°Ye-yes!¡± A handsome face was helpful in situations like this. ¡°Hmmm~¡± I felt good and hummed while looking down at the meal Amy prepared for me. ¡°They¡¯re treating me like an old man because I¡¯m a patient.¡± Considering my mental age, I wasn¡¯t an old man by human standards, but an actual living fossil. Sadly, I wasn¡¯t mentally mature enough to be such an upright person either. Most people or heroes who lived for thousands of years or tens of thousands of years were still giggling, as if they were in their teens or early twenties. Are you confused? It meant that people go around and around. It would be a natural change for those who had already accepted death once. Some people kept their seriousness, but others eventually returned to their childhood personalities. The worst of them was the saint Daphne, and the self-proclaimed survival king Hercules. They were both mad. While silently eating the meal on the table, I didn¡¯t forget to use mana and divine power at the same time. The mana would recover on its own even if I didn¡¯t do anything, so that meant I just needed to use the rest of them. What you could do with the divine power was the basic magic of healing, restoring, and curing. Magic was all about simple lights, magic missiles, and other life magic that could be used easily, but that was only the case for me, who hadn¡¯t recovered fully. Even though it felt like my stomach was about to burst, once I used the restore magic, my digestion became better, and I could eat endlessly. What I ate was roughly more than three times the average amount eaten by an ordinary person. That was too much? If you forced it in, it¡¯ll eventually all go in. Amy looked surprised at the amount of food I ate, but I¡¯m also a stubborn person. After pushing in so hard that my cheeks were about burst, I felt like my soul was about to return to my body. Oh, of course. ¡°Oh¡­the damn bathroom.¡± The disadvantage was that I needed to go to the bathroom frequently because I digested everything too fast. If Haris, the lazy god, saw me, he would have made fun of me. An old man that doesn¡¯t act like his age¡­ The recovery process proved to be smooth. However, soon problems began to arise elsewhere. The problem finally revealed itself about a month after I woke up, and it threatened me. ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± I experienced a stomachache, and I groaned loud enough that the sound flowed out of the castle. Amy¡¯s expression naturally turned to a frown, and there was a shadow over her face. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m sorry!¡± ¡°No, you didn¡¯t do anything wrong.¡± I consoled her and read the document she gave me and let out a laugh. The royal budget allocated to the royal castle was extremely small, so the ingredients for food seemed to have run out. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect the first prince would have to worry about eating.¡± Although, it was quite obvious where the issue stemmed from. ¡°Amy.¡± ¡°Yes, Prince.¡± ¡°Currently, how many maids and servants are working in this castle?¡± She looked embarrassed by my question. Seeing her expression, I didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°Is it just you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m so sorry. I have sinned!¡± I couldn¡¯t help but sigh at her bowing. It wasn¡¯t a very wide place, but it was still a castle that the prince used. Originally, it wasn¡¯t a castle used by the royal princes who were chosen as the next king, but it was quite wide as it was a castle where the royal family once lived. ¡°So you¡¯re telling me that you¡¯re taking care of this castle by yourself?¡± ¡°That¡­that¡­¡± After returning from a coma, the situation was very unusual. However, in the past, it was a place where people lived, and I never felt that there was a severe shortage. But it changed to this just in six years. It wasn¡¯t a short time. Listening to Amy, I got a rough idea of what she said. Davey Al Rown, the first prince of the royal family, was the black sheep in the queen¡¯s eyes. A royal prince couldn¡¯t even enter the Parondas castle because he lacked the power to do so. Was it my fault? It was my fault. Couldn¡¯t they have just treated me as a family and embraced me, even if my brothers weren¡¯t blood-related? ¡°No wonder the castle is in a mess.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, just kill me!¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough. I¡¯m not cold-hearted to kill innocent people.¡± Compared to the beginning, it was now getting easier to move. Was this the body of a weak prince? I slowly got out of bed, sat on a chair, and wore magnifying glasses. My blurred vision gradually became clear. My original body had very bad eyesight. That was why I was naturally weak, and¡­ I also had a memory that I didn¡¯t want to think about. ¡°Let¡¯s see. What¡¯s the original budget for the castle?¡± ¡°It¡­it¡¯s 5,000 gold a year.¡± ¡°But only 10 gold is left in the castle.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°And the prince¡¯s castle isn¡¯t in charge of it.¡± Having a lack of food in the castle was an error. ¡°How much did we earn this month? We could still work around that budget so that we have enough food to eat.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, so tell me.¡± ¡°It says 500 gold on paper, but the actual amount we receive is 100 gold¡­¡± I sighed deeply after hearing her words. CH 5 Episode 5 ¡°What about your salary?¡± ¡°Pardon me?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t make me say it twice.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°So, what¡¯s your salary?¡± ¡°Just a third of what I¡¯m supposed to receive¡­¡± She bowed her head in tears as if she were sorry for receiving it. She was such an innocent fool. This meant that she was the only person who protected me even when everyone ran away from the castle, not worrying whether I¡¯d die or not. I felt strange gratitude and formed a bitter smile. ¡°Take what you didn¡¯t receive from my income.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°I told you not to make me say it twice, remember? ¡°Sorry! But¡­!¡± ¡°So there isn¡¯t anything for food tomorrow?¡± ¡°¡­That¡¯s right. Prince.¡± ¡°You can stop calling me that. It just sounds too uptight.¡± ¡°But still¡­¡± ¡°It makes me feel quite detached from you when I¡¯m being called prince.¡± All classes had their own responsibilities. Having a position wasn¡¯t about showing off your excellent pedigree and suppressing the common people but about completing a complicated responsibility. However, the position of the prince wasn¡¯t at all satisfactory for a country that was like this. An external force was messing with state affairs and nobility. A father who didn¡¯t care about his son, and a queen who was in a hurry to put her own son on the throne. Even the wicked aristocrats manipulated the common people. If I still had my powers from the hall of heroes, I might have erased the country Rown from the map. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry¡­Prince Davey. Please withdraw your order. I¡¯ve turned this castle into¡­¡± ¡°You had no power to stop them.¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°You need to be paid for your work. I can¡¯t continue eating after what I¡¯ve heard.¡± Ha! I shouted, then clicked my tongue and looked straight at her. ¡°Take all your overdue salary from the remaining funds.¡± ¡°¡­I¡­accept your offer.¡± ¡°And I¡¯ll take care of the ingredients for food, so let¡¯s go to the financial department.¡± So now, the prince was managing his own finances? My ancestors would flip out if they knew. However, what else could I do? There was a problem with food for tomorrow. As the weather grew cooler, we had to get firewood and repair some places in the castle that were damaged. In that sense, the current castle of the first prince seemed to look pretty bad. If I hadn¡¯t woken up for another year or two, the castle might¡¯ve taken a turn for the worst. ¡°My father had never shown up even in a situation like this¡­¡± Amy¡¯s eyes now looked as wide as a tray. What I just said would¡¯ve likely caused a lot of problems. If my words entered the queen¡¯s ears, it wouldn¡¯t be strange even if the royal guards came to pick me up tomorrow. Of course, that didn¡¯t mean that I was withdrawing. As a light-hearted human being, I am well-liked and well-expressed, but I¡¯m also a reckless person who doesn¡¯t do what I am told when people act hostile. ¡°Guide me.¡± ¡°Oh¡­okay!¡± I remembered the geography of the castle, but some things might¡¯ve changed. And it would look pretty funny if a prince were walking around without any assistance. * * * ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Prince. To use additional funds that are already accounted for is impossible¡­¡± The aristocrat didn¡¯t even sound sorry. He just bowed his head and expressed his intention to refuse what I had asked. Rather, he acted like I was bothering him by coming here. This was a weak prince. The perception that arose in the incident didn¡¯t disappear easily. Watching him without saying a word, he looked straight at me as if he was sorry. His mustache that looked like rat whiskers made him look mean¡ªthat little bastard. I smiled as I dragged over a nearby chair, then sat down to face him. He seemed a little surprised by my unprincely behavior, but soon showed a subtle contempt. You think I¡¯m a weak and tactless prince because you don¡¯t know me yet. ¡°Are you trying to fool me?¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± His face looked stunned by what I had just said. ¡°The castle¡¯s funds for this month are supposed to be 500 gold. Am I wrong?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°But the actual amount we received was less than 100 golds¡­¡± ¡°Prince! That¡¯s¡­the amount of gold left after we deducted the costs spent repairing and maintaining the castle! The other royal family members of the caste are also following that economical¡­¡± ¡°Ugh, you¡¯re starting to really piss me off.¡± I gave him a look that forced a bitter pill upon him. ¡°So. Is that why the maintained castle has cracked floors and weeds growing from it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°The garden is on the verge of collapsing because of the weeds. Even an idiot can tell that not one penny was spent on that haunted house.¡± He shut his mouth at my words. ¡°Yeah, it doesn¡¯t make sense, doesn¡¯t it? What kind of prince looks over his own finances.¡± He didn¡¯t express agreement, but he must¡¯ve felt that I was right because he stopped talking. My chambermaid Amy, who was helping me, now looked pale. ¡°Well¡­Prince. However, the use of the maintenance funds is not supervised by our department. All we do here is¡­¡± I tapped my knees at his words. ¡°Ah! I didn¡¯t know about that.¡± I made an exaggerated reaction and grabbed the cane next to me. His face turned pale at sight. No matter what happened tomorrow, I was still a prince who could beat this damn rat mustache to death. Of course, I would be punished accordingly, but I wouldn¡¯t be punished as much as others. However, I wouldn¡¯t do that. It was easy to kill a man, but the roots would just hide deeper. ¡°Whether it¡¯s here or on earth. They¡¯ll just pass the blame.¡± I got up from my seat. ¡°Never mind. You can go use the money you stashed into your pockets.¡± Perhaps it was because of my grim expression. Or perhaps he was embarrassed by his outspoken remarks. I was unlike others who were weak and nice. He looked up at me hesitatingly. ¡°But we¡¯ll see.¡± He spoke calmly and turned away. The men who were responsible were all looking for a way out. The maintenance department would try to blame someone else, so I would just end up tiring myself after trying to dig up everything. All the employees who worked at the first prince¡¯s castle were running away and stealing salaries. Amy, who was actually working, knew the situation. Because of this. she kept her mouth shut and reduced her own salary. It seemed that those who didn¡¯t even show their faces were taking extra pay. Turning around without hesitation, I glanced at Amy, who was scared, and followed carefully. ¡°Amy.¡± ¡°Yes¡­yes?¡± ¡°Would you like to get a sword from the warehouse?¡± Amy¡¯s face turned pale at the word sword. She must be worried that I might be planning to stab someone. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, and I¡¯m not going to hurt anyone.¡± Her cute behavior made me feel reassured. Yeah, I didn¡¯t mean to hurt people. I was just going to hurt the ones who aren¡¯t even human. How long that standard will be maintained¡­was something I wasn¡¯t sure of just yet. * * * What would happen if I cut down the employees and nobles who worked in my castle for no reason? The answer was simple. The prince was crazy. The tower of the outer castle must be locked up immediately. I was just a fish in a pond. I was in the perfect position to be cut off by the aristocrats that had a higher power. The sword was worn out, but it could still be used. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Prince¡­that¡¯s all the swords we have left¡­¡± No wonder the last guards in the castle were in a state of disrepair. I laughed because I thought it was her habit to keep saying sorry every time, and she lowered her head once more. ¡°A master does not blame his equipment.¡± At this, I pulled out half the sword from the cover without saying a word. It was originally a sword used by knights who protected the inner castle. The knight¡¯s equipment used for protecting the castle was one of the faces of the castle. Such an item was already out because of the maintenance, and there was also a shortage. The sword, which lost its shine, had piled up so much dust during its time of disuse. ¡°Management, huh¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± What a dirty sword. If a certain swordmaster saw it, his mouth would¡¯ve been foaming. A great master wouldn¡¯t even blame his equipment. ¡°Amy, how many animals are loose on the hunting grounds inside the castle?¡± ¡°Pardon? That¡­that¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°Never mind. I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be enough for the time being.¡± With this thought in mind, I put the sword back inside its cover. * * * The next day, Amy looked surprised when she saw the body of a wild boar lying in front of her. ¡°Good to see you.¡± ¡°Prince? Tha, that¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°Someone left it in front of the castle, so I brought it in. I was thinking about what to do with it. Maybe a righteous man brought it.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that¡­?¡± This was a lie. I caught it myself, but I couldn¡¯t help but lie to her face. Amy, who didn¡¯t understand what I said, saw the body of the boar I brought carelessly and shook with her eyes wide. ¡°Go to the warehouse and get me a bowl and some more waterproof cloth. We still have some supplies left, right?¡± ¡°Pri¡­Prince Davey! Just kill me instead!¡± ¡°Huh, what now?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t let the blood of an animal touch the hands of a prince! And to say that you¡¯ll butcher and cook the animal yourself! You¡¯ll end up hurting yourself!¡± I laughed in vain at her desperate cry. ¡°It¡¯s okay because no one¡¯s watching.¡± Even if I wanted to see the king, he would deny seeing me and say that he was busy. How could I meet a king who never showed his face when his son was sick? Of course, it was a pass. It was a pass for the other departments too because there was nothing I could do about them. Queen Liness seemed to be doing everything in her power to kill me, but I¡¯ve become somewhat of a specialist in survival since I was trained by Hercules for decades. ¡°It¡¯s a boar. But now it¡¯s my dinner.¡± While spouting nonsense, I skillfully used hot water, and the sword to peel off its skin and remove the guts. It looked like it was taking a lot of effort, but its leather and flesh were cut out easily. The blade was saturated in mana, so it would¡¯ve been even more strange if it wasn¡¯t easy. It was fun, even for me, secretly catching a wild boar raised in the hunting grounds of the castle and trying to butcher and cook myself¡­ CH 6 Episode 6 Amy looked stunned as she watched me butcher the boar. I threatened to kick her out if she kept trying to stop me, and so she cried herself tired. She would let out a scream every time the sword sliced the boar¡¯s flesh. How could she possibly say that she wanted to protect me like that? Was she just too loyal or too cute? Both weren¡¯t all that bad. For nearly decades, I had learned how to survive by being pushed around by Hercules, the self-proclaimed survival king. The ability to catch such wild animals and butcher them was as easy as chewing a piece of gum. Of course, this kind of behavior would be very troublesome if it had been seen by the eyes of others. Who would believe that the prince, who had just got out of bed and started to move, crawled into the hunting grounds and caught a boar? It wasn¡¯t normal that the first prince would be playing a survival game inside the castle in the first place. Even if we couldn¡¯t leave any risk factors behind, there was no other way to do so if I wanted to make ends meet. Queen Liness had assigned a watchman¡­but it had been a long time since I bothered that watchman. How could I be sure? This was because I used command magic. Unlike other mana and sacred power, command mana showed remarkable growth, and the foundation of command mana was to confuse the opponent. Your eyes and ears would become useless from the moment you failed to identify your opponent. Looking at Queen Liness¡¯s castle from far away, I smiled, sliced the meat appropriately, and sprinkled herbs and salt that had promptly been prepared in advance. ¡°The smell will be gone by evening. Amy, please run some errands.¡± ¡°Pr¡­Prince¡­¡± Now, she was crying and asking me to stop. ¡°Tell the chamberlain Vespers that I want to meet the King.¡± ¡°B¡­but¡­¡± ¡°Just tell him even if you know it won¡¯t happen.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± She bowed and walked away. Her footsteps seemed very heavy. There seemed to be a misunderstanding. Honestly, even if we shared the same blood, I had no intention of reuniting with my father. I didn¡¯t know why he left me unattended and why he didn¡¯t get to the bottom of this. And he did nothing when my mother died¡­ ¡®You¡¯re just not family anymore.¡¯ They said that when your head was hardened, your thoughts would be hardened too. Even if someone were to say that I was immature, this was my choice right now. So you were asking why couldn¡¯t I go visit him at night? All I wanted was a proper face-to-face conversation. I didn¡¯t want to sneak in like an assassin and grab him by the collar and yell, ¡®Why did you do that?!¡¯ He once said that he was a man who only loved my mother. In my mother¡¯s diary, there was affection and love for him, and there was a belief that he would never forget it even if she died. However, he was different. His love for her was only this much. My father, who was the only trace linked to my mother, was this kind of human being. That was why I was just watching him for my own judgment. In the past, I thought that my half-brothers would approach me sincerely one day. However, when I was 10 years old, I had been betrayed by them, and I fell into a coma. It was a miracle that I survived after being hit by a random arrow. No, I knew best that it wasn¡¯t random at all. When a hunting contest was held at the hunting ground inside the castle where I had caught the wild boar, the event was held to promote friendship between royalty and aristocrats. There, I was hit by an arrow shot by the second Prince, Carlos. It was none other than my half-brother, who was one year younger than me. I had told Queen Liness that I hadn¡¯t seen the criminal, but I would never forget the sneer Carlos had after shooting me with an arrow. Even if he was my half-brother, he tried to shoot me to death. Wasn¡¯t that funny? Nevertheless, there was no evidence, and Queen Liness¡¯s power was extremely high. Because I didn¡¯t wake up, Carlos didn¡¯t receive any punishment. That was why Queen Liness, the second Prince Carlos, and the third Prince Benedict came as soon as I woke up, even though they were busy. She pretended that she didn¡¯t know because she wasn¡¯t going to risk her life. The clever woman wouldn¡¯t have simply believed in me anyway. That was probably why she was monitoring me. Perhaps she was the reason why I couldn¡¯t meet the king. Perhaps she was so worried that I might tell him that I saw Carlos shoot the arrow. ¡°No¡­I¡¯m 100 percent sure that¡¯s the truth.¡± The blood had been washed away with cleaning magic after heavily seasoning the meat. Then I burned all the rugged clothes I had been wearing. Just a little bit. In others¡¯ eyes, I needed to be seen as a weak, powerless, and lucky prince who lived a difficult life¡ªa prince who would cook the meat that someone hunted every day. * * * ¡°Prince Davey, I brought you a meal.¡± Her face turned red when I smiled at her. ¡°Do you want to eat together?¡± ¡°I¡­I can¡¯t!¡± ¡°Just eat.¡± So that the rumors would spread faster. They would think that I was stupid and that I didn¡¯t have any awareness of my position. The more the opponent looked down on me, the less they would check on me. ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°I think I told you not to make me say it twice.¡± ¡°Sorry¡­I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Come sit down.¡± When I spoke calmly, she crouched down and sat on the opposite side of the table. Now she was the only ally in this castle. So she should be receiving this kind of treatment. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, it¡¯s okay. It¡¯s not normal for you to manage this castle by yourself.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s my job.¡± ¡°No one in this castle works as much as you do.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not right! I¡¯m just¡­doing what you ask me¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s a lot, too.¡± It was hard for her to manage most of the things by herself. Because of that, I boldly gave up managing this castle. It would be better if there were more rumors. If there was a rumor that I was incompetent, I would be far safer. It wasn¡¯t like I could press charges against Queen Liness right now anyway. She would only be criticized. And she wasn¡¯t weak enough to be scared by that. ¡°It¡¯s delicious. You¡¯re so meticulous. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be loved even when you get married.¡± ¡°Tha¡­thank you.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to repay you later.¡± A chambermaid didn¡¯t usually do chores; it was the maid¡¯s responsibility. Even if she was a declassed noble, it wasn¡¯t her job. Nevertheless, she was in charge of the chores because of the bloody people that ran away. I could see some of them trying to come back because they were afraid of future trouble, but I was confident that it would be their last time in this castle if they returned. I might be affectionate, but I was not stupid. Since they all had their own backs, they must be making excuses not to return. ¡°What¡¯s the update for my requested to meet the king?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°I see. They refused again.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Prince¡­¡± She bowed her head carefully with a melancholic voice. ¡°That¡¯s enough. What about the other thing?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve already found out about that¡­but why would you¡­¡± She bowed her head again when he sat there without saying a word. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. How dare I ask¡­¡± ¡°No, let¡¯s just leave it at that.¡± I spoke calmly and chewed. As I continued to recover from the restored magic, my appetite was growing bigger. Of course. ¡®Oh¡­my stomach¡­¡¯ The problem was that my digestive system proved to be faster. Clearly, unless I found a way to turn bodily waste into nutrients, my digestive system would continue to cause a disturbance. I felt bitter when I thought of that. * * * ¡°What the hell are you thinking?¡± Queen Liness made a face while sitting at a table quietly drinking her black tea. ¡°Maybe there¡¯s a possibility that he¡¯s acting?¡± ¡°Even the priests examining Prince Davey said that his body still has limitations in moving. Considering the current rate of treatment, he needs to recuperate for at least a year.¡± A woman in a chambermaid¡¯s uniform answered quietly. She looked like an ordinary chambermaid, but she was a little different from a normal chambermaid. She was a level-A secret agent of the Black Moon guild of assassins from the capital of the Rown Kingdom. The presence brought by the position of a level-A secret agent was truly amazing. Liness watched the woman in front of her, savoring the tea without saying a word. She looked cool and calm, the very image of a skilled chambermaid. The arrogance and murder in the eyes of a woman with an icy face answered silently. Her ability to grapple with life that wasn¡¯t directed at a particular object proved to be great. Still, she had been both very perceptive and ambitious since she was young. She was a recognized secret agent on the continent, and she was capable of assassinating high-ranking nobles in a single day. Therefore, she commissioned the Black Moon Guild to keep her at their side for the long term. There might be better assassins on the continent than her, but it was clear that her skills top-notch within the kingdom at least. At least she had the power to protect herself. There was nothing to be greedy about because she could get rid of any annoying things that came her way. In fact, if you put someone¡¯s life in her hands, she had a record of taking that person down within a few days. This was a machine made for murder. That was what Liness felt when she had seen her. If she was the person speaking, it was most likely to be true. And if the target were set, that person would be found dead the next day. However, why did she feel qualms? ¡°Maybe there¡¯s information that the secret agent wasn¡¯t able to catch?¡± It was very surprising when the first prince, Davey Al Rown, had woken up after six years of lapsing into a coma. However, she calmly grasped the situation and soon recalled that there was nothing he could do. It didn¡¯t matter if Davey knew that he was almost killed by an arrow shot by Carlos at the hunting competition. The truth could be easily buried if they threatened him. The king wasn¡¯t interested in his son anyway. As such, Davey¡¯s leash was always in her own hands. She was just looking for a good reason to get rid of him. When Liness asked her a question, the level-A Black Moon secret agent¡¯s, Shary¡¯s, eyes turned cold. CH 7 Episode 7 ¡°Your Majesty.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°My men are highly skilled.¡± ¡°But your men are ranked C in the Black Moon Guild.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Rank C. It sounded like a low rank, but that was by no means the case. However, her anxiety didn¡¯t go away. ¡°They have secret weapons that have nothing to do with ranking. If you¡¯re going to mock my men any further¡­¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m just concerned. If you¡¯re really confident¡­¡± She smiled a little when she stopped talking, proving her to be just as dreary as Shari. ¡°Davey, you can block any of if that¡¯s not the case, you¡¯ll have to pay for it.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± She smiled at my words and savored the tea as if there was nothing else to say. ¡°It doesn¡¯t taste good.¡± Liness, murmuring quietly, handed the teacup to Shari. ¡°Let¡¯s go back.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Perhaps I¡¯ll have to get rid of the disobedient dog.¡± ¡°When the time comes, just let me know.¡± There was no emotion in Shari¡¯s face as she answered quietly. ¡°Are you¡­ Prince Davey? Why in the world are you here?¡± I stood at the place with the most weeds inside the palace. Amy inquired carefully after following me to one side of the garden. A maid wasn¡¯t supposed to ask such questions haphazardly, but it meant that my efforts were worth it, considering she asked such a question. A person could and should ask questions. That was how I thought. She undeniably thought that way as well because she wasn¡¯t familiar with the world. Of course, I asked her to do it because she knew her boundaries. I cleared the grass, cleaned it up, and went inside despite her question, leaving the abandoned garden as wild as I found it. It was funny. Nobody was bothered to do anything despite there being a space like that inside the palace. ¡°You should go back. Let me know if anyone looks for me.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell anyone that I¡¯m here.¡± Amy nodded several times, implying she knew what I meant. ¡°Now¡­ Let¡¯s get started.¡± I pulled at the uniform that I was wearing and slowly sat cross-legged comfortably in the middle of the grassy field. It didn¡¯t matter if I lay down, but I didn¡¯t want to lie on overgrown weeds. It was a pretty messy place, after all. It wasn¡¯t until one couldn¡¯t move for a while that they could steadily see the world surrounding them. I closed my eyes and put down my glasses without saying anything. I then uttered the magic words quietly. ¡°Operation Field.¡± Consequently, my mana began to assimilate slowly with the surroundings, all in conjunction with my will. The particular mana around me was a bit tricky, unlike the sacred power carved in my soul and my command mana, which had grown well. I took special measures since we wouldn¡¯t be able to escape from mana shortage for several years if I didn¡¯t take any action against it. Mana naturally gathered the most at that place. Wandering around me, it slowly flocked into my body when I conjured my weak mana and created a unique locus for it connected to the surrounding area. Mana entered my body and circulated out again, leaving behind only the pure version of it that I needed. It was a groundbreaking breathing method for collecting mana, or, to be exact, a miracle. There were a lot of benefits to having a body without mana that disrupted magic applications, considering it ultimately left the pure mana that maximized magic in the body. Considering the skill of the continental wizards I knew, they would be surprised and ready to kill to understand the principle when they saw the mana breathing method invented by Odin, an ancient hero called the revolutionary wizard. It would only take me a few days to gather the mana others would take months to collect. Of course, although I had no intention of revealing the method to the public, very few people could use it even if I told them. Consequently, it meant that it was a breathing method only talented people could utilize. ¡®You think I¡¯m being cocky? If you think it¡¯s unfair, you should have been born with talent! Hm!¡¯ I felt Odin¡¯s aftermath a great deal when it came to magic, which surprised me in turn. While reflecting on myself, I repeatedly inhaled and exhaled mana. Even though it seemed extremely slow compared to the way one would just take and stack mana, it built up at a tremendous speed since there was little waste. Trying to catch all the mana that came in when breathing was what basic magic common sense was. The ability to break up such knowledge and create a breathing method in reverse was frankly admirable, regardless of personality. It was so slow that no one would have thought such an excellent outcome would follow. I couldn¡¯t ask her if she created this method by researching about it for a long time without doing anything else or if she was just a genius in her lifetime. If I asked the question, she would have hit me on my head with her cane, saying, ¡°Don¡¯t be distracted.¡± I began to concentrate again by shaking off small memories from the past. Obviously, the time needed to accumulate the mana in my body would be worthwhile. I wasn¡¯t only building it up but waking up my sleeping mana as well, after all. * * * The results were quick! There was a certain amount of mana, divine power, and command mana that had already begun to flow in my body in the past few days. Those who knew the concept of mana might call me a nut who was going to die, considering divine power and mana were separate energy that opposed each other. That was why priests couldn¡¯t use arcane magic and wizards couldn¡¯t use sacred magic. However, I had done all three. How did I do that? I inherited the work of two maniacs and two nerds who studied head-to-head. The foul-mouthed, alcohol-loving saint, [Daphne]. The bad-tempered wizard who swung her cane like a blunt instrument and went nuts, burning everything when you made fun of her, [Odin]. The necromancer called Deathlord, a woman with a kind heart who often made me wonder if she was actually a real saint, [Rolas]. Lastly, the god known for her work on dissecting almost every part of the human body, [Hippocrates]. I was the outcome of the miracle created by those four crazy women. We all spent time together at the Hall of Heroes, a place where many heroes arrived, and only the best in each field remained. Even if they were enemies in life, they became close after spending a lot of time together. Perhaps they interacted with each other because they were lonely. In fact, the saint, Daphne, and the archer, Apollo, were just like that. The two were heroes of the same century. Still, Apollo was the sworn nemesis of Daphne, who often roared to kill Apollo. Perhaps the two grew affection from hatred over time even though they argued and fought a lot. Of course, I didn¡¯t want to be involved with Apollo, who was annoying. Daphne used to tell stories about her life when I drank with her, which made me think that their relationship was ridiculous. One day, while learning command magic and curses from Rolas, I remembered the day when I was drinking with Daphne because she visited my place in the middle of the night and attacked Apollo, trampling on his middle leg. ¡°What? Did you touch Rolas? What the fuck! I told you that you¡¯re dead if you act like a slut. Isn¡¯t it enough that you screwed me in your life, you fucking bastard?!¡± All I knew was that Daphne had a very foul mouth. Ironically, however, she didn¡¯t evoke the sense of being offended. She was tough on the outside but soft on the inside. As a matter of fact, although Daphne used to curse at me like that, she bought me drinks often. Of course, Apollo was an exception. ¡®Ha.¡¯ My laughter had disrupted the process, but I went back to concentrating on absorbing mana immediately. The resisting mana escaped from my body after wandering through, leaving only pure mana behind once more. * * * As soon as I gathered all the mana, the circle began to be made, and the growth rate began to accelerate. Time flew by instantly once I began focusing on making the circle. As opposed to novels, circles couldn¡¯t be completed in a short time. Oh, of course, most wizards would rush it. However, in their case, growth was bound to be very slow. ¡°Whoa¡­¡± I took a deep breath as I slowly moved the pure mana with my eyes closed. Mediocre wizards made circles in the heart and rotated them. However, in that way, it was impossible to endure a clash between the divine power and the commanding mana. I would be lucky if I didn¡¯t explode right away if I used such a method. In that sense, my body was currently in a pretty dangerous state. If the amount increased a little, I would die because I wouldn¡¯t withstand my strength. Such a method was called Blood-Point Circling. What did I mean by that? Within the whole body, the blood point circulated. With that, they created an intricate circle following its way around the blood. Even though it was insanely dangerous because it would instantly kill anyone if something were off even a tiny bit, it was just a matter of reopening its process after succeeding through the same method before. I was still worried even though I told Amy not to come near me even if someone approached me. For the time being, I had someone who was after me. They would hide and watch me because they couldn¡¯t observe openly. They, unfortunately, wouldn¡¯t be able to know what I was doing exactly because of the weeds around me. That alone gave me plenty of room for suspicions. When I slowly applied the ultimate Qigong technique to the mana, my whole body began to be filled with subtle vibrations. Since I was able to make simple movements, I held my body firmly, trying not to let myself be distracted from it. CH 8 Episode 8 Whoooooo! As the mild vibration spread throughout my body, I began to spread and rotate the mana throughout it. The most difficult parts were the quadriplegic and cerebral fluid. The head was as dangerous as touching mana or circulating it through blood. Anyone would go crazy in no time if it went wrong. In that sense, Hippocrates¡¯s knowledge was extremely helpful. The knowledge about blood that I learned while being scolded proved invaluable. As it began to move extremely slowly and weakly, the tightly blocked blood points slowly began to vibrate and shake. Cold sweat began to flow out of me. I was forced to gather as much focus as possible since it was quite delicate, just like putting a needle into hundreds of holes and then removing them. Even though I had a safety net, I would better off without failure. ¡®Drop it!¡¯ There came the sound of something breaking. The blood point, which had been tightly blocked, was punctured by mana and slowly began to flow correctly. ¡®Slow down.¡¯ I knew I should proceed slowly to avoid my brain bleeding. ¡®I just need to pierce it once. Just once.¡¯ It was so difficult to set up the first circle that it required all of my concentration. I lost all strength in my body, but I had never lost focus. I precisely controlled the mana while watching the conditions inside myself cautiously. Thud thud! Thud thud thud thud thud thud! As I began to pierce through the tightly closed blood point like piercing a nerve from neck to tailbone, I felt the mana accelerating. I caught it not forcefully but naturally, anchored its direction firmly so that it wouldn¡¯t wander off, and pushed it steadily as if I were knocking on the gate with a battering ram. ¡®Drop it!¡¯ ¡°Ugh!¡± Unimaginable pain came at that moment. I felt dizzy, almost as if I had been hit in the head with a sledgehammer. Unlike in the Hall, my body was in poor conditions, making the difficulty clearly greater. Of course, if I had been frightened and avoided pain, I wouldn¡¯t have revived. ¡®There¡¯s no failure.¡¯ As I thought to myself, mana began to push into the cerebral blood, boasting a tremendous amount of pressure, like water that began to pour out of a dam. And then¡­ Poof! With the sound of something exploding, my mind became clear for a moment, and a mix of cold and warmth began to circulate in my head. ¡°Phew.¡± A sigh of relief left me unbidden. If one said that I had only succeeded in establishing only one perfect circle, albeit not a sloppy circle, they should try it for themselves. To be honest, it was more difficult to establish one circle than establishing eight or nine circles with the bizarre establishment method I used. I finished the crazy process by myself this time, unlike when those four women helped me to see whether the result of their experiment, me, turned out to be a masterpiece. The balance of my body was entirely deformed because there was mana, divine power, and command mana existing simultaneously in me, which was completely back to normal. After checking the mana, which began to rotate around my body in an instant, I opened my eyes slowly. I saw the scenery outside. It had already become dark. I began to think about it. I sat down around lunch, but it was already dark. Outside, I saw Amy standing restlessly with a worried look. It seemed that she was there the whole time. Her legs must be in pain after standing up for almost 7 or 8 hours. Still, that went to show she had a lot of patience. I felt so sorry for her. I wiggled my fingers around carefully. Circles that moved along the blood allowed the forces of different properties to rotate without colliding. With the road paved with mana, it was time to circulate the sacred power and the command mana. This bizarre circle establishment method, which had the advantage of allowing different forces to coexist with each other, had many advantages. It was the best. Whooooooo. It was a silent magic chant. It sounded like something that only happened in fiction. When I chanted it, it produced better results because the effect doubled. Just by flicking my fingers to help me express my will, I could conjure a simple ability. It was as expected of a Master-Class Wizard. Amy¡¯s eyes were filled with curiosity when she felt her body warming up as the Restore magic started to work. ¡®Don¡¯t be surprised yet. You¡¯ll be surprised again and again.¡¯ I was attempting to surprise her again for the sake of my own gentle sadism. * * * Five months passed. All I had done was hold my breath and roll my mana away from others¡¯ eyes. Of course, nothing was as difficult as the first time. There was undoubtedly an incredible increase in my growth as the basically hardened mana and sacred power slowly picked up momentum. Four circles. Considering that the average wizard didn¡¯t exceed three circles, it was really a tremendous recovery speed. It was enough to sneak out and catch wild animals whenever I needed food. Of course, I started to have financial leeway slowly thanks to the well-rolled dividends that came in during those five months, which I only spent on necessities. It was impossible to be extravagant like any other member of the royal family, anyway. ¡°Majesty. It¡¯s time to eat.¡± ¡°Come on in.¡± The olden door opened, and Amy slowly came in after I permitted her. ¡°Someone brought a live animal again today as well as vegetables.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± It was exactly three months ago. Someone had started to bring me meat and vegetables in the courtyard of this quiet palace. I was cautious because I thought Queen Liness had brought them to assassinate me initially. However, it turned out they were pretty good meat and vegetables. Even though I felt like someone was helping me, I didn¡¯t know who they exactly were. ¡®There was someone who stopped by the day before.¡¯ It was just one. If I used my mana, which was widely spread inside the palace, I could easily find out who was there. I learned of Amy¡¯s private life unintentionally, so I retrieved the mana around her to calm my conscience. ¡°I don¡¯t think we need to worry about food for now.¡± ¡°Good. Well done.¡± ¡°Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°Have you considered repairing the palace? Like getting rid of weeds in the garden.¡± ¡°Leave it alone.¡± ¡°But the appearance of the palace¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s better to let it remain this wake for the sake of my life.¡± She turned her head down with a tearful expression after my words. Since she had a good nature and a great sense of responsibility, she looked sad because she knew what it meant. ¡°Yes, your Majesty.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard. You can leave now.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Looking at her retreating with her head down, I closed my eyes again and began to move slowly. Externally, I wasn¡¯t supposed to make such violent action. Despite that, however, I accelerated my training whenever I was able to avoid surveillance. What caught my eye was the few iron swords in the palace. They were too dull and old to use immediately, but I didn¡¯t have the luxury to be picky. No matter how good the sword was, my skills would worsen as soon as I neglected training. Practice was essential, even if it was simple. Whoooo! The mana around me then changed themselves to suit my movements. It wasn¡¯t Haris who taught me swordsmanship at first. To be honest, I didn¡¯t pay much attention to its word origin that was supposed to hold meaning. In fact, there was no doubt that his swordsmanship was as powerful as Haris. It was called the Sword of The Water-Flowing Demon. It was a swordsmanship style that even Haris, a well-known swordsman, accepted, saying, ¡°I admit that it is actually pretty good.¡± Its movements were persistent and gentle compared to Haris¡¯ swordsmanship style, which was oppressive and destructive. [Dok Go-jun, the Heavenly Horse] He was once an unknown man who broke down a corrupt political faction and became a master of martial arts. Hercules, who taught me swordsmanship for the first time, made me learn from him after Haris, as he also dug into swordsmanship to its limit in the Hall of Heroes. At first, he said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to teach anyone. I don¡¯t know why I should teach him,¡± but he was a quirky guy who suddenly changed his mind with a bottle of unusual rice wine. When he laid down Cheongju, he bowed down and served almost as if he were serving a god, though I couldn¡¯t see him without laughing. He was a notorious drinker in the corridor. Even saint Daphne, who loved drinking, said he was pathetic. Usually, if one learned a swordsmanship style, it became challenging to learn from others. Accept different techniques into the style that they learned intensely would feel alienating. That was why I decided to use a combination of different swordsmanship styles. I combined the tenacity and elegance of the Heavenly Horse, Dok Go-jun, with the overwhelming power of Haris. The techniques that two crazy swordsmen created were honestly remarkably close to perfection. To be more precise, I could say that I was the final weapon that the heroes had determined to create. I knew I was strong, and even they said I was amazing. I thought of an imaginary hidden enemy before me as I moved nonstop. My body, which had almost recovered, didn¡¯t complain of pain despite the slight movements. ¡°Sigh¡­sigh. I¡¯m still around level 30.¡± However, it was surprising that I recovered this much in just five months. The Knight Commander of the Royal Guard, who was called the Master, would be defeated by me if I considered our swordsmanship skills. ¡°Whoa¡­ Whoa¡­¡± As I lay down my tired physique, the ceiling of the old yet clean hall came into view. It seemed like it would collapse at any moment, but it was holding on so well thanks to the minimum management required by it. ¡°Hmm? Who¡¯s here?¡± ¡°The priests are.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯ll be right there.¡± I used cleaning magic to wipe off my sweat, enjoying the refreshing feeling. With a suspiciously refreshed face, the person who was training a while ago moved slowly and held a cane toward the room. I wasn¡¯t capable of walking yet, as far as those outsiders knew. CH 9 Episode 9 ¡°Hmm, how are you feeling?¡± A priest questioned me with a cold expression, all while holding my wrist. ¡°Not bad. How much longer do you think I will need to recover?¡± ¡°Your energy is low because you¡¯ve been lying down for a long time. It¡¯s dangerous to overdo the divine magic.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± I laughed because I found it perfectly ridiculous. They didn¡¯t even apply proper recovery magic in the first place. Even if they did, they made excuses and reluctantly did so. Since they were Queen Liness¡¯s people, they would¡¯ve been told to delay my recovery as much as possible. However, it was still quite disgusting to see them act so corrupted. They were supposed to be priests. The basics of being a doctor started with knowing the importance of life. It was the first lesson that Hippocrates taught me. She was a genuine doctor, so she didn¡¯t discriminate between enemies and allies. I was an exception, though. Since they heard what happened to my life, they knew the thorny path ahead of me. I should thank them for not going any further. As a person who made a conscious declaration, I couldn¡¯t stand what they were doing. As a matter of fact, they were practicing medicine, whether they were doctors or priests. It wasn¡¯t true that I was unable to recover. I wasn¡¯t even trying, yet my body was healing by itself. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that divine magic is quite amazing.¡± ¡°Oh, yes.¡± ¡°I thought this injury would heal quicker with the power of grace from Lord Freya.¡± ¡°Your Majesty, you probably think that simply because you¡¯re not familiar with this.¡± They might have forgotten that the 16-year-old boy in front of them who they were mocking and looking down on was a prince. ¡°I don¡¯t know much?¡± ¡°Yes, the knowledge of divine power is an authority unique to our priests.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± I was looking at him as if I was interested. He smiled slyly and continued to murmur to himself. ¡°Of course, I know you are different from the brilliant prince Carlos.¡± ¡°Bort! How dare you say that in front of a prince! Be careful with what you say!¡± The problem was that this idiot didn¡¯t have a brain to think with. ¡°How dare a mere maid talk back to me?¡± I sighed when I saw him turning his head away from me and scolding Amy. Slap! Even though I was standing right there, he didn¡¯t stop but suddenly stood up and walked up to Amy and slapped her cheek. It was too rough for a priest who was supposed to be loving, but it wasn¡¯t all that surprising. Queen Liness had already corrupted him with materialism. ¡®That¡¯s why you can¡¯t go further than being a lower-ranked official in your life.¡¯ Even a junior official would gain significant power the moment they had Queen Liness behind them. That was probably why he was sitting here, filling up his lust. I was confident he didn¡¯t think before he spoke. ¡°What are you doing?¡± When I asked him calmly, he coughed in vain and slowly came up to me and held my hand again. ¡°If you let a maid with a big mouth work for you, you¡¯ll be in trouble someday.¡± In the corner, Amy was crying with her lips closed tightly. She looked angry. Considering her personality, the maid was probably angry at the fact that I was humiliated, not herself. She was one of the few people who were on my side in the palace. ¡°The treatment is over. See you in fifteen days.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± When I nodded calmly, he arrogantly got up from his seat. He then passed Amy and went to the door before stopping abruptly. ¡°That bitch has beauty.¡± His insidious smile caused me to frown. ¡°Amy.¡± I got up from my seat and leaned on my cane as if I knew nothing about it. ¡°They are important priests. Escort them to the way out of the palace.¡± ¡°As you wish, your Majesty.¡± With her head down, she followed the priest. She had to be angry. Furious, even. And she wasn¡¯t the only one who felt that way. Looking at the priest¡¯s back without saying a word, I slowly took out the old sword sitting next to the pillow. He was just asking for trouble. There was no reason to endure it. I calmed myself down and moved slowly. * * * I felt strangely cooled down. Was I angry? Not really, I guessed. For a long time, I had been waiting for this moment. Daphne, the saint, said, ¡°If you can¡¯t control your anger, you¡¯re no different from a dog or a pig,¡± but I disagreed with her. Moderate anger was a source of life and a milestone of purpose. If annoyance was the key to development, then anger was the driving force. The sound of my footsteps completely disappeared. Slowly walking down the palace hall, I saw Bort, the priest, pushing Amy into a corner and saying something. It looked like he was talking, but I couldn¡¯t hear much because he was too far away. ¡°Oh, prince¡­¡± ¡°Shut your mouth.¡± Puck! Perhaps he was watching me nearby. When an apprentice, standing nearby, found me, he tried to shout with his eyes wide open, but I was faster than his voice. As soon as my sword struck him, I walked away with a cold expression. Even though my abilities hadn¡¯t fully recovered, it still wouldn¡¯t be easy to spot me for a lower-ranked official like him. Bort was smiling menacingly at Amy, not expecting me to come here. ¡°Remember, you¡¯ll have to come to my room alone. Also, keep in mind that Prince Davey¡¯s life is in my hands.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­!¡± ¡°Royal Persecution? What do you know? He is a puppet. I didn¡¯t kill him, not because I couldn¡¯t. If you don¡¯t listen to what I say, I¡¯ll end his life without mercy. The Queen would say that I did a good job. No one is on Prince Davey¡¯s side in this palace.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°As you know, there¡¯s no one to punish me, the sheep of Freya, the son of Queen Liness and the holy shepherd. No, there isn¡¯t. Hahaha!¡± Everyone knew the power of Queen Liness in the royal palace. I couldn¡¯t stop laughing. Soon enough, I made some noise as I appeared. ¡°That¡¯s great. I needed an excuse, Amy.¡± ¡°Booch?! Majesty!¡± ¡°What¡¯s the punishment for insulting me?¡± My sudden appearance caused Bort¡¯s eyes to widen, who couldn¡¯t detect my presence earlier. At the same time, I picked up the sword I was holding and pulled it out like I was throwing it. A flash! The action was quick, and that was my creed. Apparently, he had been harassing her. I was sharp enough to know what happened so far without looking. I needed a proper justification, but could there be anything better than this? ¡°Oh, my God!¡± In a second, the sound of metal rang out, and hot blood splashed everywhere. Amy¡¯s eyes were filled with shock as she began to shudder. ¡°Ugh¡­ Ugh¡­ Ugh¡­ W-why¡­¡± Bort, the low-ranking official, collapsed on the floor and looked up at me, showing a shocked expression. According to what he knew, he didn¡¯t think I was able to appear without any noise. He would have thought that even if I could move a little, I still needed someone to support me. With that, I crept up toward him silently and swung my sword. He was one of Queen Liness¡¯s limbs inside the palace, not anyone else¡¯s, after all. He had a look of complete incomprehension. I spoke while keeping my face blank. ¡°Don¡¯t make me say it twice.¡± ¡°Immediate execution.¡± I shook my sword clean and smiled coldly at Amy, who answered my questions even though her body was shaking with fear. It was the law, but he didn¡¯t expect what was coming to him because no one ever died for it before. His expression was filled with confusion. ¡°Did you hear?¡± ¡°The Queen will not stand for this. In fact, even in the Mainland¡­¡± ¡°Thanks for the advice, but I assure you, there is no one on your side.¡± I pulled out the sword quickly after inserting it into his heart again as he coughed up blood. His body flinched and fell flat. He was dead. When I sheathed the sword back after I killed him, I glanced over at Amy. ¡°Ma¡­ Majesty¡­ Why¡­¡± ¡°Why not? It¡¯s just as you said. The crime of defamation of the royal family and attempted murder is immediate execution.¡± She burst into tears at my words. I patted her back without saying anything, and she cried there for a while. No matter how naive she was, she was most likely familiar with watching people die. This palace was a place where so many people had died behind my back. In the past, I was so foolish that I didn¡¯t even know it. ¡°Are you calming down now?¡± She realized her mistake and bowed her head after I teased her for crying. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m sorry, your Majesty¡­¡± ¡°Good job for holding on for so long. Call the guards to clean up since there are no knights here.¡± Amy looked at Bort while her body shook at my instructions. ¡°But, your Majesty¡­¡± She was so brilliant that she had immediately figured out what would happen to me after what I did. Bort was an official from the Mainland serving the god Freya, and he served Queen Liness. That meant he was sent here to monitor and slow down my recovery process. Externally, Queen Liness was a benevolent Queen who sent an official to a new palace for the safety of her stepson, but she was just a cheap woman full of dirty tricks inside. Whatever the reason was, it wouldn¡¯t be presented that I killed him under the right circumstances. Regardless of him committing a crime against the royal family, killing him without due process clearly had enough room for gigantic troubles. I wasn¡¯t certain, but rumors would most likely spread in the palace that the first prince, Davey Al Rown, had gone crazy. It was going to make my position worse. In the worst-case scenario, I would be confined to the outskirts of the palace because they would claim that I was a maniac. Furthermore, if there were complaints from the Mainland, I might be taken to the Mainland under the pretext of being a pawn. Whatever it was, Queen Liness would toast to it. She regarded me as a thorn in her side, after all. Of course, I was aware of all of that when I did it. CH 10 Episode 10 They said a horse without feet could go to heaven. Word about my actions spread through the palace quickly. As was widely rumored, Amy asked the guards for help, so there was nothing more to see. ¡®That hurt!¡¯ My head then turned away from the sudden slap. When I calmly looked up, I saw a furious woman standing before me. Queen Liness, the woman who commanded the low-ranking priest I killed. She currently held most of the power in the royal palace. ¡°Are you insane?!¡± ¡°Do you think I am?¡± ¡°How dare you kill a priest who was sent from the Mainland!¡± I smirked at her. ¡°Bort threatened my life with his greed. I punished him according to the law in return. Is there a problem?¡± ¡°How dare you!¡± She raised her hand again, throwing away her usually graceful mien. I quickly opened my mouth before she could continue. ¡°Isn¡¯t that funny?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°The royal law wasn¡¯t as chaotic until I fell into a coma.¡± She fell silent at my words. ¡°The Majesty is silent about this complete disorder. I just cut down a traitor who defamed the royal family, and now I¡¯m getting blamed for it. It is funny, after all, the fact that the royal family¡¯s status is now lower than that of a priest.¡± I smiled, making eye contact with her. I wasn¡¯t the same person as before who used to avoid her gaze out of discomfort. I would¡¯ve been silent in the past, but I didn¡¯t spend three months recovering and training my body while avoiding others¡¯ eyes for no reason. I simply needed the power to protect my body. ¡°How dare you bring up the authority of the Majesty and the Royal Family¡­ You¡¯re insane.¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m the one going crazy or if the royal palace is.¡± I continued to look at her with a smile. ¡°There¡¯s no evidence. No matter what reason you cut him down for, this situation isn¡¯t simple enough for your little, stupid mind to judge. There will be complaints from the Mainland!¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯ve always known you¡¯re as stupid as your mother, but I didn¡¯t know you¡¯re also this impulsive.¡± Her words only served to deepen my laughter. ¡°It is quite true that I inherited my mother¡¯s traits.¡± ¡°Very shallow. You¡¯re like a clone of your mother.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not good to belittle parents in front of their children, your Majesty.¡± ¡°Hmph!¡± Her murderous spirit flared with those words. Such emotions were impossible to utilize if let out of control. However, when controlled, a spirit of jealousy and murder could be a powerful weapon. She looked at me with a face that turned pale in an instant and then slowly retreated. The maids flinched, sensing the abnormality in Queen Liness¡¯s behavior. I couldn¡¯t see their hands, which meant they stopped pulling out their sword when they felt the bloodthirsty outrage. It wasn¡¯t proper behavior for a maid. One of them was even peculiarly creepy. ¡®Hmm¡­¡¯ ¡°Great loyalty. It would¡¯ve been fun if they pulled it out a little more¡­¡± I brushed off the murderous spirit and smiled as if nothing happened. ¡°It¡¯s dangerous when people rush their decisions. Not just for you, Queen Liness, but others as well. They won¡¯t tolerate any murder within the royal family.¡± ¡°You¡­¡± ¡°Please be mindful of your choice. I am not the same boy I used to be.¡± I got up from my seat without hesitation and grabbed my cane. I then walked away, limping past her. ¡°Could you leave now? I¡¯m tired. As you can see, the palace itself is out of control and shabby. You are too good to be here.¡± ¡°You punk!¡± ¡°I ask you to be quiet in my palace. As you can see, the palace is a mess thanks to a certain someone.¡± As I turned around as if there was nothing more to say, I witnessed her confused expression. I had clearly conveyed my intention. It wasn¡¯t my personality to go into battle with a hidden knife since I had a reckless and hot temperament that could explode at any moment. She wasn¡¯t that stupid to not know what I meant. Hence, she stared at me with fury in her eyes but soon turned around. The choices that I had definitely wouldn¡¯t be available forever. If I didn¡¯t take action when I could, I might never be able to use it. That was the reason why I didn¡¯t hesitate to give her a heads-up. I implied that I knew Carlos shot an arrow at me at the hunting contest six years ago. She wasn¡¯t sure if I knew about it before, but she must¡¯ve known now that I was aware of everything. Sooner or later, she would try to stop me. ¡°Oh, by the way, all the servants in the palace have been sent somewhere else. It¡¯s not good to be sneaking around.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°The Queen has been taking care of the royal family. I¡¯d like you to see all of them again as soon as possible. If this continues, there may be some bizarre rumors.¡± Her eyes filled with even more rage as I made myself clear. I wasn¡¯t elegant enough to battle with a knife wrapped in fabric. ¡°It¡¯s a serious crime to steal money from the royal funds, as far as I know.¡± I grinned and murmured. ¡°Anyone caught would be beheaded. Haha, you¡¯re not stupid enough to not know that.¡± She snorted at my words and walked away. That was enough. When I lay down on the bed with satisfaction, I lifted my mana and saw four circles rotating inside my body. It was magic that moved along the blood points. Search Eye. Just like the command mana, which symbolized secrecy, a black air stream, invisible to others¡¯ eyes, stretched out and followed Queen Liness. It wouldn¡¯t last long, but I had an eye on her. It was quite a satisfying result in return for getting slapped in the face. * * * ¡°¡­¡± Queen Liness, who returned to her room without saying a word, remained silent with an expression of rage. ¡°Queen Majesty.¡± Slap! When the maid quietly tried to speak, she was hit by the queen. ¡°Don¡¯t be hasty. Do you really want to die?¡± At her shouting, the women bowed their heads with their mouths shut. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Her face showed no emotion as if she weren¡¯t even human. ¡°Grrr!!¡± Angered even more by her dull expression, Queen Liness began to throw everything in her reach hysterically. Most of the people in the Queen¡¯s Palace knew that she had a bad temper. Nobody stopped her, even if she shattered glasses and smashed wood tables. At that point, they were just waiting for her to stop. ¡°Sigh¡­ Sigh¡­¡± After the long disturbance, she put her hand on the smashed table with a grim face, clenched her fist, and growled. ¡°He is stupidly clueless about where he belongs.¡± He didn¡¯t do that in the past. He was as dumb as his shallow mother back then. In fact, she could¡¯ve killed him if she really wanted to. However, he became different after he woke up from a coma. It was as if he had become a completely different person. ¡°Come on. If you really want to die, there is no reason to hesitate.¡± Breathing heavily, she murmured lowly, ¡°Keep it up. Your rude behavior will tighten the noose around your neck.¡± She didn¡¯t know that Davey was humming as he listened to her hysterical shouts. * * * The result went as expected. Rumors began to spread inside the palace. Prince David Al Rown was crazy. He was mad and killed the innocent people around him without any care, losing his royal pride. Since most people inside the palace were her people, my reputation plummeted. In the past, they thought I was too weak to be king, a kind prince with a lot of affection. Now, however, I was treated like a maniac. ¡°Majesty! The medicine is here today!¡± When I was quietly reading a book, Amy came in and began to make a fuss. She still seemed quite shocked by the time I wielded my sword. Still, she showed me a smile because she knew I was trying to save her, not anyone else, and that I was generally nice most of the time. I thought she was cute. No one had been younger than me in the Hall. I was currently sixteen years old, and she was a little younger than me. In that regard, she was like my little sister, although the status between us had an enormous gap. I had to protect my people. ¡°Who brought the medicine?¡± At first, they only brought me food, but medicine then started showing up after I ended priest Bort¡¯s life. The gifts arrived secretly, so no one could really tell. In fact, it had been quite helpful to me. I didn¡¯t need any medical herbs as of the moment, though, so I just kept them in storage. Clearly, my body had finished recovering. After five months of dedication to recovery and training, the effects began to appear. Once my body started to heal, it didn¡¯t take long to become healthy again. She smiled at me when I asked her a question, pretending that I didn¡¯t know that someone came in the middle of the night. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe someone who knows your kind nature is helping.¡± ¡°Do you think I¡¯m kind?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± She smiled brightly as she nodded, which made me laugh. Even though she had seen me kill a man, she still had quite the character. ¡°Take good care of the medicine and keep it safe.¡± ¡°I was going to get them ready for you.¡± ¡°I know my body well enough. The medicine I¡¯m taking is enough.¡± She looked disappointed when I refused but didn¡¯t argue further. I was a man of my own. ¡°David, your Majesty, are you here?¡± While I was talking to Amy, gently teasing her, I heard someone calling my name. Slowly, I got up from my seat and went outside, and an old butler dressed in neat clothes bowed to me. ¡°I see the little sun of the kingdom.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to act fancy. What¡¯s going on?¡± I knew the old man. Vespers. He served as the king¡¯s servant and the head of the royal court¡¯s inner servants. He was an old man who had worked here since I was born. ¡°They¡¯re the ones who stole money from the First Prince¡¯s Palace and escaped from their duties under the command of Queen Liness.¡± I squinted at his determined words and let out a small sigh. When I looked behind him, I saw a little more than ten people kneeling on the floor, all having frightened expressions. CH 11 Episode 11 ¡°So, it was you.¡± The group consisted of a gardener, two maids, a deacon, and some other lower-class aristocrats. There were all kinds of people like them. If I tried to chase them by myself, half of them would¡¯ve fled successfully, so my plan worked out in the end. Except for the maid Amy, they all ran away when I was in a coma. They were embezzlers who took their salaries without working. Their face turned pale as soon as they looked into my eyes, hearing the ongoing rumors that I went crazy. ¡°Vespers.¡± ¡°Yes, your Majesty.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the punishment for them?¡± ¡°They¡¯re heinous. Technically, they should be beheaded alongside their immediate family.¡± He answered without hesitation, and the faces of those tied up turned blue. ¡°Your M-Majesty! I¡¯ve sinned terribly, but spare my life, please!¡± As one of them started begging for forgiveness by holding my leg, most others followed suit and bowed their heads. Even if I were crazy, they probably thought I¡¯d forgive them because I was supposed to be weak-minded. Or they could have done that to survive, taking any chance they could. ¡°Recently, interesting rumors are circulating around the palace.¡± ¡°What rumors are they?¡± I asked Vespers, the Lord Chamberlain while ignoring their pleas. ¡°That I¡¯m obsessed with blood?¡± ¡°Yes, your Majesty.¡± He replied so firmly, almost as if he never spoke indirectly. There was nothing strange about the rumor because the priest who came to give me treatment was stabbed to death in my palace. It was an immediate execution without a detailed investigation. No justification for punishing me existed at that moment, however. Even though Queen Liness put me on probation, which was almost a joke, she was just watching me quietly. If my reputation grew worse and more violent, I would be in a different situation. Hence, I decided to only punish those who broke the law for the time being. ¡°Then I¡¯ll have to keep up with the rumor.¡± ¡°¡­¡± At my words, Vespers bowed his head without saying a word. He then told the soldiers who had brought them to put them down on their knees. ¡°Did you hear Majesty¡¯s order?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Take them. They dared embezzle the precious treasury of the kingdom. Don¡¯t give them a sip of water and lock them up. Behead them in four days!¡± ¡°Please, god, no¡­ Lord Chamberlain!¡± ¡°Save me!¡± One of them shouted sternly, ignoring those who were crying and hanging on. ¡°They have filled their stomachs by sucking up the taxpayer¡¯s money. What are you waiting for? Take them now!¡± The soldiers took the people who were crying away. ¡°I will leave now, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Did you say it was the Queen Majesty¡¯s order?¡± ¡°Yes, she said she had been trying to capture those who had stolen from the treasury.¡± ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous.¡± I saw a little shock in Vespers¡¯ expression. However, he carefully smoothed over his face as if he had come to his senses. ¡°Your Majesty, you¡¯re not supposed to be disrespectful to the Queen. You should be careful with your language.¡± ¡®I¡¯m sorry, Lord Chamberlain, but I¡¯ve already seen everything.¡¯ When I was young, he used to smile at me and often gave me snacks. ¡°I¡¯ll hire new people and arrange them in the afternoon.¡± ¡°I want Amy to be my maid. Since she has been through a lot, I want to promote her to Chief Maid. Did you say it should be from different funding if I want to reward her?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Give her a big bonus.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do that.¡± He bowed politely. ¡°Also.¡± I caught him on his way back. ¡°Is it still impossible to see the King?¡± He went silent at my words. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Is it my father¡¯s order or the Queen¡¯s?¡± He smiled in vain at the fact that I had already figured out the situation. ¡°I am just delivering command.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Thank you. You may head back.¡± He turned silently at my words. Then, he stopped again. ¡°Majesty, patience is crucial in the palace.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. I know what you¡¯re trying to say, though. I¡¯ll keep your words in mind.¡± With a grin on my face, he stepped back, seemingly unconcerned. Vespers was one of those who didn¡¯t belong to Queen Liness. I knew what he was saying wasn¡¯t a warning but advice from his experience. Surely I was in a precarious situation in his perspective as well. The prince with nothing was too fearless. Except what he didn¡¯t know was that I wasn¡¯t without anything. * * * ¡®Cut the tail.¡¯ Queen Liness got rid of everything that could be dangerous to her in the name of her business with me. If she removed existences that could become evidence one by one, she would have nothing to be afraid of someday. She had to be aiming for that time. I thought she¡¯d act right away, but she was being quite careful for some reason. While reading silently, Amy came in. ¡°Majesty, I brought some snacks.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± She blushed at my smile. ¡°Your Majesty. The fourth prince and the second princess have returned to the palace.¡± ¡°Barris and Winley?¡± It was surprisingly good news. I looked up, and she nodded quietly. ¡°Yes, he must have come straight from the country when he heard that you had woken up.¡± ¡°That¡¯s pretty good news.¡± ¡°He said he would stop by here immediately after he meets the King.¡± ¡°Then can we just let it go? Please prepare some refreshments as well as good tea.¡± She grinned and heeded my words. * * * The current king, Crianes Al Rown, had a wife and two concubines. The first wife was the current Queen Liness. His first concubine was Anisha, and his second was Alice. My mother was supposed to be the queen, but she died when I was a child. Since then, some political tricks must¡¯ve been used in removing the records of my mother. Eventually, The only traces of her existence left were the ones in the first Prince¡¯s Palace where I stayed. When I looked at the picture without saying a word, I saw a black-haired beauty holding a little me and smiling kindly. It felt narcissistic, but I thought my face was quite gentle and handsome. Just as I received quite a few of my mother¡¯s genes, she was also a beautiful woman who looked really beautiful. ¡°Thanks to the good genes you passed onto me, your handsome son is doing well.¡± I tried to talk to her, but of course, no answer came. ¡°Is it worth living there?¡± Perhaps she reincarnated and had been living well somewhere in this world or another. There was no way to see her again, considering I could never find her. ¡°Please wait a little longer. I can¡¯t just let the people who killed my mother die without first paying the price.¡± ¡°Davey, brother!¡± ¡°Big brother! It¡¯s Winley! I¡¯m here!¡± I had been quietly waiting for them with cookies and tea when I heard two urgent voices. ¡°I¡¯m here. Come on in, you two.¡± It felt amazing to hear the voices that I missed so much. As soon as I let them in, the door burst open, and a little boy and girl jumped in. They were cute mid-teens who looked good with their green hair. Fourteen years old. Fourth Prince Barris and his fraternal twin Winley, the second princess. ¡°Long time no see.¡± ¡°Brother! I heard that you woke up, and I ran straight to see you. What a relief!¡± I stroked Barris¡¯s head, who was shouting adorably, as Winley came up to me. ¡°Are you guys doing well?¡± When I asked them with a smile, they nodded vigorously. ¡°You know who I am! I¡¯m your little brother. There is nothing hard about living in the countryside.¡± ¡°Huh! You always whine about it, though.¡± ¡°What? Hey! I¡¯m your older brother. You¡¯ve been complaining about the robbers too.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous! You were born five minutes earlier than me.¡± ¡°Ha!¡± I smiled as they chatted loudly. They were some of the few people who weren¡¯t my enemies, and I trusted them as always. Unlike the stupid, thoughtless second Prince Carlos and the grim, twisted-minded Benedict, they turned out to be unbelievably delightful. They looked just like a normal twin brother and sister who squabbled a lot instead of royal family members. The two wild kids busied themselves with rambling at each other. I felt that I was really looking at the kids in their early teens. They were only fourteen years old, an age when they should still be playing around. That was how I saw it. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re doing well. Let¡¯s see. You little ones grew up so well.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been six years. When you got sick, we were sent straight to the countryside.¡± I smiled at Barris, who murmured angrily. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve heard about the gist of it.¡± It was definitely Queen Liness who got rid of any candidates to become the next king. Queen Liness was so cold that she sent Tanya away, the first daughter of the King¡¯s concubine. She sold her to another country for her reputation. Hence, it wasn¡¯t that strange that she got rid of Barris and Winley, who liked to wander around. ¡°Have you seen father?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°How is he doing?¡± ¡°He looked a little tired, and¡­¡± Barris paused for a moment. At the same time, Winley seemed puzzled. ¡°Davey, have you not seen father?¡± ¡°No, not yet.¡± It made Winley¡¯s face crumple, showing her dissatisfaction. ¡°Oh, my God.¡± His son woke up from a coma after six years. It had been five months since then, but I hadn¡¯t seen him once. ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll see him soon.¡± ¡°Brother¡­¡± Unlike Carlos and Benedict, they had been good to me even though our mothers were different. They were so affectionate to me, though they had a strong will. That was why I trusted them. ¡°The Queen was too harsh¡­¡± Winley came up to me in tears, so I patted her on the back without saying a word. ¡°How is your body? I saw it on the way here. The condition of the palace¡­¡± I nodded at Barris, who couldn¡¯t finish the sentence without tearing up as well. ¡°There were people who have embezzled royal funding. I¡¯ve taken them all away before you guys. The palace should look good again soon.¡± Barris gritted his teeth. ¡°How come they left the garden like this? They must have taken advantage of you being in bed.¡± CH 12 Episode 12 Just like me, Barris hated Queen Liness. Even though she wasn¡¯t their birth mother, he didn¡¯t expect to be left without care at all. ¡°I am going to meet father and tell him.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not necessary.¡± ¡°But¡­!¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough. Like I said, I can take care of myself. Let¡¯s talk about you guys. I heard you two are chasing a herd of local pirates.¡± ¡°We are.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± I was surprised that even princess Winley was involved in chasing the thieves with Barris. However, I had no power to do anything about it. Winley used to hate life in the palace, just like Barris, and it was all because of her wild character. She was incredibly talented in magic and was just a different breed who enjoyed her life like a spring sprout, unlike other aristocratic ladies. ¡°I¡¯m sorry that you¡¯ve already seen blood. I wish you only saw pretty and good things.¡± ¡°This idiot would be badly hurt without me.¡± Barris, sitting right next to her, frowned and grumbled when she pinched his cheek. ¡°What the hell?¡± ¡°Did I say something wrong? You charge in like a battering ram!¡± Queen Liness sent kids to the battlefield, who were only fourteen years olds. It was such a terrible act. If they weren¡¯t talented, their lives would¡¯ve ended in tragedy. I began to laugh in vain. ¡°So when are you going to come back?¡± ¡°Honestly, I feel at ease there. Even though I hate fighting, at least I don¡¯t have to stay in the suffocating palace.¡± It seemed like that was what they wanted as well. ¡°But Anisha is here. Wait, you guys went to see Anisha, right? They seemed discomforted by my question. ¡°Sigh¡­ I can¡¯t believe it. You should see her right now. What are you two still doing here?¡± Their face turned pale as I waved and spoke. ¡°Hi-Hi-Hih! Yes, your Majesty.¡± ¡°Brother! We¡¯ll be back in the evening!¡± I smiled at them as I watched them run. Amy also smiled at them slightly with her head down, waiting in the distance to serve us. * * * In the palace, there was a queen and two concubines. the eldest daughter of Duke Varietta, had replaced the queen after my mother died. The two concubines were Anisha, the first concubine, and Alice, the second concubine. Barris and Winley were the children of Anisha. Queen Liness didn¡¯t favor the first concubine. Unlike Alice, Queen Liness¡¯s favorite, Anisha had a good friendship with my mother back when she was alive. Consequently, Anisha, the first concubine, was unfavored by Queen Liness, who hated any of my mother¡¯s traces. Well, Anisha¡¯s hatred was stronger, who sent her kids to somewhere remote from the palace. It was best for her children to be in a safe area that her family had power over. At least Barris and Winley had been guarded by the local soldiers who were loyal to her household. Barris and Winley, in return, were furious about the fact that their mother was being frightened by the queen. It was late at night when the twins came back to see me. Amy got emotional when she saw the palace was regaining its original appearance as new servants started working in the place. Did I overload her with work? When I asked her, she shook her head. She seemed happy, almost as if she was a child. Barris asked, ¡°Brother, now that you¡¯re awake, does that mean that you¡¯re going to be the crowned prince now?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, brother! I¡¯m sure you will be the Sage King!¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°As you know, the Crowned Prince¡¯s seat is empty in the Rown Kingdom.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± ¡°Then you will be one.¡± Flick! I flicked his head with my finger, implying I didn¡¯t want to hear more. He yelled and stepped back in reply. ¡°Ow!¡± I wanted to live for a long time enjoying my life. Being king was an unfortunate occupation where most people died from overwork. It wasn¡¯t surprising that his head was in great pain, simply because my physical ability had exceeded normal human beings. He looked shocked. ¡°Come on, get another drink.¡± ¡°Brother, I¡¯m considered underage for drinking.¡± ¡°Huh! Don¡¯t be a prude, Barris. I¡¯m ready for a drink, Davey.¡± Winley asked for her glass to be filled with wine as she handed it over. She was such a cutie. ¡°He is way better than our underaged brothers who party all the time-wasting money in the palace. He smiled at me as if he agreed with me. ¡°Then I¡¯ll get a drink!¡± He gulped down the wine I poured. ¡°Aaah¡­ it tastes good.¡± ¡°It¡¯s left by my mother.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Shouldn¡¯t we save it?¡± ¡°Why the hell would you save the alcohol that she left for drinking?¡± Barris looked at me curiously. ¡°You¡¯ve changed a lot, brother.¡± ¡°Do I look different?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. You used to keep your mother¡¯s traces.¡± These little kids remembered everything. ¡°Well, tell me why you came here in the middle of the night.¡± After being silent for a few minutes, I asked them when I noticed that they were hesitating about something. Then, instead of Barris, Winley pulled a small letter from the pouch in her hand. ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a continental sword competition held every five years! It¡¯s going to take place in the Duchy of Felicity.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± There was an Olympic-like concept on this continent. continental competitions. Swordsmanship, magic, archery. Even academic. The competition, which covered various fields, revolved around each country, and it was also an excellent opportunity for those who won the prize. Of course, the spectacle was definitely worth seeing because all the future notables and strong individuals would be there. Even aristocrats scalped tickets for the swordsmanship competition. ¡°Brother, you row when the water comes in. You¡¯ve rarely been out of the palace, have you?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°¡­ So I asked father!¡± Proudly shouting, Barris puffed his chest out. Winley poked his ribs with her elbow. ¡°I¡¯ve already told him. The only muscles you have are for standing and smiling.¡± ¡°What the hell?¡± I looked at the notice without saying a word as they grumbled again. It was definitely one of the best contests for spectators. The Continental Sword Contest was attended by many promising talents to make a name for themselves continually. As it was a competition to promote the continent¡¯s harmony, anyone, from mercenaries to royalty, could participate if they had the required skill. ¡°Ahem! Brother, I got a ticket to the qualifying round!¡± Barris said proudly with a throbbing heart. ¡°Oh, really? You must¡¯ve improved a lot.¡± I pretended to be surprised, but I could see Mana accumulating in his body. He was an expert intermediate, which meant that he was on a tremendous level compared to his age. His talent was by no means average. ¡°I¡¯m participating, and I¡¯m asking you to watch me. Why don¡¯t we all go together?¡± ¡°My brother and I will also see the capital of Winley and the Duchy of Felicity! Hehe! The city of water must be lovely!¡± I was thankful that it was clearly revealed that I hadn¡¯t been anywhere else since I woke up from my coma. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If you suffer, I¡¯ll carry you on my back!¡± ¡°I heard from Lord Ramdas of the Royal Court. My brother¡¯s body is recovering at a tremendous rate.¡± ¡°Lucky little ones.¡± The words made me laugh. Well, life had become full of leisure. The reason for being tied up like in the past had long since disappeared. It wasn¡¯t detrimental for me to watch such a competition at least once, as Barris said. And then, wait, we could join, right? * * * ¡°It wasn¡¯t a good opportunity.¡± A woman¡¯s eerie eyes shone into the darkroom. ¡°I never thought I¡¯d crawl into the dragon¡¯s mouth.¡± The woman, who was talking coldly and looking down at the cold cup of tea, was Queen Liness. She didn¡¯t even look at her, who was bowing her head in silence. ¡°Shari.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no reason to save the man who wants to die.¡± ¡°There is only one chance of a raid on the way to the Duchy of Felicity. I¡¯ll scatter their blood in it.¡± ¡°If you fail, it¡¯s going to be a huge blow.¡± ¡°They have no chance of survival.¡± Even if his bloodline hadn¡¯t continued, he was still a member of the same royal family. Liness Varietta seemed to feel no guilt about making her do it. ¡°Yes, but you don¡¯t know what¡¯s going to happen, so you better finish it yourself.¡± ¡°¡­ As contracted.¡± When she said that, the woman-in-law, Shari, answered coldly, grasping at her coldly subsiding life. * * * In most countries, the competition where promising young people participated was truly remarkable. Of course, it was safe to say that the royal family didn¡¯t oppose Barris¡¯ participation in the continental sword competition. What was a little surprising was that Queen Liness, who had never looked at anyone else¡¯s children with kindness, readily agreed to let him participate in the competition and to me accompanying him. If Barris were to win a prize in the competition, his position would soar completely different from Carlos, who only believed in himself. Of course, Queen Liness, who didn¡¯t want such a situation, would have to oppose his participation, but she was willing to allow it for some unknown reason. In addition, she expressed her willingness to accept me joining the ranks under the pretext of nursing care. A series of groups approached us, kneeling on one knee on the altar of the Mana Gate, which led to the estate nearest the Duchy of Felicity. ¡°Raise your head.¡± It was a stern voice, but on the other hand, it also sounded tired. At the end of the silent raise, a middle-aged man came out and looked at the procession to the Duchy of Felicity, including Barris and Winley. He was Crianes Al Rown, King of the Rown Kingdom. He was the king of this country and my father. That was the first time I saw my father in nearly half a year after I woke up. ¡®You¡¯ve been avoiding me.¡¯ I peered at him closely. His former cheerful and imposing figure was hard to find in his current appearance. For six years, or a little longer than that, my father had been transformed into a completely different person. He had now become a weary old lion. CH 13 Episode 13 Behind King Crianes, who looked at us with a tired expression, were Queen Liness, who were smiling brightly on the outside while hiding what she was up to, and Anisha. Behind them was the the Marquis of Faytris, the Swordmaster and the Knights of the inner palace, and several other nobles. ¡°I see the sun of the kingdom.¡± ¡°I see the sun of the kingdom.¡± ¡°The sun of the kingdom¡­¡± When I spoke quietly with my head down, Barris and Winley promptly followed after me. ¡°Well, are you confident?¡± He seemed indifferent, judging from the simple question he asked. It was as if he wasn¡¯t really interested in the conversation at hand. ¡°Yes, Your Majesty! I will surely win the prize and elevate the status of the kingdom.¡± When asked such a question, Barris answered it as vigorously as he had always done. I wasn¡¯t sure if the answer itself quite satisfactory. Regardless, King Crianes soon brushed his beard off, nodded, and sighed briefly. ¡°Be safe.¡± After tapping Barris on the shoulder and smiling at him, he immediately turned his head away. Then, his gaze rested upon me. A look of mixed emotions was visible on his face. I was pretty good at reading people, but his expression was hard to discern. He was, after all, a man of dignity. Even old and tired lions never lost their dignity. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± He didn¡¯t say anymore. I had no intention of being sentimental with him at that moment, so I just looked down. ¡°Listen! Fourth Prince Barris¡¯s participation in the Continental Sword Contest is the bliss of the kingdom! As of this day, I will release extra funds to celebrate a festival in our territory!¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± The nobles all answered at the shout of Crianes. ¡°Give special amnesty to those who have sinned small!¡± There were some odd faces of disapproval with the King¡¯s order since it only happened when there was a big national event, but no one dared disobey his order. Still, special amnesty was one of the most incomprehensible laws. ¡°Go on and boost the status of the kingdom!¡± At the end of his remark, Barris noded, slowly lifting his head. ¡°Open the gate!¡± Pssssszzzzzz! When the wizard who was manipulating the mana gate shouted, a vast blue circular structure built behind me began to emit light. The bizarre wave of power slowly created a whirlpool with a considerable gap. It began to shine as if the light would completely cover the raised podium where the procession to the Duchy of Felicity was standing. Ssssssshh! Soon after, the wizard¡¯s incantation came out, causing a huge wave to devour all the processions. King Crianes¡¯ expressionless face glanced beyond as we disappeared into the light. I closed my eyes, remaining silent, as Queen Liness maintained her own mysterious air. * * * The procession to the Duchy of Felicity was small. Fourth Prince Barris led the way to participate, and Winley and I accompanied him to support him. In addition to that, there were only five butlers, five or six maids, and five knights for escort. Of course, four of them were the best in swordsmanship. Considering that every one of them was a strategic-weapon-level talent, they could guarantee our safety. Their expertise would eventually defeat any hostility. Perhaps because of that, it was such a tedious journey. There weren¡¯t even any animals on the way, much more mountain thieves. ¡°Oh¡­ boring.¡± Barris, who had lived wildly, seemed unable to endure such uneventfulness. ¡°You idiot! Boring is the best thing!¡± ¡°Do you like this extreme boredom?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t! But do you want to be attacked by somebody when Davey is here with us, you idiot?¡± Barris cringed at Winley¡¯s criticism before he went and looked at me. I was supposed to go on a horse carriage because I had been sick not that long ago. Barris realized that and put me in the horse-drawn carriage. Thanks to him, it became more tedious, but I was thankful for his thoughtfulness. ¡°We should camp here today.¡± Sir Blcano, the knight who was leading the way, promptly suggested. It was going to take another day to get to the Duchy of Felicity on horseback. We could¡¯ve been gone through the Mana Gate, but unfortunately, the Duchy of Felicity was one of the smallest countries. As a result, there was no Mana Gate. To move, we had to travel through one of ours to a nearby state and then walk directly by land. Fortunately, the territory of the Duchy of Felicity was quite close to the Rown. The servants and maids taking care of us were experienced for camps, and our knights were scattered to guard the site. Barris then began to ask, throwing branches into the bonfire, ¡°How do you feel, Davey?¡± ¡°Right, do you like the gift we¡¯ve got for you? In the past, you said you wanted to go camping like this on an adventure. We thought you wouldn¡¯t like a big group of people with us, so I minimized the size.¡± They were smiling at me as if they were waiting for compliments from me, which made me laugh in turn. ¡°Yes, thank you, you two.¡± They could¡¯ve cared less about me because we were only half-related, but their warm-hearted care touched me. Barris sat down and excitedly talked about how we used to play together when we were little. Meanwhile, Winley was making fun of Barris but seemed just as excited, seeing as she was smiling the whole time. ¡°Davey?¡± However, despite their conversation, my eyes were fixated on the other side of the forest. ¡°Hey, Davey.¡± Winley called out to me, carefully sensing the unusual look on my face. ¡°Oh¡­ uh¡­¡± ¡°Try some of this.¡± ¡°Sure, thanks.¡± ¡°What were you looking at so closely?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, Davey. Is there something over there?¡± I ignored his question. Upon seeing my movements, the two seemed to feel concerned for me. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s late, so I¡¯ll go in and rest first. Will you rest in the carriage with me?¡± The two shook their heads at my suggestion. ¡°I¡¯m comfortable with tents, sir.¡± ¡°Me, too.¡± Who would think that they were noble royalty? Barris was fine, but I was a little worried about Winley for being too wild. ¡°Hmm. I guess camping just fits your wild nature. I¡¯m a little worried about how you¡¯re going to find a husband, though.¡± ¡°Pfft. I¡¯m not going to be married but live with Davey instead. Mind your own business, Barris.¡± Winley stuck out her tongue at Barris and hugged my arm. When I went to stroke her head silently, Barris clicked his tongue. ¡°That¡¯s enough, you punk.¡± ¡°Phooey!¡± They went to their tent set by servants, both sporting sad expressions. Silence then dawned at the campsite. The conversation had been cut off, after all. The two, who were mainly leading the talks, had already gone to rest. As I sat silently and looked at the sky, Amy approached me carefully and asked, ¡°Your Majesty, would you like to go in and rest?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a beautiful day for a walk.¡± ¡°What?¡± I then got up without answering her question. * * * While everyone was already asleep, I sat on a tree branch nearby the campsite, slowly moving my gaze to the sky from a book. Although they would¡¯ve been in chaos if anyone noticed that I had disappeared, I replaced myself with Ghost magic that I had saved for a time like this. The book I had been reading was about the continent¡¯s political situation when I was in a coma and medical practice. I shouldn¡¯t neglect my physical training, but I should take care of my medical expertise as well. My medical technique proficiency was considered to be quite excellent, and I was still the best student in a master of the Divine Hippocrates¡¯s class. ¡°It is a beautiful night sky.¡± I just talked to myself. The night sky was lit up by red and blue moons showing off their power. Cyrus, the moon that illuminated the beginning, and Krias, the moon that illuminated the end. The moon that brightened the night of the first and the moon that brightened the night of the last had quite a few stories, but most of them proved to be too exaggerated to keep me interested. Meanwhile, I just thought that the moons looked beautiful. They filled the night sky along with numerous stars and galaxies that spread out, illuminating the evening brightly, making me wonder if it was really nighttime. Nothing was the same in the night sky of the Earth or the Corridor. I found myself suddenly wondering if Barris and Winley had brought me here to show such a view to me. The dark sky I saw here was completely different from the one I saw in the palace, though they were both beautiful. Ssssss! All I could hear was the sound of insects and owls. I casually put down the book in my hand and swung a nearby branch in the air lightly. Whip! Whip! Each swing tore through the air with a faint sound. Well, it was still satisfying. ¡°Now that I¡¯m done watching the night, I should try my evening exercise.¡± My eyes were fixed on a single spot without moving. I then saw a movement of a group of men dressed in black. After all, commanders generally had good night vision. There were about 20 people, and they had professionally hidden their murderous spirits. They were assassins with extraordinary abilities, able to safely accomplish their duties despite all the unfavorable conditions. If I were an ordinary person without any physical strength, the consequences that would follow my ignorance would¡¯ve been a brutal murder. The whole story was obvious. The only opportunity to take us three children¡¯s lives had finally come. Queen Liness seemed to have chosen to send murderers to assassinate us rather than leave potential sources of trouble for nothing. To be honest, I wasn¡¯t happy about the situation where I might look suspicious if I were to show my ability. Hence, I quickly let go of my thoughts without much regret. I didn¡¯t have to worry about it in the first place. ¡°They are too slow to make ends meet as assassins.¡± The people who could see me running wild in the first place¡­ ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Ouch.¡± [Mountain Pressure] They didn¡¯t exist. A slender branch suddenly became an enormous mountain and, in doing so, sliced the highly-trained assassins¡¯ bodies in half. Dark red blood splashed over the night sky, warming up the atmosphere. CH 14 Episode 14 The Duchy of Felicity The quiet incident managed to silence the surroundings completely. Ssssslit! Without even knowing how he died, the man was split in half and fell, his blood spilling profusely. Sssssss! Red fluids that couldn¡¯t withstand the pressure had begun to splash all over the place. Still, I calmly brushed off the dust on the branch in my hand. If one didn¡¯t have a tooth, they had to chew with gums. Since I didn¡¯t have a sword with me, I had to use a branch instead. That was what Thousand Horse Dok Go-jun said, and I considered him my second teacher of swordsmanship. -Everything becomes a weapon when you hold it in your hand. Don¡¯t forget: there¡¯s no law in a fight. Weapons are an extension of physical attacks. Depending on how you think, a piece of cloth could become a rare high-class sword. My sudden attack seemed to make the people moving in secrecy stumble, for they apparently couldn¡¯t handle the shock I had created. Even if it was just a branch in my hand, the skill of the assassins proved to be insultingly poor compared to Hermes, who had taught me the art of killing. That was the light Stroke of Bell. However, when the Thousand-Force Hammer technique, invented by Thousand Horse Dokgojun, and Haris¡¯ sword technique, shared subversive, destructive power, branches would inevitably turn into a mountain. No assassin would be able to withstand the pressure, no matter how good of a team they were. ¡°As soon as you got the chance, you tried to raid, you dullards.¡± It definitely seemed that the injury made it difficult for them to scatter back into the forest. The assassins stared at me with intense eyes, all without moving their bodies. ¡°Just for clarification, did Queen liness send you here?¡± I asked a question, but no answer came forth. I didn¡¯t think they would answer my question anyway. Hence, I wasn¡¯t all too disappointed. The tension had undeniably gone a little higher, considering I had only started to warm up after such a long time without combat. ¡°I know you¡¯ve been waiting for your chance. You crawled here without knowing it was a trap.¡± I clicked my tongue as I swung the branch in lightly, making some of the assassins gasp and collapse at the sight. ¡°I wonder what she¡¯s planning to do now.¡± I was genuinely curious. After all, there were only three royal families. If we were assassinated on the way to another country, the entire royal family would be shaken. It was going to be hard to handle the aftermath, even for Queen Liness. There were only two factors to think about. She was either confident that she would never leave a trace or planned to pin the blame on someone else. Either way, from her perspective, it was definitely worth a try. She must¡¯ve done something similar in the past to shake the real power of this country. ¡°Hmm? Are you still here?¡± They all looked confused by my question. According to the information they received, their target was but a mere sick prince who could barely travel alone. They wouldn¡¯t have expected that I could dominate them in their own field: attacking without anyone noticing. They wouldn¡¯t even think that I was able to find them since they had just been watching me at the campsite from a distance while waiting for their chance. Either way, they probably didn¡¯t see this coming. What astonished them most was probably the worthless-looking branch in my hand. It wasn¡¯t a strong, sharp sword but a thin branch that could be found anywhere in the forest. Regardless, a single Stroke of Bell could weigh down the surrounding area and instantly split my target¡¯s physique in half. Unless they were a bunch of morons, they must¡¯ve already noticed that the force wasn¡¯t from brute strength. ¡°Patience is the key in assassinations. Keep that in mind.¡± I could feel the invisible expressions of the assassins cooling down. Their faces morphed into aggression. When I collected the unidentified pressure pressing them even though I wasn¡¯t attacking them anymore, they began to look at each other¡¯s eyes. I could read their expressions even without using the Mind-Reading technique. They had received the wrong information. The mission could now be considered a total failure. ¡°Go tell her. She¡¯ll be destroyed eventually, even if she doesn¡¯t ask for it.¡± When I stopped and stayed still, they looked at each other and squinted at me in an attempt to understand my intentions. Was I really trying to let them go? I was sure they were all wondering about that. ¡®Yeah, go ahead.¡¯ I put the branch down and stood still. They soon realized that I wasn¡¯t kidding at all. Soon enough, the assassins turned around and began to run away. ¡®I was kidding, you bunch of stupid jackasses.¡¯ [Rupture] Poof! In an instant, a flash of black light penetrated their bodies as if something thick had completely pierced through them. In shock, they couldn¡¯t believe what just happened despite not feeling any pressure on their physiques. ¡°Kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk.¡± One of the assassins who had been penetrated began to tremble and tried to get up again. He stared at me with his bloodshot eyes. ¡®You said you¡¯d let me go, you fucking bastard!¡¯ His glare screamed those words out. Upon seeing such a sight, I instinctively spoke out. ¡°Did you believe my words? You stupid bastard. I just said that assassination is patience. I guess you forgot.¡± ¡°This is¡­ what assassination¡­¡± How absurd it must¡¯ve been to see the person who had been silent until now answering back, all while throwing up blood excessively. It was hard to understand him, however, for he had lost all strength in his voice. ¡°If no one¡¯s watching, then it¡¯s considered an assassination. That¡¯s also a long-standing quote, so keep that in mind.¡± I took a step forward. Instinctively feeling danger, the remaining guys scattered, dashing away in an attempt to escape. Some of them had lost their judgment and came at me. I wasn¡¯t sure what they were thinking. Obviously, the raid failed, and they had zero chance of winning in a frontal assault against me. Their speed was definitely fast and sharp. I could give them that. The attack was threatening enough that it felt a little different from the first time. However, all I had to do was quietly swing the branch in my hand against them. Whoo! Whoo! As the stubby and thin branch flashed once, a black flame with white brilliance rose along its trajectory. As the men rushed at me, they were cut in two simultaneously. The durability was strong enough. For a human being, that was. As they fell like chopped logs, I immediately called forth my command mana, putting one hand on the ground while holding the branch with the other. Black magic and command magic was the most efficient way to track down, stop, and break down opponents. That was the case at the Halls of Heroes. Ro Aias was the best at finding me when I didn¡¯t want to attend the training. She was called Death Road in the Pesquisa Continent, a completely different world from this place. She had managed to trick people with a tearful face, blocking the retreating road of her enemy in the back. Her tracking skills proved to be excellent. Was she too nice? It wasn¡¯t all that surprising if I considered how Daphne, the first saint, turned to violence when she started drinking. Ro Aias used to be an eccentric black wizard who worked her whole life trying to help black wizards live with people. I didn¡¯t even want to recall what happened to me after I was caught. [Chase] [Blind] Whoo! I saw black whips coming out of their fingertips. It was the black magic of the first circle system, which took away the opponent¡¯s vision and worked stronger against those who were living in extreme fear. They could¡¯ve easily overcome it if only they had a little more resistance. ¡°Kkkk!¡± ¡°Buck!¡± I had already locked on when I ran into them. Unless they traveled to the other side of the continent, there would be no way out. The magical effects soon appeared, and its intensity started to increase. Those who lost their sight began to struggle to get away from me, forgetting their original goal of silently moving through the night. Was I enjoying this? Now, I could see why Ro Aias looked sorry yet simultaneously happy for some reason. In extreme fear, they struggled to escape from me. Unfortunately, I had no intention of keeping them alive once I already had them in my hand. It was up to me whether I would kill or save them. If one wanted to kill someone, they should be prepared against the risk of their own deaths. I put a string to the assassins that crawled away with black magic and to those that fell against the command mana. I conjured more black-hued command mana, which I then caused to explode and spread. [Confusion] [Low Resistance] [Soul Explosion] It was all a little harsh, but I was taught by my masters how to clean a scene properly. Don¡¯t show mercy to those who try to kill you. Tooowooo! Intangible, odorless, and colorless spirits scattered, spreading light waves around. More than half of their souls burst out and disappeared immediately without any chance of rehabilitation. They had all gone silent. The quiet forest turned into a terrible murder scene. ¡°That¡¯s a neat assassination.¡± I wondered if it was necessary to make such a big scene, to which I shook my head. I then moved on without regret. Whatever it was, it was a successful assassination for as long as no one found out. * * * ¡°Queen Majesty.¡± The black shadow slowly appeared in the quiet room like a mirage. ¡°How did it go?¡± ¡°The attempt failed.¡± Slap! As soon as she finished her sentence, Shari¡¯s face, who brought the bad news, was forced to turn sideways. She had hit her so hard that her white cheek turned red, and her lips were about to burst. ¡°What are you going to do now?!¡± It was a hysterical shout. The calamitous temperament of Queen Liness wasn¡¯t new to those who were always around her. ¡°All the mana stones were designed to lose its glow when the assassins died.¡± ¡°Failure¡­ What happened?¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t figured it out yet. However, I think someone is helping him.¡± Slap! Once again, Shari¡¯s cheek turned with a loud noise. Meanwhile, Queen Liness continued to throw everything around her to release her anger. Clang! A small flowerpot hit Shari¡¯s forehead. She gasped, staring at Shari with a venomous look. ¡°Huh! That¡¯s all that the Black Moon Guild can do after all!¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°How come they were all wiped out against only four old knights and three little kids? Twenty assassins being unable to handle a few knights? Pathetic!¡± Although Shari was mad as the Queen shouted, she simply stood silently with her head down. ¡°Find out who¡¯s helping him! Show me the obstacles in my way!¡± ¡°Yes, Queen Majesty.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget. I didn¡¯t look after your Black Moon Guild to see you fail. You need to take their lives. If you fail again this time¡­¡± She stared at Shari with a cold gaze and continued. ¡°I will no longer have any more dealings with you. I will end the Black Moon Guild by using the Duke of Varietta and the power of this country.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± Shari, bowed down, closed her eyes slowly, and smiled as the Queen stopped talking and poured tea into her mouth. Her eyes were lit up by a faint blood-like glow. CH 15 Episode 15 The Duchy of Felicity was a very small country on the continent. Very, very small. It was about the size of a small city-state like Singapore. The size of the city was a little larger than the cities in other countries, however. ¡°Wow, Davey! Look! It¡¯s the Duchy of Felicity!¡± ¡°Ho!¡± Winley shouted while jumping, admiration evident in her voice. Her eyes were filled with excitement as she looked at the vast and beautiful water surrounding the whole city. ¡°That¡¯s amazing.¡± It was pure and without a single lie. As a small country, the Duchy of Felicity had a distinctive charm. It had a magnificent view that was no less beautiful than any other empire. Large waterways surrounding the capital were connected to various parts of the city, almost like a beautiful painting on a canvas. ¡°The Duchy of Felicity is a small city-state, but as a city-state built over ancient ruins, it has an outstanding view even when compared to most countries.¡± Barris, who had gotten off his horse, boasted at the city¡¯s excellence as I was looking around. ¡°Look at your face. You must quite like it.¡± ¡°Yes, I do.¡± As I expressed my honest impression, he proudly puffed his chest. ¡°Hahaha! I¡¯m glad you like the view. It was worth coming here. The competition will last for four days. That means you have plenty of time to enjoy our trip.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Davey, why don¡¯t you go on a tour of the city tomorrow? For now, you should go and see the round stadium with us. It is the pride of the Duchy of Felicity.¡± ¡°Round stadium?¡± ¡°Yes! I heard it¡¯s a wonderful stadium with a beautiful waterway. It¡¯ll be crowded tomorrow, so let¡¯s go and see it today instead!¡± ¡°Shall we do that?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t steal my words!¡± ¡°Heng! It would be best if you met the management administrator. I¡¯m going to show Davey around.¡± Winley couldn¡¯t participate in the competition because she was never taught swordsmanship. Nevertheless, she came to the trip for me, as well as to support her twin brother. Even though it looked like they were always competing against each other, they cared about the other in reality. * * * The main revenue of the Duchy of Felicity was tourism. The architectural style and various sculptures inside were quite mysterious and beautiful, while the city¡¯s exterior was immensely beautiful. One of the tourist spots was the arena that a lot of nobles from other countries visited at least once in their lifetime. ¡°This is going to be where the combat happens. There will be gladiators, monsters, or competitors who come here to compete, Davey.¡± ¡°It¡¯s useless and barbaric.¡± Barris grumbled at my comment for some reason. ¡°I guess the peace-stricken public wants something more stimulating.¡± Barris smiled bitterly at my words afterward. ¡°The human rights sector is slowly getting better, though. One day, the Kingdom of Rown¡­¡± He began to murmur hopefully. ¡°How many people are going to be there?¡± I looked around the stadium, and Winley pushed him forward at my question and smiled. ¡°I heard that eight countries would participate in the combat this year. Surprisingly, Barris will represent the Rown Kingdom.¡± ¡°Hey! Did you just say it¡¯s surprising?!¡± ¡°Huh!¡± Winley giggled before she gave off a weird sneer. ¡°Starting with the first host country, Palan Empire, representatives will be selected from various countries, including the Rown Kingdom, Flip Kingdom, and the Kingdom of Shodan.¡± The purpose of the continental swordsmanship competition was to discover the talents of young people. Still, it was basically nothing but a battle of pride between countries. ¡°Since it¡¯s for young people, only men and women under the age of twenty can participate.¡± ¡°What about the people who aren¡¯t selected?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a national competition for new talents. It¡¯s not considered as the main swordfight season for top talents.¡± Winley grumbled as if she didn¡¯t like it. ¡°The opportunity to participate should be given to any talented people from all classes.¡± ¡°There will be too many participants if they did that.¡± The statement was true. In other words, it was just a show. ¡°Oh! I¡¯ve heard that the Sword Princess of the Palan Empire is also participating in this competition.¡± ¡°Sword Princess?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you know? She¡¯s pretty famous. Even the little kids in the Rown Kingdom would know who she is.¡± Barris asked me in surprise. However, nothing came to mind. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± I had a pretty good memory, though. I guessed she became famous while I was in a coma. ¡°Hey! Davey was in a coma!¡± When Barris tilted his head curiously, Winley became furious and kicked him on the shin. ¡°Argh!¡± ¡°Huh! What a sight!¡± ¡°You punk.¡± I stared blankly at them while they were fighting. Barris soon made a groaning voice. ¡°[Ileana de Palan]. She is the precious daughter of the Palan Empire¡¯s King. As you know, they have eight princes and only one princess.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Their nation is definitely a great powerhouse.¡± ¡°Of course, they¡¯re famous. However, she¡¯s renowned not just because the Palan is in great power, and she is the only princess. She is famous because she is the owner of the New Sword.¡± ¡°New Sword?¡± The word ¡°New Sword¡± instantly intrigued me. ¡°Yes, the owner of Calderas, an ancient hero known for his sword, the sword of the sword god Haris. It¡¯s one of the greatest works of his life.¡± Calderas. It had been a while since I last heard that name. The swordsman had excellent swordsmanship, even though he had a bad temper. I had also heard a lot about the sword that he had used. The sword could cut down the devil. ¡°Calderas¡­¡± Two people had taught me swordsmanship. Haris, the God of Swords in the ancient history of the Tionis Continent, and another was Dok Go-jun, the Thousand Horse of Devil Creed. Thinking about it, I realized Haris was from here, so it wouldn¡¯t be that strange to find his traces. ¡°It¡¯s called a new sword since it hasn¡¯t rusted even after thousands of years. I¡¯ve heard that it has an ego that expresses magic on its own.¡± ¡°Ego¡­¡± The sword contained the spirit of the master craftsman and the compassion of the user; that was the ego. ¡°The sword had been searching for its owner for hundreds of years and finally chosen its owner recently. That¡¯s Princess Ileana.¡± Barris smiled and added an explanation. ¡°There¡¯s another reason why she¡¯s famous, Davey.¡± ¡°Another one?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s¡­¡± He smiled insidiously. ¡°She¡¯s breathtakingly beautiful.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s interesting.¡± ¡°She¡¯s even so-called one of the top five beauties on the continent in full bloom.¡± I wasn¡¯t interested in who the owner of Calderas, the favorite sword of Haris. The most interesting subject so far was what Barris had just said. * * * The physiology of the aristocracy was quite simple. All of the participants in the continental swordsmanship competition were representatives that the state had chosen. They were also expected to lead the nation in the future. Should we just have them fight? Of course not. Consequently, they had arranged a dinner party to promote friendship among those expected to become leaders in the future. It made sense that Barris had been invited to the dinner. However, it was a little surprising that Winley and I were invited as well. ¡°Well¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you like it?¡± Amy asked me carefully when I looked at myself, swallowing a groan. ¡°Isn¡¯t this too flashy? Do you have more modest clothes?¡± ¡°No, this is modest enough, Your Majesty!¡± She shouted firmly with a sad face as if she didn¡¯t want to yield. My conscience told me that I might¡¯ve given Amy a hard time, based on her sorrowful expression. ¡°Huh¡­¡± ¡°Majesty, your dignity is the Rown Kingdom¡¯s dignity. Even if you don¡¯t like it¡­¡± ¡°I know. You¡¯ve done enough. Let¡¯s go now.¡± ¡°As you wish!¡± She looked down a few minutes ago as if she would immediately burst into tears. Now, however, she looked excited. I was busy getting ready for the dinner party. Of course, it was fortunate that men did less. Winley said it was hundreds of times worse for women. ¡°Eh, you can¡¯t put lipstick on a pig. Even if you do, it¡¯s still a pig!¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Puck! I could see the twins grumbling about whether or not they were ready to go to the banquet. ¡°Oh! Davey, my older brother!¡± While snarling at Barris, Winley found me first and ran towards me with her eyes shining brightly. Barris, who just got kicked on the shin, seemed to have no time to find regard for it. ¡°Wow! You look great!¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°Unlike the playboy over there!¡± ¡°Hey! Why am I a playboy?¡± ¡°What? Did I say something wrong?¡± I knew they were on good terms, but what if someone else were to see them grumbling and fighting again? ¡°You look pretty. I thought a fairy came down.¡± ¡°Hehehe.¡± It was lip service, but it turned out to be partially true. The green dress matched the color of her green hair. She was a pretty lady for her age, where most people had yet excessive glamour or unbecoming maturity. Perhaps, in a few more years, she would turn out to be extraordinarily beautiful. Winley reached out to me, holding the hem of the dress and twirling around. ¡°Well, then, wonderful prince. Would you be honored to escort me today?¡± ¡°It looks like our positions have switched. There¡¯s no reason for me to refuse.¡± When I lightly held her hand, I heard Barris clicking his tongue. ¡°She¡¯s irritating.¡± Of course, Winley was still happy, considering how used she was to such comments from him. CH 16 Episode 16 When we arrived at the Flanders Hall, the grand banquet hall of the Duchy of Felicity, they were already playing music, and many people had arrived already. ¡°Welcome, Prince Davey, Prince Barris, and Princess Winley. I¡¯m Kram, the Head Chamberlain of the Duchy of Felicity.¡± ¡°Thank you for your hard work, Kram.¡± As we entered the place, I saw servants and maids waiting for the guests with their heads down. Barris smiled kindly. ¡°We¡¯ve been waiting for you.¡± ¡°I wonder if we¡¯re too late.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Responding politely, he quietly pointed to the entrance of the banquet hall. ¡°Please come in. Most of the VIPs are already here.¡± ¡°I shall ask your favor.¡± ¡°Please leave it to me.¡± When he sent a signal to the other servants, they quietly opened the door, revealing a colorful and spacious room. When we entered, people inside the hall immediately turned their heads towards us. Combat The age limit for participants in the continental swordsmanship competition was under twenty. Due to that condition, most of the party attendees looked young. for the people who came along with the competitors like Winley, most of them were quite young. The attention we got from them was intense. However, Barris didn¡¯t seem to be bothered by it. Instead, he kept walking in with a smile. ¡°Davey, shall we go?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± With Winley¡¯s beautiful smile and her quiet voice, we entered slowly, following after Barris. Having a lot of people¡¯s attention was weirding me out. Our arrival seemed to make them tremendously curious. A lot of people were interested in Barris. His skill was a little higher than an intermediate level, which was already above his age. Their knowledge of him might not have been accurate, but they must¡¯ve heard about him all the same. As a competitor, they were interested in him. At least, in the upcoming competition, they were opponents. ¡°Damn, I¡¯ve heard he is talented, but he is good-looking as well.¡± ¡°By the way, is she Princess Winley?¡± ¡°She is beautiful.¡± I heard some people murmuring in the distance. They probably didn¡¯t think I could hear them. However, I happened to have excellent ears. However, Barris and Winley, smiling awkwardly, didn¡¯t seem to hear their voice. ¡°Nice to meet you, Prince Barris. I am the Duke of Perdisha Kingdom¡¯s Koldium.¡± ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you. I am the Duke of Voltis of the Hushan Kingdom.¡± Naturally, there were boundaries between competitors. On the other hand, they seemed to think it was worth getting to know each other. Barris looked at me for help as a lot of people approached him with a smile on their faces. Sometimes¡­ ¡°Winley, Would you like to dance with me?¡± It was good to ignore someone¡¯s plea for help. ¡°Hey, Davey¡­¡± In the end, I just decided to ignore his annoyed tone of voice. * * * People started to dance with their partners as the music changed in the hall. ¡°This is the first time we¡¯ve danced together, Davey, isn¡¯t it?¡± Winley smiled and put her hands down elegantly after the music. ¡°It is.¡± ¡°I was eight years old when you became comatose. I hadn¡¯t even made my social debut yet.¡± In most of the countries in the Tionis continent, the aristocratic and royal family encouraged fourteen and fifteen-year-old girls to begin their social life. It happened a little early for royal families. Winley made her social debut when I was still in a coma. I still couldn¡¯t believe they sent her to chase the local criminals. As she recalled the past, Winley smiled with her eyes fixed on the banquet hall. ¡°I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re recovering now. They will learn of your true value someday.¡± Her genuine smile made me smile as well. They were one of the few affectionate people in the royal palace. Most people in the royal palace of the Rown Kingdom were coldblooded. Hence, I wondered how these guys came out so warm-hearted. ¡°You were very talented in swordsmanship.¡± She reminded me as if I had forgotten about it. ¡°I have no use for the sword now.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say that. You¡¯re still young.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you a little too young to say that?¡± ¡°Hehe.¡± She smiled and drank a glass of grape juice. ¡°Princess Winley.¡± It was a gentle voice but quite cheesy at the same time. While Barris had the most attention, Winley was also in the center of attention among the aristocratic males and females. Considering the male-to-female ratio, there was nothing weird about Winley getting a lot of attention, who was admittedly pretty cute. ¡°Oh¡­¡± Winley seemed to know who he was. ¡°I¡¯m glad to see you again.¡± ¡°Oh, yes, Prince Baltian de Voltiz.¡± She spoke awkwardly with a stiff expression, taking a step back unintentionally. However, he held out a hand to her as if he didn¡¯t notice her body language. ¡°Can you spend some time talking to me?¡± It was rare to see Winley, who wasn¡¯t picky about people, retreating with a dark expression. A sudden curiosity arose. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Prince Baltian, but I was talking to my brother.¡± He turned to me at her words. Although he was aware of my presence right from the beginning, he pretended that he just took notice of me. He clicked his tongue and soon burst into laughter. Even if the aristocrats wanted to beat someone to death, they had to smile externally. ¡°Oh, I apologize. I¡¯m Baltian de Voltiz, the seventh prince of the Voltiz Kingdom.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Davey Al Rown.¡± His eyebrows wiggled with my short answer. I felt sorry, but it was too late to give a good impression anyway. I looked at his eyes, immediately feeling his contempt. No matter who he was, it was disrespectful to look at the royal family of another country in such a way. However, he didn¡¯t seem to care at all. ¡°What brought you here, Prince Davey?¡± ¡°I¡¯m here to watch my brother¡¯s game.¡± ¡°I see. Please enjoy your trip.¡± He turned to Winley again, with a creepy smile on his face. ¡°I will give you the honor if I win the Continental Sword Competition, Princess Winley. You are my inspiration.¡± Winley looked disgusted by the way he spoke in a cheesy tone. Although she was pretty good at presenting herself in public, she couldn¡¯t hide her discomfort at his remarks. ¡°You should know that it is disrespectful to say that for the people who gathered here.¡± ¡°Yes, but it wouldn¡¯t be rude if it was true.¡± ¡°My twin brother is also participating in this competition. It is quite disrespectful to my brother.¡± Winnie looked up at me as if she didn¡¯t want to hear any more of his nonsense. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Davey.¡± ¡°¡­¡± It wasn¡¯t hard to step out, but I didn¡¯t mean to burden Winley or Barris. However, when we were just about to leave¡­ ¡°How dare you ignore me?! Princess Winley!¡± Prince Baltian quickly reached his arm out to her, who turned her back against him, seemingly unable to stand him anymore. That was it. ¡®I¡¯ve had enough. I can¡¯t take more bullshit.¡¯ Poof! Ukhhh! ¡°Kkkkh?¡± ¡®When the chance comes, don¡¯t hesitate.¡¯ As I always said, I wasn¡¯t the kind who battled with the knife wrapped in cloth. It also wasn¡¯t like me to put up with rudeness that had gone way too far. * * * It was essential to keep public and private matters separate for royalty and aristocrats. We had to hide our emotions, no matter if we were upset or happy. Such was the life and responsibility of the noble blood. Sometimes I thought it was unfair. No one lived a perfect life, even if they seemed that way on the outside. ¡°Oh, my gosh!¡± Baltian, who fell on one knee, gave out a painful scream, which brought everyone¡¯s attention to us. ¡°Hey, Davey.¡± ¡°You are not supposed to touch someone else¡¯s precious sister.¡± I spoke calmly and softly with a smile, which aggravated Prince Baltian even more. ¡°Loud¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re lucky I saved your bone.¡± ¡°Kkkh!¡± I released his wrist, which I was holding tightly, and he immediately gasped and grabbed at it. I could¡¯ve broken his bone simply by twisting his arm, but I didn¡¯t want to cause any trouble. The worst thing that could happen was Barris getting disqualified. Whatever it was, it was okay if there was no evidence left. He was furious now, but his body would still heal after a while, so he would have nothing to complain about. He stared at me with spiteful eyes, but he took a step back from me. The relaxed and cheesy impression he had a while ago was no longer present. Only a boy with a bad temper was in front of us. He took off his gloves and threw them at me. ¡°I challenge you to a duel!¡± Everyone in the banquet hall was now looking at us, from the young aristocrats and royal families who came here for the competition to the small number of people who accompanied them. I glanced at the gloves on the floor and looked at him coldly. Winley then began to shout furiously. CH 17 Episode 17 ¡°Prince Baltian! Don¡¯t be rude!¡± ¡°Please stay out of this, Princess Winley! He disgraced my honor as a knight¡­¡± ¡°If you cared about honor, you should¡¯ve known how rude you were to Prince Davey.¡± He clenched his teeth at her rebuttal. He then shook his head vigorously and shouted, ¡°Hush! I demand silence!¡± He had evidently lost his mind. Winley looked shocked, just as someone among the crowd spoke, seemingly finding that situation ridiculous. ¡°I think she¡¯s right.¡± It was so ridiculous that she couldn¡¯t stand still. It wasn¡¯t me or Barris, who was walking towards us in anger, or Winley, who stopped talking to Baltian, who was screaming in anger. ¡°Princess Ileana¡­¡± Baltian¡¯s face turned pale upon seeing the girl with a pleasing voice. ¡°Prince Baltian de Voltiz.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Let me ask you again. Do you think you deserve honor?¡± Her voice was clear and beautiful. However, it was as cold as the snow accompanying the north wind. As I turned my head away from him, shaking hands as he retreated, I saw a little girl staring at him coldly. The girl had waist-length hair that had a brilliant color, like oozing honey. She was dazzlingly gorgeous, and I wasn¡¯t even exaggerating. She looked like an actual goddess. However, when I saw the girl, I had a weird feeling for some reason. ¡°Haris?¡± Haris the Sword God. Her aura was so similar to the hero of thousands of years ago, who taught me the art of the sword. I spoke my thoughts aloud by mistake, causing the girl to look at me with surprised eyes. ¡®That was dumb¡­¡¯ * * * Sword God, Haris. He was the founder of the Heavy Sword technique, the Undefeatable Swordsmanship, which led him to become the Sword God. His technique turned swords into mountains and seas. However, his nickname in the Hall of Heroes was different. A lazy old man. He looked young for his age, but he was definitely older than the heroes of the Hall, who made fun of him. He was factually male. Although he was quite a fine-looking man, he was definitely not a woman. Yet, the girl in front of me looked like him but was also subtly different at the same time. He would definitely look like her if he were a girl and extremely beautiful. ¡°Wait, what did you say?¡± The girl, with her eyes wide open, addressed my words. I felt weirded by her surprised expression, and I shook my head fast. ¡°Nothing, there must¡¯ve been a misunderstanding.¡± ¡°¡­¡± We looked at each other awkwardly. She stared at me suspiciously for a while before speaking coldly toward Baltian as if she were trying to shake off her thoughts. ¡°I was watching the situation. Let me ask you again, Prince Baltian.¡± Baltian could only groan. ¡°Do you think you deserve honor?¡± As she intervened, many people watched the situation breathlessly. Most of the people here were invited as the representative prospects in each country. ¡°You insulted this young lady and her partner as well as everyone else in this place. She refused your request politely, but you still treated her with disrespect.¡± She must have been watching the situation very carefully. Her cold voice turned Baltian¡¯s face pale. He looked like he knew he screwed himself up. Of course, all the people who gathered here came as representatives of a nation. He shouldn¡¯t have offended anyone in the hall, especially Princess Ileana. The Palan Empire was one of the three superpowers of the present continent. Before us was the precious Princess of the emperor, who was very protective of his daughter. According to rumors, he ordered a palace to be destroyed just to build her a garden. In short, she was a powerful figure. Baltian looked confused and scared. ¡°Huh, if you were a knight of honor, I shall think you should apologize to them sincerely right now.¡± Public psychology was frightening. As some people nodded in agreement with her, the rest of the people followed them. Shivering with a red-hot face, he looked like he would run away at any moment. ¡°I accept the duel.¡± I couldn¡¯t just let him go as he wished to. If I sent him away like this, I wouldn¡¯t be able to rest. ¡°What are you doing now¡­¡± Winley looked at me, surprised by what I said. Ileana also looked at me with a puzzled expression. She might¡¯ve thought that her effort was rendered useless. I appreciated her effort, sure, but I was strong in my own way. ¡°Prince Baltian, did you ask for a duel?¡± ¡°Y-yes!¡± ¡°I accept it.¡± ¡°Brother!¡± ¡°Davey!¡± The twins, Barris and Winley, shouted in horror at the same time. ¡°Ugh¡­ Good! If I win, you shall kneel down and apologize to me in front of everyone!¡± ¡°Hey, Prince Baltian!¡± Furious, Barris gruffly grabbed him by the collar. ¡°You know this ridiculous act you¡¯re doing now can turn into a national conflict, right?¡± Barris shouted sharply as if he was going to knock him down. He looked so furious that he would¡¯ve cut him down right away if no one were around. ¡°Hmm¡­ What¡¯s there to be afraid of if it¡¯s a fair duel? Huh! Yes! I¡¯ve heard that Prince Davey, who used to be talented, can¡¯t even hold a sword now.¡± ¡°You bastard!¡± I stopped the enraged Barris as soon as he raised his fist. ¡°That¡¯s enough.¡± ¡°Davey!¡± When I smiled and stroked his head, he clenched his teeth as he put his head down. ¡°It hasn¡¯t been that long since you got up from your sickbed.¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright.¡± I spoke calmly and looked at Prince Baltian. ¡°You have to be responsible for your words.¡± ¡°Okay, it won¡¯t happen, but if I lose, I¡¯ll kneel down in front of everyone and apologize to you!¡± ¡°Alright.¡± His insidious smile deepened when he heard my answer. He was so confident that he would never lose. It was a natural reaction. They were all excitable boys and girls in their mid-teens. I was sure that it was hard to get to the expert level in the early and mid-teens without exceptional talent, yet each of the people gathered here was talented enough to be selected as the nation¡¯s leading prospects. As I followed him to the center of the banquet hall and turned my eyes, I saw Barris and Winley looking at me with worried faces. They looked like they wanted to stop me, but they didn¡¯t know why I was being so stubborn. I saw other facial expressions in the hall, all filled with either curiosity or concern that it might lead to a serious problem. However, there was also a person who looked cold and was immersed in something different. ¡°Get your sword! Today, I will teach you the depth of the sword.¡± Prince Baltian shouted confidently at me with a wooden sword. And so, I picked up the wooden sword on the floor and smiled a little. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I last had to do things like this.¡± * * * The biggest interest in the banquet hall, which was hosted to promote friendship and harmony, seemed to move quickly to our duel. As there were many young prospects representing nations, there must¡¯ve been quite a few fights for pride between them. Furthermore, noblemen who were supposed to mitigate conflicts in each country were just watching the situation for some reason. Perhaps they wanted to avoid a situation where they might get into trouble as well. Without imposing any significant sanctions, the Duchy of Felicity was also watching the duel in the distance. Those who came to enjoy the banquet were silent, looking at the open space for the duel. ¡°A master is supposed to yield his turn!¡± Holding the Bastard Sword, known for its strong durability, he stood arrogantly and pointed at me with the tip of his blade. ¡°That rude bastard!¡± Barris exclaimed angrily at his arrogant attitude. Just like him, many people looked strangely intrusive, but they stayed quiet. Being full of energy and being rude was far different. Furthermore, those who were watching the situation already knew who was conceited and disrespectful. Among them, Princess Ileana, the precious daughter of the emperor of the Palan, was making the most disgusted expression. Looking at Baltian with an irritated face, she soon turned to me and shook her head as if she couldn¡¯t understand it. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to do with your consideration.¡± After murmuring a joke, I looked at the thin wooden sword and turned to him. Imprudent. Although I wasn¡¯t yet fully recovered, I still had been building up my strength. It wasn¡¯t wise for him, a mere beginner of swordsmanship, to challenge me to a duel, who had crushed assassins ranging from mediocre to professional levels. I wanted to destroy him thoroughly so that he could never grab a sword again, but I was supposed to be a weak prince who got up from a sickbed less than a year ago. I had an idea. Yes. There was only one. ¡°Are you scared? Ha, I suppose so. Fear is natural.¡± Baltian was speaking as if he had already won. He then sneered closely. ¡°But the battle has already begun! What are you doing? Come on!¡± Seeing him shouting as if he was treating his subordinates, I knew how bad the relationship was between the Voltiz and the Rown Kingdom. ¡°Well, I won¡¯t turn down your offer.¡± I had complicated thoughts, but I brushed them off. There was a way to beat an opponent while hiding my skills completely. In addition, I could effectively destroy my opponent¡¯s mentality through it. ¡°Davey.¡± Winley¡¯s voice, who was looking at me anxiously, was faint. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get started.¡± Mumbling a little, I lifted the heavy wooden sword towards him. Then slowly, I took one step at a time. And, by the time when he was within a certain distance¡­. Ssssss! My sword pierced through him with a heavy sound. A light Stroke of Bell. However, he avoided my sword by taking a step back as if he had already expected how I would attack. ¡°Huh?¡± Tung!! My wooden sword was flung to the floor, making me lose my balance against gravity. ¡°That was stupid.¡± Ppaaaah! But I wasn¡¯t done just yet. CH 18 Episode 18 My wooden sword staggered and swung randomly toward the air and hit his chin. ¡°KKKKkkhh!¡± Naturally, his body was knocked up in the air, shoved away, and rolled on the floor. On the contrary, I had already lost my balance, but I managed to use the sword as a support to avoid falling. ¡°What happened?¡± Silence quickly lurked around because of the hit. ¡°Ugh?!¡± I pointed the disproportionately shaken wooden sword at Baltian, who stood up with a perplexed look on his face, unable to understand the situation. The foundation for the sword technique I used was to show one¡¯s weak point, and it was about tricking the opponent thoroughly. ¡°Pfft.¡± Unlike him, who was angry, laughter poured out from the audience. He didn¡¯t expect the blow. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you!!¡± Perhaps it was because he got smashed by someone to whom he yielded the lead to. The guy staring at me with an eerie expression came in quickly, his sword pointed at me. An old eagle was definitely better than a young crow. His swordsmanship was definitely sharper than the kids his age, as he participated on behalf of the Voltiz Kingdom. His postures were well established, and his sword¡¯s movements were quite accurate. However, because of his lack of experience, his actions were too predictable. That applied not only to Baltian but also to most people. Whoooong! With the sword down, I took a step toward him and raised my weapon. From the axis of the legs to the shoulders and the waist, it seemed almost impossible to restrain him because it was a sloppy posture that was swung without being properly supported. In an instant, my sword was deflected away from my body by the blade he swung up, and I heard the sound of gasps from all sides. There was also a worrying cry from Winley, who was surprised. Even those who were proud of knowing the situation seemed to think that I just accidentally struck Valtian¡¯s sword and that such a coincidence would never happen again. Well. Paang! Seemingly unable to let it slide, he lifted his wooden sword towards me. In retaliation, I straightened my legs and distracted my balance. ¡°Eek.¡± At the same time, my body followed his weapon¡¯s flow of momentum, spinning, collapsing, and avoiding his attack. Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Simultaneously, my sword swung away directionlessly as it dodged his. I hit his forehead that time. * * * ¡°Kkkh!¡± The same situation happened again. People were surprised by the jaw-dropping moment. Baltian was one of the brightest to participate in the upcoming competition, even though he had a bad temper. On the contrary, I was known as a weak prince who just recovered from a six-year-long coma. I couldn¡¯t have relearned the way of the sword properly. In fact, the careless attitude I showed would¡¯ve instilled more confidence in his mind. However, the results were different from their expectations. Unlike their prediction that I would be defeated, losing the duel in a second, I knocked down Baltian with my sloppy swordsmanship twice. If it were a real fight, not a duel, he would¡¯ve been killed twice already. ¡°That stupid trick!¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m winning. Your skill must be worse than I thought.¡± Baltian, who jumped up at my words, had his face red full of shame. Pffftt! As someone burst into laughter as if they couldn¡¯t hold it in anymore, he got madder, almost as if that added more fuel to the fire. ¡°That¡¯s terrible.¡± ¡°To a beginner who doesn¡¯t know how to swing a sword.¡± ¡°Who said Prince Baltian is one of the most skillful competitors?¡± ¡°Argh!!!¡± He couldn¡¯t argue with them, so he glared at me with his teeth clenched instead. Just like how he had already suffered twice, his defeat was a fixed fact, but he refused to admit it. Now was the time to give him a little stimulation. Unlike the beginning, his senses became cautious. Reflexively, he was afraid of being hit by nonsense coincidences. I could bet he thought that if he became extra careful, he could never lose. With that logic, he observed me from a distance. If he didn¡¯t come, I would have to go. Hence, I came after him in a sloppy manner. Then, I swung my sword wildly. I was displaying a messy technique that was no different than a child swinging a branch recklessly. It had no distance, no distribution of power, and no formalization of direction. Smack! I couldn¡¯t balance my bodyweight properly. Hence, I couldn¡¯t put a lot of strength on my sword. Smack! Smack! As I watched the guy calmly stopping the attacks I delivered, the people inside the banquet hall seemed to think his weapon would soon hit me. However¡­ Paaah!! The blindly-swung sword struck him on the temple, and everyone opened their mouths in astonishment. * * * ¡°Oh, my God!¡± I gave off a flurry of seemingly random swordsmanship. My attacks were so slow and weak that any person who had learned how to fight properly could easily avoid them. Everyone could see that. If so, then why did he get hit again? Baltian looked confused and was soon staggering after sustaining three blows to the head. ¡°Hmm, did you get hit?¡± I jokingly asked such a ridiculous question. Laughter came from the audience again. ¡°What happened? I thought he was an expert?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe he¡¯s here. How come he got beaten by swordsmanship like that?¡± ¡°Maybe he really is nothing¡­¡± ¡°Since he did it three times, not once or twice, then I¡¯m sure¡­¡± Nobody thought that I wasn¡¯t making it happen on purpose anymore. ¡°Oh, no! No! That is not it!¡± ¡°That¡¯s a lame excuse.¡± ¡°Tut-tut-tut-tut.¡± By that time, Baltian¡¯s expression looked really mad enough to jump. It was as if he was being treated unfairly. He stopped, recollecting his thoughts. He couldn¡¯t block the first hit, and the same could be said for the second attack. Despite my seemingly poor skills, he had gotten hit. Baltian knew there was something more to what other people could see. Of course, making excuses for him wouldn¡¯t change anything. I grinned at him, who was currently huffing. This was why I had learned this sword technique. It was called, The [Drunken Swordsmanship.] It was literally swinging a sword like a drunk man. It was a swordsmanship style invented by the heavy drinker Dok Go-jun at the Hall of Heroes and was completed by Haris, the Sword God. ¡®Damn it, even though I made it, this is such an evil technique!¡¯ This technique made the bad-tempered Dokgo-jun click his tongue. -Don¡¯t use it unless you really want to bury someone socially. If you have a conscience for the same person, that is. Haris, who was organizing the structure of the completed sword style, also frowned and said, ¡°Don¡¯t use this technique unless absolutely necessary.¡± Was it because they were heavy? Sharp? It wasn¡¯t. It was because of the deceptiveness and playfulness that embodied the entire swordsmanship style. It was so full of malice that even the two swordsmen belonging to an entirely different league felt that it shouldn¡¯t be used. Its objective wasn¡¯t something grand like achieving something, protecting someone, or killing a target. No, its objective was to shame a bastard in front of everyone. What could describe it better than evil swordsmanship? I was staggering as if I was drunk, avoiding or offsetting the opponent¡¯s attacks and delivering a sudden and unexpected attack. To be honest, it was quite an efficient sword technique since it frustrated the hell out of the opponent. If it was used in a situation where people were watching, its effect became even greater. Just like now. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not sure whether I was lucky or my opponent is weaker than I thought.¡± ¡°Damn it!¡± Since it was almost a style made for entertainment purposes, I actually gave it the ridiculous name of Entertainment Swordsmanship rather than Drunken Swordsmanship. Even if it was called the entertainment meta itself, it was no exception. Of course, it would be meaningless if it was just fun and weak. Even if it was made for entertainment in the first place, would the swordsmanship created by those swordsmen be weak? An unexpected result unfolded. Baltian, embarrassed by the situation, eventually began to summon Mana, emitting sword energy. ¡°Prince Baltian! I can¡¯t believe you are using your sword energy at someone who¡¯s not a knight in a duel! Are you out of your mind?¡± Princess Ileana shouted faster than Barris, who looked just as enraged as her. However, Baltian ignored her and came at me with spiteful eyes. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you!¡± I took a step back at the very moment he attacked with the sword energy, acting as if I was scared. ¡°It¡¯s too late to dodge!¡± ¡°Brother!¡± The moment Barris, who shouted in despair, ran out to protect me¡­. ¡°If the coincidence persists, I will be suspicious.¡± There was a person who seemed to be unable to understand the situation ever since it started. Eventually, I stopped fooling around, took a step back, and collapsed as if my legs lost strength. Paang! At the same time, the weapon containing the sword energy sliced through the air where my head was supposed to be, scattering in the air aimlessly. What a moron. ¡°Huh?!¡± Right before it hit me, I fell backward and avoided the offensive, and as I did so, I saw his eyes widen. I murmured, speaking in a hushed voice, having no intention to be heard, making his eyes fill with even more anger. He soon realized something went wrong and tried to run away. It was a little too late to go back. There was nothing I could do now except continue executing my Entertainment Swordsmanship technique. ¡°Ugh!¡± My staggering feet tripped his legs, which made him lose his balance and fall toward me. Thump! Thump! We got entangled as we rolled over the floor. Those who watched our miserable and unsightly battle were silent as if they were at a loss for words. Whoooong! And, by the time the cloud of the moment was over¡­ Miraculously, I preempted the position of pressing him down from above and reflexively hacked my sword down, hitting the floor inches away from his head. It looked as if my sword, which I used for nothing but supporting my body, had delivered a clean hit. ¡°¡­¡± Baltian was on the floor. I sat on him and purposely missed his head. As the winner of the match was determined by a coincidence, astonishment and cold silence surrounded the banquet hall. I felt everyone¡¯s eyes on me, surprised by the ridiculous situation. As I looked up, Baltian, who had rolled on the ground with me, looked up at me with a disbelieving expression. There were a lot of surprises. Lightly, casually and slowly, I lifted the sword that struck the space right next to his ear and smiled. Immediately afterward, I heard the sound of him breathing in deeply. ¡°I think I won.¡± ¡®Pretend you don¡¯t know anything,¡¯ The silence lasted way longer than I thought. CH 19 Episode 19 The duel was a mess. It was simply a sloppy fight between children who had just learned how to use a sword. The problem was that Prince Baltian, who came here to represent the Voltiz Kingdom, showed that childlike fight. Everyone already heard that I was a weak prince who just woke up from a coma; that topic lasted a long time in the flow of conversation. At this point, everyone would know my situation, even the royalty from other countries who had no interest in me. Baltian was well-known for his talent in swords. However, he fell to the floor under my sloppy attacks. No one in the banquet hall seemed to want to break the silence in this ridiculous situation. The advantage of the drunken, or entertainment, sword was that my level couldn¡¯t be grasped in the eyes of others. It was a randomly wielded sword, one that could be avoided easily. However, it was said that giving a lesson was different from doing it yourself. It seemed like they could easily avoid it, but they still couldn¡¯t. It was one of the strongest aspects of the entertainment sword. Originally, it was a sword technique that could distract the opponent¡¯s attention, but it wasn¡¯t just left to spontaneous luck. ¡°Oh, my arms and legs are sore.¡± When I stumbled weakly, dropping my sword, Winley rushed over to help me. ¡°Davey! Are you alright?!¡± She shouted in dismay, looking up at me as she checked if I was hurt. ¡°Brother!¡± At the same time, Barris, who had been sporting a blank expression this entire time, followed a moment after her. ¡°Why were you so reckless?¡± ¡°I was lucky. Haha.¡± ¡°Brother!¡± He let out a short sigh when I smiled awkwardly at him. ¡°The game is over,¡± Ileana said quietly, breaking the silence. ¡°Princess Ileana! This was a mistake.¡± In response, Baltian hurried to get up and tried to find an excuse, but the cold beauty only gave him a colder look. ¡°Does one of the knight¡¯s vows intend to reverse the outcome?¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t a fair game!¡± ¡°Yes, it was a very dirty game, far from justification that the Prince Baltian promised. Do you think you have the right to complain about it after you lost?¡± It was a straightforward way of speaking that one could rarely see among the ladies in the social life. She stared at Baltian, standing by with a dumb expression, and soon turned to me. Then, she looked momentarily puzzled before she turned away. ¡°Huh, I¡¯d better go.¡± At that, she walked away as if she lost her interest. Oh, she was indeed an ice queen. I appreciated her beauty and her favor, but that stern look wasn¡¯t my cup of tea. Except a few who were leaving behind her, the remaining soon turned to Prince Baltian. ¡°You have to keep your promise no matter what.¡± His face flushed red with shame and anger as I spoke. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± ¡°It is too late to say no.¡± ¡°¡­¡± He frowned at my words. ¡°That¡¯s¡­!¡± ¡°Are you saying that you would go against what you said as the representative of the Kingdom of Voltiz?¡± His body flinched at the calm words. The young aristocrats who followed Baltian from the Voltiz Kingdom looked growingly concerned since they could not stop the situation. ¡°I deserve an apology from you.¡± He clenched his teeth as I said this. He looked like he was holding back his anger to kill me right away. ¡°Keep your promise! Prince Baltian.¡± Barris shot back with a stern look on his face, which made Baltian clench his teeth and put his head down after he looked around. Then, he slowly knelt. ¡°I was disrespectful to Princess Winley and Prince David¡­I¡¯m sorry.¡± Losing face, he ground his teeth so hard that it wouldn¡¯t be strange for him to kill a single person right away. But what could he do? A deal was a deal. It wouldn¡¯t be easy for him to apologize to me, who had humiliated him in front of so many people. There was an unbearable humiliation at the sight of his mumbling. Winley, who would normally have accepted the apology, grabbed my hand in anger. ¡°Huh, let¡¯s go back, Davey.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go, brother.¡± It seemed difficult to stay in the banquet hall any longer because of the discord. I had no patience when it came to my precious sister, especially if anyone treated her disrespectfully. Turning around with a soft smile inside, I left the banquet hall, ignoring him with a clenched fist. I didn¡¯t know what kind of spite he might have against me, but it was beyond my interest. ¡°Brother! You were reckless!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! Did you know you could¡¯ve been in big trouble?¡± Watching the two twins made me smile as they voiced their complaints as soon as we got to the carriage. ¡°It is all good now.¡± He was a guy with that kind of personality, but he was still famous in the Voltiz kingdom for his talent. ¡°Do you know him?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve seen him before during a joint event.¡± Feeling offended, Winley swept her arm. ¡°Since then, he has constantly been pushing for marriage. He isn¡¯t just stupid, but bad-sighted as well.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± ¡°Hehe!¡± I didn¡¯t know that he had harassed her before. If I knew, I would have broken his arm. It wasn¡¯t easy for a sword trainer to feel Mana without talent. But it was also not easy to train and enter the expert rank. It was like saying that most knights couldn¡¯t reach the master rank, even if they tried during their entire lives. There were three Sword Masters in the kingdom of Al Rown, but even if the entire continent were combined, the number of Sword Masters would amount to less than 50. Despite this, the continent had a bigger population than expected. ¡°David, did you get hurt anywhere? Are you alright? With a tearful face, Winley held her tightly and asked. ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t get hurt for sure.¡± He couldn¡¯t hurt me; he was dancing to my tune the entire time. However, I would have seemed to be in danger to the audience. It was the entertainment sword that I chose to humiliate the opponent without revealing my presence. The results were a little childish but quite satisfactory. It was possible that the conflict with him could worsen the cold war between the Voltiz and the Al Rown Kingdom. ¡°My stomach dropped! If you got hurt, how was I supposed to see you again?¡± As Barris spoke wildly, I flicked his forehead without hesitation. I then smiled at him when he began shrieking in pain. I was thankful that they cared about me; that was probably why I cared more about these two. ¡°Brother, where the hell does your power come from?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a trick. And I¡¯m not that patient, so I just did it without thinking.¡± ¡°Hum¡­that isn¡¯t true.¡± Barris¡¯s gaze was the look of someone who knew me to some extent. That was how he looked. ¡°As long as it worked. It¡¯s all right, isn¡¯t it? ¡°Whoa¡­well, since you¡¯re not hurt, I won¡¯t say anything anymore. But please don¡¯t do this again. I¡¯ll do it for you. Brother. ¡°God helped you. You stumbled because you couldn¡¯t bear the weight of the sword, which let down his guard.¡± Winley murmured in curiosity. ¡°Sure. He probably didn¡¯t see what was coming.¡± ¡°Ha! To tell you the truth, I was grateful. You were amazing!¡± Barris didn¡¯t add anything to Winley¡¯s remark, but his mouth was twitching, so perhaps he felt the same. * * * ¡°Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!¡± A furious boy threw everything in his room, breaking everything into pieces. ¡°Prince Majesty, please calm down!¡± ¡°Let go!¡± The boy shouted coldly as if he were going to cut down the man right away. ¡°How dare he! I am the next Emperor of Voltiz Kingdom.¡± ¡°Prince Majesty¡­¡± ¡°Get lost.¡± ¡°Prince!¡± The boy¡¯s shout made the aristocrat who had been blocking him tremble. ¡°Get out of here before I kill you!¡± ¡°¡­¡± No one could stop him anymore. The aristocrats went outside with their heads down without another word, leaving the boy to his rage. ¡°I¡¯ll kill him. I¡¯ll kill him!!¡± His anger was aimed towards Davey, who mortified him in a great deal. ¡°Sigh¡­sigh¡­¡± ¡°Do you want to kill him?¡± It was then¡­ He stopped, unquenchable anger burning in his eyes. The boy, frowning reflexively, turned his head, and a red-eyed woman was sitting by the window. She looked like she was in her early 20s. The woman¡¯s red hair and red eyes were the only things shining in the darkroom in the night. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°Do you want to kill him?¡± It was an alluring voice, perhaps meant to prey on those who gave into its charm. ¡°I asked who you are!¡± Baltian, shouting furiously, pulled out the long-sword that was beside him. However, she didn¡¯t seem to care. The woman simply lifted herself and walked towards him from the window. ¡°I can help you.¡± Like a mother who comforted a child, or a sister who took care of her little brother¡­like a woman whispering love¡­ Baltian didn¡¯t say anything as he saw her coming toward him. ¡°I can help you, baby.¡± His trembling hands slowly began to stop with the seductive voice. At the same time, his eyes began to turn blank. ¡°Kill¡­?¡± ¡°Yes, your anger called me out. I¡¯ll help you rip his flesh and take his bones.¡± ¡°Your¡­name is??¡± ¡°Sharis. Please remember my name.¡± Baltian, who was looking at her with blank eyes, nodded unconsciously. Looking at him, the woman, her eyes shining red, gradually showed a cold smile. Then she moved closer, hugging Baltian and murmuring as she buried her face in his neck. ¡°Good boy. Leave it all to me. You just have to do what your heart tells you.¡± Simultaneously, her mouth slowly opened, and her canines sank relentlessly into his neck within the darkroom. CH 20 Episode 20 If there were any wounds, Amy would have insisted on treating them. However, there weren¡¯t any, so Amy stayed quiet with a puzzled expression fixed on the three of us, settling into the strange atmosphere. In this way, she felt like a nanny, not a maid. It was weird to say this about a girl younger than me, but the way Amy took care of me was over the top. Meanwhile, Barris continued with his sword training. Silent Night. Despite what happened in the banquet hall, the Duchy of Felicity maintained a festive atmosphere. The story didn¡¯t spread wide. Even if it did, people would have considered it as a common fight between some aristocrats. ¡°Will it be okay?¡± I read a book silently when Barris, who stopped swinging his sword, turned to me carefully. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Prince Baltian is the most promising candidate for the Crown Prince of the Voltiz Kingdom. Wouldn¡¯t it be possible for him to hold resentment over this incident?¡± ¡°Let him do whatever he wants.¡± When I calmly moved my gaze back in the book, Barris laughed bluntly. Then he put his sword down and plunged into the seat. ¡°How is Winley?¡± ¡°I think she was so stressed that she fell asleep a while ago.¡± ¡°You should sleep soon because your tournament starts tomorrow. Your match is in the first round in the draw.¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t sleep.¡± He closed his eyes quietly as if there was some kind of fire burning in his mind. ¡°Although it looked weird, you destroyed him once. But I¡¯m not satisfied yet.¡± ¡°Then? ¡°I will smash Prince Baltian with my own hands.¡± With this, I saw his determination. Barris was an expert intermediate. Prince Baltian of the Voltiz Kingdom, whom I faced, was a beginner. Although Barris¡¯s skill was slightly above his level, you still couldn¡¯t guarantee anything if you were on the same level with them unless there was a distinctive difference. He probably knew this. A bitter smile came out. I would love to teach him the swordsmanship I learned, but a one-day lesson wouldn¡¯t make a big difference. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You¡¯ll be great.¡± He was choosing mana with his eyes closed and smiled at my words. ¡°Of course. Whose brother am I?¡± ¡°Are you trying to flatter me?.¡± ¡°Haha!¡± His smile disappeared quickly in his face. He seemed serious in his way. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Out of my curiosity, I immediately focused my eyes on the mana as I sat on a branch and watched Barris sitting on the floor of the garden, whirring about. His rotating mana soon came into view and spread out evenly and wide. Clean. That was the first thought I felt when I saw his mana. Honest and gentle. It wasn¡¯t a bad move. However, I felt like there was a part that was a little blocked. ¡®Should I help him just a little bit?¡¯ If this method were known, wouldn¡¯t it cause an uproar? It was a completely different method, destroying the concept of the most common training method. There was a reason why so many large groups of martial arts people worked hard to implement casting off one¡¯s old self. I often didn¡¯t use this trick, but I didn¡¯t want to be stingy with my brother¡¯s matters. Besides, a vindictive Baltian could do something stupid to Barris. ¡°Barris.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Let me give you a massage.¡± As I calmly stepped down from the branch and walked close to him sitting, he closed his eyes and waited for my hand. It would hurt a little. ¡°Ouch?! Brother?!¡± ¡°Well, you must have been a little tense in your muscles.¡± ¡°Well, wait for a second!¡± ¡°It seems to be too stiff.¡± As if massaging his shoulders, he clenched his teeth and gasped under my touch. Although he probably wanted to writhe, he couldn¡¯t even properly resist the pain because he lost all his strength. ¡°What the¡­heck!¡± ¡°Whoa, it is pretty bad.¡± ¡®He is just massaging me, but why is my whole body sore?¡¯ He was probably thinking this. ¡®I¡¯m sorry, but it¡¯s not just a massage, boy.¡¯ I spread the mana by stimulating his shoulders with my hand, which would shake it up to become active without his awareness. With this simple explanation, it was obvious how much difference it would make. I had heard a Thai massage was one of the best. ¡°Yola Pongtai!¡± ¡°Hey! Oh! What are you talking about¡­ahhh?!¡± The massage took me a while to make his body flexible, in which mana was hardened in his shaking, writhing body. I smiled as I was satisfied with the mana¡¯s flow in his body, which changed slightly. ¡®Ah, I forgot the insurance.¡¯ Disregarding Barris catching his breath, I collected mana in my right palm. Then, mana began to shine in the form of a small, elaborate magic square with my will, and I hit his back as soon as I finished it. ¡°Ouch!!¡± ¡°Boy, you need to get some rest. Just go and sleep.¡± His scream resonated out when I hit him on his back once more. Nevertheless, he didn¡¯t forget to check if the small golden magic square engraved on his back was fixed. He was also giving me a strangely dissatisfied look. He probably had no clue how some of his body structure changed as I twisted with the massage that I gave him a little while ago. * * * The day was bright, and the Continental Swordsmanship competition officially began. Although the tradition itself was quite old, it was also an important game in its way, which had maintained peace between nations without any accidents. The discord that occurred here would soon spread to disputes between countries. Although the war wasn¡¯t eradicated on the continent, it would be true that such a harmonious competition was suppressing the war as much as possible. I remained in the dorm on the pretext of being unwell, sitting on the bed, condensing mana with my fingertips, and repeating to release it. ¡°I feel there is enough manas for Aura Blade, but why am I still not able to recast?¡± While supporting everyone else, I couldn¡¯t check my body properly. To be clear, I knew that my body was moving a lot differently from its normal orbit, but it was too far off from what I expected. Bone metamorphosis. The heroes of the corridor all spoke together and expressed it that way. It was self-evolution that changed itself when the body was to hit the limit of growth. Humans had the only advantage, who didn¡¯t have spirit affinities like elves and long lifespan, toughness and delicacy like dwarves, and powerful magic power like demons. If you embraced everything, it would make the bone metamorphosis happen. Ordinary bone metamorphosis happened with humans that had too much mana or other strength that couldn¡¯t be held in their body. So, when the expert reached the level of Sword Master, the mana that had grown to the limit would gather rapidly based on certain enlightenment and evolve by itself. Stronger muscle strength, a strong body, and a younger appearance were one thing, and one¡¯s longevity would also be extended. It was like a tremendous reward for your efforts. If so, how should I explain my case? Most of them were still asleep, but I had returned with an unbelievable amount of mana in my body. It was like the mana that needed to be accumulated slowly was filled in at once. ¡®It wasn¡¯t normal to go there while I was in a coma in the first place.¡¯ There was no effect without a cause. There must be a reason why I fell into the Corridor, but that wasn¡¯t what I cared about now. All I wanted now was my well-being and longevity. My life was too short in my past or present life, so I had a little obsession with life. The goal of my life was to eat well and live well for a long time. I wasn¡¯t going just to watch and let people ruin my plan. In terms of safety, a prince¡¯s status was safe enough to be incomparable with ordinary commoners, but in a different sense, it was more dangerous. As there was no power, I had to protect myself. However, I felt lost since the bone metamorphosis hadn¡¯t yet occurred. ¡°It changed well in the corridor.¡± I worried while suppressing the complaints that popped in my head. ¡®Shall I just force to change it?¡¯ If the knights, who look forward to pioneering the land, heard me, they would have a stroke. There were many possible solutions, but the effect wasn¡¯t worth trying. Eventually, after contemplating, the conclusion I made was to hold. The metamorphosis of the bone structure happened naturally when a direct load or trigger was given to the body. No matter how many experiences you had, the realm of the human body and mana was unknown. What if I tried and failed? It would be like forcing something that had less than one percent chance of success and pushing it into the reinforcing machine. It wasn¡¯t worth considering my priceless body as a piece of data. ¡°Majesty, it¡¯s time for Prince Barris¡¯s match to begin soon.¡± ¡°Already?¡± ¡°If you¡¯re late, you might miss the game¡­¡± When I focused on training mana in silence for a long time, Amy suddenly peaked out her head and reported with an anxious look. She looked worried at the possibility that I might do something absurd again. What did I do? Although I often did weird things in front of her, was it quite disrespectful? ¡°Amy.¡± ¡°Yes, Yes?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Hah. Yep!¡± As she looked at me with an anxious expression, she bowed her head in surprise. There was a lot to find out, but for now, we had to stick to reality. Didn¡¯t I learn enough in the corridor that I shouldn¡¯t be impatient? I slowly changed into comfortable activity attire and left. * * * The arena of the Duchy of Felicity was a truly beautiful stadium. The maximum age limit for the participants of the competition was 20 years old. It was a competition among young boys, but it wasn¡¯t such a low-level game considering their talent. All of these were talented sons representing their respective countries. It wasn¡¯t easy to enter into the expert level even if the average knights were recognized for their skills and status as knights. When it came to royal knights, most of them were experts, but ordinary knights could deal with mana only a little bit. In that sense, Barris¡¯s talent was quite outstanding. I headed to the special audience seats of the nobles above the normal audience seats that filled the stadium. It looked like they could have accommodated more people without these special seats, but I wouldn¡¯t protest against this. Soon, the crowd began to cheer. I saw a boy above the stadium posturing for victory. ¡°Oh, Davey!¡± Winley, looking out of the glass and chewing cookies combatively, was delighted to find me. ¡°Hey, how is your body? ¡°Not bad.¡± Even if I died, I wouldn¡¯t tell her that I couldn¡¯t go because I had to go to the bathroom. Stupid bowel movement! If I couldn¡¯t solve it with the bone metamorphosis, I might have to use divine power. ¡°Where is Barris?¡± ¡°He will start his match soon.¡± CH 21 Episode 21 Barris¡¯s game was none other than a match against Baltian, the prince of the Voltiz kingdom. I thought of how funny it was to have this match right away, but it was better than not being able to have it at all. Barris was standing on the martial arts field with a determined face, showing no fear whatsoever. I felt the excitement in the entire stadium was heated up from the previous game. Since most participants had outstanding skills, it must have been markedly different from the usual scuffles. Barris had a claymore, similar to his body size, but the sword¡¯s blade was quite blunt for a non-lethal battle. Wizards and priests with outstanding skills were on standby, but if you were hit with a sharp-edged weapon, you would still likely die before any treatment could occur. ¡°I am so worried if he gets injured while running like an angry foal.¡± ¡°Barris has a lot of experience. He will be fine.¡± ¡°I know, but¡­¡± Winley was a rear assistant, but Barris used to take the lead when clearing up the many mountain thieves in the country, perhaps because of his personality. Because of that, I felt sorry for the knights who were busy trying to protect him. Before long, Baltian slowly appeared with a long sword from the other side. I expected that he wouldn¡¯t look good because of the embarrassment he had at the banquet yesterday, but his face was scarily expressionless. ¡°Even though the blade of the sword is dull, killing is forbidden. Do not attack each other with direct qi.¡± A wizard in a robe quietly spoke and then installed a barrier in front of the battlefield. It was to prevent the fight from flying to the audience seats. He had a gaze filled with hostility, but Barris stared at Baltian without saying anything. On the contrary, Baltian simply pulled out his sword silently. ¡°Start!¡± Before long, the two men collided as soon as the start signal went off. Barris, who learned deadly swordsmanship using power, and Baltian, who uses a variable sword technique to fool his opponent with a long sword. Barris was dominant when it came to proficiency and stability in swordsmanship. Besides, the atmosphere was turning toward him because of the misbehavior that Baltian showed before. Those who saw him at the banquet didn¡¯t seem to have any expectations from Baltian. However¡­ ¡°Huh?¡± Unlike everyone¡¯s expectations, Baltian fought head-to-head against Barris¡¯s sword. Did his skill improve? Not really. It was like a strange flash of D¨¦j¨¤ vu. Clang! Clang! They both had expert-level skills, reinforcing their bodies with mana. Even though the swords didn¡¯t have sharp blades, I could see sparks when they collided. Clang!! Clang!! The wild audience had now gone silent, surprised by the close encounter between the two. Without even screaming, they squeezed their hands tightly and swallowed their breath. Abandoning deadly swordsmanship of unknown origin to me, was far beyond the physical abilities that he showed yesterday. It was impossible that him improved his skill in that short time. As if he had changed completely, his swordsmanship was alien to me. If I hadn¡¯t awakened Barris¡¯s mana yesterday, it would have been a big mess. Clang!! The two men, who were pushing each other in a strength competition, spread apart simultaneously. ¡°Wow¡­it¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen Barris move that fast¡­¡± Winley was right. Barris, who was catching his breath, seemed surprised that his physical ability increased sharply from yesterday and once again surprised that sword technique, struck him with the same sword technique as himself. ¡°His skill has significantly improved.¡± Barris, who used to say that he would become a knight, wielding a wooden sword at random, had indeed grown a lot. Baltian was acting weird, but I felt proud of Barris at the same time. ¡°I never thought he¡¯d be so good at using the power sword like this.¡± Catching his breath, Barris quietly asked Baltian. However, Baltian remained quiet, just raising his longsword and pushing toward him. Once again, I felt a sense of D¨¦j¨¤ vu. ¡°Davey, are you okay?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± While speaking calmly, I immediately focused the command mana on my eyes. The Silent magic trick was activated, and I started to see things slowly in the dark. This was Black magic that could read the opponent¡¯s mind. At the same time¡­ I frowned at Baltian when I saw the air current flowing through his body. ¡°What the heck?¡± I jumped up, realizing something wasn¡¯t right. Then, the battle between the two was over at the same time. As if making a final decision, Baltian pushed himself toward Barris¡¯s sword. Reflexively turning the sword¡¯s trajectory and trying to attack again, Baltian didn¡¯t miss the short gap and swung his sword. And, momentarily, a red air current in his sword appeared, and he thrust his sword into the heart of Barris without hesitation. Bhaha!!!! Simultaneously, a blue veil around his body prevented Baltian¡¯s attack and disappeared as if crushed. The Continental Swordsmanship Competition was a competition in which outstanding people competed. Functionally, it was a sports game with the principle of not killing your opponents. However, he relentlessly violated two of the biggest rules: not to use murderous techniques and not to apply qi to his weapon. The inside of the stadium, full of surprise, began to sway. Blue air veil. Anyone who knew swordsmanship wouldn¡¯t miss it. This was of expert-intermediate level or higher. Because of this, it was a self-barrier that more advanced professionals used. When he inflicted a dangerous attack, the mana would then wake up to protect the owner. It was of an advanced expert level or higher¡­ Most swordsmen were often frustrated because they couldn¡¯t break through this situation, but Barris pioneered the technique at the age of fourteen. All I did was to slightly stimulate his mana, which had been hardened to his body, but even with that, his condition had already taken a big step forward. Of course, Baltian¡¯s sword qi wasn¡¯t ordinary; it was an ominous dark red qi. Since he entered the upper ranks, Barris couldn¡¯t mitigate all the shock. (Cough) As a small amount of blood flowed out of Barris¡¯s mouth, Barris slowly raised himself with a pale face. ¡°Duel is stopped! Prince Baltian! You have violated two rules, so I declare your disqualification!¡± With the wizard¡¯s furious shout, the knights quickly climbed up the battlefield, surrounded, and suppressed him. However, Baltian only turned his head to a bizarre angle with an expressionless face despite this situation. Then, he puffed his lips as he opened his mouth for the first time. ¡°Kkkkrr!¡± However, the voice that flowed out of his mouth was so strange that he didn¡¯t sound like a human at all. ¡°Prince Baltian de Voltiz! At a convention held for the Confederation of Nations¡¯ unity, this rude behavior can only be regarded as the intention of the Voltiz nation.¡± Officials of the host country, the Duchy of Felicity, shouted angrily. If Barris were killed here, it wouldn¡¯t be a normal problem. That wasn¡¯t only true for Barris, but for everyone who participated. Those who came here were representatives of each country. Among them were the royal family and the sons of famous military nobility. Any country that valued ??them would certainly not be happy and make a claim. If so, of course, unity, which was the national coalition¡¯s purpose, would be over. They all knew that once two small nations declared war, all the neighboring countries would jump in since they¡¯ve waited for this very reason to do so. However, even at the words of the official of the Principality of Felicity, he just tilted his head and didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°From our perspective, the prince¡¯s action was malicious and deliberate actions to revenge! If you do not give any clarification, I will formally report a claim against the Voltiz Kingdom as the current host of the Continental Swordsmanship Contest organized by the Confederation of Nations!¡± As if throwing an injunction, the official shouted. ¡°Wait!¡± ¡°Please wait! The prince¡¯s action wasn¡¯t intended to cause discord!¡± A formal claim would never be what the Voltiz Kingdom would hope for. The Voltiz Kingdom¡¯s nobles who jumped up over the battlefield were sweating to ease the situation. ¡°Prince! Please, say something..!¡± It was then. Baltian, who was still silent, turned his head to a bizarre angle and grabbed the head of a nobleman who approached him. (Gnarl) (Crackling) In an instant, the head of the nobleman burst like a watermelon hit by a baseball bat. At the same time, the blood disappeared from the faces of everyone watching the situation at the stadium. * * * With his mouth wide open, Baltian began to shed a bizarre sound and a red air veil, not only from his sword, but also from his empty hand formed. As if a sticky liquid was flowing over, the appearance of the red air veil that enclosed his entire body gave the viewers goosebumps. ¡°Ahhhhhh!!!¡± ¡°Ahhhhhh!!¡± Then, after a brief silence, screams began to erupt from all over the stadium. Again, the game was supposed to be a friendly match with a strong sports concept. If an athlete grabbed a person¡¯s head and burst it during the Earth¡¯s Olympic Games, it would surely cause chaos like this. Baltian¡¯s eyes, which looked as if they were smiling, were moving quickly, and the white part of his eyes began to turn red. Simultaneously, unidentified veins sprouted all over the skin, and the fangs visible in his open mouth began to lengthen, much like a vampire from a ghost story. ¡®Infection.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t a normal vampire that could create an infectious agent that could shed Dark qi. Instinctively realizing it, I narrowed my eyes. I noticed that he wasn¡¯t the same as I knew just by looking at the flow of mana from a little while ago. The flow of mana that creatures should have wasn¡¯t there, and only a bizarre flow remained. As I approached, Barris, ignoring Baltian, who was standing overwhelmed by the knights, looked up at me with a half-pale expression. CH 22 Episode 22 ¡°Davey¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. Good job.¡± ¡°Cough! Did you see that? I made that air veil, brother.¡± He smiled, and I knew he was trying to make me not worry. He was, after all, only a 14-year-old boy. He had matured rather quickly compared to others. Meanwhile, I felt like I was stuck to the ground. If I hadn¡¯t set up a protection yesterday, Barris would have lost his life in this match. No one else, but my brother, who was the only one on my side in the stark palace, almost died. ¡°Go in and take some rest.¡± ¡°Ugh¡­¡± ¡°Baltian.¡± I sent Barris away on a stretcher and headed to the field. My dream was to eat well and live peacefully, just like everyone else. It was a simple dream for me, who hadn¡¯t lived in such a way in the previous and present life combined. Life in the corridor wasn¡¯t a living form. That was why I couldn¡¯t stand out that much. No matter how brilliant a human could be, they could never survive by turning everyone into an enemy. Did they say that a cornered stone meets the mason¡¯s chisel? When judged objectively, I had a range of diversity that ordinary people could never understand. That meant that I could be considered a dangerous molecule. Especially now, when enemies in the Al Rown palace surrounded me. As I approached Baltian in anger, the knights hurriedly blocked me. Baltian, bizarrely changed, didn¡¯t look like a human being but a monster now. Of course, the knights, pulling out their swords, didn¡¯t let me get close to him. ¡°If you get any closer than this, it is too dangerous. Please step back!¡± He said firmly, but I, ignoring the knights, turned around and stared at him. I wondered what the use of these words would be to a man who lost consciousness. It was annoying. What should I do? Should I pull out all of his limbs even if it would end in a war with Voltiz? Or should I take another way? As I mulled this over, Baltian started to move. ¡°Uggghh! Ugggghhhh!!¡± He began to shed bloody tears from his red eyes, looking at me, and then he ran towards me. ¡°Stop him!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t let Prince Baltian close to Prince Davey!¡± Even so, he continued to rush powerfully. ¡°Huh?!¡± His power was too strong to be stopped by the skilled knights. Slice! He cut the knights in front of him with a red sword to reach me. ¡°Davey!!!¡± Winley, who had followed me, screamed. Everyone thought that it was too late to stop him. ¡°Move.¡± A blonde-haired girl stormed over the field, grabbed my shoulder, and pulled me backward, swinging a sword at Baltian. [Heavy sword. Splitting the Mountain.] The girl, who looked only about 150cm-tall and holding a huge sword as tall as her, struck at him, completely changing from someone with a cold face to an insane monster. Kuwoong!!! Tremendous vibrations resonated out, and the stone floor, protected by magic, shook and cracked lightly. It was just one strike. However, with it, he was thrown to the ground on one knee by the girl¡¯s overwhelmingly heavy attack. ¡°Raauugh! Raaaaaugh!!¡± Her attack made him shriek. Ileana de Palan, called the Princess of Swords, appeared with a blue air veil all over her body, staring coldly at Baltian with tightly constricted pupils. ¡°Vampire¡­¡± As if there she held a grudge against vampires, she kicked him in the head. She was so fast and intense that even the knights who kept their distance to counterattack Baltian couldn¡¯t stop her. Rather, she was way more powerful than most of the knights here, so it would be more practical to help her defeat him rather than stop her. ¡°Raauughhh!!¡± He screamed and fought back, but Princess Ileana pushed him away like a beast. ¡°The prince is more powerful! Help her defeat him!¡± Baltian was no longer a prince, but a monster was running wild. The knights followed her and raised their swords. The wizards who were supervising the battlefield applied attack magic quickly, and the priests who were waiting for the wounded squeezed out their divine power and increased the momentum to press him down. He wouldn¡¯t run wild anymore. Everyone thought so. ¡°Raaugghh!¡± He pulled out a bizarre gem from his heart when she pushed him to the far end of the field. ¡®Blood Polis?¡¯ It was a sanctuary for vampires. No matter what it was or what it did, my body reacted instantly. Even though Barris went out of the stadium on a stretcher, Winley was still here. As I pulled Winley reflexively toward me and focused my energy, the frightening red gem pulled out of his heart emitted a big light. It turned into a living fog and soon swallowed up its surroundings. * * * It didn¡¯t take much time for the wave of bloody fog to cover the entire arena. As if volcanic ash was flying from a volcanic eruption, wait a minute! At that moment, it was filled with red fog on all sides, promptly covering everything. Only two were shining in that space where you couldn¡¯t normally even see one inch ahead. Ileana was sitting down while scattering light from her body, and I, holding Winley in my arm, made an air veil to block the fog. In other words, only the three of us were awake. If there were swordmasters, they might have been fine as well, but the Duchy of Felicity didn¡¯t have any swordmasters. If so, what about the sword-masters in other countries? According to the agreement of the Union of Nations, the swordmasters were considered as human weapons and weren¡¯t allowed to leave their country unless it was quite a matter of affairs. The swordmasters here were treated like knights who had mediocre proficiency that was below Princess Ileana¡¯s level. In the first place, it was unlikely that swordmasters came here since there weren¡¯t many on the continent. ¡°Cough, Davey?¡± Winley, who was painfully breathing, looked exhausted like a person who hadn¡¯t slept for several days. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Winley. Everything is okay.¡± ¡°Davey¡­¡± She couldn¡¯t even think of herself and eventually closed her eyes. ¡°Get some sleep, and everything will be fine after you wake up from a good dream.¡± I spoke calmly, carefully laying her in a corner. Then, I frowned as I stretched out my hands. ¡®Hurry up and move. If you¡¯re lazy, you¡¯ll be mixed up with the command mana.¡¯ Whooooshh! As if shrieking, a pale white light moved through my fingertips. There were three energies in me: Mana, command mana, and divine power. Each had its characteristics. Only those who had reached a certain level to communicate with mana were able to sense the change. Not only did it increase efficiency, but it also eliminated recoil and raised more power than I currently had. This was the state of enlightenment at the very highest master level. My body currently maintained a slightly abnormal balance, though. It had been a little weird since the beginning. The word ¡°psycho¡± would suit the command mana. ¡®Use me right now! If you don¡¯t, I¡¯ll scream!!¡¯ The command mana had this kind of mindset. It had the fastest resilience and was also the most efficient for this reason. The other mana, in a sense, was like a sassy girl. She was difficult, but when I expressed my will, she reluctantly but elegantly moved. And, the divine power showed the worst dullness. It had a lazy nature that didn¡¯t listen to whatever I would say. Even now, if I didn¡¯t force it to move, it wouldn¡¯t have moved. It was similar to giving a dog a treat for tricks; it only moved when there was special motivation. This was level 4 divine magic, the Shining bright protection. The impact of the Blood Polis wouldn¡¯t reach her for a while. However, I wasn¡¯t satisfied with it yet and kept using different divine magic. ¡°Whew¡­¡± A sigh of relief flowed out only after a great deal of divine power escaped, and intense light covered Winley. She wasn¡¯t in pain anymore and looked healthier. Too many people in the stadium were suffering from the Blood Polis, but I didn¡¯t have time to take care of them. It was a crazy idea to apply protective magic one by one with my divine power in the first place. My divine magic was, after all, only at level 4. Level 1 was the best, so Level 4 was not the lowest. It was quite similar to the fourth circle magic. As I looked at the two people silently, I got up slowly. Then, I looked at the blonde-hair girl grasping for her sword on one side. Her blond hair, which was bright as honey, was scattered weakly, and her face, which was beautiful enough to take away one¡¯s eyes, looked pale. Nevertheless, the original beauty remained the same. After all, appearance mattered when it came to someone¡¯s first impression. Unfortunately, we all tended to judge a person by appearance. ¡°Sigh¡­sigh¡­¡± I could barely endure the airflow from my body. I didn¡¯t expect her to have a stronger power beyond this. Of course, I didn¡¯t need her help. When I approached her silently and put my hand on her back, she cringed away. She was barely holding on with a half-broken giant sword, and as the mana gradually flowed in through my hand, she stopped gasping and began to breathe slowly and evenly. ¡°Once you feel better, step back.¡± ¡°Hold on! You?!¡± She realized my existence, looking up at me in amazement. There was a puzzled expression on her face. ¡°You¡­how come you are unaffected?!¡± The bloody fog covering their surroundings weakened and collapsed everyone who inhaled. That included the knights with excellent skills who could manage a certain amount of mana. However, I was fine. She wasn¡¯t stupid enough not to know my situation. The fact that I was the prince of misfortune, who fell into a coma in an accident and was unable to wake up for six years¡­she had probably heard about me after she came here. Still, she seemed to believe that I was a weak prince with no power after watching the whole thing at the banquet yesterday. ¡°Well.¡± ¡°Cough! I don¡¯t know what happened, but you should step back. It¡¯s not something that you can solve.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t think I can solve the situation.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t resolve the situation with luck like the duel at the banquet!¡± She shouted urgently. ¡°They are the nobles of the night, the demons that remained in old books. You¡¯ve probably heard of vampires.¡± It was more than that I heard of them. I had hundreds of thousands of fights against vampires. As I was silently listening to her, I found that she couldn¡¯t control her body. Because of this, she forced herself to lift her sword in an attempt to block me. CH 23 Episode 23 ¡°You can¡¯t solve the situation by luck this time. You¡¯ll be torn right away since you hardly feel the mana. I don¡¯t know why you¡¯re normal, but go run away.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like he is going to stop.¡± ¡°I will stop him!¡± She was someone who didn¡¯t easily show her emotions. The position of the princess would have changed her in that way. However, now, she was showing excessive obsession. It seemed that vampires were her deadly enemy. I pulled her shoulder as she was trying hard to activate mana with a bitter smile inside. It was a little revenge for interfering in the situation. ¡°What?!¡± I gently poked the back of her neck with my index and middle finger. ¡°Ouch!!¡± The moment she looked back at me with a shocked expression, I poked her collarbone accurately and quickly one more time. ¡°Huh?!¡± Her body thusly collapsed like a broken doll. ¡°What¡­what is this?!¡± She looked puzzled, trying to understand the situation that happened to her body. I felt so guilty looking at her eyes, asking for an explanation in which I didn¡¯t turn away without a word. ¡°I am not sure why you have such a grudge against vampires, but it¡¯s my job, so don¡¯t get in the way of my work.¡± Her eyes were wide open in astonishment with my dire warning. ¡°What, what are you¡­?¡± I left her behind. I closed my fists, and stretched out with my left hand measuring the distance. Then, I took a short breath as I pulled my left foot back. ¡°Ugghh! Ughghhhh!!¡± Baltian, who was passionately breathing the bloody mist, ran into me with the speed of a bullet. The bloody mist was the best circumstance to him. He proved to be faster and more powerful after inhaling a lot of mist. Dark qi was working within him, and he was immune to magic. He was a type of undead monster who had considerable resistance except for one thing. ¡°Ughhh!¡± He was more furious and violent toward me than when attacking the others. Even if he lost his consciousness, he still had the instinct of deep hatred against me. As he struck down his big fist with great force, I hit his wrist to the side with my left hand to measure the distance. It was such tremendous power. Yet, I had the muscle strength that I had trained since I learned swordsmanship for the first time. I knew exactly what his weakness was. I could easily get rid of his force just by twisting his balance off a little. Should I destroy him in the same way? [Cheonmagong Thousand Bloody Horse Detonation] As the black destructive magical spirit began to overflow, I penetrated his heart without hesitation with my fingers and thrust my palm as I rotated. Pop!!! A black silhouette, extending from my hand to his heart, swallowed him with a huge vibration and disappeared, leaving a huge mark on the wall behind him. * * * The blonde girl was watching the whole thing in astonishment. It all felt like a giant demon destroying a small being. The strange and terrifying feeling made her tremble. ¡°..What is that?¡± She, barely holding herself against the huge vibration, had gone silent as she watched Baltian, a monster boasting a huge body, collapse in vain. It was obvious that Baltian was far stronger than before. Nevertheless, he didn¡¯t attack carefully. I just punched a hole in his body just by pushing his palm with a little force. It was unbelievable to see him exploding instantly, who had reached the highest level of expert swords. She didn¡¯t even feel a single drop of mana in his body. Was it possible to do that as a human? Was it realistically possible for a human without a handful of mana to blow up a monster with a black and white current? She couldn¡¯t believe what she had seen. ¡°Phew.¡± I walked towards her, brushing my hands off in relief and ignoring Baltian¡¯s black blood. It might have been my violence a while ago, or it may be because of the unexpected power I showed, but she looked a little scared of me. As I walked silently and towards her, she was stepping backward without realizing it. Tttt! ¡°Ah!¡± Her feet were twisted because of her sudden movement, and she screamed cutely as she fell to the ground. She looked up at me with a frightened expression, losing her usual imperturbable attitude. Meanwhile, I stayed quiet, thinking about something and smiling at her as she stared at my black hair. Her cold attitude from a while ago had now disappeared. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m feeling a little better now.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Let me borrow your sword.¡± She tilted her head at my sudden words. The only sword she had was that huge, half-broken sword. Although people said, she was the master of the divine sword Calderas¡­ She didn¡¯t quite master the sword. ¡°This is already broken¡­¡± ¡°Not that one.¡± I pointed to her chest with a smile. It was a little brooch on her outfit. ¡°This.¡± Rip!! Her eyes opened wider as I tore off the brooch without her permission. She couldn¡¯t just seem to understand the situation. ¡°A boss needs a special tool, so let¡¯s borrow your strength. Divine swordmaster.¡± Thousand Nightmaster Surt had been promoted as a hero thanks to his life of making numerous weapons, including swords that would save the world. He had given this name to one of the masterpieces of his life: Calderas. It meant white guardian in an ancient spirit world. He could create a master¡¯s sword from the same material as others; even old swords turned into master swords with his hand. This was a magical blacksmith with the blessing of the spirit. He was well known throughout the continent for his ability to smelt a sword by controlling mana. There were two masterpieces in his life, and the other ten swords remained somewhere in the continent as national treasures. All of them were great magic swords, but Calderas was exceptionally superior among them. He made Calderas for his best friend, Haris, by sacrificing his life to give it ego. What was the ego? It was self-esteem. A sword usually emitted power on its own with an ego. Honestly, if I just listened, I had no choice but to feel great, but I knew the truth, and I knew what kind of guy he was. What kind of guy was he? -Hey! Who do you think you are holding me? Put me down!! Wouldn¡¯t you be able to tell just by listening to this crackling and whining from the sword? ¡®Noisy.¡¯ Of course, I had heard of his notorious temper from his master. -What, what?! ¡®Please cooperate with me. If you come out uncooperatively, your master will also die.¡¯ The sword vibrated lightly as if he was startled at my words. ¡°A sword with a vibration function. As I heard, he¡¯s a real pervert.¡± If Surt heard what I said, as the sword maker, he would try to beat me to death right away, whether I was once his student or not. Of course, he was in the corridor so that he wouldn¡¯t hear me. What did it matter if anyone swore when the king didn¡¯t listen? -Hey!! How dare are you treating me like this?! The voice of the screaming sword was inaudible to anyone else. ¡°This¡­hey¡­¡± She was no longer keeping her mind clear without the power of the divine sword. It seemed like she was at her limit. It would be difficult to even stay awake. Her talent was excellent, but she faced a difficult opponent. Whoo¡­ As I concentrated on the energy and lowered the hand holding the brooch, an intense white light burst. The sword was made by compressing an Orichalcum ingot that had been cast for a thousand years. That was why it was a divine sword. As I calmly focused my energy in, a huge storm surrounded my body, and soon the light of the sword turned into a huge giant sword. The length was approximately 120 cm, and the width of the sword was over 10 cm. Considering the current owner, the sword was as tall as Princess Ileana, who was only around 150cm tall, and it ended up being pure white. It had a surprisingly smooth surface and a dangerously sharp blade. I could feel the warm divine power radiating so intensely that my head was ringing. Was it obvious because the only magic blacksmith on this continent forged this sword? I lifted the sword silently and swept the surface with my fingertips. ¡°It¡¯s superior.¡± Did people say opportunity made a thief? When one saw good things, isn¡¯t it natural to want them? However, I got rid of the thought immediately. It wasn¡¯t mine in the first place, and it was a sword that didn¡¯t match my personality that much. -I haven¡¯t been awoken by the contractor yet, but uh¡­how did you raise my power?! I swung the sword cutting through the air, ignoring the screaming Calderas, and¡­ Boom!! A great wave of power wrapped around me and slowly scattered. Baltian, the monster wandering around in the red mist, just burst out in a bloody blast under my Thousand Bloody Horse Detonation. It wasn¡¯t that there wasn¡¯t an enemy. Baltian, a monster who lost his mind, must have not led the situation. It was the high-ranking vampire who infected him that led to this situation. I silently pulled my hand, holding the grip, pointing the tip of the sword in the air. Then I put the tip of the sword down and sliced it upwards. CH 24 [The budget was slightly tighter and we could not do our usual process. However, the quality will pick up after 10 chapters of Community Unlock, since we will be bootstraping an extra editor.] Episode 24 ¡®Please cooperate. Just let me borrow your strength. I¡¯ll do the rest.¡¯ -You¡­what the hell¡­ [Divine Sword Unity] [Super Heavy Sword Thunder] Crack!! Enlightenment was such a convenient system. Muscle strength would build up in the body but becoming a pioneer of something and growing enlightened was engraved in my soul. This was a new change to me, who had already been through enlightenment once. It was only that the frozen Mana had now returned to its original state. Although the recovery had been slowed down considerably, it wasn¡¯t a lack of enlightenment but rather the sudden release of a large amount of Mana, which caused a gap. The heavy sword, Haris¡® swordsmanship, which could be regarded as the foundation of the technique I used, cleaved the air with enormous power. Even though Mana¡¯s power wasn¡¯t strong enough, the divine sword supplemented the insufficient power of Mana with enormous divine power. As the pure white flash passed through the air, the red smoke disappeared for an instant, leaving a terrible sword¡¯s image instead. ¡°How long are you going to hide? Come out.¡± There was no answer to my words. However, I felt that something was coming closer. ¡°I knew it was a vampire, but I never thought it was a high-ranking vampire.¡± The black bats united together and broke apart but then slowly began to unite again in the torn air. They then formed the silhouette of a person as they united into a single mass. ¡°Do you remember me? Miss maid.¡± The silhouette turned into a woman who opened her eyes with terrifyingly cold red pupils as she recovered her form. * * * One thing was certain, looking back at my memory, according to what I¡¯ve heard about the vampire tribe, they were so prideful that their nose was tilted as high as the sky. They referred to themselves as nobles and acted like they had class inside them. Of course, they certainly had such great power. They were the only creatures who could use blood magic. Vampires instinctively had strong control over blood, similar to the dragon¡¯s unique ability. Blood polis was a power that granted vampires sanctuary. ¡°I thought there was someone secretly helping you when my men were attacked, but I guess it was just you.¡± It was a high-handed tone. She looked down at me silently, looking unsurprised. ¡°As you know, I¡¯m kind of awesome,¡± I responded to her in an attempt to hurt her pride. ¡°Why don¡¯t you come down a little bit? My throat hurts because I keep looking up.¡± ¡°Huh, how dare you¡­¡± ¡°If you wear such a dress and float there, I can see your underwear. It¡¯s black like your personality.¡± I said calmly, removing the smile on my face. ¡°So, come down right now.¡± Crack!! Then there came a streak of lightning, splitting the space where she was. Of course, the amount of mana I recovered was too small to reach the ability to tear the entire space apart, so what I tore down was a part of this red mist. However, it didn¡¯t matter. The giant sword Calderas was a sword with an ego that possessed great divine power. Sadly, to those infected by vampires or vampires themselves, they were vulnerable against divine power. As my repeated blows hit much harder than before, she frowned and slowly came down to the other side of the field. ¡°With such a catastrophe like this, Queen Liness would never have to cover up her actions even if I, Barris, and Whitney were killed. The relationship with the Voltiz Kingdom may get worse, but there is no way that the Voltiz Kingdom would wage war against the kingdom of Al Rown, given how targeted they are by the other nations.¡± ¡°¡­¡± I smiled at her, who was staring at me as if her pride had been wounded. ¡°Can I assume that you showed up in front of me because you are confident enough to kill me, right? You rolled your head quite well, but what should I do? It¡¯s closing time, fool.¡± ¡°You snobby¡­¡± As she spoke coldly and opened her arms, drops of blood gathered in her hand. A red whip then materialized, and she relentlessly swung it at me. Whip! Whip!! The whip struck the ground, and my body, completely smashing the hardened floor, was treated with magic. ¡®Ouch. You¡¯re pissed off.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t the end yet. The part of my body where the whip touched turned red, and sharp thorns rushed in towards me. Shiiiiing!! Of course, I wasn¡¯t going to keep getting hit, so when I lightly swung the sword, the thorns were scattered away. ¡°It¡¯s different from what I expected, but you¡¯re just a poor human being.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you working for a human now?¡± ¡°Hold your stupid tongue!!¡± The whip, which had been swung strongly, tore through the air again. She seemed quite angry, but that was to be expected. The most efficient way of attacking vampires was with a quick wit. -Vampire Lord? He was strong; he was stupidly strong. First of all, he¡¯s the strongest among the species. They are crazy from birth, and one of them becomes a lord after holding a succession ceremony. They don¡¯t die easily without a high elf, the natural enemy of vampires. -Then how did I get him? I made him mad enough to go crazy with my three-inch tongue and beat him up. Making any creature sufficiently mad simplifies their action. Vampires are particularly prideful, so if you tenaciously point out their birth or appearance to higher-ranking aristocrats, there are many greenhorns who burst out in anger. This was what the noble had said, who was lying on a wooden podium because he was lazy. Come to think of it; it seemed that the Palan Empire was quite the believer in swordsmanship. I wondered what would happen if everyone found out who he was. Whip!! Whip!! The whip continued to lash out, causing a sonic boom as it persistently aimed at me. If someone got hit once precisely, it would be difficult to withstand even if you had a trained body. At that, a whip wasn¡¯t a weapon that could easily be blocked. At this, a whip with bloody thorns came in again, as if cutting off my retreat. There was a limit to avoiding it. However, if I retreated further, it could affect the humans who were lying on the floor. ¡°The only result left to you is death!¡± She shouted coldly, avoiding the sword I was wielding. ¡°Even if it has the power of a divine sword, that woman, who was said to have inherited the swordsmanship of the god of swords, eventually collapsed.¡± At that arrogant tone, I swung my sword again, but the red blood drops covering her body blocked me. ¡°It¡¯s a blood clot¡­¡± -A Vampire Count or higher! Although they are relatively young, they are purebloods who can challenge the lord if only the lineage is concerned. As I saw the blood veil, I quietly nodded my head at Calderas¡¯s words. ¡®I have to deal with it now.¡¯ -Is it possible? ¡®Why, you think it¡¯s impossible?¡¯ Despite the enormous force of the whip that was pushing me away, as if I were finished, I gently lifted my sword and twisted my body lightly. The red whip struck near me, missing by the width of a piece of paper. It wasn¡¯t easy to learned how to, you would be able to counterattack as you wish. Shari¡¯s expression momentarily stiffened. And, without missing the short chance, I attacked the red thorns coming towards me, almost crumbling them. There was only a very short chance. However, there was enough time for an attack. The predictable trajectory of the sword wasn¡¯t efficient at all, but I applied stronger force to it. I aimed for both her and the huge jewels floating in the air that emitted this damn red smoke. ¡°You said she inherited swordsmanship from the god of swords? Do not be mistaken for only seeing a little girl who just scratched the surface.¡± -This¡­this swordsmanship?! The light cut that I swung tens or hundreds of thousands of times in the name of training. It was a little faded to match me, but it was the same technique of splitting the mountain that Princess Ileana used on Baltian. [Super heavy sword splitting mountain] However, the power was remarkably different from what she showed. ¡°What?!¡± Her eyes became wide-open, and she reflexively created a blood clot¡­ However, it was far too late to block my attack. Crack! Crack! ¡°What?!¡± A flash of lightning, the condensation of the enormous power, created a huge pure white light, tearing the space through her body. * * * The aftermath of the huge blow was truly enormous. It was because the battlefield, which had maintained a certain shape even with her attack, collapsed as if it was smashed under the vibrations, even though it had been treated with magic. I was surprised to see that the floor was turned to powder by a single weapon because I thought it would be fine even if it were bombarded. Hercules, a hero who called himself the King of Survival, said so. -What? Isn¡¯t it better to use whatever¡¯s at hand? Danger comes unintentionally at any time! Do you think you will have good artifacts or objects all the time? Haris, a lazy swordsman, and Dok Go-jun, a drunkard, had said so. -This kid is still immature. -Think simple! Listen, kid, which one would be strong? A strong guy with a strong sword¡­Oh! I¡¯m drunk. What did I say¡­oh yeah. Or a guy who doesn¡¯t know anything about swords holding a greatsword? Ugh¡­oh, how far did I say it? Wizard Odin said so. -If so, what is the use of learning magic? Just grab a great magic staff and wield it. By the way, this kid is trying to change the subject as he made fun of me being a midget?! When did I do that? Lastly, the divine Hippocras pinched my cheek and smiled. -Isn¡¯t he asking the question because he got yelled at by the others? I can¡¯t give you great advice because I¡¯m not an expert in combat skills. However, don¡¯t forget to return what you borrowed eventually. The difference between what you¡¯ve built up and borrowing something that was already built up is big. Even though the Corridor was where various humans gathered, everyone said the same thing in the end. Don¡¯t be dependent on items. However¡­once you experienced the synergy that the item brought, you couldn¡¯t just say that easily. ¡°Hey¡­it¡¯s amazing; that¡¯s why people seek rare items.¡± -I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about. Back in my days! Uh?! ¡°Hey, you snot.¡± The divine sword, Calderas, sounded refreshed. It was a guy who had been kept loftily without an owner for thousands of years. It found the owner, but because the master¡¯s skills were still imperfect, its body couldn¡¯t be manifested and was maintained in the form of a brooch, so it seemed quite frustrated. -By the way. What the hell are you? How did you get my power out? And how do you know about me? Your swordsmanship too! It was his technique, Mountain Split, that you showed me just now. ¡°It¡¯s true.¡± -Plus, it¡¯s as if you¡¯ve known me from before¡­ ¡°Let¡¯s just follow our contract. Do we need to dig up unnecessary facts from each other?¡± -What is it¡­? CH 25 Episode 25 As I cut in on him to bury his words, I sensed a confused feeling, almost as if he couldn¡¯t understand. However, even if I told him that I was a student of his original master, there was no way he would choose to believe it. Rather, it would be fortunate if he didn¡¯t freak out, saying that I had just insulted the deceased. The existence of the Corridor was kind of a secret in some sense. It was also a story that was hard to believe. I stared at the huge red jewel that slightly cracked and split in half. The power of the blow properly borrowed from the divine sword was amazing. It wasn¡¯t completely smashed, but that was still enough for me. Shari was a vampire with great power, but she didn¡¯t threaten me. She never thought she would be defeated. Whether she was dead, alive, or had fled, it wasn¡¯t a good time for me to chase her. It wouldn¡¯t be easy to find her with the current power I held. Besides, there was a more important thing now than Sharis, who seemed to have run away. The source of this red mist was the vitality of all living things, except the vampires inside there. Once a fire was lit, it was left burning with only oxygen and combustion. If I waited any longer, an irreversible catastrophe would occur. -Blood Polis¡­Ah, it¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve seen this air¡­ It makes me nauseous. I heard the murmur of the divine sword in annoyance. -You know that? This red mist won¡¯t get any bigger thanks to destroying the nucleus, but it won¡¯t stop until everyone here dies if you leave it this way. ¡°Okay.¡± -Because of its somewhat weakened strength, you can use purifying magic that is at least level 6 or higher for several months, but it still won¡¯t save the humans who have already lost their vitality. Most of the people will die in there. ¡°You are right. Even worse, if people were exposed to this damn mist for a long time, they would be infected.¡± -The humans outside must be wondering if it is safe to enter the mysterious mist. I don¡¯t know, but it¡¯s probably already turned upside down around here. He was quite quick-witted since his ego had lived for a long time. -Because human beings are scared easily. ¡°It¡¯s the same for any living creature. Because the desire to survive advances the species.¡± -In that sense, you were really lucky. You look young, but you are very strong at the master level, right? You seem to have a high tolerance against Blood Polis. I laughed at him. Was it just master? I had already reached the level of Sword Master or higher. ¡°Master¡­you¡¯re not wrong, but I still need more time to pull out the Aura Blade.¡± I wasn¡¯t strong because I used pure mana like everyone else. I had reached the Master or a higher level because of the doping created by my enlightenment and mana proficiency. Thanks to this, the phantom metamorphosis seemed completely impossible. -What? What does that mean¡­wait, who are you? I heard the murmur of the divine sword Calderas, astonished. He seemed to notice it now. -You¡­you¡¯re a freak! Who are you?! His trembling voice soon turned to a scream. -What is this ridiculous mana! Besides, command mana and divine power?! The Calderas had the power to look inside of the person who held the sword with his ego. It could control its strength by interlocking with the owner¡¯s power. The sword protected the owner, and this wasn¡¯t just for physical reasons. The excessive dependence on items would eventually ruin the owner. Why did you think there was a limit in games with item levels? Anyway, I guess I was just talking nonsense. Ignoring his astonishment, I frowned at the mana and command mana which weren¡¯t moving even though they were awake. It seemed that I had to give them a little stimulation, but there weren¡¯t many chances. -Three forces coexist; I haven¡¯t even heard of this case¡­are you human? You¡¯re not some sort of bizarre creature who just came out to get a taste of this world? ¡°Unfortunately.¡± Talking calmly, I walked forward slowly with the sword in my hand. All the heroes of the Corridor told me that I had insanely outstanding talent. Honestly, I couldn¡¯t deny the fact that I was extremely talented. Otherwise, I would not have been able to achieve so many things. -It can¡¯t be¡­the mana and the divine energy are conflicting with each other! Maybe one but not two. If you have such a tremendous amount, your body will explode and completely blow up the surrounding area¡­ ¡°Here is a human who breaks common sense.¡± -Is it possible?! You, you¡¯re crazy!! ¡°You said crazy, don¡¯t be disrespectful to the new method that has been researched for hundreds of years.¡± Talking calmly, I pushed him back to the ground. Calderas were, of course, a giant sword with a straight shape. Because of that, when it was held upside down, it turned into a shape of a cross that had enormous divine power. ¡°Let me borrow you until I finish. I can¡¯t handle this with my current power.¡± -What do you mean? ¡°Let¡¯s clear up this situation.¡± I had no reason to sacrifice myself to save them, but I would be willing to use my power if it helped my recovery. ¡®It would be like greasing the cogs to smooth the recovery process. I don¡¯t do free labor.¡¯ The more you use the basis of energy, the more you likely improve them, whether that was mana, divine power, or command mana. So, some wizards used mana up and built it up again while they were recovering. The speed would be extremely slow whether you meditated, used this method, or used the usual method. On the contrary, just stimulating them to move would already increase the total amount since I already had a lot of energy. And the greater the amount of stimulation, the faster the recovery rate would be. Without further explanation, I knelt in front of him. Then, I closed my eyes like a praying priest. ¡°Oh, this is not my cup of tea.¡± I clicked my tongue. ¡°The Lord Priyasi, who looks down on us. Your lamb here is wandering on a dark road. He can¡¯t see an inch ahead. Could you please hand him a flashlight? I¡¯d like to take care of it myself, but you know that I can¡¯t¡­¡± -What, what kind of prayer is that!? Calderas were further frightened by my prayer. It didn¡¯t sound like a prayer with faith in God. Rather, it was a profane prayer that might be subject to some divine punishment. The source of my divine power was a little different, thanks to St. Daphne¡¯s training. The source of my strength was knowledge and faith, not the faith that sustained God. God did not love me, but rather I was a subject of curiosity. ¡°The lamb of the Lord God is groaning in pain and tempted by the Devil. Your disrespectful lamb believes only in the rare items. Please save¡­oh, I don¡¯t know! I know you are watching everything. I am just going to use it; allow me to do so!¡± The priests had no idea. The fact that God didn¡¯t love a devout believer who chatted a lot, but those who practiced it. The truth was that I was nowhere near what I was trying to do with my divine power. However, it was possible if I gathered all of the divine power from Calderas. Again, this was the first sword called the divine sword. If he realized my intentions, he would surely be frightened. It was possible to clean up the fog with the purifying magic, but you couldn¡¯t fix the ones that had already been drained of their vitality. If you tried to suppress it with a strong force, you would have to press it with a stronger force than it possessed. The highest-ranking miracle created by Daphne, the highest-ranking holy magic that I learned and used with the permission of God, had the greatest power ever. -Hmm! Something like God¡­who would listen to such a nonsense prayer¡­ ¡°You don¡¯t know much about God either.¡± He noticed something wrong with my smile. Just like the vampire maid, he was also quite slow to notice things. ¡®God likes crazy guys. Especially extremely crazy guys.¡¯ [9th Tier of the Last Holy Magic.] [Saint Sanctuary] -9th, 9th tier?! What, what are you doing! Are you trying to kill me?! ¡°Don¡¯t overreact. You are not going to die. You are not going to die. Don¡¯t worry.¡± -Hey¡­hey, you crazy ahhhhhh!! Calderas, who had noticed what I was going to do, screamed out, but it was too late. Whooo!!! A burning sensation fell behind my back as if the prayer had been delivered even with that bizarre plea. It almost felt like getting burned by an iron. It was an unusual wound, or trace, that could never be created in this world. Was God a pervert who enjoyed hurting his believer¡¯s body? I felt like vomiting, but I scattered all of the divine powers that ran wild without releasing my hands. Whooo!! Crack! An enormous light spread out as if covering the field, and white feathers began to flutter. It was like an angel was descending from heaven. The warm white light, invisible to the eye, began to swallow away the red mist, and the light began to permeate the bodies of the people whose vitality was being sucked away, comforting them. Crack! Crack! Crack!!!! And the red bloodstone, which sucked people¡¯s vitality and emitted red mist, finally disappeared as it was completely broken. Boom! A huge wave of divine power soundlessly rocked the arena. Beyond the slowly scattering light, only a piece of light that looked like a white feather remained. ¡°Kah¡­hak.¡± Was it because I used most of my power? Calderas were silent, trembling, as he forgot to scream. Of course, the recoil of super high divine magic didn¡¯t go only to him. At the same time, a sense of incredible fatigue fell over me. ¡®Did you work a little too hard?¡¯ When I called in power for a moment, it seemed that the divine power that had been solidified was torn apart, causing this sense of exhaustion. ¡°Phew¡­sigh¡­¡± I took a short breath and shook away my blurred vision. Although there was a lot of energy, it would be okay as Calderas was a treasure trove of living divine power. A sigh came out of me for the remaining amount of the divine power had completely disappeared without leaving even dust. The red mist that maintained the Blood Polis had completely disappeared as I sat down breathlessly and turned my gaze away. It was then¡­ Beep. With that bizarre mechanical sound, I began to see strange things in my eyes, which were clouded by fatigue. -Name: Davey Al Rown. -Age: 1 -Gender: male -Tribe: human -Title: The pupil of the insane heroes in the Corridor. -Symptom: Divine power exhaustion -Special comment : A half-crazy freak without any common sense(?). -Grant merit, you can briefly check the status of the target. ¡°Hey, Lord Priyasi, I¡¯m not crazy,¡± I muttered angrily. CH 26 [3-5 per day will be added for a few days¡­] Episode 26 The area of light had now completely disappeared and created an afterimage of fluttering pure white feathers. Simultaneously, I had a tremendous feeling of exhaustion throbbing through my whole body. There was no mercy on the rebound. ¡°Phew¡­¡± As I slowly blinked, the Blood Polis, the red mist created by the vampire, seemed to have disappeared. Great. It shouldn¡¯t leave a trace after a ninth rank spell. This was transcendental magic that brought God¡¯s will to the earth. At this, I burst into laughter. After I checked the people who were slowly opening their eyes and raising their heads, I turned my body and looked at Calderas, which was currently stuck upside down. I thought I had to go back, but all I could manage was to lean on the sword and collapse. Calderas went quiet after most of his divine power had been taken away. It may have been deeply shocked by the sudden sense of loss since it was a sword with an ego. There was a huge difference when you knew that you had been exploited or not. I felt sorry for no reason whatsoever. I knew I needed to be nice to Calderas the next time I saw him. I was slowly closing my eyes as I was thinking like that. I was also thinking of the unidentified bizarre status window that popped up in front of my eyes, but now I just wanted to forget everything and fall asleep. While checking the energy that began to recover at an unparalleled speed, I fell asleep comfortably, hardly noticing the blonde girl approaching me. * * * How long had it been since I had slept without any worries or stress? Even though the sleep was much shorter than when I was training, it would have been nice to describe it as a very satisfying sleep for me, who hadn¡¯t slept well for nearly half a year. ¡°¡­For Bernie¡­¡± ¡°I am sorry¡­¡± While sleeping, I heard someone talking. When I opened my eyes half-awake, I could see the ceiling of the cleaning room. The small mansion that I stayed in the first time when we arrived at the Duchy of Felicity. ¡°Ah¡­¡± I breathed a sigh of relief, feeling refreshed. ¡°Oh! Davey!¡± As Winley, who looked upset about something, found me awake, she ran to me quickly. ¡°Davey! Are you alright?¡± ¡°Winley.¡± ¡°How is your body?! Is there any problem with it?¡± She looked extremely worried, as if she was going to burst into tears. ¡°How long was I asleep?¡± What happened to make you so upset? As I asked her, Winley burst into tears and hugged me. ¡°You haven¡¯t woken up for two days. I was¡­I was scared that you wouldn¡¯t be able to get up again¡­ugh.¡± Ah. Since I had done that, it was a natural reaction that she was worried. As I patted Winley on her back, I heard a soft sobbing from her. I tried to comfort her without saying anything as her body trembled in my arms. ¡°I¡­I had a dream.¡± ¡°Dream?¡± ¡°Yes, when the red mist crept on us, you protected me against it in my dream.¡± She didn¡¯t seem to remember much of what happened then. I thought it was better for her that she didn¡¯t see that cruel scene. ¡°Where is Barris?¡± ¡°That¡­¡± She frowned with a familiar, anxious look on her face. ¡°Oh Davey, my brother, please tell me the truth. Did¡­did you get rid of the red mist?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± ¡°I saw something while checking your body. I saw a mark. Is it a stigmata? God¡¯s mark.¡± She slurred her words as she spoke, overwhelmed by emotion. The problem was the presence of the large stigmata on my back. In terms of size, it was about three spans. Considering that the size of common stigmata was wrist-sized, it could be considered unusually large. A sign engraved with the power of God. It was a peculiar wound that couldn¡¯t be created by any means that existed in this world. It was a trace of God, and it was also a testament to a noble being loved by God. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± ¡°Are¡­you okay?¡± ¡°Is it obvious?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know at first glance because it just looked like a plain wound on your back. But when I looked closer, I knew it was a stigmata.¡± I had a feeling that nothing other than divine power had been detected. ¡°I heard from the priest who visited this place. It seems that all those red mists had been purified. I couldn¡¯t quite figure out who had done that, so I was wondering if you were involved.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°Yes, but if you don¡¯t remember anything, maybe not.¡± Princess Ileana, who may be the only one who had seen everything, seemed to keep everything to herself. Honestly, I thought she¡¯d come and nag me right away, but I guess she just wasn¡¯t that kind of person. ¡°A senior priest who was healing your body found the stigmata. They are making a big deal out of this. They think that you, who fainted in the place where the divine energy was circling, received the stigmata¡­.¡± Rumors were bound to spread; the situation certainly deserved it. Unlike most devout priests, having the stigmata meant God showed its love first. ¡°Oh, my brother, are you feeling sick?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t feel anything bad.¡± ¡°Phew¡­¡± Feeling bad? ¡®Rather, the situation has gotten better.¡¯ Evidence of a saint: that was the stigmata. Nine Hierarchy, the purpose of expressing the realm of the Holy Magic God, was to deal with the red mist. However, there was also my calculated strategy hidden in it. The precisely calculated strategy was essential to eat and live well. Using a large amount of mana at once to reveal the foundation would spur the growth rate. It was a small attempt, but the result was anything but. ¡®The mana capacity has increased dramatically.¡¯ The mana responded to the divine power, and my command mana had already risen in large amounts. Compared to the amount I had previously, it was quite noticeable. There was enough to make the Aura blade now. I hadn¡¯t gone through a round of metamorphosis, but I had already come to the level where I could pull out the master¡¯s exclusive Aura blade. In the past, I was barely maintaining my power due to my enlightenment and experience. However, now I have recovered enough to pull out the Aura blade. Laughter came out. Among them, the biggest change in growth was the divine power with its lazy nature. People were obsessed with the stigmata for a reason. I felt that the amount of holy power living inside me had increased enormously because I could get the large stigmata that I couldn¡¯t get by existing in the form of a spirit when I was in the Corridor. Eventually, the divine power, which was the slowest in growth, had risen to the highest of the three energies. ¡®It is a power that grows when there is a reason. What a difficult divine power.¡¯ As I leaned against the bed, I roughly patted Winley¡¯s head. ¡°Go in and take some rest. I want to think about something for a moment. You must be tired after taking care of me¡­you should get some rest.¡± ¡°It was chaos after you passed out.¡± She looked angry with her puffed cheeks. ¡°Besides, Princess Ileana suddenly insisted on taking you to her place.¡± ¡°Did she?¡± ¡°Yes, she said she had excellent medical staff. She came back a while ago saying that you wouldn¡¯t wake up here. I had to send her away again. Huh!¡± The reason she showed such behavior was obvious. Unless she was a fool, she must have seen everything and remembered them. The things that happened then¡­ What was weird was that Winley acted a little sensitive to her. I was curious, but it wasn¡¯t like I needed to ask her. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about me anymore. I¡¯m awake now.¡± ¡°The games stopped on that day. Because of the incident, the entire country is chaotic right now.¡± It was an understandable reaction since it wasn¡¯t just an ordinary monster. ¡°I guess so.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll go back to my room. Then, take some rest, brother.¡± Winley left the room with short steps after she smiled and hugged me tightly. I quietly stretched my arm toward her as she opened the door and left. ¡®Well¡­is it right? Information confirmation.¡¯ Beep! As if I wasn¡¯t mistaken, a translucent black box revealed itself to me again. -Name: Winley Al Rown. -Age: 14 -Gender: female -Tribe: Human -Title: Nothing -Symptom: Fatigue. -Special comments: Three Circle Wizard. -Current psychology: Worrying about the viewer. Surprised. Fragile. ¡°Oh, oh¡­¡± It didn¡¯t show much. However, this status window contained information that couldn¡¯t generally be found. ¡°It¡¯s similar to a game?¡± However, the ability to gain insight into a person was of great merit when dealing with people. ¡®Why did this happen all of a sudden?¡¯ Was it because I prayed to the Lord? Or was there a problem since I used the same method as when I was a spiritual body? ¡®Let¡¯s not worry; it¡¯s not bad anyway.¡¯ I would use it if it helped my life in the future. At least there would be no misunderstandings. As I thought so, I looked out of the darkened window, and I could see the bright night view of the Duchy of Felicity. I wasn¡¯t able to easily decide whether or not I should hide my identity. There were too many factors to consider. If I were to make a big scene, the people around me might suffer. ¡®Is there any reason that I should hide my identity?¡¯ Looking at the current situation, it seemed that people already knew about my stigmata. However, no one knew a single detail about it yet. This was an arena filled with sacred energy and the stigmata engraved on me when they found me there. The story of the stigmata was circulating, thanks to the sleazy senior priest who healed me. In other words, no one had seen me running wild. People might misunderstand that I did all that, given the situation. I mean, I knew it wasn¡¯t a misunderstanding. I was silent with such complicated thoughts. -It¡¯s just one side, but I guess they liked your ability to see through the other person¡¯s psychology. By the way, what are you thinking? It was then¡­a strange voice came into the quiet room. He spoke like an elderly person, but the voice I heard was a boy my age. The voice sounded to be passed from a will in someone¡¯s head, not through sound. ¡°Who are you?¡± I muttered and frowned at the voice that came from nowhere. How did he sneak up on me? I was nervous because I knew that it was impossible to do so. Therefore, it was probably not a normal creature. As I was sitting blankly, I narrowed my eyes and slowly started to boost my power. CH 27 [Further discounting this along with few more chapters due to delays-] 27 -Down, down. Then I heard the voice again. This time around, I felt which direction it was coming from. I reflexively turned to the place where the voice had been coming from. There, a palm-sized girl was looking up at me and sitting down on my leg. ¡°This is my first time seeing you, I was a little bewildered when I accidentally released the seal, but I guess it was meant to be God¡¯s will.¡± There was an evident pair of pure white horns sprouting from the head. Its eyes were engraved with red patterns that had a strange glow; it could not possibly be compared to me or the vampire maid, Sharis. In short? An overwhelming beauty. As I looked at her, I opened my eyes wide to the memory of a time that suddenly came to mind. -You look perplexed with that strange window in front of your eyes. Am I wrong? * * * [Hmm? Why are you up? Who are you drawing? I didn¡¯t know you were good at painting.] -Hmm, what does it look like to you? [It has ergonomic handles on its head and fierce red eyes like a rebellious teenager. Isn¡¯t that a demon? If I look at that beautiful face, it almost looks like a high-ranking demon.] -You¡¯re the only one who says the horns of the head are handles. Yes, as you said, this one is a demon. [Why the heck did you draw a portrait of a demon? Besides, the detailed illustration looks like a beautiful girl.] -Is she pretty? Of course, she¡¯s overwhelmingly beautiful compared to those crazy girls partying over there. I¡¯ve drawn this hundreds of times. Her name is Perserk. Haris, the lazy swordsman, laughed bitterly, pointing to the appearance of a girl who seemed to be about eighteen years old. -She was my daughter, whom I adopted and taught swords back when she was still human. [Wait, Perserk?] -Yeah, as you know, this is the Demon King of the Abyss who I cut with Calderas and sealed in the sword to end the Great War. * * * ¡°¡­¡± I only thought it was amazing. One of the two regrets he had was right in front of me. ¡°Demon¡­Perserk.¡± -Whoa¡­you know very well about me. After all, my eyes weren¡¯t wrong¡­ugh?! I released command mana to tie her as she was talking casually. Knowing who she was, there would be no reason to be confused anymore. The command mana quickly became lighter, spreading like a rope to restrain her and lift her into the air. -Oh, you¡­ you¡¯re a man with rough hands. I don¡¯t know about you, but I am not a fan of being bound. ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯re close enough to make that kind of joke.¡± -Isn¡¯t this the first time you and I have faced each other? There is no reason to be on bad terms. At her words, I laughed bitterly without lowering my guard. ¡°I want you to explain this situation now.¡± In my eyes, she looked like she was in trouble. -Were you going to build a symbiotic relationship with me even if I say not to? My eyes twitched a little at her words. ¡°Symbiotic relationship?¡± -The stigmata engraved on your back. It has become a vessel that holds my soul, so that is why the size is unusual. ¡°It¡¯s funny to say that the stigmata were a vessel that seals the Demon King. To be honest, I don¡¯t understand that situation at all.¡± At my words, she was trapped by the command mana and shed a light groan, avoiding my gaze. -Would¡­would you perhaps like to loosen this up? Again, I don¡¯t have a fetish of being constrained so much¡­ besides, if it¡¯s such a terrible position¡­ She had a slightly reddened face, avoiding my gaze. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± -A, little¡­it¡¯s such a shame. As if I was naked, I began to feel ashamed, and the blood that had cooled down was returning to its original state. As she shook her hand lightly, the mana that was restraining her gradually became loose. It wasn¡¯t intentional, but it looked like she was bizarrely tied up while trying to resist. Of course, depending on the viewer, this perception might not be strange at all. -Wow¡­ I think I will buy it. It was indeed a big problem to free the Demon King, but I boldly released the mana that was holding her. She was, after all, already a dead person. As she was dead, she couldn¡¯t possibly do more harm to me. ¡°Okay. Can you explain it neatly and briefly so that you can convince me?¡± -Hmm¡­you have a twisted personality. ¡°They said that my temper was a little bit grotesque.¡± -Hmm¡­ She smiled emptily up at me. I felt a light reflection of myself in the red blood that was engraved in the patterns. ¡°Yes, what should I do for the Demon King that was sealed in a divine sword?¡± -Since you know my true identity, it is meaningless to persuade you. She smiled bitterly and sighed. Then, she looked up at me and quietly bowed her head, raising the ends of her dress. -Greetings, formally, my name is Perserk von Palan. I am the Demon King who looks at you from the abyss. The cause of the great war between ancient Middle-earth and the demons was in front of me. When someone looked into the abyss, that abyss also looked at them. It was her who was in that phrase. In that respect, she was a little different from a typical Demon King. She then looked up at me with a pleasant smile¡­ -The situation is simple. You seem to have already known that I was sealed with a divine sword. The divine sword was the sword that Haris, the sword god, used to cut down the devil to end the Great War. What was known outside was that the demon king¡¯s soul had been sealed in the sword. I heard it from him, so this one was not a lie. ¡°Right. I never thought I would be the one to awaken you.¡± -It¡¯s not that Calderas is bad enough to stop his friend¡¯s will. Her words gave me pause. ¡°Friend?¡± -Well, does this mean the personal situation means nothing? I will tell you exactly; I was only transferred from Calderas to you at the will of God. ¡°¡­¡± At her words, I went silent, almost as if I had lost the ability to speak entirely. Why should I care about a God who had never come down? However, the will of God certainly existed. Because of that, sanctuary magic was possible. The starting point was also the divine magic I used to undo the Blood Polis. The question was, why did she come to me from Calderas? ¡°Why are you here?¡± I was really curious, and when I asked her, she merely laughed. -Because of you, we have entered an unintended symbiotic relationship, so shouldn¡¯t you be responsible? As if raising a small child, she continued to speak in the same condescending tone. -I¡¯m quite interested in you. You are the second person to bear the traces of the sword. ¡°Haris¡¯ swordsmanship?¡± -It sounds like you know him well. ¡°Of course, he talked about you all the time.¡± -I see¡­ my story. The status window appeared in front of my eyes. Lies were useless, given it was her power. No matter who it was, she would eventually see through the truth and find the essence. At my words, she nodded. -I¡¯m glad he didn¡¯t hide it. ¡°I¡¯m still going to have to selectively keep things secret. But, what good is a lie if you are a Demon King who has the power to see through people?¡± She smiled bitterly at my question. -It¡¯s the Hero¡¯s Corridor¡­I didn¡¯t know there would be such a place. It¡¯s amazing. However, I¡¯m correcting one thing. ¡°Which one?¡± -I am not looking through you. I¡¯m just borrowing the power of higher beings. The status window that will express you. The slightly nasty way of expressing it is not my taste. ¡°A higher power?¡± -Don¡¯t humans call them Gods? I laughed at the expression, the higher beings, who are in such a great position, gave the power to a half-mad man like me. The god granted divine power out of curiosity to a guy like me in the first place, so why should I expect more? She began to mutter in regret. From what I heard from Haris, she could read a person¡¯s thoughts. Her value of existence was the abyss that looked into the person staring in. That was why she was called the strongest Demon King ever. ¡°So, because of the holy magic I used, you came from Calderas to me?¡± -When you used the ninth tier magic, a large amount of divine power was released, and I came with it. My soul, which lost a place to go, seems to have settled in your stigmata like that. Originally, it was impossible¡­ Clucking her tongue briefly, she had a pitiful look on her face. -There are no eternal seals. If I knew it, I would¡¯ve bid goodbye to the ego of Calderas¡­ ¡°Where is Calderas? Do you know?¡± -Instinctively, you might already know. Don¡¯t you know that Calderas has fallen asleep in the aftermath of the ninth-tier holy magic you used? ¡°Ah.¡± -He¡¯ll sleep for about three more days. Listening to that talker may hurt my ears, but I wasn¡¯t bored. He¡¯ll probably yell and swear at you when he wakes up, hehe. Unlike the way she talked, she sounded like a child when she laughed. This was the Demon King, which became the cause of the Great War, or the origin of the Continental War. Her appearance was a little different from what was known in public. I knew she wasn¡¯t acting, not because of how she acted but because I had already heard. She was a scapegoat for war. And, he was a bad father who was taken advantage of at the moment. Haris, the swordsman, used to blame himself for what had happened¡­ -I felt weird when I first saw you. No way, I didn¡¯t think you would use some of the perfect prototypes of swordsmanship left by my father. To be precise, my swordsmanship was more like a collaboration between him and another. At first, I learned the unique swordsmanship of the sword, but it then began to change afterward. -If you evaluate it soberly, it looks like a modified sword style that best suits you. ¡°Right. The two old men who were crazy about swords made this. ¡° She smiled bitterly and slowly flew up. She approached me, with small cute wings flapping behind her, and then she reached out to me. -Well, we have come this far. It is not so bad to move together, and the symbiosis isn¡¯t bad either. I look forward to your kind cooperation. From what she said, it was clear that even if she had a bad heart, there was no way to do anything now. CH 28 [More will be up tonight.] 28 It was obvious that her ability to read people was brilliant. The text on the status window had been altered as she adapted to me. As a result, she entered a parasitic relationship with me, which allowed me to borrow her power. ¡®It isn¡¯t that bad.¡¯ The power she lent was pretty attractive. When I stretched out my index finger, she smiled cutely, grabbed the fingertip with her small hands, and shook it. -At least, you can show me more of the world than the current contractor who was unable to manifest Calderas. Can I expect more from you? Her question made me curious. ¡°Show the world?¡± -If you live this long, the only thing you care about is to see the world. ¡°Then what will I get in return?¡± -Of course, you will have my ability. That is the only thing I can give you. However, there is nothing weird about acquiring new skills as you have the will of the Gods. ¡°What do you mean by new skills?¡± -Didn¡¯t you say that you see a status window? Maybe like a game in your previous life¡­the concept of ¡®skills¡¯ may follow. ¡°That¡¯s interesting. Is there more?¡± -Unfortunately, that¡¯s all I have. I can¡¯t satisfy you like a Succubus with my body right now. ¡°Nothing is impossible in the world.¡± -Whoa¡­I don¡¯t want you to say something like that, even if it¡¯s a joke; I¡¯m not interested in a little boy who is thousands of years younger than me. As she said this playfully, she began to disappear like scattering particles. It seemed like I unintentionally made the only person with who I shared my secrets leave. -Call me whenever you need me. I am going to catch some sleep inside of you. After that, she disappeared completely without making any noise. Because there were many things all at once, I couldn¡¯t help but feel so perplexed. * * * The capital of the Duchy of Felicity. Originally, this place should have been excited by the Continental Swordsmanship Competition. However, it was destroyed completely the day before by Baltian de Voltiz, who became a monster. The raid was big, aiming at the entire stadium hosted by numerous national coalitions. It was a huge raid that almost caused countless casualties. If I were a little bit late, the entire continent would have been engulfed in chaos, but it didn¡¯t go so badly. It was because I turned over the situation before it grew worse. The divine sword Calderas was the only one who saw me running wild. There was also Princess Ileana, who was called the princess of the sword and the owner of the divine sword. I couldn¡¯t determine whether she was awake or not, however. She might not have a clear memory even if she was awake. ¡®Now the priests believe that I had cleared the situation based on the Stigmata on my back and the remaining divine power in the stadium.¡¯ It was detailed speculation. Besides, after they heard the priest, who checked my physical condition, they were frightened by the huge Stigmata on my body. What should I do to deal with this situation? Now, I couldn¡¯t hide what had been revealed, and there was no need for anything further. The fact that the traces of God had already been engraved on me would have spread everywhere. Why were they making a big deal out of the Stigmata? Only three saints or candidates for saints had them in the past three to four hundred years. There were very few people who could bear the stigmata. The trace was so precious that even if it were found in the Mainland, people would run just to see it. It wasn¡¯t just a genetic trait or something that could be achieved through effort. In short, it would be impossible not to attract attention, no matter how much I wanted to avoid it. Damn Stigmata. It might cause less attention if I just said I was a Swordmaster because the priests showed a maniacal obsession with the stigmata. Many humans would shout and rush without thinking, as if they abandoned logic and custom, unlike the nobles, who usually hid their true intentions. -Whoo whoo, it is true that the Stigmata is the evidence of God¡¯s love, but it¡¯s not a trace worthy of obsession in my eyes. ¡®You don¡¯t have to remind me bitterly.¡¯ Muttering, I wondered how I could turn this unwelcomed attention away. There was only one way to solve this. The problem was that the size of the Stigmata was so big that it had destroyed the existing common sense. -W¡­What are you thinking? ¡°Okay, I¡¯ve decided.¡± The decision itself was clear. And, what should I do with such a decision? Take action right away! ¡°Barris! Winley!¡± I made a decision and called the two of them as the chaotic day continued. ¡°Did you call us, Davey?¡± They turned their eyes to me simultaneously as they were shivering in front of the wood-burning stove as the weather grew cold. ¡°Let¡¯s be honest. We are all annoyed by this situation, right?¡± ¡°I think so.¡± ¡°Honestly, we haven¡¯t committed any crime, but I don¡¯t know why the priests keep wanting to see you, brother.¡± ¡°It isn¡¯t like it is some kind of Holy Land.¡± Though, technically, more than half of this city was the Holy Land. That was right. Chamberlains and maids sent most of them back, while Barris and Whitney sent the rest of them away without any mercy. Those crazy priests. Most of the priests, who were eager to meet me, seemed to be more interested in my Stigmata, which was unprecedentedly bigger than the incident itself. As I watched Barris murmuring, I began to laugh, revealing my teeth. ¡°Let¡¯s pack! It¡¯s best to run away when it¡¯s complicated.¡± There was no reason to remain and explain it in the first place. I no longer cared as long as I was alive. Right? I had no obligation to remain and explain the whole story. If I stayed here, I would have to deal with all those obsessed priests. Because of this, it might not be a bad idea to leave some bait that could distract them. * * * Trembling. There was a loud trembling sound. A finely trembling finger holding a small teacup repeatedly hit the teacup like a machine vibrating. ¡°He dipped?¡± ¡°P¡­Princess Majesty! Dipped¡­ How could you say such a¡­!¡± ¡°Just answer the question, Linda.¡± ¡°Eep.¡± Princess Ileana looked at Linda with her eerie eyes. ¡°D¡­ Did you just say he ran away? Did you? He accused me of causing a strange misunderstanding because he couldn¡¯t cover it all up, and he ran away with his brother and sister, right?!¡± ¡°That¡­that is. When a person went there to request your visit, their lodge was already empty¡­¡± Her voice was low, so why was she so scary? Her golden hair trembled as if she was moving it by her will alone. ¡°She smashed the enemy with the divine sword in the moment of crisis? Besides, the manifestation of the Stigmata was caused by the hidden power of the divine sword?¡± The truth was that she had passed out without any attempt to resist, and there was no hidden power within the sword. ¡°Your Majesty?¡± Bullshit, that was ridiculous! Baltian, who had already turned into a monster, was destroyed by an unorthodox method, and the red woman was cut down with that overwhelming swordsmanship! Everyone else seemed to believe this was true, but she knew it; she had seen it all. He seemed to believe that she had lost her mind or some sort of equivalent state, but she saw it. What he said, and even what he showed. ¡°Linda, tell the knights to get ready.¡± ¡°Princess Majesty! Please calm down!¡± ¡°Ahhhhhh!! Find him! Find that snooty bastard! I¡¯m going to pull all of his hair out!¡± Did people know? The true face of the Palan Empire¡¯s princess, which was known for her stiffness and coldness, had a wilder temperament than even Winley. Crack. ¡°You got me wrong, Prince Davey. I¡¯m going to pull out everything on his head, so be prepared.¡± Her growling eyes flashed like a ferocious beast. The way back to the kingdom of Al Rown was very quiet. However, the priests who showed a maniacal obsession with the Stigmata weren¡¯t animals who couldn¡¯t distinguish between professional and private matters. They might have thought it was their once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the Stigmata with their eyes. Barris and Winley, who were previously moving ahead with excitement, were sleeping, leaning against each other in the carriage corner, as they were too exhausted. ¡®Looking at them like this, they seem to have a tight sibling bond.¡¯ Their bond was certainly special. Considering the brother and sisters¡¯ reality, only a few cared about each other while clashing a lot. -Hey you, the corner of your mouth is up a lot. ¡®Well, they look good.¡¯ Perserk had woken up from sleep and slowly settled on my lap, sitting comfortably as she radiated light. Her existence was real, but she was still invisible to others. Because of this, there was no way her identity could be revealed, even if the guys were to wake up suddenly. -Actually, I thought you were interested in Calderas. ¡®Hmm?¡¯ -You are the only one who can manifest Calderas other than the current master of the divine sword. In fact, in the current situation, it is accurate to say that you are the only one who is capable of manifesting Calderas. ¡®Ah.¡¯ -Rather, you are the perfect candidate for the owner of Calderas. I chuckled at her because I knew what she meant. Calderas. It was an excellent sword. Because of this, it was quite hard to see a sword with a large amount of divine power, enough even, to use 9th tier holy magic just by adding a little to its divine power. However¡­ ¡®It¡¯s still not mine.¡¯ -I thought you would want to take ownership by any means. ¡®It¡¯s a tempting offer, but I can¡¯t steal things from kids. Besides, Calderas isn¡¯t a good fit to me.¡¯ -What do you mean that the sword is not a good fit for you? Strictly speaking, I didn¡¯t use a greatsword. I looked out of the window, leaving her in her silent worry. However, I had a different sword in mind. It wasn¡¯t available yet, but I should have the twin sword in my hand at Surt¡¯s request. The sword had been produced simultaneously as Calderas, and the material was also the same. However, the sword couldn¡¯t show its true value because it hadn¡¯t been completed in time. -I made a room in the basement of the house where I lived, which no one could open. You will be able to open the door after learning my skills. There are two swords, like my children, that I couldn¡¯t finish before I died. If you find them, complete them with your own hands. I don¡¯t care if you become the owner of the twin swords, tell people that you made them, or sell them. Do whatever you¡¯d like. CH 29 29 [How can you trust me? What if I screw up?] -Hey, what you¡¯re talking about? How are you going to mess it up? You have more grit than me. You will know once you get there. He was blaming his short life for why he couldn¡¯t finish them. When I go back now, what should I do? I didn¡¯t have to worry for long. ¡®I need to get rid of something.¡¯ -Getting rid of something. It sounds like you hold resentment against someone. ¡®Don¡¯t you already know that?¡¯ -You¡¯re right. I don¡¯t always know everything, though. There are some parts inside your mind that I don¡¯t even have access to. There was something that even the Demon King of the Abyss couldn¡¯t see. It seemed that she was aware that I wasn¡¯t feeling well in the first place. -By the way, how are you going to manage it? You might not want to just take the upfront approach. ¡®Yes, I can¡¯t just act before the preparations are done. I can probably handle Queen Liness without too much trouble. However, it will cause many problems that would put the entire Al Rown Kingdom in danger if I remove the nobles led by Duke Barrieta too quickly. Even if we start purging right away, we can¡¯t stop the Al Rown Kingdom from staggering.¡¯ It would take too much time to remove one by one. Queen Liness would maintain such an arrogant attitude, and the royal family couldn¡¯t even punish the nobles. ¡®I have an idea.¡¯ -Can I ask you one thing? ¡®What is it?¡¯ -What do you want? The voice was sweet, like a demon seducing someone. But she was fair; I knew she wasn¡¯t going to do everything that I asked for. When she asked the question, she probably already knew the answer in the first place. ¡®I want to make a family, eat well in a warm house, and live a long, long life without too much stress.¡¯ She burst into laughter. -It sounds far from the life of the royal family. Though, aren¡¯t you already living like that? ¡®Do you think I do?¡¯ -Not at all. ¡®Then all right, I¡¯m going to leave the palace. Fortunately, the royal family members own land on a small scale, as I do, although it is barren.¡¯ I said calmly with a smile. -You¡­ ¡®It should have character if possible. How about the only high-tech city on the continent?¡¯ -It is a huge dream. It would be faster to become the king of Al Rown Kingdom and change the country. ¡®Once you become king, you can¡¯t have a comfortable life.¡¯ -Did you think it would be different if you become a landowner? ¡®It is possible as a landowner. I¡¯m going to make lots of money, retire, and enjoy my hobby.¡¯ I will try my best if it¡¯s possible. If there were a technical issue, I would replace it with something else. The advancement was a bit slow in science globally, but it was pretty good in other areas. Maybe it would be safer and better in the future. ¡®I will make my city when I return.¡¯ * * * There were no more attacks on the way back to the Al Rown Kingdom; perhaps they had no more energy left to attack me anymore. Sharis, who seemed to be a close maid to Queen Liness, even failed, then who would dare to try another raid? I don¡¯t know if she knew the truth, but at least she would have noticed that she wasn¡¯t in a situation where she could tamper with me. ¡°You did a great job.¡± It was a small encouragement. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. It¡¯s just a problem of the Voltiz Kingdom, having done such a shameless thing against the Confederation of Nations.¡± Barris, bowing his head down on one knee, was silent. Because Baltian turned into a monster, public opinion on the continent was overwhelmingly unfavorable to the Voltiz Kingdom. If the Voltiz Kingdom was an Al Rown Kingdom¡¯s ally, we might find a way to help them, but unfortunately, Voltiz and Al Rown were locked in a cold war. ¡°I am glad that you came back safe despite such trouble.¡± King Crianes spoke calmly with a weary face. ¡°And¡­¡± He looks at me at the end of the faint words. I said nothing to that strangely mixed expression. ¡°I heard about your Stigmata.¡± ¡°I received too much blessing from God.¡± ¡°We should celebrate that blessing.¡± He muttered and turned his head. ¡°Don¡¯t you think so, Queen Liness?¡± ¡°Yes¡­we should celebrate.¡± She had a worried look on her face, full of confusion and complexity. She probably expected that I would have been dead, yet I came back with the Stigmata. Whoever they were, the ones with the Stigmata became the center of attention. If she were caught attacking me, it was likely that the Mainland would intervene. I wasn¡¯t trying to get support from the Mainland, but it seems like I did anyway. Of course, I had no intention of accepting any help. ¡°Queen Majesty doesn¡¯t seem to be excited that I have the Stigmata.¡± As I responded with a smile, she opened her fan to cover her mouth. Then she curled her eyes and smiled. My eyes trembled; this woman was something else. ¡°What are you talking about? The child¡¯s happiness is the mother¡¯s happiness.¡± ¡°If so, I am glad.¡± I saw her clenching her teeth. Even though she covered her mouth with a fan, it wasn¡¯t hard to notice her discomfort. ¡°How is your body? Did you get hurt anywhere?¡± ¡°Fine, I came back without any scars, perhaps because I was blessed.¡± When he answered calmly, he turned his head as if it were satisfactory. ¡°Duke Barrieta.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°We cannot pass this matter without any action, and we will have to file a petition to the Confederation of Nations and strongly complain against the Voltiz State.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Even though it wasn¡¯t as obvious as Queen Liness, King Crianes had a strangely grumpy look. His unfavorable child came back with the Stigmata, so it caused him a headache. ¡°You must be tired from the long trip, so go back to your room and relax.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± As I stood up, bowing my head calmly, Barris and Whitney turned around after me. ¡°Davey.¡± It was then. Crianes, after a moment of silence, quietly called my name. ¡®It¡¯s been freaking long that you called my name.¡¯ My voice clung to my throat, but I didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°Will you stay for a minute?¡± Understanding what he meant, I quietly bowed my head; everyone else got up and slowly left. Queen Liness was looking at King Crianes and me but soon bowed her head silently under the gaze of Crianes and left the office. It was quiet. It was the first meeting alone with him, who had ignored my request to visit since I recovered from the coma. ¡°Davey.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been almost half a year.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Your Majesty hasn¡¯t talked to me alone since I recovered from the coma.¡± He didn¡¯t say anything at my words. He looked like a lost, powerless lion without any ambition. ¡°Are you blaming me?¡± ¡°There is no reason to lie. Yes, I am. You don¡¯t have to say when it started.¡± He sighed bitterly at the thorns in my words. Do you think I came back for a short-term issue? ¡°I¡¯m glad you look healthy.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because you¡¯ve been paying some attention to me.¡± ¡°Did you know?¡± ¡°I feel good.¡± At my words, he smiled bitterly. ¡°Of course, my prediction was right.¡± ¡°Can I ask what you mean?¡± ¡°No parents are stupid enough to not notice their son¡¯s change. When you woke up from a coma, you were a little different.¡± Talking calmly, he stood up slowly. Then he sat down by the table that chamberlain set up and quietly offered me tea. ¡°Why don¡¯t you have some?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°¡­¡± He smiled bitterly once again at the short answer. ¡°Are you not going to call me father?¡± ¡°Your Majesty.¡± He was silent at my words. ¡°The word father is a word for your parent.¡± He just kept smiling bitterly and didn¡¯t say anything at my rude answer. ¡°Should I call you father?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to. I don¡¯t deserve to be your father as one who left you alone in those difficult times.¡± I didn¡¯t say anything after him; I guess he already knew. ¡°You wanted to meet me.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about it for a little while. And I just wanted to ask you one question.¡± It was a different question this time. It was just a moment, but it reminded me of a memory. [Father! Please save my mother!] [Aren¡¯t you already aware of her health condition?] [It¡¯s not a disease! It is poison!] [Stop that nonsense!] He was so cold that he forced me to stop talking about my mother. Four years later, at the age of nine, I asked him again when I found out that Queen Liness was behind my mother¡¯s death, and he said. [The former queen, Lenny Alisha, had a chronic illness. No one was able to cure her disease, even the exceptional doctors and powerful priests!] [Do you still believe it? The timing doesn¡¯t make sense! Do you think that makes sense?!] [Davey! I won¡¯t tolerate it if you talk about it once more! Go back!] ¡°How did you feel when you abandoned my mother, whom you once loved so much?¡± His face turned bitter at my words. ¡°Davey.¡± ¡°The King Majesty chose the country over my mother. For the sake of the nation¡¯s security, you let go of my poisoned mother¡¯s hand, and for the sake of the nation, you remarried with the enemy.¡± ¡°Do not blame her too much. It was my fault, my karma.¡± ¡°Your Majesty, I have no interest in your romantic history. It doesn¡¯t matter whether Queen Liness and mother were friends a long time ago, or her jealousy had caused the catastrophe.¡± ¡°Davey.¡± ¡°I wanted to ask you, were you really fine? My mother said she wanted to see King Majesty before she died. Even though she was throwing up blood, she was only looking for you, Majesty.¡± ¡°¡­¡± He didn¡¯t say anything while I continued. ¡°You did that. Mother shed tears in front of me and said that she was sorry and left-¡° ¡°Be the king.¡± He continued his speech before I answered. ¡°I was not an excellent king nor a caring father. I had a lack of knowledge and strength.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°But you will be different. You may be able to fix everything. However, you are not ready yet. The world is not as green as you might think. Dangers are lurking everywhere, and some people are dangerously smart enough to manipulate you as easily as they bake and boil food.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°A king isn¡¯t in a place where you can do everything as you think, but rather, a king has to make decisions that may look incomprehensible to others. So hold your breath and build your strength so that no one can stop what you want to do.¡± I laughed at his words. CH 30 Episode 30 As expected, father must not have completely forgotten you, mother. However, you have been holding on to the wound for too long. Do you know why I want to leave this damn kingdom alone without destroying it? I smiled at him, thinking to myself. ¡°Your Majesty.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s already too late. Anyone would know that the nobles, led by Duke Barrieta, hold a strong power unless they are stupid. When someone¡¯s life is in danger, they cut their rescue rope to survive.¡± ¡°Davey¡­¡± ¡°They say that children resemble their parents. However, I will be different. If you are the king and a father who abandons your family for the sake of the country, then I am willing to take a different path.¡± He went silent at my firm answer. ¡°You said the throne is the brightest spot that numerous people want to sit.¡± At my words, his eyes lowered quietly. ¡°You should polish the seat and give it to Barris. I am not interested in it even if it is given to me.¡± * * * -You tend to be a little harsh. ¡®It was necessary to do this.¡¯ -Tch. Tch, you said he isn¡¯t your family, but you have too much affection for him. As I returned to the palace, muttering bitterly, I looked at Perserk. -You¡¯ve already seen my powerful insight and¡­ ¡®Whatever I saw, does it change my decision? Besides, even you can¡¯t see everything.¡¯ -That is true. ¡°Amy.¡± ¡°Yes! Your Majesty!¡± She raised her head, responding to my call with a cheerful face. ¡°I¡¯m going to sleep, so don¡¯t let anyone in.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Amy could have asked a question, which she did at first. But now, she quietly obeyed my order without any questions. Was it because she trusts me, or was she just obedient? -Where are you going? ¡®The rabbit digs several ways to escape.¡¯ -Yes. ¡®Did you say it was the Black Moon? Duke Barrieta would have hidden a lot of information in case his people betray him.¡¯ If I find all the information there, I could tear the limbs off of the nobles. -Then a bloody wind will blow. ¡®I told you, I can¡¯t solve any problem by killing everyone. At least I have to be innocent.¡¯ -That means¡­oh, dear. She smiled when she realized what I meant. ¡®Because people sometimes cut their rescue rope to survive.¡¯ Duke Barrieta would be strangled by the hands of those who served him. I had the evidence of his collusion with the vampire so that I could destroy him right away without any trouble. ¡®Then let¡¯s go.¡¯ After I created a double of myself sleeping with simple ghost magic, I opened the window. [ Invisibility ] Fifth-tier stealth magic. The mana that was stopped at the 4th tier grew and entered the 5th, making it possible to use this spell. I stepped out of the window without hesitation when I found myself slowly assimilating and disappearing into my surroundings. * * * Secret information guild, Black Moon. There were numerous guilds that specialized in assassination or information in the Al Rown Kingdom. Among the information guilds, Black Moon had overwhelming power and scale that couldn¡¯t be challenged at any time. Unlike other information guilds, the range of the Black Moon Guild was widely spread throughout many countries as well as in the Al Rown Kingdom. The guild leader of the Information Guild frowned at the report in front of him. ¡°Sharis is missing?¡± ¡°Yes, she disappeared without a trace.¡± ¡°Many of Sharis¡¯s assassins have disappeared before.¡± ¡°Yes, according to the information, it appears that the attempt to assassinate Prince Davey, Prince Barris, and Princess Whitney has failed.¡± He closed his eyes as his assistant replied with an expressionless face and left. Sharis, who was disguised as Queen Liness¡¯s maid, was an A-class intelligent agent. Ostensibly. Moreover, she was an agent from the dispatched headquarters of the Black Moon Guild. Unknown name, unknown address, and possessing an alluring beauty and a sense of intimidation. The Black Moon Guild could be said to be a big guild. The exact origin of the Guild was so deep that even the Guild leader of the Al Rown Kingdom branch couldn¡¯t fathom it. Therefore, he had no way to prove whether Sharis was an A-class agent. She could have been just a member of the headquarters disguised as an A-class. Was it possible to defeat someone like her? Even though her skill was known as A-class, and it wouldn¡¯t be strange if she had a higher class based on her performance. It just didn¡¯t make sense that such a person like her failed in her assassination and was now missing, presumably due to the weak prince who was known to have neither physical strength nor political power. ¡®It seems like things are going erratically. I will have to leave this place after burning all the information except for what¡¯s necessary.¡¯ The choice had to be made boldly. If you sense something strange, you have to get out of the place quickly to survive. With these kinds of thoughts in mind, the leader of the Black Moon Guild quietly pressed the button that was attached to the bottom of the desk. The button would call his assistant. Click¡­click, click. However, he didn¡¯t hear anyone coming even after pressing the button a few more times. The moment he pressed the button, someone was supposed to come into his room, but no one showed up. What did this mean? It was like an alarm ringing, driving his instincts. ¡®Oh shit!¡¯ ¡°Stop, don¡¯t move.¡± Then, he heard a quiet voice coming from thin air. The voice was soft but eerie at the same time. ¡°Huh?!¡± Bang! The moment he pulled his sword from the sheath when he heard the voice, a black figure appeared and broke his arm, quickly pressing him into his desk. ¡°Well¡­it¡¯s human. Are you not a vampire?¡± The voice that muttered was that of a boy, who was probably mid-to-late teens at most. ¡°I don¡¯t mind you screaming, no one is coming, no matter how much you shout.¡± The boy, squeezing him and whispering, stretched out his finger. Simultaneously, the tightly closed door opened slowly. A strong smell of blood stabbed him in his nose. ¡®Oh my god, dear god!¡¯ His eyes opened in astonishment. When it came to secrecy, the Black Moon Guild was one of the best guilds. It was where the best assassins in the kingdom gathered, and dozens of people who were perfect assassins were hidden there. But not a single person noticed when he entered. If anyone had noticed, he would have received the report. But not now. As if everyone didn¡¯t even know how they died, there was no sign of resistance. ¡®He is strong! If things are going this way, I can¡¯t even resist for a second and will die!¡¯ He instantly thought he would die at the hands of the boy who overpowered him; it didn¡¯t matter where he came from. He had many talented people in his Guild capable of killing anything without being spotted. But none of that mattered; this boy was capable of attacking the best information guild in the Al Rown Kingdom. And, he held no mercy in his hands. ¡°Huh¡­who sent you? Are you from the Luxo Guild, Karsha guild, or not¡­did the headquarter send you?¡± Although he was the guild leader of the Black Moon Guild in the Al Rown Kingdom, the headquarters of the Black Moon Guild was an unreliable organization. That¡¯s why it was a very secret and dangerous place. The Karsha Guild and the Luxo Guild, who were their competitors, were great but not significant enough to destroy the Black Moon Guild overnight like this. If so, was the headquarters trying to exit this place? There were thoughts in his head, but he remained silent. ¡°Do you want to live?¡± In the dark, his red eyes curled eerie and strangely. ¡°Huh?!¡± ¡°If you want to live, I want you to give me some information.¡± He heard him giggle, causing goosebumps to rise on his arms. ¡°If you¡­if you wanted some information¡­ I hope you followed the proper process¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not something that could be bought with just money.¡± At the boy¡¯s words, he clenched his teeth and thought calmly. If he went against the boy¡¯s will, he was going to die. Although he had excellent assassination skills, the boy had exceptional talent. If so, he shouldn¡¯t bother him as much as possible.¡¯ ¡°I¡­I will tell you everything. I¡¯ll give you the information you want.¡± ¡°Really? Well, I¡¯ll take it if you¡¯re offering.¡± ¡®Stupid bastard! You are the one who threatened to steal the information.¡¯ He agreed, but he didn¡¯t resist. If he said something wrong, he was going to die. That was what his instincts screamed. Phew! When the restraining force holding his body disappeared instantly, he fell and took a deep breath. It was a very harsh and dull reaction, unlike his usual self. ¡°Huff¡­huff¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want a lot. Give me the list of the nobles who are the limbs of Duke Barrieta, who are shaking the country, and the notes on the corruption they committed.¡± ¡°What¡­what?¡± ¡°There will be information that Duke Barrieta has collected secretly to take their lives. And he¡¯ll keep them here, right?¡± At that, the guild leader quickly turned his gaze to confirm the boy¡¯s identity in front of him. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± However, his actions were quickly blocked. The boy¡¯s hand was slightly bent, and eerie energy suppressed his whole body. ¡®Master Assassin!¡¯ Realizing what the eerie energy was, his expression turned to fright. Very few assassins reached the master level, which was extremely difficult. It may be possible to beat a master, but very few people broke through the barrier of self-enlightenment. So it didn¡¯t take much time to realize how absurd the boy in front of him was. ¡®A Master Assassin in a small country like this?! Nonsense!¡¯ He was the prince who has been in a coma for six years. He couldn¡¯t understand from common sense that the prince, who had been awakened for less than half a year, had such skills. He smiled at the boy, Davey. ¡°Just to let you know, detecting lies is my specialty. No need to bluff. The choice is up to you.¡± Because of his terrifying energy, the guild leader trembled quietly. * * * ¡°H¡­Here you are.¡± As soon as I received the scroll from the shuddering man, I immediately checked the contents and put it quietly in my arms as if to save it. ¡°I¡­I gave everything you wanted. S¡­so please step back now.¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± As if he was worried, his expression was wrinkled. What else do you want from me?! His face was saying something like that. CH 31 -In an objective view, it could be both helpful and not helpful. If you decided, it¡¯s better to clean up everything. ¡®Do you think it is better that way?¡¯ -Please avoid killing as much as possible. ¡®Are you supposed to say that as the Demon King?¡¯ -I am not sure where the belief that demons love blood came from. It wasn¡¯t surprising to hear her saying something like that since she had insisted on anti-war from the start. ¡°Well, now. I think this is enough.¡± ¡°So¡­if¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like unnecessary killing that much.¡± As I stood up, talking calmly, he looked perplexed. ¡°Forget everything you saw today. And you¡¯d better keep your mouth shut if you don¡¯t want to find yourself in trouble.¡± At my words, he nodded quietly, trembling. ¡°That¡¯s it.¡± Ttaak! When I flicked my finger lightly, he fell. -You should know that they might come at you later. ¡®Didn¡¯t you just say that I shouldn¡¯t kill him?¡¯ -Still, your life is an important matter. I crossed my arms and smiled at the silver-haired girl who was giggling. ¡°Sometimes, there are things scarier than death.¡± When I took out the documents inside and unfolded them, it quickly printed text lightly on the paper. It was confidential information that needed a password to access. They could have used magical artifacts. The information accessible with the guild leader¡¯s authority was more extensive and detailed than I thought. There were reasons why they were the best guild in the kingdom. But I didn¡¯t stop there. -As you said, a rabbit wouldn¡¯t have dug only one burrow. ¡°There must be missing information. It must have been hidden in other information guilds.¡± The Black Moon Guild was the largest Information guild in the Al Rown Kingdom, without a doubt. However, even if it was a large Information guild, having all the information in one place was dangerous. If you put all the information in one place, there would be a higher liability. Duke Barrieta was no fool, so he must have prepared several alternatives. I was going to put them in an irreversible situation. Even though it was a fragment of information, there was content about Duke Barrieta¡¯s attempt to seek the position of King through Carlos. If you think about it, this country¡­the Al Rown kingdom hadn¡¯t appointed the next king, the crowned prince. -Are you going to handle them yourself? ¡°Why would I do that? There is someone else who can do that for me.¡± -There is someone else¡­ ¡°No matter how high-ranking as aristocrats they are, they still have political rivals.¡± -But, will they move according to your will? ¡°A beast, who is starved to death, can¡¯t pass by its victim. I have one person in mind who will jump in without a second thought.¡± And he would turn the situation in my favor. As I talked calmly, I used the stealth magic again. ¡°Today¡¯s theme is ¡®night guest¡¯. Let¡¯s sneak in without being noticed.¡± -What if you get caught? ¡°Why do you think I said the word ¡°sneak¡±? When the viewer disappears, it still works out.¡± Assassination or stealth¡­what was I afraid of? I destroyed the so-called top-notch guild, the Black Moon. ¡°There are six more guilds. Let¡¯s get going.¡± -As you wish. 15. Land? For this barren land? ¡°Your Majesty, Prince Davey¡¯s Stigmata is our country¡¯s treasure and delight. It would be great if you recognize his contribution by rewarding him.¡± ¡°Rewarding him?¡± ¡°I heard that Prince Davey has already been given a manor. I heard it¡¯s the region of Hines.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Each member of royalty had their own manor. The criterion was that the royal family member who came of age would receive one. Of course, when he became of age, a manor was granted by the kingdom for Davey. It was the eastern part of the kingdom, Hines, a province facing the Mainland. However, while it was a massive area of land, it was also largely barren. It would be a waste to abandon, but had too few resources or specialties to develop. It was Queen Liness¡¯s idea that the land should be handed down to David. ¡°Now, Prince Davey seems to be almost recovered, so why don¡¯t you let him go down and develop the land so that he can benefit the kingdom.¡± Queen Liness suggested with a pretty smile. She didn¡¯t think it would be successful at once, as he was constantly deviating from her intentions. It would have been perfect for her if he had died in a coma. He¡¯d been a thorn in Liness¡¯s eyes since he got up. She didn¡¯t like it. The assassination failed not once but twice. Moreover, one of her biggest secrets, Sharis, had gone missing. Someone was protecting him. Was it the king or someone else? The Marquis Patelis could have been within the radar of suspects, but it still couldn¡¯t explain the situation unless he was directly engaged. It was complicated. The assassins couldn¡¯t defeat him, and the Stigmata made it difficult to blame him as a madman and put him in confinement as a disqualified prince. There was only one way left; legally remove him from the royal palace. There were lots of methods, whether it is through an arranged marriage or independence. The reason she made that decision was that she couldn¡¯t keep an eye on him anymore. The day before, someone robbed all the information guilds. Not one or two, but seven information guilds in this country were robbed in a single day. She couldn¡¯t figure out who did it, but her instinct was yelling at her that it was the same person who had been helping the prince. The backer seemed so vicious that she thought she had no means to win. The only answer was that she didn¡¯t want to fight such a monster. If the information from the information guilds went to the Marquis of Patelis, known as a political rival of the nobles¡­ The aftermath that would arise was that the nobles, led by Duke Barrieta, who had stood firmly, could be shaken at once. She had to be careful dealing with her opponent because the information was dangerously valuable. She had to even consider a rebellion in such a problematic situation, which was her last resort. That was why she made the suggestion. Now that she wasn¡¯t in a situation to care for Davey, she has no choice but to put the troubling child on hold for a while. She was uncertain if King Crianes would approve it, but she had to try it first. She smiled at King Crianes, looking at her as if examining her intention. ¡°You¡¯re right. It¡¯s not good education for a grown-up prince who isn¡¯t the crowned prince to continue to stay in the royal palace.¡± Queen Liness looked surprised at his calm reply. Why all of a sudden? His surprising decision caused her eyes to widen. ¡®What the hell is this guy thinking?¡¯ King Crianes thwarted all of the strategies she had put in place to cut Davey¡¯s breath short. She couldn¡¯t understand, but it wasn¡¯t bad either. If she could get rid of him, she no longer needed to worry about the problem right now. If Hines¡¯ Manor developed, it would be a tremendous strength for him, but she was convinced it would never be. Hines¡¯ province was a barren land that could practically be called cursed. ¡°Speaking of which, why don¡¯t we get ready, chamberlain!¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Call Davey.¡± Seeing him speaking boldly, Queen Liness looked like she didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or frown. * * * ¡°Prince Majesty, the King Majesty is looking for you.¡± ¡°The King?¡± ¡°Yes, you should change into your formal outfit and visit his Majesty¡¯s palace.¡± ¡°Well¡­okay.¡± When Vespers, the chief of staff, came to me, I watched his back with narrow eyes. What brings you here? Suddenly I thought about it, and when I woke up, I saw Perserk lying in bed and sleeping. ¡®Wake up.¡¯ -Hmm¡­let me sleep a little bit more¡­ She mumbled and rolled up in the sheet that was a dozen times larger than her body. She was invisible to others, but she was real, so if someone were watching, it would look like a ghost was rolling about. ¡®Wake up. I¡¯ll let you sleep as long as you want later.¡¯ Of course, I had no intention of indulging this naughty Demon King¡¯s grievance. -You have no mercy on me. I hardly ever get good sleep because you wake me up all the time. You have to guarantee me more sleep. ¡®We have a big age difference, but let¡¯s not say something that could mislead others.¡¯ -Hmm¡­you¡¯re a mess. As she slowly got up, she yawned and sat on my head. ¡°Let me help you get dressed, your Majesty. ¡°Please.¡± At my words, Amy smiled, looking to be in a good mood. * * * I expected this. Since he realized that my existence was like a strange bomb, he would have decided that he couldn¡¯t leave me here anymore. ¡°Go and cultivate the assigned Hines land. Brighten your existence more and more.¡± He acted like a father who tossed pains on his son to motivate him. However, I had already learned that the meaning behind his speech was different because of Perserk¡¯s whispering. -Hmm¡­he is afraid that you¡¯ll take things too far here, so he is going to relocate us somewhere else. ¡®Don¡¯t remind me for no reason.¡¯ -Haven¡¯t you noticed anyway? Perserk shrugged. -Your father doesn¡¯t seem to fully believe in your abilities yet. ¡®If he didn¡¯t do this, I would have left on my own.¡¯ No mines had been discovered, and since it was a wasteland, clearing it to make farmland wouldn¡¯t be easy. The monster¡¯s habitat was also not too far away. The only good thing I found was its potential as a transportation hub, but that was only if the roads were paved properly. Oh, there was one more. The land of Baron Alisha, the home of my mother, was right there. There was nothing left of Baron Alisha now, who became a low-ranking nobleman after having been quietly dismantled. My mother¡¯s parents, my maternal grandfather and maternal grandmother, had already passed away. Although my mother had a younger brother, who was the only blood relative left, he was missing. I thought my face would have frowned automatically, but when I remained unexpectedly calm, King Crianes had a little doubt in his eyes. CH 32 [According to the community¡¯s interaction so far, it¡¯s estimated that this series will be in the top 5-6 on the site. We¡¯ve only prepared a team that can handle 2-3 chapters per day or 14-20 a week. Even though we have them stockpiled, we¡¯ve kept the actual upload pace the same for this past week in case we needed to move the team around. Depending on how the viewership + unlock speed turns out over the next week, we will increase the upload rate. This chapter was translated and edited months ago and the editing quality isn¡¯t up to par with the latest chapters. We¡¯ll get future chapters skimmed by a proofreader, but only briefly. The full-priced chapters are much better¡­ In the meantime, we¡¯ve released this chapter for 150 ATC.] Episode 32 Even though they had their own reasons for removing me from the palace, everything was going as I planned. ¡®I¡¯m sorry, Your Majesty. Even if I am gone, I have someone who will replace my role.¡¯ Right now, we are just keeping an eye on the aristocrats. However, when they see the gift I prepared, the royal palace would become a sea of blood from the endless purges. It would be hard to stop the power dynamics that aristocrats had because they were a cause-oriented group. Barris and Winley, who were highly likely to be affected by the consequences, would soon return to their original provinces to remain safe from the incident. ¡°I will follow your order.¡± ¡°Good, when will you be able to leave?¡± ¡°There is no need to wait. I will leave as soon as I get ready.¡± The sooner I made the decision, the better it was. It might have been better to say that I would leave right now, but I needed time to prepare myself before I move. -You, you are dangerous. Thousands of people might die based on your decision. ¡®If the kingdom remains the same even after Barris becomes king, we would be better off without the kingdom. So, before that happens, the changes are for the better.¡¯ I had no intention of handing over the messy reality to my younger brother. It would be better if I get a chance to get rid of the enemies with a bit of effort. This fight wouldn¡¯t cause the doom of Queen Liness or Duke Barrieta at once. However, with my perfect preparation, I was sure that they would gradually lose their power. Would that be all? Their relationship, which had been tightly tied up, would fall apart instantly. Consequently, severe turmoil will follow. What was going to happen next? Civil war. I didn¡¯t want to be involved in the complicated political scene. If I were here, the chances were more likely that I would get involved. So, before Queen Liness initiates her sly plans, I was thinking of leaving this place. The next time I show up would be when they made an irreversible choice. At that time, I will slice their necks. ¡°If that is what you want to do, we will follow your decision. We have high expectations for you, so make sure to bring good news to the kingdom soon.¡± ¡°I will keep it in mind, Majesty.¡± As I said so, I had to hold myself back from laughing. * * * When I left the room and returned to the first Prince¡¯s palace, I saw a clean wall greeting me. The first Prince¡¯s palace, which used to look like a haunted house, was now immaculate to this level. Unfortunately, It was now time to leave it behind. ¡°Amy, go to the Treasury and the Land Department to retrieve all the documents for the land in Hines.¡± ¡°Documents? Which ones should I ask for?¡± ¡°Everything without missing anything. If you say I sent you, they¡¯ll give the documents to you.¡± It may be challenging to understand everything quickly due to the large volume, but it didn¡¯t matter. I was confident I could read a few hundred documents to store in my head. ¡®Know your enemy¡­¡¯ -and know yourself. You will win every single battle. It¡¯s a pretty impressive proverb. Did it come from your previous life? ¡®There is a similar phrase here.¡¯ -We had a similar one back in my day. As for the proverb, it was interesting where they all came from. Perserk, giggling as she found it funny, had a look of excitement on her face. -Don¡¯t you think it is funny? ¡°What do you mean?¡± After Amy left quietly, bowing her head, I no longer had to have a conversation with my inside voice. At my question, she jumped over my legs. Then, with both legs folded outward, she sat down and looked up. -I like it when things get interesting, don¡¯t you have a lot of strength and skill? ¡°Hmm.¡± -Nevertheless, you never try to cross the line of arrogance that you set for yourself. This is quite interesting. I couldn¡¯t understand her taste. ¡°Vicarious satisfaction? Isn¡¯t it something like that?¡± -My life was kind of boring, so maybe I am feeling satisfaction through watching your life. ¡°I had never thought that I was going to be the subject of somebody¡¯s vicarious satisfaction.¡± -Be proud of yourself because I am about to become your fan as a former Demon King. She grinned and bowed. Then she put her cheeks on my thighs and closed her eyes as if she was going to sleep. -I am getting a little sleepy¡­ The phrase ¡®beauty sleep¡¯ best suited this woman. It seemed like she spent a lot of time sleeping to maintain her overwhelming beauty. From a positive perspective, it was ultimately her way of taking care of herself. On the contrary, it was just her being lazy since she¡¯s got a lot of free time. -Hmm¡­you seem to have a strangely unpleasant thought. She was excessively bright. It must have been because of her life, where she had analyzed countless people without using the power of detection. -I¡­I¡¯ll sleep a little¡­don¡¯t move¡­ ¡°My thighs are expensive.¡± -You¡­um¡­your legs are firm and fluffy, so it feels good to fall asleep¡­ She fell asleep after saying that. She didn¡¯t disappear like before, and I didn¡¯t want to wake her up, so I let her sleep. ¡°Majesty! I brought what you asked!¡± It was then. I thought it would take longer, but it didn¡¯t. ¡°Is this all?¡± ¡°Yes, they said this is all the information about the land.¡± ¡°I guess this is it since it¡¯s only a remote area of the countryside¡­.¡± I laughed at the surprisingly lacking amount of information. I knew it wasn¡¯t going to be a lot, but I didn¡¯t expect it to be this little. ¡°Great.¡± As soon as I took the papers and skimmed them, an irresistible sigh flowed out of my mouth. ¡°A cursed land? I guess this what I have.¡± It was an unbiased evaluation. * * * Cursed land. A barren wasteland. A land where the drought never stops. The dying land. There were many ways of expressing it, but I could simplify the evaluation of the Hines manor. At first, I thought Queen Liness had blocked information about where I was going, but that wasn¡¯t true. The state of the land was so terrible that it wasn¡¯t worth hiding. ¡°Except for ten percent of the land, all the land dried up due to drought.¡± -Hmm¡­whether it is mine or not is terrible. However, particular areas need some additional research. Since there is no adjacent sea, it seems impossible to have a fishing industry or any sea trade. Without my attention, Perserk, lying asleep on my leg, yawned and muttered. She was a pretty smart Demon King. She was once the king of an entire species, and she had lived for thousands of years even if she was sealed. My experience wasn¡¯t nearly enough to evaluate her. ¡°From five years ago, the provinces couldn¡¯t afford to pay taxes, so the country has given them a tax reduction.¡± The policy of reducing taxes for poor estates was a bill that my father, King Crianes, promoted when he was young. The reason behind this was that there were no benefits toward the kingdom when he tried to impose excessive taxes on a poor manor that couldn¡¯t even afford to pay it. It was previously aggravating the publics¡¯ sentiment. That was precisely what the current situation of Hines was. Ten years ago, it had served its purpose as land. However, at present, there were no elements that could be advocated except for it having a significant transportation advantage as a checkpoint on the way to the Mainland. ¡°It might be better to throw me in the middle of the desert.¡± It wasn¡¯t really to that extent, though. -There¡¯s no way you¡¯ll ever get anything back from such a bare land. How much support can the kingdom provide? ¡°Looking at it, a handful of slaves and material resources seem to be everything. I refused everything because they could use it as a tool against me.¡± -That doesn¡¯t seem enough anyway. We won¡¯t be able to figure out the situation until we re-examine everything first. ¡°What do you think we should do?¡± -Can you see it here? It says it¡¯s a cursed land. It was five years ago that it stopped raining in the estate. According to the rumor, the specific reason was unknown; it seemed that an unknown curse was placed on the land. It was said that it was caused by the alien races living in the forest, but honestly, the chances of that being true were low. If the curse is limited to just drought and it rained again, a considerable amount of land could be used as farmland. ¡°The keeper must have died already.¡± -You underestimate my potential. What is the use of spiritualism and alchemy? ¡°That is right, thanks for the advice.¡± Perserk was a pretty good talker and consultant. At least she knew what I had to do. I had learned a lot in the Corridor, but I never studied geography. Knowing what to do to survive was different from the knowledge that changed the world. Even in areas that I wasn¡¯t aware of, she had quite an in-depth knowledge. Moreover, the fact that she was someone with whom I could have good communication with also played a part. -Whatever it is, it¡¯s hard to judge at will unless we actually see it for ourselves. Well, even if it¡¯s not enough, I can lend you a certain amount of foolish wisdom as you have a symbiotic friendship with me. ¡°Is my leg your compensation?¡± -There aren¡¯t many beds that are as comfortable to sleep on as your legs, for sure. She was smiling cutely. * * * A few days passed. The speed at which we processed information together had become so quick that there was no longer a need to confirm with each other. As we talked about the development of the manor, we often ended up staying up all night. She often fell into a deep sleep from which she could not wake up from. Perhaps the reason was that the longer she uses her powers to materialize, the faster she grew tired. As soon as the sun came up, the royal castle was crowded with processions leaving for Hines. There weren¡¯t that many leaving: me, who would be inaugurated as the lord, and my exclusive maid, Amy, who would assist me, followed by a few attendants and maids. In addition to this, some of the knights would stay with me for a while. I was a bit poor¡­ -You must have too much time since you are acting silly. ¡®Hmm.¡¯ I had no knights or nobles who pledged allegiance to me. Therefore, this modest procession was also a natural result in some way. When Barris and Winley heard that I was leaving, they immediately came to me and complained. It was apparently because they knew what the Hines land was like. Barris shouted, ¡®We¡¯ll go to the Majesty and petition against it!¡¯ ¡°Just believe in your brother.¡± Then he became so upset that he left the room immediately. Afterward, Winley, who had wiped her tears with a handkerchief, quietly hugged me. ¡°Davey, if you have any trouble, don¡¯t hesitate to contact us. We will come and get you no matter what.¡± Who were these 14-year-old kids taking care of? Still, I was grateful for them being so thoughtful, so I just stroked Winley¡¯s head, which made her cry out loud even louder. CH 33 Episode 33 Barris and Winley seemed upset because they had to return to their place soon, even though they wanted to follow me. ¡®I guess I am finally leaving this damn palace.¡¯ -I don¡¯t think I¡¯m leaving here forever, but I¡¯m pretty excited for the future. ¡®How miserable will it be?¡¯ At my thoughts, she, sitting on my thigh as if riding a horse, turned her head and smiled. -Isn¡¯t it fun? I am curious about what you¡¯re going to do. I don¡¯t know what to do with your high expectations. ¡°Majesty.¡± I was quietly getting ready to leave the palace. As I lifted my head to the unanticipated voice, an elderly man slowly walked in under the guidance of Amy. His age was around 70 years old. However, compared to ordinary people of his age in this continent, he looked strong and gave an imposing appearance. ¡°I am Marquis Patelis, and it is an honor to see the little sun of the kingdom.¡± ¡°Please get up, Marquis of Patelis.¡± Usually, I wouldn¡¯t have said that, but he was different. There were only three swordmasters in the Al Rown kingdom, and among them, he had the best skills and experience. He was well respected by the knights of the Al Rown Kingdom, and countless knights on the continent showed their respect just upon hearing his name. It wasn¡¯t just that. He was also the most crucial candidate with who I chose to destroy the nobility. The swordmaster was a kind of strategic weapon. Although he didn¡¯t have a large number of troops, he became a central pillar of the country only by his strength and the power of his long-established family. Usually, he held a neutral stance and kept a distance from the nobles, but now he wouldn¡¯t stay neutral anymore. A few days after stealing all the information from the information guilds, I snuck into Patelis¡¯ bedroom and left him all the information the nobles wanted to hide. Since he was a man of enormous loyalty and self-discipline, he would soon begin to investigate the aristocracy as soon as he vetted the authenticity of the information. ¡°I heard you¡¯re leaving.¡± ¡°It happened to be that way. Any adult royal family members must leave the palace unless they are the crowned prince.¡± ¡°In the future, you might become the crowned prince.¡± ¡°That is a matter of the future.¡± As I smiled, he adjusted his monocle and smiled vainly. ¡°You have grown a lot. If the former queen were here, she would have been so proud of you.¡± ¡°To my mother, I am just a terrible son.¡± He shook his head at my reply. ¡°If you say so, this old man who couldn¡¯t protect the queen majesty should have already bitten his tongue and died.¡± I smiled at his words. Unlike my father, who gave up everything after my mother¡¯s death, he, who volunteered as my mother¡¯s knight in the past, seemed to have secretly searched for evidence behind my mother¡¯s assassination. I found it out when I snuck into his house, which made me feel grateful towards him. ¡®So please, shake all the nobles who are eating up the country.¡¯ When I saw him without speaking, he looked at me as if I was his grandson. ¡®I will deliver the final blow.¡¯ ¡°If you are in trouble, please feel free to contact me. I¡¯ll help you as much as I can.¡± ¡°As a person keeping a neutral stance, if you look after me, the nobles will be outraged. You don¡¯t want this little boy to die, right?¡± When I said jokingly, he laughed. ¡°If I don¡¯t do that, the life and oath of this sinful old man will be a lie.¡± He said bitterly as if whipping the guilt he held. ¡°I¡¯m going to turn the land into a place where people live. It¡¯s not difficult.¡± ¡°Your Majesty.¡± ¡°So please do your job well here, Marquis.¡± ¡°¡­¡± I smiled at him. ¡°You will be busy soon.¡± As if he didn¡¯t understand what I was saying, he remained silent for a long time. * * * After flying up to the neighboring province with the mana gate, I was on the move all day. It wasn¡¯t that bad because Hines was quite close to the capital. If it were elsewhere, it would have taken a few more days. -I thought you were the only one who had enemies in the palace, but that wasn¡¯t true. When did she wake up? Perserk floated in front of me as I read a book in the carriage. She, lightly dressed like a demon, looked down and giggled at me from a height where I could see her underwear if she moved a little by mistake. -There are some vital people like that. ¡°Because Marquis Patelis was my mother¡¯s knight. However, it is only recently that I got to know about him. So I don¡¯t know him that well.¡± -By the way, you handled the information well. ¡°At least it¡¯s clear that he¡¯s the only loyal person in this country.¡± She giggled at my words, waving her hand in the air. Then the window of the carriage opened smoothly, and the dried-up lands began to appear. -It feels like something is blocking the atmosphere here. ¡°Right, I feel the same.¡± The Hines territory itself was pretty big. Nevertheless, this manor became abandoned because more than ninety percent of the landmass was suffering from drought as if it were cursed. There was no way to know the exact reason yet, but everything would weather and turn into a desert if it continued a little longer. Among the inland regions, few lands were so barren like this. It was the only land in the Al Rown kingdom that was suffering from drought. The wasteland, which was seen outside the window, was initially agricultural, but the soil dried up and cracked as the drought continued. Fortunately, the government had hired some wizards to conjure water several times. If not, it would have been much worse. Hiring wizards to spray water over a large amount of land wouldn¡¯t solve the problem with a small budget such as ours, though. ¡°Majesty, I am sorry, but we should stop and stay somewhere around here for tonight.¡± I nodded quietly at chamberlain Ferrum¡¯s suggestion. ¡°We have no other choice because there is no private lodging nearby. Get ready for camping.¡± ¡°Yes, Majesty.¡± After watching the chamberlains, maids, and escort knights move busily, I left the carriage, leaving Amy behind. -Dry air. Sandy wind. I strolled while looking at the block of land that looked like a desert. Although it was a large amount of land, not much of it was useful. When I walked far away from the carriage on the only paved road, all I could see was dried-up earth all over the place. I silently reached out my hand and touched the cracked ground. Then I closed my eyes and whispered. -Checking Information. Perserk¡¯s insight was a unique ability infused with the will of God, and the subject wasn¡¯t limited to living creatures. Beep! There was a faint light in her eyes as a simultaneous mechanical sound flowed out in the air. At this moment, a strange transparent status window began to appear out of the air. -Region: Hines Manor. -Earth condition: Lowest -Special comments: Due to a prolonged drought and a strange power, the earth is dead, and the ground is dried up. It is showing signs of a curse (?): dead earth, climate change. It seems possible to remove the curse (?). -Was it a curse? ¡°I have to get rid of it. Rather, why do you have so many question marks like this in the status window of God¡¯s will?¡± I felt strange. 16. The lord is cleaning. -I can¡¯t answer your question. ¡°But it¡¯s your ability.¡± -I am only able to show. You probably know that the contents in the window aren¡¯t mine but the will of a God with a cheap taste. As a Demon King, she had no faith in God. -So you don¡¯t like them? ¡°Well¡­I am not in a position to say since I am borrowing the divine power of God, but I cannot deny that she is a God with a little peculiar taste.¡± -By the way, as expected, it¡¯s a curse, not something worse. Ignoring Perserk¡¯s joke, I quietly swept the cracked ground with my hands. This was the current situation shown in most of the Hines territory. Except for ten percent of the land, most areas were in the same situation as stated previously by the status window. ¡®The curse that spread out the entire land¡­¡¯ -I¡¯m saying this because you might not understand. There is something called a spread-type curse in the curse tree, a vicious curse activated by an insignificant medium that spreads endlessly. ¡°I didn¡¯t know there were still remnants of black magic left here.¡± -Looks like one of the residents touched the medium. It seemed that someone among the residents had triggered an unexploded mine. The Hines Manor had gone through that unfortunate event. [Purification] I laid my hand on the ground silently and raised my divine power. It was cleaning magic that was raised to the third rank. Paaching!! Even though it said removing the curse was possible in the status window, it seemed complicated. ¡°Look at this.¡± A smile caught on the corner of my mouth. If I used the purification magic without any intention, it might seem that I wasn¡¯t able to absorb the powerful repulsive force, which repelled my divine magic. Fifth Tier [Purification] The characteristic of purification magic, which boasted one axis of divine magic, could be used by first-class priests. And, depending on the individual¡¯s capacity, they could rise to the eighth tier. If it didn¡¯t work with the third-tier purification magic, I had to raise it a few steps. Kaaching!! Once again, you could hear the sound of something breaking. It seemed that the magic bounced back again, but the result was a little different. Pushhkkk¡­ The colorless, odorless smoke slowly began to flow out of the area I had touched. The curse was scattered for a moment but recovered again. -A curse that has been around for a long time cannot be removed so easily. ¡°That is true.¡± I have to find the medium and destroy it; otherwise, I couldn¡¯t remove the curse. Without doing that, it was like shoveling snow in the middle of heavy snowfall. I quietly returned to the carriage and leaned on the fluffy sofa, closing my eyes. ¡°This is how most of the land is like.¡± Black magic, especially large-scale curses like this, mainly went extinct a long time ago. To be precise, we had very little information about the different species on the continent now, and it was safe to assume that a few black wizards once shook the continent. -As it was in the past, the world has remained essentially unchanged. As I listened to Perserk¡¯s voice, I slowly closed my eyes. CH 34 34 * * * The scale of the Hines manor was more extensive than the average manor. As such, it was impossible to surround everything with a wall, so basically, only some areas surrounding the Lord¡¯s manor house were surrounded by a wall, and the rest were maintained as open land. ¡°It is a great manor.¡± -It was poorly maintained, though. Was it because it was an old and underdeveloped manor? Some of the fortress walls surrounding the inner manor were weathered, making it impossible to recognize their original shape, and the grass was growing rampant over it. The gate, which should have been firmly closed, had already been long battered beyond usefulness. -You should be glad that at least there is someone who keeps the gate closed. ¡°It¡¯s an area adjacent to the large forest where monsters live, and the manor wouldn¡¯t have survived without volunteer watchmen.¡± ¡°Stop! From here and forward, it¡¯s the Hines manor! Please show your ID card!¡± ¡°This is Prince Davey, who was appointed to be the Lord of this manor! Open the gate!¡± The old gentleman, who took the lead on a horse, shouted sternly before anyone came forward. It seemed that they soon noticed that it wasn¡¯t a precious procession that had graced them. ¡°P¡­Please wait a moment. I should get Director¡­¡± ¡°Hey! Are you going to make the Prince Majesty wait?!¡± ¡°Stop, we have to go through the process. I am not officially delegated the authority of the manor yet.¡± It was true that the royal order delegates the authority of the province, but when the Lord was absent, the deputy manor manager took over. In this system, a nobleman, and appointed lord, had to take over from the manor manager to be inaugurated as an official lord. ¡°Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be too uptight. We¡¯ll all become family.¡± As I got off the carriage, he nodded. ¡°P¡­Please forgive me for being rude. Your Majesty.¡± ¡°I¡­I see the sun of the kingdom.¡± I¡¯m not sure how he knew I was the prince, maybe because of my fabulous appearance? When the guards realized I was the prince who would become the Lord described by the old gentleman, they laid down on the ground. ¡°You should get up. If you lay down on the ground, who is going to keep the gate?¡± As I spoke, the two guards were taken aback. ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°The volunteers are good. However, why is the manor house in this state?¡± They exchanged glances when I asked calmly. It was that moment a middle-aged man wearing light gloves was running from the inside wall. ¡°D¡­Director!¡± ¡°W¡­Welcome, Prince Majesty! I received the message, but I apologize for being late. Please kill me!¡± I focused my gaze on the guy, who was lying flat on his stomach and trembling. Now I saw the strange traces. Monster attack. There were signs that there was a monster attack within the last day. Somehow the atmosphere was cluttered. ¡°When did the messenger arrive here?¡± ¡°It¡­It was two days ago.¡± ¡°When did the monster attack happen after that?¡± ¡°W¡­well¡­ H¡­How did you know that¡­?¡± I smiled at him, who looked at me in surprise. ¡°Looking at the traces of blood, it must be a recent attack. If it was an urgent situation, your judgment was right.¡± ¡°Y¡­Your Majesty¡­¡± ¡°What is the point of this dreary procedure? First of all, I¡¯ll go in and hear more details.¡± He looked up at me as if surprised by my words. ¡°Also, please bring the internal affairs deputy manor manager.¡± He, who had been frightened, sighed and lowered his head as though his life had been cut short by ten years. * * * When Hercules taught me the art of survival, the ability to observe was the first lesson he imparted. I didn¡¯t realize it from afar, but I noticed bloodstains on the walls and some weapons which had been broken and couldn¡¯t be retrieved in time. Despite the absence of bodies, the dark bloodstains were visible. I could even smell it. How did I smell it? I could amplify my senses even though I hadn¡¯t undergone a metamorphosis. It was because I acquired a master-class body after the manifestation of God. They seem shocked that I found the remnants. What was wrong with them? It was a simple ability that everyone at my level had. -At times, you tend to forget how ridiculous your talent is. I¡¯m sorry, but you sound like a jerk to me. Those who lack talent, even at your rank, would miss such a hint. ¡®Did I say anything like that?¡¯ -Even if you didn¡¯t say, I knew. I wonder if hitting your head once is okay. ¡°I, Montmort, was in charge of the province¡¯s military force by acting as the volunteer commander in the absence of the lord.¡± ¡°Where is the manor manager?¡± ¡°That¡­is¡­¡± He hesitated and then lowered his head again. ¡°S-someone else was in charge before the recent assault, but since then¡­I¡¯ve been in charge.¡± He was the only one in charge of both internal affairs and the volunteers. He didn¡¯t seem to be overly selfish, but he was a man of exceptional talent. -If you hire that kind of person, it will undoubtedly benefit you. ¡®I can trust his abilities since he has kept the dying manor over the past five years.¡¯ He rolled his eyes back and forth with an anxious face as I sat quietly; he was scared. He looked worried if I would become mad due to the condition of the manor, or the manor house, which was all worn out. I, on the other hand, maintained a dignified demeanor while appearing worried. ¡°I know you¡¯ve had a difficult time.¡± As I entered this town, I saw the broken houses and their inhabitants. To be clear, they didn¡¯t seem to be excited at the arrival of the new Lord. It was, in some ways, a natural reaction. It was common for the nobles to bully the commoners in the current state of the Al Rown kingdom. Maybe he was scared for that reason, but it was no good if he was already scared. As I pondered this, I looked at Montmort, the middle-aged man who stood in front of me. ¡°To manage the manor, you would have to know how to read?¡± ¡°Even though I¡¯m a lowly guy, I learned to write by looking over other¡¯s shoulders a little.¡± ¡®It seems that I have discovered a talent.¡¯ I was quite impressed. ¡°So¡­now, since your majesty is here¡­¡± ¡°I want you to keep working.¡± ¡°P-pardon me?¡± ¡°Not as a volunteer corps. I¡¯ll promote it to the manor¡¯s official guard and establish a formal organization. Sir Berman, who used to be a guard here, will assist with the training.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s what you want, I¡¯ll do what you say.¡± ¡°Y¡­you want me to do that?!¡± He looked up at me, shocked. ¡°Then who else is going to do that? I¡¯ll employ you as a knight and give you a title if your ability improves. I have the power to do so.¡± As I replied, I flung my ear wax into the air in response to his question. ¡°B¡­but I am a lowly man¡­¡± ¡°If someone is skilled, I hire them. That¡¯s my philosophy.¡± He seemed surprised by my comments. * * * It was an assault by goblins. There were about a hundred of them. Their bodies were the size of a child¡¯s, their intelligence was poor, and their physique was small, so they had only child-like strength. The only thing they had in their favor was their prodigious fertility. Regardless of the species, even if you killed indefinitely, the number of them didn¡¯t decrease. That¡¯s why a goblin-infested manor was so irritating. It was challenging to adapt to them since they were nocturnal monsters. They were previously known for living in the mountains and sometimes appearing to steal animals, children, or women from people¡¯s homes, but this was the first time such a large group appeared. With this size, he couldn¡¯t understand why they hadn¡¯t been conquered by the orcs who lived in the same mountain, who refer to themselves as warriors. As the range of desolation of the manor spread to the forest, their attack cycle became more frequent. The elders in the manor said that this was due to the earth¡¯s curse, but Montmort didn¡¯t believe them. Meanwhile, someone from the royal palace arrived. In a somewhat arrogant manner, an official from the royal palace came down and told him, who managed the volunteers and the estate, that the first prince of the Kingdom would be named Lord here, and then he left immediately. He didn¡¯t seem to want to remain in this remote area any longer. Montmort was a commoner who despised the aristocracy. He learned to write at a beginner level from his father, but he despised all nobles except Baron Alisha, who had previously ruled the manor. To him, nobles were arrogant and were overly manipulative. Now what? There was going to be a royal prince. If it¡¯s a prince of the damn Kingdom, what else was there to say? That¡¯s what he was thinking. It¡¯s a good thing he didn¡¯t break his neck in anger over this manor¡¯s predicament. He was scared, but he didn¡¯t want to be overwhelmed. The more troubling aspect was that he couldn¡¯t imagine such a man abusing his authority in his hometown, which was in jeopardy. Meanwhile, the goblins attacked again. This time, there were almost a hundred fifty goblins in the raid. It¡¯s impossible to say where this influx of heads came from, but it seemed as if all the goblins in the vicinity of the Hines manor had gathered. No matter how well-trained the volunteers were, they would eventually incur fatigue from the constant battles. In reality, it was a known fact that some residents were abducted by fleeing goblins. Defeat was obvious, and they pillaged their possessions. The gloomy residents seemed dissatisfied that the government didn¡¯t intervene to defend them. It had been ten years since the Kingdom¡¯s assistance was withdrawn. The previous Lord, Baron Alisha, died a long time ago. On top of that, now they had to deal with a prince. The prince seemed to be a small child who hadn¡¯t yet seen half of what they had. According to the kingdom¡¯s laws, citizens became adults at the age of sixteen, but maturity generally occurred at twenty or older. In other words, he was much too young. Young nobles were very arrogant. Furthermore, as a prince who has spent his whole life in the royal house, he couldn¡¯t have a wide range of experiences. Montmort¡¯s head felt dizzy just thinking about how the prince was going to annoy him. However, instead, he casually found the traces of their war and praised them for their effort. Montmort thought he was lying at first, but he looked confident. As if he knew what he was doing. With a blank expression on Montmort¡¯s face, he looked up at the prince. For some reason, his eyes and mannerisms gave the impression that he already knew everything. It was an odd instinct not to lie in front of him. Even though the journey would have been exhausting, he summoned the workers to verify the manor¡¯s condition, so we confessed the truth. He stood up and responded casually after hearing out the entire story. ¡°First, let¡¯s clean up the goblins until I remove the curse of the wasteland.¡± Although he had been told there were hundreds of goblins, he sounded like he was dusting a kitchen. CH 35 35 Beep. -Name: Montmort -Age: 42 -Gender: Male -Species: Human -Title: The Volunteer Leader of Hines Manor, The Hines Manor Deputy Manager. -Current condition: Extreme fatigue. -Special comments: A skilled swordsman. Knight¡¯s talent. -Current psychology: Confused. Surprised. Distrustful of the viewer. Worried about the residents, who were kidnapped by goblins. Worried about the increasingly drying manor. He worries and worries. He may only have learned an elementary education, but he has led this pitiful manor utilizing his years of experience. He is qualified enough to be hired. ¡°On the way, I saw goblin traces. Is this to imply that the goblins entered the manor house?¡± ¡°Y-you are right.¡± ¡°Why was the defense broken?¡± Even though there were many goblins, we had a fortress. So how did they break through? It was just a concern, not an attempt to criticize him. However, he seemed to grow awkward at my question for some reason. ¡°I am not criticizing you. We will solve the problems of this manor one by one in the future, based on your experiences and memories. He was taken aback by my words. It was true for those newly named lords to assign vital roles to their loyal servants. Occasionally, there were cases like his, but, overall, it was common for those in his position to find themselves in a dangerous situation when the management changed. ¡°That¡­that is¡­the volunteers were tired and wounded as a result of the ongoing attack¡­¡± ¡°How bad is the damage?¡± ¡°Dozens of residential houses were burned. A lot of people were kidnapped¡­¡± As he was muttering resentfully, I rubbed my chin. ¡°How are the manor¡¯s internal affairs?¡± The most important thing was this. I would have paid more attention to this if it hadn¡¯t been for the goblin assaults rather than the reinforcement of the units. Any manors in jeopardy must be dealt with caution. ¡°That is, there is enough food to last until the end of the winter¡­to tell you the truth, this year¡¯s farming was a failure¡­¡± -Even if you don¡¯t count all the repairs to the walls and the manor house and services, the wealth received from the royal palace will barely last two years. Perserk grinned as soon as she realized which part I was looking for. Whoa, you have a beautiful smile. Is it possible for you to be my secretary? -I refuse. She laughed peacefully and laid down on my thighs in the chair. -It is already time to go to bed¡­hmm¡­ As she dozed off, I chuckled. ¡°It would be better if you get them.¡± Montmort stared at me as I muttered and pondered. He looked doubtful at me, as his name implied. I took small bags from my clothing and gave them to him. After I handed over three fist-sized sacks, he opened his eyes wide. And he was once again amazed by the contents. ¡°Plat-platinum coins!!¡± Platinum coins. It was the highest currency with the value of fifty gold coins. Although the number of coins was small, the size of the coins was much greater than that of ordinary gold. ¡°Sir Pallis and Sir Horton should accompany him. If you want, you can take a volunteer member. Put my name on the receipt and buy food and supplies. That way, we can buy enough food and supplies that will last for a while.¡± Since there were only two hundred residents at most, it was possible. ¡°Your Majesty, how could you give such a¡­.¡± Not only Montmort but also the others who were here to assist me looked astonished. As far as they saw it, I wasn¡¯t the kind of person who could afford such a large sum of money. ¡°Don¡¯t ask me where I got them. Because I earned that money fairly.¡± Yes, I earned them. It was the money I earned as a good thief by robbing the Information Guild. -There is no such thing as a good thief in the first place¡­ ¡®You are too noisy.¡¯ She had a knack for responding while she was supposedly sleeping. They must have been furious when they later discovered they had been robbed of both money and information. Well, it was too late to do anything about it now anyway. They looked perplexed as I spoke but then looked down as if their doubts had been disappeared. ¡°If you ask me, I will follow him.¡± It was Chamberlain Bernil, who was in charge of the First Prince¡¯s Palace. He was related to Vespers, the royal palace¡¯s head butler, and King Crianes¡¯ right-hand man. Their appearances were strikingly similar. ¡°Yes, it would be better if Chamberlain Bernil followed.¡± ¡°In three days, we will return with the items that you requested.¡± At those words, I got up from my seat. ¡°Then, let¡¯s sort things out right away. The faster lives are saved, the better. Summon all the remaining knights and volunteers except for the minimum number of people who will protect the manor. Amy, lead the maids to clean the manor house.¡± I will be back after taking care of the outside business. They stared at me blankly for a moment as I stood up, as if I wouldn¡¯t listen to their opinions, then followed me as they realized the situation. * * * As expected, they were full of distrust. Excluding the minimum number of defense personnel, the number of volunteers in the province was only twenty. It was even surprising that there were still close to thirty volunteers in the territory where most young people had already left. There were eight knights, which was a significant strength against the goblins, but given the level of the volunteers, who were pawns of the rabble, it was similar to suicide. There were precisely one hundred and fifty goblins to deal with. With conventional tactics, the power gap was much too large and risky. -Hmm¡­you want to make life as simple as possible; however, the numbers will change. If you look at the current situation, it is more than one hundred fifty. If it reaches two hundred¡­ ¡®No, one hundred fifty goblins is right.¡¯ I would block any goblins above them. Berserk, who was making a sleepy expression, shut her mouth as if she realized what I was saying. -Sometimes I like you because you¡¯re wild. ¡°Thank you, everyone, for gathering. Everyone is probably seeing me for the first time. I am Davey Al Rown. I was appointed as the lord of this manor.¡± I stepped up on the platform and looked at them. Their information was listed before me, but no one seemed to have the same outstanding potential as Montmort. ¡°As you may already know, some residents were kidnapped by goblins last night.¡± As I said, they were upset, and I could hear them muttering in the crowd. ¡°I know there are some people who may want to find them right away. Or some people may be too scared and want to hide.¡± The silence continued. ¡°But whatever it is, it doesn¡¯t change the fact that they will continue to attack the manor if we leave it as it is.¡± Everyone was silent at my calm voice. They looked full of disbelief, but no one opened their mouth easily. I was giving them a lot of pressure in the first place. ¡°Although I just arrived here, I don¡¯t think the fact that I¡¯m a lord has changed.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know you, but I have no intention of tolerating intruders entering my property. I don¡¯t have the patience to wait for those who believe they can stick their swords in my manor and walk away with their limbs intact.¡± At my words, they looked troubled. They knew. Even if they want to bring back their family and avenge them, they would be in danger if they pursued. It would be difficult to find them in the forest, which was like their front yard. Even goblins held an advantage on home ground. ¡°B¡­but dealing with them with our force is like¡­¡± ¡°Suicide!¡± Of course, I could hear the volunteers¡¯ shouts full of disbelief at me as they thought the same thing. There were young boys and old men who seemed to be in danger just holding their swords. The age group wasn¡¯t consistent, which hinted at a lack of people. ¡°So, should we let them keep invading?¡± At my words, they went silent. Then, they looked into each other¡¯s eyes. ¡°We do understand what the Lord is trying to say¡­but we are the last volunteers left in this manor¡­if we die, who is going to protect the manor?¡± ¡°That is right! Goblins are very hostile to their enemies! If we fail, they will attack this place again!¡± ¡°I¡¯m going with you. Don¡¯t worry.¡± At my words, their expressions dropped. Some of them gave me scoffing looks. Of course, it was normal to think of me as a prince who lacked experience, only believing in his young blood as he acts recklessly. They didn¡¯t have to say anything since it was visible in their status windows that appeared in front of me. I sensed the reality when they looked at each other, muttering, ¡®Now we¡¯re all dead.¡¯ The knights tried to stop their rude behavior right away, but I restrained them with my arm. ¡°I know what you are worried about, but I¡¯d like to correct one thing.¡± They, who were confused by my words, stared at me. ¡°I am not here as a prince but as the appointed Lord of Hines manor. And you guys are my residents, whether you like it or not. Now, we have become one family. Do you think I¡¯ll let my family be killed?¡± At my words, the crowd quieted once more. ¡°I swear with my Stigmata. Believe and follow me. I¡¯ll make sure that no one dies and to eradicate them.¡± If I had wanted to, I could have gone alone and gotten rid of them. But I didn¡¯t want to do that. I wanted to see their determination and skills. ¡°Is it hard to believe me? If so, believe in God¡¯s mark, the Stigmata that God gave me. If you still don¡¯t believe me, follow me as if I were a lord oppressing you.¡± Everyone was silent at my words. No matter how blinded from the outside world they were, it seemed that they had understood by this point that I was the prince with the Stigmata. ¡°My life is the most important thing to me. And yours is important too because your job is to protect me. Don¡¯t ever think about dying without my permission. The room was momentarily frozen when I unleashed an overwhelming fighting spirit. People tend to misunderstand the air that pressures the whole body as charisma. They looked surprised at my decisive voice. * * * The massive forest near the Hines manor was originally a quiet forest where only wild animals lived. It was the forest where the residents frequently came to hunt. Although a few orcs had been found in the past, they had little interest in humans. But what happened this time was that the goblins began to be discovered more frequently, and the situation had grown worse. As a result, hunting in the forest became impossible. ¡°We¡¯ve already tracked down the goblins¡¯ home village.¡± The eldest volunteer, Corris, spoke on behalf of the volunteer leader, Montmort, bowing his head to me. ¡°There are a lot of goblins if we travel across this ridge in front of us.¡± It was exactly as he had said. A small village started to appear not far away as we moved silently. CH 36 Episode 36 ¡°A village of orcs?¡± At first, I couldn¡¯t believe my eyes. It was the orcs¡¯ construction technology and design. To the orcs, those who called themselves warriors, goblins were their enemies. But how come there were goblins in the orc¡¯s village?¡± ¡°It was a village without an owner. A watchman told me that they were gathering here recently.¡± It wasn¡¯t clear, but fortunately, it seemed to be true. The number was about one hundred fifty as expected. Even though many were killed in the raid, it seemed that their numbers had been replenished. In other words, it means that they weren¡¯t just here but also exist somewhere else. The people who were kidnapped by goblins weren¡¯t in sight. Maybe they were being held in the dilapidated buildings of the village. ¡°They kidnapped Lini¡­¡± When I turned my head to the sound of the muttering, one of the volunteers was glowering with bloody eyes as if he were going to shed red tears right away. He was trying so hard to push down his urge to jump in right now because of the atmosphere. ¡°Are you angry?¡± So, when I looked at him calmly, he clenched his teeth and nodded vigorously. This time, I looked at the entire volunteer squad. ¡°Do you want to kill them?¡± My calm voice spreads to everyone like a wave. ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°I want revenge!¡± The other volunteers nodded and loudly responded. They seemed to be on the verge of swinging the shabby weapons they armed themselves with. I felt that the people here had good spirits. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t be angry with those who weren¡¯t their family members. ¡°I guess I chose a good manor.¡± I smiled. After that, I lifted the bow in my hand and put an arrow on the bowstring. Then I closed my eyes and raised my mana. My first actual battle as a lord came quicker than expected. * * * ¡®Strengthened shot.¡¯ By the appearance, it just looked like I was pulling an arrow in a twisted position. It looked sloppy on the outside, but it was a skilled shot. I was the one who absorbed all the skills of Apollo, the god of archery. Despite his cheesy personality, he possessed exceptional archery skills. As a result, the technique that I learned wasn¡¯t at all typical. The knights¡¯ eyes widened as they were taken aback when I unexpectedly pulled the bow. What I was trying to do was the standard tactic. It must have looked like that in their eyes. ¡°L¡­Lord?!¡± ¡°It wouldn¡¯t work with standard tactics!¡± They probably thought that it was ridiculous. If goblins trapped you in such a wide area, it would result in a lot of casualties. Given the number of goblins in the village and the volunteer¡¯s current state, significant losses or annihilation were more probable. They would have initially thought I would reduce their numbers by setting up appropriate traps or guerrilla warfare. I even promised that no one would die with my leadership. However, I had no intention of using such a slow method in cleaning them up. It wouldn¡¯t make sense if I couldn¡¯t sleep because I was afraid of dust. ¡°Do not forget. I mean not for a single person to be killed.¡± With a smile, I gently twisted the bow and released it. Bam!! With the sound of air bouncing, a sharp arrow flew into the air. Thud! -Kieeek!! -Ahhh!! The arrow that flew instantly broke the bones of a goblin holding a bent club. As they learned of their colleague¡¯s death, the goblins let out strange cries that shook the whole village as well as the surrounding forest. It was a peculiar cry, no matter how I heard it. When they discovered me standing leisurely with arrows by my side, the goblins gathered and exploded in rage with a violent scream. It looked like a swarm of bees popping out of a beehive when someone touched it. The volunteers looked overwhelmed by the air of their menace, their faces turning pale. What the hell was this kid doing?! They didn¡¯t say that, but I¡¯m sure that was what they were probably thinking now. I immediately pull an arrow on the bowstring and raised my divine power. Then I put strength in my throat. Watch your lord and see how amazing he is. ¡°I will commend you for the first time as your lord and family.¡± I looked back at them in breathtaking silence. ¡°Everyone!!!¡± I grabbed their attention. With that word, the Stigmata in my back began to glow. [Hard Skin] [Strength] [Agility] [Vital Pump] [Mana Shield] [High Blessing] Strengthening the skin, strengthening their muscles, increasing agility, increasing stamina, magic defense, and enhancing overall capability. The pure white light that spread out in a circle starting from where I was standing became various buff spells and began to wrap them. Not just one or two, but to everyone who gathered here. Although it was just light buff magic, the effectiveness was incredible when someone could forcibly raise other¡¯s levels. Suddenly, countless buff spells flew around my body, and then wrapped around them as well. They were amazed. Along with a strange light, their body started overflowing with power. Were they already surprised? I wasn¡¯t finished yet. As I spread the continuous white light, my will, which comprised of divine power, was further manifested. -You. Are you going to use all of it? Since I already started, let me finish my cosplay as a genius saint because they don¡¯t even know what kind of magic this is anyway. [Divine Protection] [Renovathio] [Reinforce the Mind] Upper-level defense, increasing health recovery rate, and strengthening mentality. This might have been enough, but I gave them an even bigger service. [Saint Gloria] Buff efficiency amplification area spell. When [Saint Gloria], a buff-amplifying magic of the sixth tier, appeared, the golden glow of light encircled us, and their bodies began to grow even lighter. With this spell, even the general public could perform expert-level skills under certain conditions. ¡°What the hell¡­¡± ¡°Oh my gosh¡­¡± Currently, the divine magic that I could cast was of the upper sixth tier, considering the case of artifacts. It was a divine enhancement buff from level one to level two and even level three, but the effect was incomparable when you raised the levels. Even paladins in Valshas, the headquarters of God¡¯s order in the mainland, wouldn¡¯t lavishly use it like this. Unlike other magic or black magic, divine magic was the most challenging magic to acquire. It would be enough to bring out the seventh tier if they were a saint or a pope. The volunteers and knights who instinctively realized that they had become something more from the buffs looked astonished by the strange power overflowing within their bodies. They seemed to feel the sensation gradually swelling up inside. Those who previously seemed enraged by my reckless behavior looked at me with impressed eyes. I responded with a silent smile and inhaled a quick breath again in response to their reaction. Belief, or something like that, was essential to boost morale. ¡°I will let you release all the anger accumulated in yourself!!¡± This fight was important to them, who were exhausted from the continuous raids. For those who were exhausted, nothing was better than confidence as a stimulant. ¡®Oh, I wanted to do this at least once in my lifetime.¡¯ ¨C What are you talking about? You became stronger! Charge in! -¡­ The volunteers of the manor have been looking for chances to avenge the goblins¡¯ attack that happened previously. They regarded the buffs I gave them as just mysterious magic, but the power overflowing from their body was strong enough to give them the confidence to relish the moment. -Shriek! -Scream! Otherwise, there¡¯s no way they could make expressions filled with excitement even when they saw the group of deadly goblins. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°Sweep them away!!¡± Our headcount was only a third of theirs. It seemed to be a significant difference on the surface. Still, on the contrary, it was possible to handle the goblins without difficulty if each person handled three. Did they say that in martial law? If the number was more than three times as many, you should never use the standard tactics. In a way, it didn¡¯t matter because this wasn¡¯t a standard tactic. It was a fight between a human and a goblin with a different specification. The fight between the injured volunteers and goblins was tied at first, but the balance of the fight soon collapsed because of the divine magic I used. ¡°Ahhhhhhhhh!¡± I pulled my bow again as I watched them screaming with crude weapons. Then I briefly blinked. As the mana was circulating inside my eyes, the goblins¡¯ heads from beyond appeared in my sights instantly. [Lock-on] While muttering lightly, I prepared another strengthened shot. I aimed my arrowhead and immediately released the bowstring. It hit the nape of the goblin¡¯s neck, who was screaming wild. Boom! With the sound of the bowstring cutting through the air, another goblin screamed and fell. Bam! The goblins collided with the knights and volunteers running in the front row. ¡°You beasts!¡± -Shriek! They had a faster body than imagined, as well as improved muscle strength and boundless confidence. The aftermath began to spread out of control after a volunteer lightly struck his sword and blew a goblin¡¯s head off. ¡°Oh my god.¡± ¡°Oh, oh¡­¡± It was usually impossible to cleave through a neck with a single sword so neatly, even though they were goblins with weaker physical strength than humans. Only knights could do so with professional training as they had physical and technical skills, but certainly not these poorly trained volunteers. Yet, such a phenomenon was happening. ¡°We can win!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be scared!¡± ¡°The Lord is with us!¡± The confidence showed on their faces when they realized the change in their body; the war situation quickly turned into a one-sided attack rather than a battle. Of course, there was always someone who overdid it with extreme confidence. ¡°Ouch!¡± When they acted hastily, it could cancel the mana shield and instantly damage the volunteer. If I ignore the situation, it might cause one or two serious injuries. Of course, I had no intention of leaving it like that. [Heal] Level one simple recovery magic. However, the higher the level, the more effective it would be. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°The wound¡­¡± As the wounds on his body were engulfed in warm light and healed in an instant, he looked up at me with a surprised face. Instead of responding to his stare, I shot another arrow. CH 37 37 ¡°Divine magic isn¡¯t invincible. I said I wouldn¡¯t allow anyone to die, so you¡¯d better focus!¡± At my words, they took a deep breath as if they shook off their unnecessary worries. They seemed to finally recognize that the frail-looking boy who had come to their town as their lord. ¡°Keep in mind. I will give you a hard time if you get injured once we return to the manor.¡± Even though my threatening voice could have made them rebellious¡­ ¡°Let¡¯s live up to the expectations of the lord!¡± ¡°Sweep them away!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t miss this opportunity! Destroy their heads!¡± The volunteers seemed like they weren¡¯t interested in such a thing. Do they know that their amplified morale, like a berserker¡¯s madness, turned the goblins¡¯ faces pale in fear? It was a standard tactic that seemed unfavorable at first, but the number of goblins quickly decreased. It must have driven the goblins crazy. They might not have ever seen humans with strange lights on their bodies in their lifetime. It made them hard to fight because of their light. Even if they stabbed them and made a scar somehow, the white light healed their foe¡¯s body. Their instincts may already be yelling to them that something was wrong. What was the point now? It was already too late. -Graahhghaa! -Shriek! The goblins, feeling the fear of death, began to run away one by one, but the volunteers who were already on a roll didn¡¯t leave the fleeing ones alone. The one-sided attack didn¡¯t last long. The volunteers accumulated a lot of resentment, wielding weapons like crazy without giving them a chance to run away. Eventually, one of the last goblins who had fled got shot by my arrow and fell to the floor, declaring the end of the slaughter. Momentarily, silence descended upon the killing fields. However, one of the volunteers, who had forgotten to breathe, shuddered and held both his hands up. ¡°We¡­we won!¡± ¡°We won!¡± ¡°Whooaahhhhhh!¡± The contagious atmosphere quickly spread as if they saved the world. ¡°Hooray for the lord!¡± ¡°The saint is with us!¡± I couldn¡¯t get used to it when I heard someone throwing around cheesy comments without hesitation. -Expression management isn¡¯t working. ¡®Look at my fingers if they are fine.¡¯ -Your fingers and toes won¡¯t shrink by the laws of physics. While Perserk said that, she also looked a little uncomfortable, as her facial expression was uneasy. As I watched them continuously cheering my name, I didn¡¯t feel like the awkward feeling would go away. Therefore, I had to disperse the atmosphere by reminding them of something they had forgotten. ¡°What the hell are you guys doing? There are residents still locked up!! Move fast!¡± ¡°Oh!¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± ¡°Go!¡± Even with my high-handed voice, the blind faith had already been engraved on their faces. They looked fanatic. A carrot and a stick¡­ all I wanted to do was instill a sense of repulsion and awe in moderation, but they were only shouting for their lord. I felt anxious that I had made the wrong choice. 17. It¡¯s raining outside! The number of residents was around two hundred. With the number of volunteers and knights combined, there were about thirty to forty people. Considering the number of residents, the ratio of volunteers was relatively high. From a young boy to a middle-aged man, everyone took up weapons to protect the manor. They had not trained correctly, and their equipment wasn¡¯t satisfactory due to a lack of skills and funds. On top of that, the goblins started looting. It was impressive that they had held on so far. ¡°I found them!¡± As I walked into the village while checking the bodies of the goblins, a volunteer rushed to my side. It was the boy who showed furious anger towards the goblins. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yep!¡± His glance filled with disbelief at first had already disappeared. I think my trick worked, but it wasn¡¯t good if they became addicted. I got up calmly and went into the artificial cave where he guided me. It seemed to have been used as a food storehouse for the orcs. As I entered the sloppy cave, I saw the volunteers holding weapons and standing in front of some goblins. ¡°Are there more?¡¯ -No matter how stupid they are, they could learn a little. There were about ten goblins left. The number was small enough to handle quickly, but they hid behind the residents as hostages and held rusted weapons. They probably stole the weapons when they attacked the manor. Since the weapons weren¡¯t well-maintained, they were rusted, but they looked dangerous enough to hurt. On the contrary, the residents who became hostages were loosely tied up, but they were so injured and exhausted that they couldn¡¯t properly fight back. Fortunately, no one had yet been hurt by the goblins. Regardless of species, these goblins aimed to r*pe female hostages after exhausting them. The kidnap happened the previous night, so they hadn¡¯t assaulted them yet. It was a relief. -It¡¯s unfair. Even if the woman returned safely, they could be shunned by people. ¡°The mother fuckers¡­¡± No matter how much they were buffed, the volunteers and knights wouldn¡¯t get through fast enough to keep them from hurting the hostages. Because of that, they weren¡¯t able to approach the goblins. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± As I watched the situation, I groaned briefly. ¡°Gordon and Freeman, if I signal, cut all of them down.¡± ¡°Lord?¡± At my words, two volunteers and everyone else were surprised. The reason we came here and attacked goblins was to save the residents in the first place. However, they were shocked when I said it like hostages didn¡¯t matter. All I did was shrug at those who looked at me in shock. ¡°What are you doing? Are you going to stay here all night?¡± ¡°Lord! They are sly, and they have hostages, so we can¡¯t rush in a hurry¡­¡± -Huh, huh, they lack faith¡ªunfaithful folks. ¡°I think you misunderstand something.¡± At the end of my words, my hand shined again. Hostage? ¡°Where are the hostages?¡± At the end of my words, a pure white light touched the bodies of the weary and injured people and began to protect them like a shell. The goblins who escaped from the deadly battle took hostages here and harassed them, so they must have realized what the light shining from the body of the hostages meant right now. You could tell just by looking at the expressions of those green monsters, whose faces turned blue in fear after realizing. -Ahhhaaa! -Kieeek! I shouted instinctively at the screaming goblins trying to run away. ¡°How long are you going to wait? Jump in!¡± ¡°Huh?! Die, you damn bastards!¡± ¡°I am gonna kill you, fucking rapist!¡± At the same time, the volunteers and knights, realizing what I had done, blasted through and stabbed their swords at the goblins. Even if they tried to run away, we were blocking the exit, so eventually, they were forced to flock to the corners and be slaughtered. The last one cried madly as it was slain. It was a very successful ending for rushing in a village of more than a hundred goblins, considering they never made a plan. I calmly took out the blankets that I had prepared, and I approached the people who were being held captive. It would be the first time they saw me. They had severe bruises on their bodies from being beaten up by the goblins, and their expressions revealed they were perplexed as if they didn¡¯t understand what had happened to their bodies, but the bruises were gradually healing under the faint light. Among those, there was a little girl who looked up at me with a blank face. I smiled at her, and I wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. ¡°Don¡¯t be scared. We¡¯re here to save you.¡± [Sobbing.] Tears began to drip from the eyes of the girl, who had a semi-empty expression with a calm smile. As the girl was so scared, she soon started crying in my arms, making the other residents cry out loud as they realized they were safe now. ¡°All of them are rescued!¡± A volunteer approached me with a modest salute as I silently patted the girl¡¯s back. ¡°Is that so? Then what are you doing? Let¡¯s go home. Don¡¯t you want to go home?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± When I held the crying girl in my arms silently, the faces of everyone, including the volunteers, turned bright with relief. * * * Was it because it was me, who was newly appointed, that led the volunteers? The volunteers, who were guarding the old fortress with faces full of distrust and anxiety, looked puzzled at the appearance of the punitive expedition, which returned faster than their expectations. ¡°Hey! What are you doing? Get rid of the barriers right now!¡± ¡°The lord is entering!¡± ¡°Move fast, you dawdler!¡± Soon after, at the shout of the volunteers who followed me, they ran out and cleared the barrier, still looking puzzled. They were probably wondering what the hell happened, why they were showing this nonsensical blind faith towards me. I couldn¡¯t tell them anything with my own words, so I kept silent and walked past them. ¡°There may still be a few more Goblin villages. We¡¯ll clean them up regularly.¡± ¡°Yes!!¡± Disbelief had now disappeared. As I yelled, the volunteers replied, shouting as if they were doing something for granted. The remaining volunteers who didn¡¯t know the situation only sent confused gazes at the others. ¡°Dismissed! We¡¯ll be swamped starting from tomorrow, so I¡¯ll let you regret it if you get caught overdoing things.¡± ¡°Hooray for Lord!¡± ¡°Hooray for the saint!!¡± At my cry, the volunteers immediately screamed while holding their arms up, which made the manor residents look at me with a strange gaze. They seemed to think that I was doing some kind of hypnosis, but I did nothing of the sort. -To be honest, what¡¯s the difference between taking drugs and what you did? ¡®You¡¯re too noisy.¡¯ Ignoring Perserk giggling at her comments, I quickly left the podium. I was concerned that they were going to make a real pseudo-religion if it stayed like this. It would be okay after a few days; it¡¯s just that they¡¯re unique. It didn¡¯t take long to realize that I was foolish to think that way. * * * So¡­ it continued when I led the remaining volunteers to erase the lingering distrust within the territory. As soon as the day broke, Amy was asked to investigate the rest of the territory. Only 10 volunteers and three knights were to climb the mountain with me. CH 38 38 The number was very small compared to the beginning, but the remaining people couldn¡¯t be taken because they had to repair the houses destroyed by the fight against the Goblins. ¡°Ten people? The lord must be crazy!¡± ¡°Even if the number of goblins decreases¡­¡± The volunteers that were not there from the day before looked like they couldn¡¯t believe what was going on. It wouldn¡¯t be weird to shout out that it was a vain bluff if one heard it without context. And that¡¯s what they did. ¡°We found a goblin village ahead. There are about 50 of them.¡± After listening to the report, I turned to the ten volunteers standing behind me. All of their facial expressions were full of distrust and fear. The volunteers, who swept away a large-scale village with me the day before, weren¡¯t here, so the others didn¡¯t seem to trust me easily. ¡°Are you guys scared?¡± They were silent at my question. It was hard to believe this. Honestly, if I were in their position, I would have thought that the others had taken a bowl of medicine as a group. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re all scared. You¡¯re probably thinking, ¡®Only ten people came to clear up the Goblin¡¯s village. I think it¡¯s right to kill this crazy bastard and run away.¡¯¡± I didn¡¯t hear an answer, but they all seemed to be thinking the same thing. If it was hard to believe, I had to show them myself. ¡°As I have said before, I have never allowed anyone to die.¡± Light begins to flow out with my words. Unlike the knights who realized what I was going to do, the other people¡¯s faces looked surprised. Light started to flow out of my body. Then, after the buff magic settled on them, their distrust disappeared. * * * ¡°Wahahahaha! Die, you bastards!¡± ¡°The Lord is with us!¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t seem to believe me until a little while ago¡­¡± It felt absurd, but I maintained my composure because I had already seen it once before. ¡°You bastards! Stick your necks out!¡± ¡°The saint is with us!¡± Yeah, since I was cosplaying as a saint, I understood. ¡°God is with us!¡± ¡°Ha! Take God¡¯s wrath!¡± ¡°Hey, you crazy shits!¡± It was absurd when they even uttered remarks that would be considered blasphemy. Were they the ones who looked at me with disbelief because they couldn¡¯t believe me? I felt sorry for Goblins, who ran away and trembled in fear because of the crazy followers. And those followers were the ten volunteers who didn¡¯t even receive systematic training or proper weapons. The time it took to slaughter more than 50 goblins wasn¡¯t that long. If a weapon broke while using it, they could just break their bones with their bare hands. Every one of them was as brave as an extremely fortified warrior! This time, it was hard to kill all of them because I didn¡¯t raise my bow, but since most of them were dead, I didn¡¯t need to catch those that ran away. Rather, it would be better to have them confuse themselves because they would realize how dangerous humans had become. After finishing the village instantly, I felt a sense of fear for a moment as they gathered to me in unison. I think it was worse than before. ¡°Lord! Some of them are running away!¡± ¡°Haha! They¡¯ll never cross Hines again!¡± ¡°Hahahaha! Those losers!¡± The scene of them talking made me smile awkwardly. Well, I guess it was a shallow distrust. ¡°Well¡­well done.¡± Yes, as a volunteer who has to protect your home, it¡¯s good to be loyal. At least they won¡¯t be unhappy with what I¡¯m trying to do. It¡¯s a little shaky, but it¡¯s not bad! I thought so. It¡¯s not bad to take care of your image. So, exactly two days later, as I was inspecting the changes taking place in my estate¡­ ¡°Oh¡­Holy Saint!¡± ¡°The saint is here! Clear the way, you bastards!¡± The rumors spread fast. Whether these are volunteers or missionary priests¡­I was beginning to regret the first decision I made. * * * As a lord, it was a success to win the trust of the people who resided in this land. It didn¡¯t matter since it was my estate, and I was in the highest position anyway. Astrea, the conquering king of the Borde, the Paladian Empire, told me every time. [Don¡¯t forget, it¡¯s not livestock that you lead, but free-willed men. You have to make them follow you with their own will. You shouldn¡¯t lead them forcefully.] He taught me harmony and not politics, so I didn¡¯t learn politics as a king in depth, but at least I sympathized with what he said from time to time. It was a small estate with only 200 people, but everything starts from poverty. ¡°From a nearby commercial city, Bernille sent me a charter. I heard that the leader of volunteers did a good job, so he had prepared a lot of supplies. That could delay the return date a little¡­¡± Amy, who was waiting for my return, was also working as my secretary. It was unusual for a woman to be in this position in the kingdom of Al Rown, but I hired men, women, children, and old people alike as long as they were talented. Amy seemed moved by my appreciation of her worth. ¡°The rest of the estate documents are here. What else do you need?¡± ¡°It¡¯s getting late; I want to clean up. Go take a break, stop working.¡± ¡°Stop¡­working?¡± She looked at me with surprise. ¡°Well, how long are you going to wait for me? You can¡¯t even sleep properly.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t¡­¡± She tilted her head as if she were a puppy abandoned by her master. ¡°Don¡¯t want to go home?¡± -You know a lot, but you don¡¯t know how a girl feels. ¡®She had feelings for me?¡¯ Perserk sighed as if she found something ridiculous. -It¡¯s not that she has feelings, but it¡¯s hard to explain. Anyway, it¡¯s not right to throw away a child¡¯s heart that wants to help you. Perserk was experienced and wise. After she said that, Amy¡¯s gaze got on her nerves. ¡°Well¡­Si.. Davey¡­I can do well! I mean¡­¡± I sighed briefly as I watched her fumble her words. I didn¡¯t know that it would come out like this, even though I took care of it in my own way. ¡°Yeah, well, there¡¯s nothing we can do now. Instead, I¡¯ll need a lot of your help, so be prepared.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. So take a break for now.¡± I couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°I¡¯ll see you tomorrow then.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± As soon as she regained her energy, she left the office. I let out a deep sigh. ¡°I¡¯ve never really paid close attention to her, though.¡± -Well, it seems that the girl feels quite responsible for you since you saved her life. Ah, that corrupt, low priest¡¯s business. I indeed saved her, but I couldn¡¯t forget that it was only half my intention. I felt guilty for no reason for thinking so. Nodding without a word, Perserk sat lightly on the old desk. Then she squinted, peering through the papers under her butt. ¡°By the way, you¡¯re thousands of years old, but you still know how to write well.¡± -I didn¡¯t just play and eat that whole time. She said so and reached out to a document that was much larger than her body and swept it away. ¡°What do you think?¡± -Do you want a cold assessment? ¡°For now.¡± -If you lift the curse right now, the territory will be back to normal in at least five years. And it¡¯s about 20 years before you make it into the land you want. Her judgment was quite accurate. Lifting the curse on the dying land wouldn¡¯t immediately change everything. ¡°So that¡¯s just based on your judgment?¡± -No way. Will you listen to what I think about the land? ¡°I¡¯ll listen.¡± She laughed with satisfaction. As she sat down, she reached for a small document and pointed to one across from her. Then the small document came up lightly with a light wind and flew in front of me. ¡°Are you able to deal with physical force?¡± -It¡¯s possible if I¡¯m controlling just a small force. That¡¯s enough to lift a bit of light stuff like this. Nevertheless, she looked satisfied. -This estate doesn¡¯t have accessible water, so the water supply is a mess. Is that all? The livestock industry has shrunk rapidly in the past few years, while the food stockpile of crops has led to a low deposit of food. She kept going. ¨C Thanks to a large amount of platinum you got from robbing the capital¡¯s Information Guild, you can endure it for the time being, but it¡¯s a temporary solution. The most serious is also the issue of funding. It was as she said. ¡°This land has almost no profit.¡± It is inevitable to feel extremely underdeveloped compared to other territories. ¡°But there¡¯s a lot of ways.¡± -I¡¯ll tell me what you think. Her eyes, smiling beautifully, seemed to be full of expectations. I¡¯m sure she wasn¡¯t checking what was on my mind either. After thousands of years of living, life would be as boring as it gets. It was understandable. ¡°The good news is that, despite my expectations, the region has quite a few able young people. The first way is to use them by hunting monsters or animals.¡± ¨C That¡¯s the worst-case scenario. Even if the government called for the reform of the territory tomorrow, the people¡¯s trust in the territory is not great enough. If you use them for hunting monsters, you could hold out right away, but that¡¯s where growth ends. ¡°The second option is to produce specialties, but it¡¯s hard unless you solve the situation with the land.¡± -I¡¯m sure you¡¯re right about that. ¡°Finally, trade. How do we get diamonds with corn?¡± She tilted her head at my words. -There¡¯s no reason for another city to trade from here, and there are no items that we can trade anyway. ¡°If we can¡¯t trade with people, we can trade with the other races. But just in case, let¡¯s look into the territory first.¡± We had to try anything we could for now. CH 39 39 It seemed that it was worthwhile to have this conversation with Perserk all night. As soon as it dawned, I left the citadel and came to a large, abandoned field nearby. I felt a little burdened because I saw the eyes and expectations of the volunteers who saw me on the way out. Even though the air was dry, I felt calm as I looked over the open plains. The chilly air hit my whole body. Although my cold and fire resistance had rarely risen due to the lack of transformation, it wasn¡¯t a problem if I raised my divine power lightly. Have you ever heard of divine fire? ¡°In the past, this was all farmland.¡± It was now a flat land. How useless the land became, as the original owners all gave up ownership and left the land. What do I mean? I mean, this whole place was land without an owner. ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve always wanted to own land, but it looks like I¡¯m going to be a huge landowner.¡± Perserk looked ridiculous as she laughed in vain. She had a unique direction of greed, and if my purpose were to live comfortably, there was a good way of exploiting her. ¡°I don¡¯t like that. People have to live with a conscience.¡± Even if I couldn¡¯t be proud of the people who taught me, at least I shouldn¡¯t curse them out. Like it or not, one day, many people would know that I inherited their skills. It didn¡¯t matter if it was the skills of heroes who weren¡¯t from Theonis, but some of the heroes who taught me were from this continent. The Sword God, Haris, was a very good example. Above all¡­ ¡°My purpose is to live as a human being for a long time.¡± She remained silent as if she understood the meaning. -You¡¯re¡­ She blurred her words and asked cautiously. ¨C Was your past life short? ¡°I died before I could do anything.¡± -That¡¯s a sad life. ¡°That¡¯s not wrong. On the contrary, I¡¯ve lived in the Corridor for a very long time.¡± -You¡¯re alive, but you didn¡¯t feel alive. The life you want to see is to share affection with people and live like a human being. She hit the nail on the head harder than I thought. -I wanted the same as you. Her life, which had been at the center of war because of her birth, wouldn¡¯t have been a very good one either. Maybe all she wanted was to live with her stepfather, Haris, in peace. I shook my head because I felt like I was too sentimental. ¡°We don¡¯t know how long it will take to find the medium with normal methods.¡± It wasn¡¯t land that was neglected without reason. I had considerable knowledge of curses, so I knew how cumbersome this line of curses was for me now. ¡°We don¡¯t need to worry about it if we¡¯re going to fix up the sanctuary¡­.¡± Purification magic of at least the eighth tier, if not the sanctuary of the ninth tier, was necessary. The level of the curse was considerable, and I didn¡¯t think it would be easy to do it with 5th and 6th tier spells. The problem was that with my current level of divine magic, it would be difficult to reach the 8th tier. It wouldn¡¯t matter if there was a lot of divine power around, but honestly, there couldn¡¯t be another object that had divine power stored on par with Calderas. ¡®I¡¯ll just ask Princess Ileana.¡¯ Maybe she¡¯ll take the bait. I think she was very proud of Haris¡¯ sword skills, but if I borrow Calderas with a little help¡­ ¨C I don¡¯t recommend it. Perserk shook her head, apparently aware of my thoughts. -So, what brings you here? ¡°I need to see more information about the curse.¡± After using information verification on the ground, the only information she could check with her power now was that there was a curse. Then I had no choice but to grasp it on my own. ¡°I was whining about why you haven¡¯t been using it lately.¡± -Whining? ¡°You know, a child who screams if he can¡¯t use something.¡± Speaking calmly, I kneeled on one knee and put my hand on the dry ground. Then I quietly closed my eyes and expressed my will. ¡®When you have a chance, go wild.¡¯ Thanks to the circle that rotated through my blood, I didn¡¯t have to express the power by throwing spells out of my mouth. [Re Fix Curse] Curse rearrangement. -Oh? I¡¯ve never seen this before. That was a matter of course. My black magic teacher [Lo Ayas], the founder of this magic, wasn¡¯t from this continent. It was known as the ¡®C¡¯-language of curse spells! A curse is a high level of magic created by numerous modalities and mana arrangements. That¡¯s why even black magicians had to borrow the power of many artifacts or spend a lot of time on their curses. Then what if I could decipher and interfere with the arrangement? We could figure out the terms of the curse, or if we do well, we could find the medium of the curse. A curse of this level wouldn¡¯t be possible with the modern knowledge of the dark magic on this continent. What I expected was a trace from the days when Daphne and Apollo, who were called the first saints in the past, were alive. I heard that the black wizards tried to overthrow the continent, and there was a big fight; perhaps this curse that spread over the Hines estate was a curse of this was created to decipher and solve a vicious curse, so it wasn¡¯t fair to say that the purpose was completely wrong. In an instant, the commanding mana began to flutter around me and released power, and I began to feel the ringing of a great force. I didn¡¯t want to use it even after I came here because of this. It was at the level of a 5th tier curse spell, and my command mana was a bit of a nutcase with great pride in trying to show off. Anyone who knew how to use or feel mana would quickly notice this cold, dark mana. It was for this reason that I came alone on this deserted field. The hardest power I had ever learned was high-level black magic. Whoo-hoo¡­ Before long, black and white magic began to spread widely over my hands. The curse structure would be the same, so there was no need to find other samples. The size of the widely spread magic circle was about 3-4 meters. In time, the figure changed and began to print out bizarre characters as if they were carved on a huge stone plate. It was as if the programing language was being printed out. The code-like contents were patterns that no one could understand, but they were familiar letters to me. ¡°Hmm?¡± My eyes darted back and forth, trying to decipher the sequence of curses. ¡°Perserk.¡± -You must have found something. ¡°Is this even a curse?¡± My words put a question in her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s more like a fully automatic greenhouse than a curse.¡± I had a feeling that there was no more accurate expression than that. * * * Curse magic, which was well-known for its complexity among black magic, was like a sophisticated program. It was magic that maintained a sophisticated arrangement of complex commands. Therefore, it was also the only type of black magic that worked with the Re-Fix Curse spell. Although [Lo Ayas] wasn¡¯t a black wizard from the Theonis continent, the basis of black magic using command mana was the same, so it was still effective. It was a good decision to use the Re-Fix Curse spell to investigate the unidentified phenomenon. Although the traces of black magic remained so severe that the land couldn¡¯t be used for a long time, what did it matter if I revived a corpse or called out the devil if there was no one in the deadland to witness it? ¡°¡­¡± Perserk pulled my hair in frustration at my agonizing silence. ¡°Why don¡¯t you let me know? I can¡¯t crack that code.¡± It took 30 years to learn and apply this decryption method. After getting used to it, I reached the point where I could quickly decipher the content as I saw it, but not Perserk. No matter how much of a genius you were, it wouldn¡¯t be easy to read an unknown block of text. This block of texting, being a programing language. -You mean it¡¯s not a curse? ¡°Technically, it is a curse; it¡¯s a very vicious one. But from another point of view, it¡¯s also ambiguous.¡± Saying so, I gently twisted my palm on the ground. Whoosh! At the same time, the window mixed with black and white disappeared, and the remaining lights began to turn into large arrows. ¡°It looks like there¡¯s one nearby, so let¡¯s check the medium for ourselves.¡± The Fortress was located in the eastern part of the vast Hines estate. So I chose one that was placed in the east closest to our position. ¡®No wonder the outer boundaries of the estate were so obvious. They¡¯ve arranged the mediums so that only Hines is covered.¡¯ From a quick scan, I successfully found a total of seven places that are believed to have mediums. East, west, north, south, southwest, northwest, and southeast, respectively. Each one sits narrowly on the border of the estate. Since it was a curse spread out in such a huge area, it wouldn¡¯t be strange if there were more than seven mediums. Rather, it was quite sophisticated and efficiently arranged considering the conditions of the terrain. What about other places? I thought it would be better to mobilize volunteer members to check the others, but I couldn¡¯t send people since they might have prepared preventative measures to protect the mediums. If a big accident happened, it could lead to a disaster. ¡®That¡¯s a no-brainer.¡¯ It may not be possible, but even if there were a small chance that I met the heroes of the Corridor again, even the slightest chance, how could I tell them that their disciple lived like this. I want to proudly tell them what I¡¯ve done in my life over a drink. I had no intention of sacrificing my followers for any purpose. -I don¡¯t know what¡¯s awaiting us; I recommend you be more prepared. ¡°There won¡¯t be a problem.¡± If things get messed up, we¡¯ll have to take out the hidden moves. * * * Following the arrow that guided me, the place I was headed to was a rocky area east of the estate. The dry rocks had a strangely inadequate structure to make their quarries. The only thing there was a magnificent view. It was a good idea to enjoy a picnic while appreciating the scenery. But I didn¡¯t come here to play, so I jumped into a rocky area without any regrets. CH 40 40 ¡°Did they hide it in the rocks? They did a pretty good job.¡± -You¡¯re good at keeping me in suspense. ¡°It was designed to forcibly fix most of the natural phenomena related to climate and geology throughout this land.¡± -Oh? ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s an unthinkable idea.¡± Perserk touched her chin as if she thought my words were interesting. -Is the curse the reason why it doesn¡¯t rain here? ¡°Something like that. The only thing I¡¯ve found in my decoding is the effectiveness of the curse. It maintains certain circumstances.¡± The word ¡®maintaining certain circumstances¡¯ came off a little strange, but if it unfolded in a certain area for a long time, it became a very scary and very dangerous curse. Not to mention if it was a particular situation set in malice. Thanks to the fact that everything except temperature remained constant for a long time, the drought continued, and the land was consumed due to the lack of circulation. If it was a function of the curse, it was already doing its job. The creator of this curse probably intended to slowly desiccate the Hines estate here. Now I wonder if the owner was even alive. What if it could be controlled, rearranged, or modified? The earth, climate, temperature. What if we change it so that we can adjust it according to our will? It wouldn¡¯t be strange to call it paradise magic, not a curse. If you maintained warm temperatures and certain precipitation in certain areas, it wasn¡¯t a matter of growing special crops accordingly. Thanks to the medium that controlled the surroundings, I could find mines that hadn¡¯t yet been discovered. Was that all? The temperature is as low as it was now, so even if winter arrived when everyone had to wrap up to stay warm, they would be able to maintain warm and quiet temperatures like spring and summer. There was also ample potential as a tourist resort. The moisture in the air could also be changed as it pleased. For now, all of these were just hypotheses and not certain, but one could expect this to happen. I stood in front of a rock that looked tens of meters long after I stopped walking calmly. The arrow guiding me pointed to this huge rock. ¡°Hmmm¡­is it here?¡± It was a dead-end, but I wasn¡¯t disappointed as I reach out to the surface of the rock. Then, I slowly pulled up the commanding mana as if it moved in a certain pattern. Whoo-hoo¡­ At the same time, the command mana stretching out of my hand began to resonate with the wall as if it had become a key, and the hard rock began to pull me in as if it had become a black hole. If I opened this door without knowing it, I would be quite shocked, but this felt more familiar to me, having seen similar things. * * * The interior of the rock led to a huge space. To describe the form in a word¡­ ¡°Ruins?¡± The interior of the huge rocky mountain was an unexpected space. The height of the huge hallway looked 5 meters high, and elaborate patterns carved on the wall conveyed an antique feeling. In addition, even though it was a hallway that should be dark because no light could come in, a glowing blue stone on the ceiling shone softly inside the hall of the ruins. I never thought there was such a huge space in these rocky mountains. ¨C If you look at the architectural style, it¡¯s not the style that came out after the Great War. She was now as small as my palm, but her original identity was the leader of the Demons who fought against the humans¡¯ thousands of years ago. She was like a living witness of history, so if she said it was an architectural style she had never seen, it could be regarded as a historical site. If the alchemists or wizards heard about this, they would drool and go crazy. I couldn¡¯t believe this space hadn¡¯t been discovered before. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know how to get in here if I hadn¡¯t used the Re-Fix Curse.¡± Aside from its location, it may have taken months to find a way to break through this defensive spell. In a sense, it was quite thoroughly hidden because there might be some side effects if the passage was broken with determination. -It could be dangerous. ¡°But we can¡¯t just let it go; let¡¯s go in.¡± On the continent, civilizations that existed too far in the past to be preserved in records, were considered to be from the Ancient Age. The period is so distant that it could be at least 10,000 years in the past. Sadly, it couldn¡¯t be identified in the corridor because there were no figures from that time. However, its existence was well known due to the few ancient relics that had survived throughout the world. It didn¡¯t feel like anyone was around, but I felt a lot of mana around me. Contrary to what we expected, where the curse was manifested, the command mana was a little different. Most of the power dissolved in the atmosphere was mana. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s not the work of the Black Wizards.¡± -Maybe they didn¡¯t realize that this place existed here. However, it was worth questioning why the long-lost curse had recently been activated. At first, I thought it was just a mine-type curse set up by the Black Wizards to destroy the entire territory. However, given the current situation, it was concluded that the unbalanced curse wasn¡¯t only one to two thousand years old but was stuck in the ground for at least 10,000 years, but somehow it became a huge landmine. ¡°It¡¯s awfully quiet.¡± Perserk murmured mysteriously as she was walked forward without light magic. -Common sense suggests that there is no Guardian at this site¡­ Squeak! Thump! -Oh, my mouth is a source of trouble. She slapped her mouth with her small hands. At the same time, the hallway, which was still a little while ago, began to become noisy for a moment, and before I could move, the stone wall of the ceiling twisted, and something huge fell toward me. Whoosh!!! With a huge sound, what struck me was a fist made of huge black stone. Waaaaaaaah! It was a matter of seconds. If the response were a little late, or if I were a little too slow, I would have been seriously hurt by the attack. Overcoming a sigh of relief, I looked at the owner of the giant fist that attacked me with a frown. He was a blue-eyed monster with a human figure, about 4 meters tall, with angled black stones attached to it. On its forehead, a small blue jewel the size of a human palm was embedded like a nucleus, and I could realize what it was just by looking at its shape and the amount of mana contained within. Formed of hundreds of mana stones, it was a Magic Stone. One this big, was worth its size in platinum. ¡°Huh? Isn¡¯t that a Magic Stone? That¡¯s crazy.¡± I was shocked. -Golem¡­I¡¯m sure it¡¯s a magic golem. And, it¡¯s amazing that it¡¯s using a Magic Stone as its nucleus. The number of golems in front of me was roughly a dozen. All of them were using a palm-sized rock on their foreheads as a nucleus. Unlike regular golems, which usually used mana stones to move, these guys were hewn from raw materials. ¡°It smells.¡± The sight made me think. My expression frowned. -It must be strong, agile, and firm beyond comparison to the mass-production golem that the Alchemist Society boasts, and there is a possibility that it has a special ability, so you must not overdo it. Perserk¡¯s advice came nervously, but I had already quickly dug into it. Boom. At the same time, a black spark popped under my rolled fist¡­if the opponent is made of solid rock, not flesh, a half-hearted attack would put me in danger. Besides, since it had a Magic Stone, I didn¡¯t know what kind of functions it had. It started attacking me again, moving at great speed, but I wasn¡¯t one to back down. Rather, I ducked under its fist as I stepped forward, swinging wildly. [Heavenly Explosive Attack ] Bang! Boom! Intense sounds and black sparks scattered all over the place as the giant golem lifted in the air. It was an attack that would normally have destroyed the body of a regular golem, but these survived. Without hesitation, I reached out to the golem¡¯s head and forcibly snatched the Magic Stone and ripped it apart. Riiiip! A half-broken rock was caught in my hand and was pulled out of the golem¡¯s head. ¡°I can smell it!¡± -Your power is amazing every time I see it. By the way, what the hell does it smell like? I shouted proudly at her tilting her head as if she couldn¡¯t understand. ¡°The smell of money! It¡¯s the signs of a big hit!¡± My statement was mindful of the possibility that the ancient ruins could control the weather conditions of the Hines estate. There were many golems here that had a Magic Stone. I didn¡¯t know for sure, but what¡¯s hidden here seemed to be a big hit. It¡¯s not an abandoned and dying land; it¡¯s unlimited gold! * * * Boooom! With a refreshing sound of destruction, the hard rock stuck in the last Golem¡¯s head was torn apart by my bare hands. ¡°Whoa¡­that was intense.¡± Perserk was wiping off her sweat in a refreshing mood. ¨C Intense? You need to re-learn the word intense. ¡°Wasn¡¯t it a little intense, though?¡± I just smiled while showing her my torn, burnt sleeves. -Who¡¯s to blame for your black and torn sleeves? If you look at yourself, you¡¯ll realize how dense that statement sounds. Her words quieted me. ¡°By the way, how much is this worth?¡± A Magic Stone was pulled out and was placed inside of the bag on my back. I found some of the golems that gave up and tried to get away quickly and took their Magic Stones too. My previously empty bag was now full, and it was all thanks to the meticulous dissection of the golems. CH 41 Since mana stones could be mined from places around the continent, they were obtainable, although expensive. However, magic stones were different. They were natural masses of extremely concentrated and refined mana. If used well, they could even make someone who had never felt mana before into a mage. As such, the uses of a magic stone were incomparably vast compared to mana stones. Davey had not one, but 20 magic stones. Since they were pretty big, the continent¡¯s mages would probably do anything to get their hands on them as soon as he put them on the market. It was no wonder people said that being a mage required a lot of money. Davey would be able to obtain a large amount of money from selling even one of these magic stones. ¡°But I can¡¯t sell them now.¡± The problem was that nothing like this had ever been discovered on the continent. The only magic stones known in the continent were the very small amounts found in ancient ruins, and even those were worth hundreds of platinum coins. If he put these magic stones on the market now, Davey would become involved in all kinds of problems. -All that glitters is not gold. ¡°No, now we have to think about what we can do with these.¡± Davey looked at the golem bodies on the floor. They were high-performance golems made using highly advanced skills, so the bodies could make Davey money too. They could even be worth more than the magic stones. It was unbelievable that there were seven of these sites hidden in such a deserted countryside, since nobody wanted to visit this abandoned and cursed land. Going down the stairs to the end of the passage, Davey saw a huge hall. ¡°Wow.¡± He spoke in astonishment as he saw the inside of the hall. It was also a magic stone, but everything about it was different, even the size. -It¡¯s the core of the curse. It was just as Perserque pointed out. The magic stones Davey had extracted from the golems¡¯ forehead were all around the size of his fist, but this gigantic magic stone was incomparably bigger. It was about three meters tall and a meter wide, meaning that the entire rock was a magic stone itself. Davey didn¡¯t know how that had been done, but it also had strange letters engraved on the surface. ¡°This would be a really big deal if it was discovered.¡± It wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that this magic stone was so big and pure that several countries would go to war for possession of this stone as soon as it was discovered. ¡°I can run wild with 9-circle magic spells if I¡¯m able to use the concentrated mana in here.¡± Davey scoffed at the unrealistic size and intricacy of the stone. However, thinking about it now, the size of this magic stone made sense. It could control the climate of this vast territory because it was so large. It was a relief that the curse had only been in effect for five years; if Davey didn¡¯t find this place, this place would¡¯ve been a living hell for hundreds¡ªno¡ªthousands of years. Usually, high-ranking mages had a couple spells that could control nature, like bringing about rainfall. However, the curse on this territory was on a much grander scale. As Davey silently walked up to the magic stone, placed his hand on it, and released his devil mana to use [Re-fix Curse], a large amount of code began floating up. It was much more than when he had used [Re-fix Curse] on the ground. -It seems like an awful lot of effort to dry out just one province. ¡°I guess there was something to this land.¡± Even as he spoke, Davey was busy reading the numerous letters flowing out. He was worried that there was one last guardian protecting this place, because this was the last hall and he could feel a strange flow of mana from one of its wide walls. However, since a long time had passed, it seemed that the last defense mechanism wasn¡¯t activated. ¡°Huh¡­ It¡¯s made using this kind of system.¡± This setup was interesting even for Davey, who had learned all kinds of magic theories. As a mage, he wanted to take on this challenging assignment. -Can you rework it? ¡°It¡¯s quite difficult¡­but I can alter it if I just find the pattern. Hm, is it this?¡± Davey grabbed a part of the mana arrangement laid out from the [Re-fix Curse] and twisted it, and a faint light began surrounding them. As the shaking mana arrangement equation started emitting a strange light, Perserque¡¯s expression changed slightly. However, Davey could not take his eyes off the bright lights in front of him. Whoosh!!! The shaking letters gradually calmed down and started glowing with a green light. Perserque let out a sigh of relief at the stabilized letters, then glanced at Davey. -What did you change? ¡°Something¡­¡± Davey trailed off, quietly chuckling. ¡°The drought went on for a few years, right? So, I watered the place first. It seems that it has become a rainstorm from being blocked for so long.¡± The territory was probably crazy right now. * * * Two militia members, Gordon and Freeman, stared outside the palace from the sloppily repaired watchtower with a relaxed expression. ¡°Yawn¡­ Having peace feels really nice.¡± ¡°Mister Gordon, why isn¡¯t the seigneur slaughtering the rest of the goblins?¡± They were granted this sweet feeling of ease only recently. At Gordon¡¯s question, Freeman just chuckled and stared at the barren wasteland lying past the citadel walls. He said, ¡°Hey, the seigneur has a plan. And there¡¯s no rush, since all the goblins around here have been slaughtered.¡± At first, they couldn¡¯t trust Davey. It was natural; the exploitation of commoners by the nobles had gotten even worse after the nobility got hold of the power in the Rowane Kingdom. There weren¡¯t any nobles that would come down to this countryside to pick on the residents, but they still kept in touch with those who had left this territory to find a better life. Although they were commoners, they were royal subjects, not serfs. All the kingdom gave them was a tax exemption benefit when the territory was falling apart. The kingdom saw the territory as nothing much than a countryside, but the residents saw this region as home ever since Baron Alishad had managed the province. And as this territory was dying, the kingdom, which had abandoned this place for years, had sent a greenhorn as the seigneur. The knowledgeable elders all said that the First Prince Davey, the newly appointed seigneur, was probably demoted and sent here after losing the battle for power. If that was the case, they also said that there was a high chance he would come here and take out his anger on the residents. Obviously, the residents were anxious and worried. However, they couldn¡¯t do much about it. There were also many goblin attacks at the time, so it was difficult for them to focus on anything else. Then, the goblins had come over the citadel wall and even kidnapped some of the residents. It was difficult for the militia to attack the goblin village and rescue the residents, and just when everyone had given up, Davey had come to the province. The boy, who had a charming smile, seemed a little different from everyone¡¯s expectations. Some thought that he might beat the militia members in anger after hearing about the state of the province. If he were to really do that, some had even pledged that they would stand up against him with their lives. However, Prince Davey just silently looked around the territory, and he quickly noticed that the goblins had attacked the citadel. He didn¡¯t look mad at all. With a terribly calm face, he dropped a bombshell on the militia members. ¡®I will not let anyone die. ¡®Charge in at will and let your anger drive your blade!¡¯ Then, when Prince Davey pierced a goblin¡¯s head with an arrow, the militia saw a miracle. They couldn¡¯t describe the reality he was showing them as anything but a miracle. The holy light from his hands had strengthened them and had encouraged the militia members, who had been on the verge of giving up, to rescue the kidnapped residents. Perhaps that young boy had read their minds. He had ignited the passion and motivation in the militia members, who were growing tired of the continued battle with the goblins. ¡®We are one family as long as I¡¯m the seigneur of this place. And I have no intention of letting my family members die in vain,¡¯ Prince Davey had stated while leading the militia members. Prince Davey, the seigneur who accomplished miraculous things, had taken small groups of militia members and slaughtered goblins again, as if he was showing them that it wasn¡¯t just luck. Although Davey grumbled that he wasn¡¯t a saint, little did he know that the residents now trusted the newly-appointed young seigneur even more than God. Their thoughts could get them imprisoned for blasphemy, but the residents had no intention to change their minds. It was natural for the person who performed miracles in front of their eyes to be considered more reliable than the God who did nothing but watch over them. ¡°Mister Freeman.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nice that we got rid of the goblins thanks to the seigneur, but does this territory have a future?¡± It was something that would¡¯ve normally made him angry, but Freeman couldn¡¯t easily answer Gordon. Even an idiot knew that this territory was dying. The ongoing, never-ending drought was transforming everything into a dead land, except for the citadel, which the residents were living in. They were sure that even Davey, who showed up with a God-like presence, couldn¡¯t do anything about this. ¡°Even if the seigneur is a saint, he can¡¯t do anything about the heavens being angry and not allowing rain to fall here.¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ Do we really have to leave the territory if this place dries up because of the drought?¡± If the territory had been wealthy, they would¡¯ve bought water; however, they were poor, and their practice of farming, which was their only pride, was coming to an end because of the drought. Freeman closed his eyes after hearing Gordon¡¯s bitter sigh. This was enough for them. Not even the most exceptional beings could do anything about the continued drought and the dying land. The effects of the drought were now affecting the surroundings, which had been the only place that still had rainfall. They could tell that the nasty curse was closing in on the citadel¡ªtheir only place to call home¡ªfrom seeing the drying plains nearby, which had been grassy just the year before. And the effects of the curse were starting to spread in the citadel as well. CH 42 ¡®This can¡¯t be solved with human powers.¡¯ Even after the priests, mages, and alchemists poked around the territory for research purposes, they all shook their heads and left, only saying that there was a nasty, uncrackable curse cast upon this place. Most residents had probably lost hope for the territory to return to its past condition. ¡°Haha. But you never know, maybe the seigneur will please the heavens and they will shower us with rain.¡± ¡°Mister.¡± Gordon froze. He called Freeman, who was joking about how that would never happen. ¡°Mister!!!¡± ¡°Hey, you! I¡¯m going to go deaf because of you!¡± ¡°Was¡­ Was that a raindrop just now?¡± Freeman frowned at Gordon. ¡°What kind of cock-and-bull story¡­¡± As Freeman lifted his sore body and peeked out the wooden watchtower¡­ Drip¡­ Something cold dropped from the sky and scattered after hitting his head. ¡°Huh?¡± They both froze simultaneously. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± They were silent for a while. Drip. As the cold water droplets fell from the sky, Gordon rubbed his eyes in disbelief and opened them wide. At the same time, both Freeman and himself kneeled and bowed down with their hands up, as if they were worshiping a god. ¡°Please forgive these two foolish idiots, who did not have faith in the saint!¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Seigneur, I believe. Amen¡­¡± As the men shouted their prayers, rain began pouring down from the sky, like the heavens were waiting for this moment. It was like they were putting a stop to this horrible drought that was killing this land. Drip¡­ Drip¡­ Pitter-patter!!! It was an intense rainstorm with thunder that seemed like the sky was letting out all its sorrow. 18. Just Plow! Then! Plant! ¡°These are dangerous times.¡± ¡°This is the worst possible situation. The information got into the hands of none other than Marquis Peiltris. If we don¡¯t do something, it¡¯s only a matter of time before the solid bond of the nobility breaks and vanishes into thin air.¡± In the drawing room of Duke Bariatta, the chancellor of the Rowane Kingdom and the actual power holder, four or five men sat deep in thought with frowns on their faces. ¡°Ha¡­ It just had to be Marquis Peiltris¡­¡± Marquis Peiltris was someone even the nobility couldn¡¯t easily mess with. Even though he stood alone in opposition to the nobility, he never backed down. He was one of the few people still loyal to the kingdom. However, since he publicly maintained a neutral stance, the nobility was just watching him closely. One side would surely disappear if they were to fight, but the winning side would suffer a huge loss. This was the current state of affairs, but if Marquis Peiltris had something that would put the lives of the nobility in his hand¡­ ¡°Would there be a way to make the evidence unusable?¡± As Count Proom, the entourage of Duke Bariatta, asked with worry, the long-bearded noble beside him sighed and replied, ¡°To be honest, there probably isn¡¯t a way.¡± ¡°He is putting pressure on us, as if he was waiting for this moment. He has already begun purging some low-ranking nobilities as an example.¡± ¡°And our enemies are starting to come out of hiding because of that.¡± Since there wasn''t a clear justification, the nobility couldn¡¯t stop Marquis Peiltris; the fact that they couldn¡¯t do anything was driving them crazy. The low-ranking nobilities that supported them were an important source of funding and power. Not even the most outstanding individuals could do everything alone. ¡°I don¡¯t know who it was, but it¡¯s true that they took all of our secrets.¡± Everyone¡¯s attention was drawn to Duke Bariatta, who broke his long silence and spoke. Everyone had believed that leaving the information with the intelligence guilds would be safest. The intelligence guilds¡¯ ability to conceal was quite incredible, and that information wasn¡¯t something that could be concealed in someone¡¯s mansion or secret hiding place. Starting with the Dark Moon, the most exceptionally skilled intelligence guild, all of them were robbed in one night, without anyone noticing. Some were destroyed to the point they could no longer operate, and some were just barely holding on. Not only that, their information was given to Marquis Peiltris in an organized and coherent fashion, excluding the fake information they had kept along with the real evidence. ¡®Was it Marquis Peiltris¡¯ doing?¡¯ Most likely not. Although Duke Bariatta knew that the Marquis was an outstanding ¡®Swordmaster¡¯, he knew that the Marquis did not have the skills to go through all the intelligence guilds in one night without anyone noticing. That¡¯s why he was at ease, but¡­ ¡°We have to find that insolent fellow. We have to find them and punish them.¡± ¡°Ha¡­ We¡¯re stuck like this because we can¡¯t do that! It¡¯s frustrating!¡± ¡°The intelligence guilds sent word that they wish to not be involved in this matter any longer. The guilds have been totally destroyed and they can no longer operate. Do you think that the Marquis will bat an eye even if we come down on them? If anything, it will just give him more reason to come after us.¡± As everyone was debating, one noble frowned. ¡°So, what is Her Majesty going to do?¡± ¡°Her Majesty the Queen?¡± ¡°Yes. I don¡¯t understand her, to be honest. Prince Davey was given a stigmata? He¡¯s still a greenhorn who cannot properly use holy power. Since his stigmata is unstable and different from the usual stigmata on the wrist, it¡¯s nothing but a defective scar.¡± ¡°Marquis Raultis.¡± ¡°So what if he received a stigmata? The Sacred Land is already in cahoots with us. Will they even acknowledge him? Of course, they won¡¯t. He has no power, either. Her Majesty was too focused on that half-wit prince.¡± ¡°The people we should¡¯ve been focusing on were His Majesty and Marquis Peiltris.¡± The others silently agreed with Marquis Raultis. No one acted like it, but everyone was starting to become a little irritated with Queen Lynesse¡¯s preoccupation with Davey. Their bond, which had been solid for years, was beginning to crumble because of one prince. To them, Davey was just a weak and powerless prince that even the king had given up on. ¡°Watch your words, Marquis Raultis.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just saying. Ha¡­¡± Duke Bariatta took a short breath as he glanced at Raultis, who was holding his head in frustration. He then said, ¡°Even Marquis Peiltris won¡¯t be able to break our bond instantly. We must fight back, even if we suffer some injuries.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. However, we must try to find a way to retrieve the top-secret information.¡± Marquis Peiltris was waiting to strike the nobility with a lethal attack, so it was too dangerous for them to act recklessly. There was only one thing they could do, since the secrets that kept all the nobility safe were now threatening their lives. ¡°We must be willing to go to war, Marquis Raultis,¡± Duke Bariatta said. ¡°Yes, Your Excellency.¡± ¡°How is the preparation going?¡± ¡°We can be ready right away at your command.¡± ¡°Please prepare in secret. We cannot give them a reason to do anything until we are perfect.¡± Marquis Raultis nodded silently at Duke Bariatta. ¡®You are underestimating that prince too much.¡¯ Duke Bariatta frowned as he watched the nobles come together hand in hand. Prince Davey had surprisingly changed since he had woken from his coma. It was difficult for Duke Bariatta to put his finger on it, but his instincts, from his years of experience as the chancellor, were telling him something was fishy. Also, the assassins of the Dark Moon, sent to kill Prince Davey, disappeared without a trace¡ªno, it was more like they were taken care of, rather than running away. If he was right, Prince Davey would immediately show his claws as soon as he gained support or power. ¡®Still, he probably can¡¯t do anything about the Heins Territory.¡¯ The Heins Territory was transforming into the land of death, and not even the continent¡¯s mages, alchemists, or priests, could find the reason behind its disease. Even Davey, whom Duke Bariatta suspected of hiding something, probably could not do anything about it. ¡®What is he going to do in a countryside like that, where it doesn¡¯t even rain?¡¯ Since he couldn¡¯t send someone down due to the circumstances, Duke Bariatta remained oblivious as to what Davey was doing in the territory. * * * It began raining. All the residents, who knew what this meant, stopped what they were doing, ran out and stared at the sky in disbelief. As they realized that the water droplets hitting them was really rain, they all cheered in joy. Although most of the residents were elderly, with a few children and a very small number of young adults, the rainfall that had returned in a few years made everyone shout in joy like children. To them, the rain wasn¡¯t just the supply of water, but hope that the dying land could come back alive, since the land was dying because of the prolonged drought. The rain poured down for many days and stopped after it had wet all of the dry land. Unlike the residents, who were celebrating, Davey was going through a busy week since he had to take care of other regions. Pitter-patter!! Davey was satisfied by the rain only after he finished changing the code at the ancient ruin in the northwest region. -So, you fixed it all. Perserque spoke while she was almost half-asleep. Davey nodded silently and stood in the rain. He looked weird just standing in the rain, but after being in the dry wind for so long, he had sort of missed the coolness. A few days later, Royal Attendant Bernile and Militia Leader Monmider, returned to the territory from the commercial city of Hellium. Since Bernile always had the same expression, he didn¡¯t seem too interested in the current situation, but Monmider was different. He couldn¡¯t help but be shocked at the fact that it had actually rained in the dying territory, and that Davey had slaughtered all the nearby goblins with a small group of the militia after he had left. ¡®No, he probably returned back here as fast as he could after hearing news about the rainfall.¡¯ Even successfully slaughtering the goblins was an amazing outcome since the territory wasn¡¯t in good condition, but Militia Leader Monmider was seemingly more surprised at the fact that Davey had rescued all the residents without any injuries or casualties. Of course, Monmider still couldn¡¯t fully trust Davey, but that was natural, since he had supported this territory for so long by himself. To be honest, it was probably difficult for Davey, who was on Monmider¡¯s bad side, to fully get on his good side in just a week. ¡®Though, he¡¯ll probably be in even more shock after he hears about what I did.¡¯ After Davey succeeded in changing the climate of the last region, he kept silent for about a week. Did he just sit around and rest? Not really. CH 46 ¡°The latter is more probable. It¡¯s been a long time since the dragon has disappeared. It has just become a legend in human history, but they do exist,¡± Madis said calmly. He reached out for his teacup, but suddenly twitched and retracted his hand. ¡°However, that is impossible for humans. Their affinity to nature is not that great. There are some oddballs, but they cannot see the spirits of nature.¡± ¡°Probably.¡± ¡°Since their disposition tends to lie closer to chaos, it is much more difficult for them to increase their affinity to nature than elves,¡± Madis noted. Yuria Helishana smiled brightly at Madis. ¡°I plan to leave the village for a little while soon.¡± ¡°Yuria, my friend. What is¡­¡± ¡°I think I have found a way to save the village. Don¡¯t worry, I will leave after reassuring the village.¡± Madis was left momentarily speechless at Yuria¡¯s words. * * * The residents had done far more than what Davey had imagined. ¡®They say the more passionate employees, the more the company grows.¡¯ That seemed to be the same on Earth and the Tionis continent. ¡°Explain to me why a four-day¡¯s job is being wrapped up in half a day?¡± Davey asked. Monmider awkwardly smiled at Davey. ¡°That is¡­ They said that they were making it up to you¡­¡± Davey knew how people, who couldn¡¯t control their power, acted when they were given too much of it. However, the timeline had been shortened because they had worked at a speed that exceeded Davey¡¯s expectations. It wasn¡¯t bad regarding the immediate gain, but in the long run¡­ ¡®It¡¯s actually a loss.¡¯ As Davey pulled out a small pouch from his chest and gave it to Monmider, he looked at Davey in confusion. Davey instructed, ¡°Plant these exactly one week from now. Don¡¯t just sprinkle them, but it should be fine if you plant them with adequate space in between.¡± When Davey handed him a small pouch, Monmider wondered if this was really everything. He opened the pouch, checked the inside, and his eyes flew wide open at the storage-expanding magic on the inside. ¡°S¡­ Sir, this is¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s moon grass. No, it¡¯s actually the seedlings of the flowers. It should be of better quality since it¡¯s from the origin.¡± ¡°Se¡­ Seedlings?!¡± Of course, seedlings were more difficult to obtain than leaves. Monmider seemed quite surprised at how Davey had just acquired them. ¡°How¡­ However, we do not know how to cultivate moon grass¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s right here.¡± Davey wasn¡¯t playing around with the magic stone for a week, just doing nothing. ¡°Is this¡­really enough? In the human realm, this is¡­¡± Monmider was surprised as he read the documents Davey handed him, since there were detailed instructions on how to maintain and manage moon grass. He stuttered, ¡°Forgive me. It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t believe you, sir, but¡­¡± ¡°Honestly, I would have a hard time believing it as well. This is a dying territory anyways; just take a leap of faith and bet your money on it. The heavens will help us with anything if they are pleased.¡± Davey smiled. Although Monmider didn¡¯t understand Davey, he didn¡¯t really distrust Davey. A guarded person was a careful person; Davey knew that these kinds of people offered quite a lot of faith once they began to trust. * * * As Davey began planting moon flower seedlings along with the militia, they began voicing their confusion about what exactly they were planting and if it would really grow. That seemed to be what they were thinking. Unlike other flowers, moon flowers took four to five months to fully blossom. This was also Davey¡¯s first attempt, which was why he had prepared for everything. One relief was that the residents had no complaints about this unusual business proposal because they showed a maniac-like faith toward Davey and his plans, since he hadn¡¯t been taking anything from them. Tax was something to be collected only when the residents had enough to live on. According to what Davey could remember, there was one thing necessary to successfully grow moon flowers: to create the most optimal conditions for its growth by altering the temperature, weather, and ground conditions. Originally, the flower had to be budded by spiritual powers, but it wasn¡¯t really necessary since the leaves, and not flowers, were being sold. Of course, Davey didn¡¯t forget to surround the cultivated area with a wooden fence; it would be problematic if external factors were carelessly let in. ¡°Your Highness.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°Is this going well? Since I don¡¯t have the skills to harvest moon grass¡­¡± ¡°What¡¯s your question?¡± ¡°That is¡­ The leaves are slowly drying¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s going to rain soon, as the heavens are pleased.¡± Monmider looked stunned by Davey¡¯s words. However, his dumbfounded expression quickly transformed into one of shock. His jaw dropped at the light rainfall that happened on the very next day. ¡°Your Highness, the temperature is getting hotter than expected¡­¡± A cool breeze came over the entire moon flower field the next day. ¡°¡­¡± As if Monmider had nothing more to say, he did not worry anymore and only reported what was necessary. Four months had passed as this uneasy situation was maintained. * * * This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV. For four months, Davey had slaughtered the goblins, which had a high chance of invading the territory again, or focused on cultivating new farmland for the residents. Since the goblins were pretty stupid, they would most likely attack the territory again for food, even after they had suffered that much. -They are what people call dumbasses. ¡°Where did you learn that kind of language?¡± -I learnt it from you. ¡°Okay, then¡­¡± Davey felt a little guilty as Perserque looked up at him with a smirk. It didn¡¯t change the fact that she had the appearance of a little girl, although she was a being who had lived far longer than him. In a short period of time, the barren wasteland had become farmland. It was now a field of moon flowers, which were very valuable in the eastern continent. But of course, since there weren¡¯t ones healthy enough to take seedlings from, Davey had just broken even, but he had harvested many leaves that could be sold. ¡°100 gold for one of those flowers.¡± Due to their rarity, moon flowers were much more expensive in the eastern continent than the west. It was also very time-consuming to grow and harvest them. ¡®The market of the eastern continent is going to change completely.¡¯ Seeing dozens of carts filled with moon grass, which could be sold for ten times the original cost because of how scarce and valuable it was, Davey felt at ease. -Interesting things will happen if you sell all of that. ¡°Yes.¡± This time, Davey didn¡¯t intend to hide the harvest like he did the magic stones. He didn¡¯t cultivate them for no reason. In the process, he had also strongly blocked any information about the growth process of the moon flowers from getting out. News about Davey growing moon flowers in this continent had probably already spread, but the people all scoffed that it could not be cultivated in the eastern continent, where there were distinct seasons. They probably mocked that the First Prince, who had been demoted to a wasteland, had finally gone mad. Frankly, Davey also couldn¡¯t have made money this easily if it wasn¡¯t for the great curse on the territory. As he planned, rumors spread that the First Prince Davey was a stubborn greenhorn who was betting on the impossible. It was all going according to plan for now. ¡°Well then, time to switch it up.¡± If he pushed forward with this business without letting any news get out, some people might have tried to obstruct him. However, from the moment it spread that Davey was trying to harvest moon grass without any plan or preparation, he had become an idiot who wasn¡¯t even worth their time. -This kind of thing only works once. ¡°So we¡¯ll have to make the most of it at once.¡± Davey glanced at the pile of documents in front of him. The moon flowers were successfully harvested, flawlessly packaged, and stored in the seigneur¡¯s palace. ¡°Now, let¡¯s turn the continent upside down.¡± Davey could practically smell the money. As if his comment had ignited it, surprising news started spreading around the continent just a few days later. It was news that the Heins Territory, the dying wasteland that would take ten to twenty years to recover even if was starting to rain, had successfully harvested large amounts of scarce and rare moon grass. It¡¯s a shame that Davey couldn¡¯t see the faces of those who adamantly believed that he would fail. 20. Dispatched! Turn it Upside-down! It was difficult to densely cultivate this damn greedy moon flower if the spirit¡¯s aura wasn¡¯t strong. But it didn¡¯t matter since Davey had an abundance of land. ¡°There are about 20,000 moon grass leaves deposited in storage,¡± Amy reported with a frown on her face, as if the multiple things she had to learn were giving her a headache. Well, this was expected of her since she had followed Davey here without any complaint. One moon flower yielded four leaves, and one seed grew into five or six stems and multiple flowers. About ten thousand flowers had budded, but there was always trial and error. To be more exact, it was because there was an absence of technique and skill. Davey had heard all sorts of tales from Bow Lord Apollo, the only elf at the Hall, but it wasn¡¯t like he was growing flowers there. As a result, only 5000 flowers had survived, which was about half the number. It didn¡¯t change the fact that this alone was still an astounding number. The current market price for the four leaves was a hundred gold. And since about half of the 20,000 leaves would probably be good enough to sell, he could sell about 10,000 leaves. With a single leaf being priced at 25 gold, it would be 250,000 gold if he sold all of them at that price. That would be about 5,000 platinum coins. To put that into perspective, one gold was enough for a commoner family to live for two weeks on a tight budget. For the wealthier families, they could use about four or five gold for the same length of time. ¡®Amazing.¡¯ It was truly an astounding amount. There were about two seasons in a year when the moon grass leaves became available in the continent. It wasn¡¯t a small amount, but it wasn¡¯t enough for the continent to use generously, either. -The main catalytic ingredient in magic and alchemy. It is also used in potions in the temple. They¡¯re going to drool all over it, holding bunches of money. CH 47 ¡®Those hyenas are going to pounce.¡¯ -And are you someone to flinch at that? ¡®Of course not.¡¯ ¡°We¡¯re going to be very busy with customers, now that the news has spread,¡± Davey said. He could predict that much, since he was the one who had spread the news. ¡°Pardon?¡± Amy asked. ¡°However, I can¡¯t really greet them¡­ Tell them I¡¯m in bed from overworking.¡± -Yawn, You¡­are a money-grubber¡­ Amy didn¡¯t quite understand Davey and tilted her head in confusion. However, Perserque understood what he meant and giggled while half-asleep on the old desk in the office. * * * Davey had seen many instances where the price of items in high demand drastically decreased as the supply increased. If he were to release the moon grass into the market without any restrictions, the price would surely go down. ¡®And what good would that be?¡¯ Davey had absolutely no intention of sacrificing himself to contribute to this world. His comfort and his future were the most important things, and everything else ranked below that. Everything changed just a few days after word had spread about the moon grass; perhaps it was inevitable. The deserted territory became crowded with merchants and people who wanted to see the moon grass leaves in person. Excluding the living space for about 200 residents, the rest of the Heins Territory was all abandoned land that could not be used. And since hundreds of people came into a space meant for 200, it became jam-packed. ¡°Y¡ªYour Highness! There are people waiting to meet you outside¡­!¡± Even as Amy hurried over and reported to Davey, he didn¡¯t take his eyes off his book. He muttered, ¡°Man, they¡¯re fast.¡± ¡°Wh¡­ What should we do?¡± ¡°What do you mean? I¡¯m still sick. Tell them I can¡¯t come down and meet them since I haven¡¯t recovered yet.¡± ¡°That¡­ That is¡­ I already told them, but they are asking if there¡¯s any way for them to see it¡­¡± The demand for moon grass was much higher than Davey expected. As soon as word had spread, people from all over had gathered here: merchant companies of nearby kingdoms, wizard towers, and the school of alchemy. Since Davey also saw some people from the temple, he could see just how popular moon grass was. ¡®Let¡¯s tantalize them even more.¡¯ Moon grass was usually imported into the eastern continent from the western region in small batches. If it became certain that it was successfully harvested here in the east, it would drive these people wild; they were people who would try buying and obtaining moon grass, which was already expensive, for twice the price. Of course, Davey hadn¡¯t hidden the moon grass away completely; if he did, it could raise suspicion that he was lying, and that wouldn¡¯t be good. ¡°Amy, get me Monmider and Royal Attendant Bernile.¡± At Davey¡¯s command, Amy went right away. Both Monmider, who was promoted from the Militia Leader to the Captain of the Royal Guards, and Royal Attendant Bernile looked exhausted from the sudden influx of people. He thanked them. ¡°Thank you all for your hard work. Keep it up for just a little longer.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. This is what we ought to do.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s been such a long time since the territory was filled with people; it reminds me of the past.¡± Davey smiled at them. ¡°Let¡¯s take care of things one by one. The militia members¡ªno, they are the royal guardsman now. How are they doing, keeping public safety?¡± ¡°They are working hard, but honestly, they are very short of people. It¡¯s difficult maintaining public safety due to the sudden high volume of people,¡± Monmider reported to Davey. ¡°It¡¯s the same for the documents as well. There are times when we don¡¯t know what to do, because there isn¡¯t a proper manual,¡± Bernile added. ¡°Get rid of anyone that seems even a little bit suspicious,¡± Davey replied. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°It¡¯s safer than something happening because of some bad people.¡± Unless moon grass was an item that was only enjoyed by a small group of people, Davey would always have the upper hand. Honestly, he had no reason to cut these people any slack. He would have to courteously abuse his power rather than act petty to win their favor; that way, he could still be on their good side. ¡°What about the lodging problem?¡± ¡°We are using the cleaned and renovated buildings that the past residents abandoned as lodging, but it¡¯s not enough,¡± Bernile replied. ¡°What about the tents that I gave you money for? Just put those up and sell those as temporary lodgings. It¡¯s okay if you sell them really cheap,¡± Davey suggested. ¡°Oh¡­ We¡¯ll set those up right away,¡± Bernile responded and left immediately. ¡°Monmider,¡± Davey called. ¡°Yes, sir.¡± ¡°It¡¯s likely that a lot of people will try to reach out to you.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°Just take the bribes. Since they will be from the wizard towers or the school of alchemy, they will be rich. It¡¯ll add up to be quite a lot if you take them all.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± Davey had to jump at the opportunity to get rich. He said, ¡°But act like you can¡¯t help yourself while showing them this. You can do that, right?¡± Davey then showed Monmider a luxuriously packaged glass case. Inside, there were moon grass leaves that Davey had selected himself. The moon grass leaves glowed with a faint light that was enough to shine in a dark room. ¡°They¡¯ve all been treated with magic. One case has four leaves.¡± Monmider gulped as Davey explained, ¡°It¡¯s 100 gold each.¡± It was tempting for Monmider, who knew how valuable that amount of money was, but he quickly got rid of the greediness from his gaze. He was very careful, and was as smart as he was cautious. ¡°I¡¯m not giving it to you to sell. Just show them this so that the news can spread on its own. Our goal is to make them stay here for as long as possible while increasing the value of our product.¡± ¡®Increase the number of residents while earning money. It¡¯s about killing two birds with one stone.¡¯ A division of the temple, wizard towers, the school of alchemy, or a merchant company, might be built here. Whatever it was, it would be a good outcome for Davey¡¯s territory. ¡°Hehe¡­¡± Davey couldn¡¯t help but smile. As Perserque watched him giggle, she just sighed quietly. * * * Monmider, who initially questioned the new seigneur Davey¡¯s plan, frowned at the pain from the migraine caused by the sudden surge of work. The territory used to be quiet; since there were only about 200 people at best, they all knew each other, and there weren¡¯t many incidents. There were goblin attacks, but he defended the area with the militia. However, they were all so busy now! There were only about forty royal guardsmen, the former militia members. With this number, it was difficult to maintain public safety with the amount of people visiting the territory right now. In addition to this, Sir Bernile, who used to train royal guardsmen as Captain back in the day, continued on with his intense training. If this was all, it wouldn¡¯t be that big of a problem¡­ However, Prince Davey didn¡¯t stop there. He sent Monmider along with Amy, his former lady-in-waiting, to Royal Attendant Bernile, and made them take classes to professionally learn about administrative work. Davey, the newly appointed seigneur, was an extremely capable person, but he also gave people a lot of work. ¡®I¡¯m not going to teach you everything. Understand it and learn it yourself. I will give you advice if you need it.¡¯ It was better than taking care of everything alone, but right now, Monmider wanted to just let go of everything and rest. He was complaining, without being thankful for what he had. ¡°Leader¡ªoh, you¡¯re Captain now, right? There¡¯s a guest waiting for you.¡± ¡°A guest?¡± ¡°Yes, they are from the Green Tower¡­¡± ¡°Phew¡­ Let¡¯s go meet them.¡± Monmider was a commoner, but he was given the title of a knight, thanks to Davey¡¯s authority. The lowest title a knight could be given was a baronet and the highest was a viscount. He was given the baronet title, but considering that he was born a commoner, he could be seen as rather successful now. ¡®Keep up the good work. I¡¯ll promote you if I get the chance to.¡¯ The seigneur¡¯s words kept ringing in Monmider¡¯s ears. Of course, his skills were a little lacking to be a knight, but his experience and wit were far superior. Monmider stretched his body, which was freezing up from anxiety, and took a deep breath. It was an old and run-down building, the militia¡¯s precious home that had protected the territory. As Monmider nervously headed to the drawing room, he saw a man wearing an old-fashioned robe waiting for him. The man was quite old, and looked to be in his mid to late forties. Monmider greeted, ¡°Thank you for waiting. I am Monmider, the newly titled knight and captain of the royal guard.¡± When you''re just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°Nice to meet you. I am Hallas, the class-4 ¡®Expert¡¯ of the Green Tower.¡± Class 4 ¡®Expert¡¯ was how 4th circle mages were referred to in the wizard towers. Mages were classified from Class 1 to Class 9, and of course, there were ¡®Beginner¡¯, ¡®Expert¡¯ and ¡®Master¡¯ in the classes as well. A Class 4 ¡®Expert¡¯ was neither a low nor high class in the wizard towers; to be frank, his rank seemed too high for him to come to this boondock himself. This was especially since mages were probably quite a valuable being to the continent. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that the many unexpected guests might have made you uncomfortable, but¡­¡± ¡°No problem. There were no guests other than you, Hallas.¡± ¡°Is that so!¡± Perhaps Monmider¡¯s response was to Hallas¡¯ liking, as Hallas showed a satisfied smile. He then said, ¡°Public safety is being maintained well, even though the sudden influx of people must be chaotic. I heard that you had taken care of the territory alone before the seigneur was appointed.¡± Public safety was being maintained well because the visitors were being careful, but there was no need for Monmider to point that out. ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to the seigneur¡¯s grace.¡± Monmider was quite a clever fellow. Hallas quickly understood what he was trying to say and let out a hollow laugh. ¡°Haha¡­ Seigneur Prince Davey must be glad that he has such a brave person as the captain of the royal guards.¡± ¡°Haha, I¡¯m flattered, but I am just a mere knight.¡± The rank of a knight would be enough for Monmider to be treated with respect anywhere else, but it probably wasn¡¯t worth anything to someone of Class 4 ¡®Expert¡¯. Wizard towers were a separate entity to the kingdom, and the relationship between knights and mages wasn¡¯t all that friendly, either. ¡°I¡¯m worried that I have caused a nuisance by coming to meet you when you are busy.¡± ¡°No problem. I have handed over most of the work, but I am also managing the state of affairs as ordered by the seigneur. If it¡¯s anything related to that, I should be the one taking care of it.¡± ¡°Haha. You are managing both public safety and the state of affairs! How amazing!¡± Hallas was buttering Monmider up without batting an eye. CH 48 Monmider frowned slightly as he felt his stomach begin to hurt. ¡°So, what brings you here?¡± ¡°Ah. Actually, I have an urgent matter to discuss with the seigneur.¡± Hallas cleared his throat before continuing, ¡°The gates to the seigneur¡¯s house are shut right now¡­ Is there any way that I can see him?¡± It was just like Davey had mentioned to Monmider; people were going to try every possibility to make contact with him. And in such a scenario, Monmider knew exactly what he had to say. ¡°That is¡­ I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s going to be difficult. The seigneur isn¡¯t well due to overwork. You did come all this way to see him, but¡­¡± ¡°Ha¡­ What a shame¡­¡± ¡°I am very sorry. The territory¡¯s business is important, but the seigneur¡¯s wellbeing is of paramount importance to us.¡± ¡°I understand. A leader¡¯s health is always important.¡± Chuckling, Hallas stroked his beard. ¡°However, the Green Tower isn¡¯t in a very good situation either¡­ Would there be any way?¡± He pulled out a small pouch from his chest and placed it in Monmider¡¯s hand. Monmider could tell that the pouch was filled with gold nuggets, just by looking at it. ¡®These wizard towers are on another level. They¡¯re filthy rich.¡¯ ¡°Ahem! What is this?! We don¡¯t take bribes!¡± For a second, Monmider wanted to take it for himself and pretend like nothing happened, but he shook his head in the end. Davey, his master, was the one who ordered him to take the bribes. It was money that would come to him eventually; he didn¡¯t have to do anything that could catch up with him later. ¡°Haha. It¡¯s just my way of showing gratitude. Consider it a gift, since it¡¯s not that much anyways. I prepared it so that I could get closer with you, Captain Monmider.¡± ¡°Haha!¡± Monmider looked around and let out a sigh, as if Hallas¡¯ actions put him in a difficult position. Hallas simply shoved the pouch into Monmider¡¯s pocket, forcing him to take it. ¡°It¡¯s just a little sign of gratitude. A little sign. Ahem! I don¡¯t expect anything in return.¡± ¡°Phew¡­ I usually don¡¯t take these kinds of gifts¡­¡± ¡°How could I just disregard all the hard work an exceptional knight like you has done for us?¡± Hallas chuckled and spoke insincerely. His expression truly looked like he had no hidden intentions, but¡­ ¡®Everything that the seigneur said is true¡­¡¯ Unlike Hallas, Monmider chuckled while thinking of what Seigneur Davey, his new master, had told him. ¡®Several organizations are going to reach out to you, and they are going to be desperately wanting to meet me. You will most likely get to you first, since you are my entourage and someone they can meet easily.¡¯ Davey had told Monmider. ¡®They might hand you bribes or scream at you. Sort them out wisely. Give me the list of names of the authoritative ones that scream at you, and just take anything the bribers give. That¡¯s how life works.¡¯ Everything was just a part of the bigger picture. As everything Davey predicted was happening, Monmider grew suspicious of whether the boy, who had just turned seventeen, was really only that old. * * * ¡°Ha¡­ I really shouldn¡¯t¡­¡± Looking around, Monmider cleared his throat and hid the pouch as he looked around him. ¡°Ahem! I will take it, since you say it¡¯s a gift¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s all I want. I expect nothing from you, Captain.¡± Although Hallas said he wanted nothing in return, his eyes were full of yearning. The Captain of the Royal Guards of a single territory was a low-rank position, and usually wasn¡¯t good enough to meet a mid-level mage such as Hallas, but this situation was different. ¡°Haha¡­ But how could I just accept this? Anyway, you said that you wanted to see the seigneur for something related to the moon grass, right?¡± Monmider asked. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much about it,¡± Hallas replied. ¡°Sigh¡­ Well, I can¡¯t let you see him because he is sick, but¡­¡± ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s a bit of a problem. It¡¯d be nice if I could at least get some information about the product and its availability.¡± ¡°Hm¡­¡± As Monmider started to be persuaded, Hallas said with a grin, ¡°Actually, the Tower is also looking forward to the business of the Heins Territory. Isn¡¯t this the first and only attempt to harvest moon grass in the eastern continent? Perhaps the Tower will provide an appropriate gift¡­¡± As he heard that, Monmider slurred the end of his words while pretending to contemplate. Then, he slightly widened his eyes. ¡°I am only the vassal of the seigneur. I do not desire any individual gain.¡± ¡°I believe that, since I have a pretty good judgment of character. I simply did not say anything because I can see that you are a brave and honorable person, Captain Monmider.¡± ¡°Haha, you flatter me too much. Hm, right. Take a look at this.¡± Chuckling, Monmider pulled out a small case as if he had prepared it in advance. ¡°Actually¡­ We have finished harvesting and packaging the product. Well, since the seigneur is going to sell it anyway, I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be a problem for him if I just show it to you.¡± ¡°Huh¡­ This is it.¡± Hallas¡¯ eyes sparkled, and then, he started to think to himself, ¡®This is top notch! It¡¯s a high-quality product that is extremely rare in the east! This would be far more efficient than the ones from the western region!¡¯ Moon grass wasn¡¯t harvested that much in the west either. It was already common knowledge that even the same product could vary in the number of uses, depending on the quality. Since moon grass leaves were valuable in both the east and west, the western region had no reason to export good quality leaves to the east. ¡®It¡¯s high-quality. If it¡¯s this good, I must gain priority access to it even if I have to bribe him!¡¯ Hallas thought. ¡°Ahem!¡± However, Hallas couldn¡¯t let his true intentions show. ¡°It¡¯s emitting a faint light. It¡¯s amazing how high-quality this is!¡± As if flattered by Hallas¡¯ honest astonishment, Monmider began chattering. ¡°That¡¯s right. It was cultivated with the seigneur¡¯s care. Most of the ones we have are similar in quality to this one. Those in worse condition¡­¡± As Monmider trailed off, Hallas looked at him in confusion. Monmider added, ¡°¡­Unfortunately, were all thrown away and composted.¡± ¡°Oh my¡­ Something that valuable¡­¡± ¡°We have prepared around ten thousand leaves to sell.¡± Hallas thought that that was unfortunate. The amount Monmider told him about was also quite a lot, but the seigneur had boldly decided to throw away half of it. It was shocking how decisive Davey, the 17-year-old seigneur of this territory, was. After all, the product was moon grass, which could still be quite expensive at a poorer quality. Since no one knew that moon grass was the best compost for growing moon grass, they could only think that Davey was quite bold in his decision-making. ¡°As the seigneur¡¯s entourage, I¡¯ve heard a few things, such as how he is planning to put these up for auction.¡± ¡®An onsite auction,¡¯ Hallas thought. Such auctions were common in produce and seafood markets, and it meant that the moon grass was going to be sold to the highest bidder. ¡°A¡­ An onsite auction, you say.¡± Moon grass was a luxurious product, being sold like items from a classy brand. It was bizarre to sell off something this exquisite like a fish at a seafood market. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know all of the details, but his intentions are to minimize the costs incurred from the distribution process. It also means that he is going to sell it in the future as well.¡± ¡°Is¡­ Is that so? Then¡­ There must be something like priority access.¡± ¡°Unfortunately, I cannot tell you anything about that.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. How could I expect more when you have already given me such valuable information? The Green Tower will most definitely thank you.¡± ¡°I appreciate that.¡± ¡®What¡¯s Hallas thinking?¡¯ As Hallas, the Class 4 mage of the Green Tower, stood up looking satisfied and offered him a handshake, Monmider awkwardly smiled and shook the offered hand. As soon as Hallas left, Monmider let out a deep sigh. Then, he completely erased the look of greed and na?vety he previously had on his face. ¡°Wow¡­ I can¡¯t believe that actually worked.¡± * * * There were several different types of wizard towers; there was the Red Tower, which studied fire, and the Blue Tower, which dealt with water-related magic. There was also the Green Tower, which studied wind power, and this was the tower that Hallas, the mage who tried to bribe Monmider, was part of. It could be said that there were quite a few wizard towers known to the public. Starting with Hallas from the Green Tower, Monmider had met with many other people. Of course, none of these organizations would come down to this boondock without any confirmation, even if the moon grass leaves were said to be high-quality. A total of three wizard towers and four schools of alchemy had reached out. In addition, seven large merchant companies and a few other small organizations had contacted Monmider as well. Since they all had an unimaginable amount of money, he had also received a huge number of bribes from them. ¡°That¡¯s how life works,¡± Davey said simply. Monmider, who was resting with an exhausted face, smiled awkwardly. ¡°How did you know, seigneur?¡± ¡°Know what?¡± ¡°That they would act like that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s obvious. That¡¯s how it works. There¡¯s nothing that money can¡¯t solve here.¡± ¡®Worship money, which prevails regardless of generation or dimension.¡¯ What Davey had done wasn¡¯t anything astonishing at all. By putting an item that the people couldn¡¯t obtain by temptation or interference in any way, he just naturally made the situation happen. ¡®They say to strike when the iron is hot, right? There was no way a blacksmith wouldn¡¯t know how to maximize such a strike, then.¡¯ ¡°What are you thinking so hard about? Where are the bribes you received from them?¡± Monmider looked puzzled. ¡°Th¡­ That is¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re not thinking of taking it all by yourself, right?¡± Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°Of¡­ Of course not!¡± As Davey glared at him, Monmider gave him the box of bribes with a terrified expression. He said, ¡°Here it is.¡± ¡°Split it and take it as a bonus.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°All the hard work was done by the royal guardsman and the captain. Split it fairly and keep your share,¡± Davey replied. ¡°You¡¯re not going to take it?¡± It was a huge amount of money. Considering the financial situation of the people who gave it to Monmider, each small pouch was probably pretty valuable, even if it was a small bribe. Monmider looked bewildered as Davey just willingly gave it to him. ¡°It would be a good use of that money if I could win the favor of the residents.¡± ¡°You¡­ Your Highness!¡± Davey felt a little uncomfortable as Monmider seemed very touched by his gesture. It wasn¡¯t really necessary for Davey to do this, since the residents blindly trusted him already, but he didn¡¯t need the money; most of the profits from selling the moon grass were his anyway. He commented, ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be moved about. You¡¯re just being rewarded for your hard work.¡± ¡°Y¡­ Yes, sir!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t take it all for yourself but split it fairly, so that everyone¡¯s happy.¡± ¡°Yes, sir!¡± As Davey saw Monmider bow his head and leave the room, he smiled and then stretched. It would be nice if he collected all the bribe money, but he wasn¡¯t in desperate need of the money. ¡®If I don¡¯t win their favors with money now, when can I do so then?¡¯ CH 49 ¡°Well, we¡¯re off to a good start.¡± -Maybe this is too good of a start. However, do you think you can handle the pressure of your business partners? They¡¯re quite massive organizations. ¡°Well, they¡¯ll keep each other in check anyways.¡± -Your biggest concern is probably the royal palace. ¡°Ah.¡± Perserque¡¯s comment reminded Davey of something bothersome. In the past few months, Marquis Peiltris was eliminating members of the nobility one by one after confirming the information that Davey had left him. Thanks to that, an unprecedented purge was now happening in the royal palace. ¡°I don¡¯t think the royal palace can afford to pay any attention to us right now. The heat is on for those fellas, and they¡¯re probably too busy picking sides to focus on us¡­ Marquis Peiltris sure is capable.¡± Marquis Peiltris was basically taking care of the countless nobilities by himself. For now, Davey was only watching from afar, but he wasn¡¯t going to let anything happen to Marquis Peiltris, who was going to be one of his few allies. Although, it wasn¡¯t something he really had to worry about. Honestly, if he chose to seek asylum in another kingdom, many people would gladly let him leave. ¡°Now that the news has spread, we are going to become very busy again. People are going to stay long-term to set up their divisions.¡± Several divisions of the wizard towers, school of alchemy, and merchant companies were being built in this tiny territory. This was rare even in the capital of a small kingdom, but moon grass had made this possible. The ancient curse that was meant to dry out and kill the land had actually made things so much easier; Davey was starting to feel a little grateful for it. -And selling it is going to take place after? ¡°The market will get bigger once more people get more riled up. Those who are currently here are only errand boys; I can¡¯t just stop at a price that they decide to be able to afford, now can I?¡± -You are one foul merchant. ¡°I¡¯m not a merchant.¡± * * * The news that Davey wanted to spread through Monmider began circulating, and more people started staying in the territory for long-term residence. Exactly as Davey predicted, requests for long-term stays began rushing in and he granted them without hesitation. Unsurprisingly, there were several merchants who wanted to buy the land in his possession; since it now had rainfall and the ground conditions were improving, a large territory like this was filled with opportunities for development. Although this territory didn¡¯t have any quarries and only had their farming industry, it was still highly sought after, since it was no regular farming industry. The only area that Davey allowed for sale was the residential area. They were here to develop the commerce of this territory; he couldn¡¯t let them take interest in the farmland. If he did, it would be putting the cart before the horse. However, they began moving actively to buy the residential areas as if they saw this coming, and that seemed good enough for them. There was competition and conflict during the process, but that was unsurprising. ¡°What should we do?¡± ¡°Auction it off. Tell them we¡¯ll sell it to the highest bidder.¡± ¡°Then how should we decide on the upper and lower limits? ¡°No limits.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± ¡®Watch the estate prices skyrocket.¡¯ Since ancient times, the ancestors had said that real wealth came from being rich in land. Stocks and cash were nice, but nothing lasted as long as land. Since the Heins Territory had a good and central location, by the time they could no longer harvest moon grass, this place would have developed into a huge city or transport hub. Davey wasn¡¯t just going to let this opportunity go to waste. His decision could¡¯ve raised some complaints, but there wasn¡¯t anything major, as these people were pretty wealthy. Afterward, Davey declared that he had recovered and began working. He knew that people were waiting to participate in the moon grass auction, so he announced a condition: a large amount would be sold to the highest bidder, but a certain amount would be set aside and sold evenly to everyone else. Right now, allowing one place to monopolize the moon grass would be a foolish decision; he had no reason to become dependent on one place. Davey couldn¡¯t help but put on a great big smile, because everything was going according to plan. -You should really try to keep a poker face. ¡°You have to smile when you¡¯re in a good mood.¡± As Davey¡¯s smile grew wider and wider, Perserque sighed. Then, she grabbed his lips and pulled them down. -I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever get used to your evil smile. ¡°Then don¡¯t look at it.¡± -Groan¡­ You really want to make me the bad guy here? Perserque puffed up her cheeks and pouted. When Davey ignored her as she beat him with her little arms, her frown only deepened. 21. Retrieval of the Sword All the wizard towers and schools of alchemy throughout the continent were a part of their respective countries, but they acted autonomously, as if they were an independent organization. There was Redria, the Red Tower, which studied fire magic, Coloned, the Blue Tower, which studied water magic, Bariod, the Green Tower, which studied wind, and Luminiad, the Grey Tower, which studied nature magic. The colors were associated with other aspects, but in this case, each color was somewhat related to each tower¡¯s field of study. Hellison, the Master of Redria, silently gazed at the young mage who was in front of him. The young mage was Class 5 Yulis, the genius of the Red Tower. He had reached the astonishing level of the 5th circle at the age of 28 and was also Hellison¡¯s student. ¡°Teacher, did you hear?¡± Yulis asked. Hellison sipped his tea with a gentle expression. ¡°Hear what?¡± ¡°The story about the prince from a small country called the Rowane Kingdom. I heard that he went down to a boondock and successfully cultivated moon grass.¡± ¡°Yes, I did hear about that.¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we engage as well? From what I hear, it seems to be of better quality than the ones imported from the west.¡± ¡°It has to be, since the west has no reason to export good quality leaves to the east.¡± As Hellison nodded while stroking his long, white beard, Yulis felt a little frustrated. And slightly frowned. He said, ¡°That¡¯s why I am telling you this news. I hear that they are selling it at the onsite auction price. Other wizard towers are already discussing how much they should invest in it.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°Maybe if we set up a division of the Red Tower there¡­¡± As Hellison heard Yulis¡¯ worried voice, he chuckled. ¡°Haha, that makes sense. Moon grass leaves are highly valuable.¡± ¡°Then¡­¡± ¡°You take care of it.¡± ¡°M¡ªMe?¡± ¡°Is that a problem?¡± Yulis felt something from Hellison¡¯s puzzled gaze. Feeling put on the spot, Yulis glanced at Hellison. ¡°That is¡­¡± ¡°What¡¯s stopping you? You are now an elder of the Red Tower. You know, you are too cautious about everything.¡± Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original. ¡°Ye¡­ Yes, sir! I will do my best. I will not disappoint you.¡± Yulis, who was staying silent as if he had a lot on his mind, quickly bowed toward Hellison. ¡°It¡¯s okay if you don¡¯t succeed. The bold prince of the Rowane Kingdom has sparked competition in the continent.¡± ¡°It is surprising that he was successful in harvesting moon grass leaves, but Teacher¡­¡± ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°Why do you think he is choosing to do an onsite auction? It¡¯s like¡­¡± ¡°Like depreciating his value?¡± Hellison asked. ¡°Yes. It might be expensive to invest in the distribution process, but it would be much more profitable if he sold the moon grass leaves himself. And selling them off like it¡¯s a rummage sale¡­¡± ¡°Like a rummage sale?¡± Hellison tilted his head in curiosity. ¡°It feels like it¡¯s actually depreciating the product¡¯s value. In fact, he could sell it at a much higher price, since the quality is that much better than the western imports.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Hellison agreed. ¡°But selling it onsite has limitations. It might sell at a high price at first¡­ But if there is no set price, it could be sold for much less than the west, if the bidders decide to fix the price.¡± That was true. The price might skyrocket and be really high at first, but after a certain quantity was secured, the price was bound to go down. This was the reason why the west continent distributed the moon grass leaves rather than selling them in an onsite auction. ¡°Chuckle. I think that boy, the First Prince of the Rowane Kingdom, is pretty clever.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± As Yulis looked over in confusion, Hellison laughed. ¡°You said the Heins Territory, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°How many residents are in that territory?¡± ¡°About 200¡­ Oh!¡± Yulis suddenly widened his eyes in realization. ¡°It can only be bought at that territory because it is an onside auction. It is an opportunity to save a lot of investment funds and grow the territory. Not only that, but aside from ours, many wizard towers, schools of alchemy, and merchant companies will set up divisions there to secure the product. Now, let me ask you: is there a city in the Rowane Kingdom with that many large organizations?¡± When Yulis¡¯ jaw dropped at Hellison¡¯s question, Hellison continued, ¡°No, there isn¡¯t. In fact, it¡¯s difficult to see that kind of thing anywhere. As those large organizations start gathering in one place, a commercial district will naturally form. Since transportation is the territory¡¯s only advantage, it¡¯s a perfect fit.¡± ¡°Amazing¡­ But if the merchants resell the product¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s why they are not increasing the quantity.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t expect a 17-year-old boy to think so far ahead. Not only that, the territory, which is seriously poor, needs more money to develop the land now that it¡¯s raining.¡± ¡°Wow¡­¡± ¡°He is bringing in a huge amount of money right now, and he¡¯s even planned ahead. And one more thing.¡± With his jaw still hanging, Yulis looked at Hellison. ¡°There¡¯s more?¡± ¡°That prince is acting like he has nothing to lose even if something were to go wrong. He has basically declared that the harvest of moon grass is just the beginning.¡± ¡°Then¡­ Is he saying that he¡¯s got other things to show?¡± ¡°Seems that way. I suspect the people who have an eye for finances have already noticed, since even I can tell. Even if this was false, he doesn¡¯t suffer any losses.¡± ¡°It¡¯s surprising¡­ Really¡­¡± As if his initial doubts had gone out the window, Yulis nodded in astonishment. He couldn¡¯t believe that everything was so thought out. He wondered if this was really planned out by a boy in his teens. Although royalty received advanced education, he knew that this was a dangerous and bold way of operating the estate, even for professional managers of territories. ¡°Now do you know what kind of relationship you must maintain with the boy?¡± ¡°Yes. Aside from anything, I would really like to have a conversation with him.¡± ¡°Well, then set up a meeting. I want to meet that courageous and wise boy once.¡± At Hellison¡¯s comment, Yulis¡¯ eyes widened in surprise. CH 50 Hellison, the Master of the Red Tower and a 7th circle archmage, was the big hitter who did not easily show his face, even when the emperor asked for him. He was acknowledged and respected by the other unfriendly wizard towers because he was one of the greatest mages in the continent. Yet, he took an interest in Davey. Davey was the prince of a kingdom, but this was still astonishing. ¡°Perhaps it might be good for our Red Tower¡¯s future to maintain a friendly relationship with him.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be on my way!¡± Yulis hastily stood up with a somewhat excited expression, then he bowed to Hellison and hurried out. Hellison laughed. Someone as advanced as Yulis was bound to become arrogant, but he was the only student of his who was still kind-hearted and cautious. Then, Hellison stopped smiling and squinted. ¡®Sage, is it possible for a teenage boy, who seemingly has no mana, to slash a high-ranking vampire in one strike? He even used Caldeiras without a contract.¡¯ Hellison remembered a question from a girl who had visited him not too long ago. She was also a fierce girl who had Hellison as her advisor. He told her that anything could have happened at that time, but¡­he didn¡¯t think that was possible either. Hellison knew best that high-ranking vampires were very powerful. In addition to that, someone who wasn¡¯t contracted with the divine sword, had woken up Caldeiras, which even the original contractor wasn¡¯t able to wake. ¡°It is impossible, unless they are the student of the Sword Lord who inherited everything about him, or the Sword Lord himself.¡± Since she wasn¡¯t the kind of girl to make up a story about vampires, Hellison believed her story to be true. If he were to ask those who were training in swordsmanship, most of them would simply shake their heads and say that it was impossible, but¡­ ¡°There must be a reason why these eccentric people are beginning to show up in the world¡­¡± Hellison was mistaken. * * * ¡°All the empty sections of the residential area have been sold.¡± Since there were only a small number of residents in this vast territory, most of the land was empty. The land that had been given up and had no ownership were all returned to the seigneur, Davey still had land left over. ¡°How much did we bring in?¡± ¡°We will get the exact number once we sign the contracts, but the fierce competition to get good land made it as expensive as the capital city¡¯s downtown area.¡± As Davey heard Royal Attendant Bernile¡¯s report, he nodded in satisfaction and cackled. ¡°Whoo! Nice!¡± Bernile¡¯s expression grew cold. ¡°Your Highness, even if we are not in the royal palace¡­¡± ¡°Okay. Can¡¯t a person laugh?¡± ¡°You take this old man¡¯s advice too lightly.¡± Bernile sighed deeply. As Royal Attendant Bernile was related to Sir Bespard, the Royal Attendant of the entire royal palace, he also had a meticulous and strict personality. And that was actually why Davey trusted him. Since Davey had left behind most of the servants hired by Queen Lynesse, most of the servants here were quite friendly. ¡°How is Amy doing in her studies?¡± Davey asked Bernile. ¡°She is such an intelligent girl. It is rare for a baron¡¯s child to be this witty and open-minded, even if she is nobility.¡± Women¡¯s rights weren¡¯t completely in the gutter here like the olden days. However, since it was still very much a patriarchal society, women seldom received education as compared to men. Women also preferred studies that related to being a wife, rather than demanding subjects like sociology or politics. And even so, Amy had the wit and judgment that even properly educated children of nobility didn¡¯t possess. ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s quite entertaining. It feels like I¡¯m teaching my granddaughter.¡± Although he was the one who told Davey not to laugh, Bernile chuckled for the first time. ¡®From what I can see, it seems like he¡¯s just watching his granddaughter¡¯s cute tricks rather than teaching her.¡¯ ¡°You know, Amy is about to die from the amount of work.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s because you overwork her, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Do you know how to joke?¡± Feeling a little uncomfortable, Bernile cleared his throat and stepped back. ¡°Ahem!¡± ¡°I¡¯m kidding.¡± ¡°To be honest, I don¡¯t feel like I have the right to act all serious in front of you, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Just a feeling.¡± Davey didn¡¯t ask what Bernile felt; Bernile didn¡¯t look at him like he was a child whom he had to teach. ¡®I guess this is a side effect.¡¯ ¡°Should we proceed with the auction of the moon grass leaves, according to the manual?¡± ¡°Could you please take care of it yourself? I think you should be able to gain the most profits from it without a problem. Anyway, I saw that the palace sent a letter.¡± Royal Attendant Bernile nodded at Davey. ¡°It seems like you already have an idea of what it¡¯s about.¡± ¡°How could I not? Since they are fighting and locking horns with Marquis Peiltris, they probably needed time to take a breather.¡± It was obvious what they would do and what demands they would make, but Davey didn¡¯t have a good enough excuse to deny them. He said, ¡°What can we do? Let¡¯s stop by. Please take care of most of the auction and the sales process until I come back. I don¡¯t know if Amy can handle this yet.¡± ¡°Leave it to me.¡± Davey usually wouldn¡¯t leave such a task to someone else, but he didn¡¯t have a problem with leaving things to Bernile. Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. As Davey silently opened the envelope with a letter opener, he saw a neatly written letter on old-fashioned parchment. The contents of the letter were simple: it praised him for his new unprecedented achievements in the eastern region and asked him to come to the palace for a while, so that they could pay tribute to his hard work and great accomplishments. They told him to come as soon as he received the royal letter. Although their apparent purpose was to celebrate him, there were probably hidden intentions and thoughts. Davey wasn¡¯t all too surprised, as the contents were obvious and predictable. ¡°They kicked me out and now they¡¯re asking me to come back. Ordering me to come and go¡­ They¡¯re not going to be here for long¡­¡± Royal Attendant Bernile looked surprised as Davey threw the letter into the fireplace in exasperation, but he soon put on a calm expression and sighed. ¡°Your Highness.¡± ¡°I know.¡± Bernile said nothing more; perhaps it was because he felt Davey fuming with irritation. ¡°It¡¯s funny. They¡¯re not even the king, and yet they shamelessly send the seal as if they were.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Davey smiled as he tapped the wooden desk with his fingers. ¡®I wonder if the dungeon that Surtr mentioned is located on the road to the palace.¡¯ Davey remembered that Surtr¡¯s homeland was near here. It probably wasn¡¯t called the Rowane Kingdom then, but it was still the same land. -Surtr? Are you talking about Surtr? Perserque looked up at Davey in surprise after reading his thoughts. Surtr, the thousand-day blacksmith, was Sword Lord Ares¡¯ friend and aide. As such, he was familiar to Perserque, who was Ares¡¯ foster daughter. Above anything else, he was the craftsman who made the sword that killed her. ¡®That grandpop¡¯s legacy is still lying dormant around here. I¡¯ll do him the favor; I need a new weapon anyways.¡¯ -Hm¡­ The final works of the blacksmith who crafted the divine sword¡­ I¡¯m curious. Even as she expressed interest in his works, Perserque¡¯s expression turned somewhat bitter, as if she was reminded of a bad memory. ¡°I have to go somewhere for a little bit. Tell the stable keeper to prepare a horse that can run for a long time.¡± Upon his request to Royal Attendant Bernile, Davey looked worried at what he was planning to do. After all, his actions after arriving here had been beyond reasonable bounds. If his plans were revealed, it was clear that it would cause a big fuss. * * * The bloody¡­ No, the fierce auction went as expected. ¡°All ten thousand moon grass leaves up for auction were all sold. The highest bidder was the Alioui Merchant Company, who offered 150 gold for each case.¡± It was 100 gold for four low-quality moon grass leaves imported from the west continent, and 150 gold for the leaves from the Heins Territory. ¡°So, how many were sold?¡± ¡°With their priority access, the Alioui Merchant Company bought five thousand leaves.¡± It was huge. It must have been a pretty hefty sum for them, even if they were a major company that traveled all around the continent. ¡®Or not.¡¯ ¡°And the rest?¡± ¡°The rest were sold to the remaining organizations at 130 gold each. Each organization was sold between five hundred to a thousand leaves.¡± Five thousand leaves were sold at 150 gold each, and the other five thousand at 130 gold each. It seemed like the Alioui Merchant Company was suffering a huge loss, but securing the product was much more important than the price being paid. That was why all the organizations had competed so fiercely. The sale was successful¡ªno, it was a huge success. Davey had brought in 350 thousand gold, equivalent to seven thousand platinum coins. One hundred thousand more gold had been earned than the amount calculated with the market price of the low-quality leaves from the west continent. The annual funds allocated for the royal palace¡¯s management was about one hundred thousand gold. With other sources of procuring funds, a total of 150 thousand to 200 thousand gold were collected before being entirely used up. ¡®But what if it was three hundred fifty thousand gold in four months?¡¯ The cultivation of moon grass took about three to four months, and it could be harvested all year round since the ground conditions here were stable. If it took four months to harvest it, the annual income of the Heins Territory would be about a million and fifty thousand gold. ¡°Gasp¡­ Wheeze¡­¡± ¡°What are you so surprised about?¡± Amy¡¯s breath seemed to stop when she checked the total profits. Even if the income was to drop to less than one hundred thousand gold, their business was undoubtedly a huge success. To be frank, it was impossible for almost any territory in this kingdom to earn this much money. ¡°We have drafted an invoice for the organizations that cannot transfer the funds right away.¡± ¡°Only allow that for the places I checked off on. Credit is the most important thing. It¡¯s going to be a problem if they try to abuse that.¡± Most of these people were willing to pay double the price to obtain the moon grass leaves, which were a scarce resource. Moon grass was extremely vital, and also very low in supply. The price could go down from the current one, but it would always remain more expensive than the leaves from the western continent. Since there was a clear difference in quality, Davey couldn¡¯t just sell it at a bargain price. He was clearly a prepared philanthropist. ¡®A sponsoring organization also requires money.¡¯ -Do you intend to make a sponsoring organization? ¡®It¡¯s a promise. Well, I had forgotten about it since it was made such a long time ago, but it¡¯s not a bad idea when I have the means to.¡¯ It was the condition for learning holy magic and curse-cracking magic from Saintess Daphne. Since there was no deadline to the condition, Davey had just kept it at the back of his mind. CH 51 ¡°But Your Highness, wasn¡¯t this success closer to a coincidence? This territory has fluctuating climate conditions and four distinct seasons; there is no way the territory is going to stay warm all year-round¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that and keep going. And we are not going to expand for the time being. I will cultivate a different land and give it to you as farmland.¡± ¡°Pardon? Oh¡­ Yes, sir!¡± Amy and the others nodded. They said nothing more at Davey¡¯s orders. ¡®Becoming greedy isn¡¯t a good thing.¡¯ Davey knew that the balance between supply and demand was important. ¡°Monmider, discuss with Royal Attendant Bernile and fix some of the buildings in the territory. Just repair them so that they are usable. We will do major reforms once I¡¯m back.¡± ¡°As you wish.¡± ¡°Since I can¡¯t ignore the summon from the royal palace, let¡¯s go.¡± Davey immediately rose from his desk and tied his travel pouch around his waist. ¡°Who would you like to bring with you, Your Highness?¡± Royal Attendant Bernile asked Davey. ¡°I¡¯m going alone.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± Bernile was about to respond to Davey¡¯s ridiculous response before staying silent. This was an odd situation, but there wasn¡¯t anything that he could do. * * * Davey thought back to the memories Surtr, the thousand-day blacksmith, left him. He knew Surtr¡¯s dungeon was definitely located somewhere between the Heins Territory and the capital. However, it couldn¡¯t be pinpointed exactly since Surtr lived thousands of years ago. Ten years was an epoch; there was no way of knowing whether his legacy was still remaining thousands of years later. It wouldn¡¯t be strange if someone had already robbed the ancient ruins and had taken everything. Even the most extraordinary seals were bound to weaken over time. ¡®An example of a weakened seal is right in front of my eyes.¡¯ -You. You¡¯re looking at me with a weird gaze. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Hm¡­¡± Feeling a little discomfort from Davey¡¯s gaze, Perserque squinted and glared at him. -You didn¡¯t think of anything weird, did you? ¡®I see you as the living proof of the broken seal.¡¯ ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± -¡­¡­ Perserque kept looking at Davey with distrust, but he just chuckled and looked around. He commented, ¡°We¡¯re here. -Isn¡¯t this Valhalashad? ¡°It is.¡± Davey had stopped at Valhalashad before going to the palace. It was pretty famous in the continent, being one of the few tourist destinations of the Rowane Kingdom. The territory was also meticulously researched and conserved by the Continental Union. And¡­it was the family home of Queen Lynesse, Davey¡¯s enemy. The territory was under the jurisdiction of Duke Bariatta. -You probably aren¡¯t too fond of this place. ¡°I guess the nobility were pretty shaken up. The atmosphere does feel quite serious.¡± No one recognized Davey, because he was visiting under the guise of a mercenary. The situation would be completely different if the nobles recognized him, but there wasn¡¯t anyone. As a result, he could sense just how grave the entire territory¡¯s atmosphere was upon entering. ¡°ID.¡± ¡°Here it is.¡± ¡°Hm¡­ Davey.¡± He was Davey, the Class F free mercenary. This was the identity he had prepared to come here. It was the same name, but it wasn¡¯t like this name was exclusive to him as the First Prince. The royal guard glared at Davey without a word, then glanced at his class. He was Class F, the class given to newbie mercenaries. As he read the class, he smirked slightly. ¡°Ha! No. Go back.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It seems like you are here to explore the newly discovered labyrinth. Don¡¯t even think about exploring this area. Get lost!¡± The royal guard roughly shoved Davey and shouted. Surprisingly, no one thought that the guard¡¯s actions were strange; it was as if this was a normal occurrence. Feeling rather annoyed, Davey scoffed at the absurd situation. ¡°Ha. What is this?¡± The royal guard just leered at Davey and shouted. He was seemingly done with Davey. ¡°Next!¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡®Even if this is the land of Duke Bariatta¡­¡¯ Davey knew the kingdom was crumbling to the point where serious reformation was needed because of how strong the nobility¡¯s influence was, but it was far worse than he had thought. ¡°Excuse me.¡± As Davey vacantly stared at the palace gate, an elderly man approached him and said, ¡°Did you come from far away?¡± ¡°Well, yeah.¡± ¡°Tsk tsk. You don¡¯t know yet.¡± ¡°Is there a problem in the territory?¡± ¡°No, not really.¡± The elderly man sighed and shook his head. ¡°Look at that.¡± As Davey glanced over to where the elderly man said¡­ -That¡¯s crooked. Davey could see the people going past the gates handing the guards money, as if they were paying a toll fee. It wasn¡¯t a huge amount, but it was definitely against the law. It had been a while since the law related to toll fees was amended. As he just silently watched the guards, the elderly man patted Davey on the shoulder and gave him a small pouch from his pocket. ¡°Ha¡­ You are terrifyingly emotionless.¡± The elderly man clicked his tongue. ¡°Well, what can you do? Give them this and go in.¡± ¡°Mister?¡± ¡°It might be a little less than what they want, but they¡¯ll still let you in. Don¡¯t get beat trying to fight them and just take it.¡± Davey currently had a fake identity as a commoner; if he were to enter as the prince, Duke Bariatta would keep an eye on him. He wanted to just take care of it without attracting any attention, but he thought this was utter nonsense. ¡°Why the money¡­?¡± Davey asked. ¡°Haha. It¡¯s just because you remind me of my grandson back home. Don¡¯t cause a problem and just take it.¡± The elderly man wasn¡¯t lying, since his sincerity could be seen by [Check Information], which Davey had used almost reflexively. As much as he felt gratitude, Davey felt a strong anger consume him. ¡®Wow, this¡­¡¯ -Do as you please. Davey could hear Perserque¡¯s devil-like whispers. Well, it really was a devilish whisper because she was a demon. Either way, Davey gladly accepted her proposal. -Yes, the person I am contracted to is someone who cuts to the chase. Ignoring Perserque¡¯s whispering, Davey gave the pouch of money back to the elderly man. He said, ¡°Thank you for your kindness, but keep this money and buy your grandson a present or something.¡± The elderly man was confused. ¡°You¡­?¡± Search bit.ly/3iBfjkV for the original. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be needing it.¡± Davey slowly stood up. Then, he dusted off the dirt on his body and walked over to the guards. ¡°Hm? You¡¯re still here?¡± As Davey stood in front of him, the royal guard put his hand out with an irritated expression. ¡°Give it.¡± He was asking Davey for the toll fee. It looked like second nature to him. ¡°Unless they are from another nation or a large party moving for trade, a toll fee is not accepted.¡± ¡°What?¡± The royal guard slightly frowned at Davey, who simply continued saying, ¡°Accepting a toll fee from an individual is a violation of the law and is strictly controlled by the national law.¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ What is this ass saying?¡± As the royal guard began laughing at Davey, the others who stood nearby began laughing as well. It made sense for them to laugh because all they saw was a newbie mercenary acting all serious and talking nonsense. ¡°So.¡± The guard standing in front of Davey threatened, ¡°What do you want us to do? Should we have a funeral right he¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m warning you before I take care of this by the law. Return all the money you have collected so far and plead guilty. If you do, I¡¯ll take that into consideration.¡± Davey used intimidation. He sounded like he was in a play, but it didn¡¯t matter. None of that mattered since this was just like the [Miranda Warning]. ¡®It¡¯s just that famous, ¡°You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to an attorney¡­¡± thing that detectives say.¡¯ ¡°Hahahahaha!!¡± ¡°This guy! Hahaha!¡± The guards all burst into laughter. At the same time, those who realized that something was wrong began panicking. Among them, the elderly man who had tried to help Davey looked as pale as a ghost since Davey could be struck by the guards¡¯ swords at any given moment. Shing!! And, as the others expected, one of the guards pulled out their sword and held it at Davey¡¯s throat. ¡°Hey, newbie. Why don¡¯t you mind your own business? You think you dying will change anything?¡± ¡°You have no intention of abiding by the law?¡± Davey asked. ¡°Ha! We are the law here! And in this territory, Duke Bariatta is the law!¡± The guards shouted shamelessly. ¡®That¡¯s enough for me.¡¯ ¡°Yeah, I thought so.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You asshole!¡± The surroundings suddenly became rowdy as the guards, ticked off by Davey¡¯s comment, raised their voice. The elderly man quickly tried to step up and ease the situation, but Davey reached out his hand and acted first; he didn¡¯t want to complicate things by letting the elderly man get involved. Whack! As soon as the guard finished his sentence, Davey forcefully hit the hand of the guard who was holding a sword. The guard lost his grip on the sword, which Davey quickly seized. ¡®This sword¡¯s center of gravity is really off. The material is absolutely awful.¡¯ Davey¡¯s actions were impossible without a certain amount of technique or strength, but he had the strength to pull someone¡¯s head and body apart with his bare hands. ¡®Swordmasters¡¯ were said to be non-human for a reason. ¡°Huh?¡± Slice!!! As soon as Davey caught the longsword with the worst grip he had ever felt, a blaze of white light flashed and something circular cut through the air. The action wasn¡¯t fast because Davey swung the heavy blade without bringing out [Aura] or [Aura Blade], but that alone was already fast enough for regular people to miss it. Everyone suddenly fell silent. After staring at the circular object that fell on the ground, Davey glanced over at the other guards and declared, ¡°The crime of forcibly collecting a harsh fee on the subjects of the kingdom is directly related to the embezzlement of kingdom funds, and the punishment is an immediate beheading. This responsibility falls on those who condoned the situation and on everyone who knew about it.¡± The guards¡¯ trial would be under the jurisdiction of Duke Bariatta, to be exact, but l¨¨se-majest¨¦ was already unfairly established. Even if it wasn¡¯t, Davey wasn¡¯t one to care. Rather, all he wanted to do was see the face of the nobility under Duke Bariatta who was managing the territory on behalf of him. ¡°These commoners are already having a hard time, and you guys, who receive a stipend as the employees of this kingdom, do this kind of shit?¡± As Davey spoke, the atmosphere of the palace gate at Valhalashad Territory grew cold. Davey then demanded fiercely, ¡°Get me the administrator of the territory, you worthless assholes.¡± CH 52 22. Retrieval of the Sword. (2) All things certainly had cause and effect, and everything happened when the rights and wrongs were established. However, if a crime was caught at the scene, that was undeniably grounds for immediate execution. Of course, that was limited to the person who had the right to act this way; since most of these guards were Duke Bariatta¡¯s personal guards, only he had the right to punish them. However, that wasn¡¯t to say that Davey was at a rank where he couldn¡¯t slash them. ¡°Hup¡­¡± Everyone fell into a deadly silence. Thump¡­ As something round and black went up in the air before falling onto the ground, everyone¡¯s gaze was slowly drawn to the object. They soon realized it wasn¡¯t a round object at all. ¡°Huh¡­ Huh? Ackkkk!!!!¡± As the guard realized what the ¡®round object¡¯ was, he collapsed onto the ground and screamed. At the same time, hot red blood began spewing everywhere like a fountain. ¡°You¡­ You lunatic!¡± ¡°Surround him!¡± The guards commanded. ¡°It was expected, but¡­¡± Davey murmured quietly and shook off the blood from his sword. In this world, it sometimes seemed like a human life was less important than a fly¡¯s. At least on Earth, or in South Korea, murder was considered a very heinous crime to the public. However, someone could die from just ruffling the feathers of a nobility, and war was rampant in the continent not too long ago. War had only been eradicated in the last fifty years to some extent as the Continental Union emerged. And it was obvious how long that would last. ¡°How dare you?!¡± As the guards aimed their weapons and charged at Davey, the situation began to worsen. Davey wondered if the guards knew that they were trying to attack the First Prince of this kingdom and that their actions amounted to treason, a grave offense that could destroy their three future generations. Of course, this happened because he didn¡¯t provide proper identification, but their crime had already been proved from the moment they tried to kill the person rebelling against them to hide their disgrace. ¡®Duke Bariatta won¡¯t even care about this little territory.¡¯ The Valhalashad Territory was just one of Duke Bariatta¡¯s territory. He wasn¡¯t someone to care about this, since he had now become involved in a political fight with Marquis Peiltris. As Davey dodged the swift blade coming at him, the guards persistently charged at him and swung their weapons. The other people ran away. They were shocked at the sudden sword fight and disruption, leaving only Davey and the hostile guards in the vicinity. ¡°The first virtue that a kingdom¡¯s nobles must learn is the protection of their kingdom¡¯s subjects.¡± Davey calmly spoke as he deflected the sharp blade coming at him. ¡°What nonsense!¡± ¡°Die!!¡± One of the guards cut Davey off and charged toward him, swinging a halberd. However, his halberd went up in the air before it could even reach Davey. Slice! The guard¡¯s hand, which gripped the halberd, was easily cut off. After swinging his weapon, he suddenly realized that something was missing and he flinched. When he finally noticed that his hand was missing, he went pale and screamed. ¡°Ah¡­ Aaaackkk!!!¡± The guard¡¯s hand gruesomely rolled across the ground. Davey trampled the panicking guard who lost his hand, then pointed his sword at the guard¡¯s neck while releasing his killing aura. ¡°Next, it¡¯ll be your neck. Don¡¯t make me say it twice; get me the administrator of the estate.¡± Everyone silently shuddered in terror. The guards probably felt like they had to immediately attack Davey to take him down, but they feared the possibility of losing a limb like the guard who had been trampled to the ground. A few of the guards stared at Davey in confusion since the blow he just landed wasn¡¯t that of a Class F newbie mercenary. Davey had ignored the attacks of a trained and armored knight, precisely cutting off their hands and feet at the speed of light; however, he was only a Class F mercenary, the symbol of a newbie. Realizing that something wasn¡¯t right, the guards stiffened up. ¡°Hey.¡± Davey spoke to the last guard while pointing his sword at him. ¡°Shriek!!¡± The guard instinctively stepped back, horrified. ¡°Are you going to make me say it twice?¡± ¡°Th¡­ That is¡­¡± ¡°Who is the one causing a ruckus here?!¡± This was exactly a ¡®speak of the devil¡¯ situation. The guards all turned to the fat man, who was proudly stroking his strangely twirled mustache, and bowed their heads. Well, except for the ones who were screaming on the floor. The rest of the guards shouted, ¡°Viscount Guerta!¡± ¡°What is all this noise?¡± Viscount Guerta looked around with an arrogant expression, as if he didn¡¯t care about Davey¡¯s existence. As he looked at the guards on the floor and Davey holding a bloody sword, he squinted and silently looked Davey up and down. Viscount Guerta asked, ¡°Is this your doing?¡± Davey calmly nodded. ¡°Right¡­ It is you¡­¡± Viscount Guerta murmured as if in thought, then turned his head like this was trivial. He ordered the guards, ¡°What are you all doing? Your opponent is a lunatic. Kill him.¡± ¡°Sir, how¡­ However! He¡¯s danger¡­!¡± ¡°Ahem! You dare to not listen to me?¡± The guards looked helpless at Viscount Guerta¡¯s words and pointed their weapons at Davey again. It seemed like things were going to get complicated if Davey let things go on. ¡®It all comes down to social status.¡¯ Davey pulled out an object from his chest and lightly threw it at the viscount. ¡°Hm? What is¡­¡± Viscount Guerta naturally became speechless. He seemingly couldn¡¯t believe his eyes for a second, then his face expressed his shock. He was looking at a mithril ID card that represented high-ranking nobility or royalty status. Even if Davey was an overlooked prince, it didn¡¯t change the fact that he was still a prince of this kingdom. ¡°As I said before, the nobility¡¯s responsibility is to protect the kingdom¡¯s subjects.¡± Viscount Guerta glanced at Davey in disbelief. ¡®Well, it¡¯s definitely a territory pretty far out in the countryside for royalty to come visit.¡¯ ¡°Th¡ªThis is¡­¡± ¡°How could such a noble try to commit a crime and enjoy the privileges without taking responsibility?¡± As Davey stared at Viscount Guerta, who was deep in thought, he could almost read the viscount¡¯s thoughts. ¡°Think wisely. Don¡¯t try to do something because my escorting knight isn¡¯t here.¡± ¡°Hup!¡± Viscount Guerta opened his eyes wide and trembled, as if Davey had hit the nail on the head. Most high-ranking nobility or inspection officers didn¡¯t come here often. This was the territory of Duke Bariatta; they were able to shamelessly commit these acts because it was his. Viscount Guerta evaded Davey¡¯s glance as if in contemplation, then kneeled in front of Davey and shouted, ¡°I am in the presence of Prince Davey! M¡ªMy name is Viscount Guerta!¡± ¡°Well, at least you recognize me.¡± Viscount Guerta bowed his head and trembled as he heard Davey. ¡°Pl¡­ Please have mercy¡­ Because the territory was in such bad shape¡­¡± Viscount Guerta made excuses that obviously wouldn¡¯t work, because everyone knew that the historic site of the thousand-day blacksmith was a tourist attraction and a designated national treasure by the Continental Union. For this reason, the Continental Union was sending a considerable amount of money to this territory as administrative fees. ¡°And you¡¯re saying you don¡¯t have money?¡± Viscount Guerta trembled. He probably thought that it was nonsense, too. He began thinking hard, then even shouted at Davey, ¡°Th¡­ This is unjust! A disguise! In no kingdom can royalty come to a territory like this and punish someone!¡± It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°What kind of bullshit is that? There¡¯s no place in the kingdom that royalty can¡¯t go to.¡± Davey dragged his sword on the ground. ¡°Since you don¡¯t have the proper documents, this is tyranny!!¡± ¡°So. You want official documents?¡± Trusting that Duke Bariatta was watching his back, Viscount Guerta recklessly pushed back against Davey. ¡°Th¡­ That¡¯s right. Duke Bariatta will not just take this lying down!¡± Well, this was definitely something an inspections officer would overlook in fear of the consequences, since most of the territories were probably openly violating the law. In fact, as Davey was staying quiet, Viscount Guerta smiled victoriously, thinking that the prince had faltered at Duke Bariatta¡¯s name. He declared, ¡°We¡­ We can take care of this. I will not disappoint you¡­¡± ¡°Viscount, however¡­¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Does a crime disappear because there are no official documents?¡± ¡°What do you¡­¡± Slice! Those were Viscount Guerta¡¯s last words. -Those are some brief last words. Even Perserque, who believed that life should be treasured, seemed like she had nothing more to say. ¡®You think the Duke Bariatta, the one who holds the most power in the kingdom, is going to watch your back? He¡¯s too busy taking care of himself.¡¯ The decapitated body went limp and collapsed onto the ground. ¡°It¡¯s absolute bullshit.¡± Davey couldn¡¯t help but swear. As he did, he heard gasps from his surroundings. He clicked his tongue. ¡°What are you doing? This is a criminal¡¯s corpse. Clean it up.¡± ¡°Hup!¡± Davey could display Viscount Guerta¡¯s head on a gibbet. The exploited residents of this territory would probably enjoy that, but unfortunately, this was a tourist destination. He didn¡¯t want to show his kingdom¡¯s disgrace to other countries. The guards silently and expressionlessly stared at Davey¡¯s back. * * * -Viscount Guerta¡¯s crimes are clear, but the people under him aren¡¯t totally innocent, either. ¡°Any more than this, and I¡¯m overstepping.¡± Too much interference could actually create a difficult situation, so Davey simply added, ¡°Duke Bariatta will take care of the rest of these nasty guys on his own.¡± Duke Bariatta was probably in no position to leave even a hint of something that could cause trouble. Therefore, once he realized that Davey had done something like this here, he would hunt down everyone involved and cut off their heads to cover up the evidence. The guards, who were vacantly staring at Davey, would eventually be linked together like sausages and be harshly punished, since they were in cahoots with Viscount Guerta. Davey had no reason to have more blood on his hands. The inside of the territory peacefully carried on without any knowledge of what had happened outside. CH 53 -I see that this is the ancient ruin of Surtr¡­ But hasn¡¯t everything already been discovered? ¡°It looks like everything was dug up, but¡­¡± Surtr had said that he had left something that Davey would surely recognize. It was probably because the detector and key to the secret dungeon was part of Surtr¡¯s teachings. The problem was that Davey could not see any traces of Surtr, no matter how hard he looked. -Hm¡­ I don¡¯t know if I should say this, but¡­ Perserque was asking whether someone had already found it. However, Davey continued silently looking around the ancient ruins. Then, he climbed up to a place where he could look down on the entire ruin and squinted at the sight before him. -It¡¯s nice and quiet considering that it¡¯s a tourist attraction. It was quite a famous attraction, but there weren¡¯t many people here, since the tourism business wasn¡¯t very developed in this world. Davey could not feel anything, not even traces of Surtr¡¯s power. As the ruin became a difficult puzzle to solve, Davey couldn¡¯t help but frown. -The ancient ruin of the ¡®Thousand-day Blacksmith¡¯ is mostly made out of stone and a special metal, and that¡¯s the reason why it is still maintaining its shape. Perserque presented Davey with the little knowledge she had, but he didn¡¯t respond. Instead, Davey mumbled something, as if he was writing something in the air. If Surtr, who had never been sure of anything, had absolute confidence that Davey would be able to find it, then Davey could only think that the task was crazy difficult. And if Surtr had been who Davey thought he was, Surtr would have hidden it using this one method. ¡°Number 7 at number 1¡­ 11 at 23¡­¡± -What are you saying? ¡°A passcode,¡± Davey mumbled and chuckled. ¡°Got it.¡± Confused by Davey¡¯s confidence, Perserque tilted her head. If it was hidden in such a manner, surely no one would find anything here but Davey. Davey came down and entered the ruins without hesitation. He climbed up to a place where he could see the entire workshop and put his hands on the anvil attached to the ground. The ancient ruins appeared to be Surtr¡¯s home and his shop. However, it was much bigger than ordinary workshops and it still contained traces of Surtr himself. It was now just a pile of rocks with no pillars or a ceiling, but his dungeon was still intact. ¡®How am I so sure? If this is the only way to enter, it¡¯s impossible for anyone else to find this place.¡¯ Davey looked around him, then he took his hand off the anvil and released his mana. He concentrated his mana on the tip of his finger before tapping the surface of the anvil, as if he was tapping a morse code. -How could you tell? ¡°The entire ruin is made of passcodes. You can see that it¡¯s made from a few codes if you look at it from up above.¡± Perserque gasped in shock when she understood what Davey said. The code of the ancient ruin was pointing to one thing: the entrance that was with the anvil in the center, and that a certain passcode was needed to enter. ¡®You said you would give me all of it if I were able to find it, and you hid the door with this kind of passcode?¡¯ Davey¡¯s seemingly meaningless actions carried on for a while. As Perserque silently watched him, her eyes widened slightly at the change. [Grrr¡­] As Davey heard a low-pitched growling of a beast, Perserque and himself disappeared with a flash of light. As if no one was ever there, the ancient ruins fell silent. * * * It was a space deep underground. It would be wrong to assume that this space was right beneath the surface of the ruin. -It¡¯s an underground dungeon. My, what a nasty way to enter. ¡°That¡¯s why he said that I could take all of it if I could get in. I heard that those were his last words, but they seem to have been long forgotten.¡± At that time, many people had probably racked their brains trying to take what Surtr had left behind. However, this place wouldn¡¯t have been left like this if they had been successful. ¡®I wonder how deep this underground space is.¡¯ -Surtr did put a lot of effort into this place; he created a magic circle that blocked the underground pressure and made it possible for air to be supplied here. The mages at the time must¡¯ve had a lot of trouble with this. ¡°How far down do you think we are?¡± -Well, there¡¯s no way to tell. From what I remember of the ¡®Thousand-day Blacksmith¡¯, it wouldn¡¯t be strange if we are about one hundred or two hundred meters deep right now. This was why this particular space hadn¡¯t been discovered for thousands of years; anyone could fulfill the conditions to find the entrance, but not everyone could enter. To enter, one needed the code that Surtr had created. In the past, there were probably a few people who had known about it, but now, Davey was the only person who had knowledge of it. Since no one would have known it near Surtr¡¯s death, this dungeon might have never been discovered if Davey hadn¡¯t met him. -It¡¯s more¡­like a living space rather than a dungeon¡­ Just as Perserque said, the structure of the underground dungeon looked like someone had lived here while hiding from the outside world. The space was quite large for one person, but as spacious as it was, it was filled with everyday things. And the only things that still had their shape were the ones that had a weak scent of mana on them. There was a dull anvil, a burnt-out furnace, some tools Surtr had used, as well as research journals and handwritten notes. Surtr had been a madman who had dedicated his entire life to being a blacksmith although he didn¡¯t act like that at the Hall of Heroes. ¡®Since even he admitted it, what more is there to say?¡¯ After finishing Caldeiras, the divine sword, Surtr had come to this place following Ares¡¯ death. He had spent the remainder of his life on one project before passing on. Although he had died on ground level, everything up to his death was still here. Davey slowly walked into a room, spotting a pile of books that seemed to have been written by Surtr himself. It contained his techniques, ones that no other blacksmith on the continent could mimic. Surtr was called the ¡®Thousand-day Blacksmith¡¯ by humans, but he was called the ¡®Devil''s Blacksmith¡¯ among the dwarves, which was the clan of talented craftsmen. It was a little cringe-worthy, but to them, it might have been a perfect name for him. He had great talent in forging regular swords, but had the exceptional technique of making something by incorporating mana. Ordinary craftsmen took pride in creating something by purely hammering metal, but there was a limit to doing that. Surtr had touched on mana to break that limit, eventually crafting effective weapons. Ultimately, what he had made was Caldeiras, the divine sword, which every craftsman on the continent wished to see at least once in their lifetime. Surtr had been the great blacksmith who had conquered both the conventional and deviant path, and that was why he was called the ¡®Devil''s Blacksmith¡¯. But despite him being compared to the devil, apparently, there were many who would gladly sell their souls to craft something with him just once. After all, he was the first human being to have made a great piece of armory called the divine sword; though it wasn¡¯t made by God, it was a legendary sword made by a human. There was no way to describe a sword that possessed an ego and Class 9 holy power other than divine. Humans called Surtr the ¡®Thousand-day Blacksmith¡¯ because he had crafted Caldeiras by hammering for a thousand days, but to the dwarves, he was the deviant blacksmith who had been able to incorporate the power of mana into it. And even so, they couldn¡¯t help but respect him. This was who Surtr had been. -There are traces of Surtr everywhere¡­ Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original. Perserque let out a small moan, as if she had remembered a painful memory. ¡®Is it yearning, or perhaps sadness?¡¯ Leaving Perserque behind, Davey quietly pulled out a book from the bookshelf and opened it. As he did, the faint scent of mana dispersed, and he saw the old pages. There was an ancient language, which was no longer used, written on the pages, but it was familiar to him. He quietly turned the pages and thought how important this book, which contained a record of Surtr¡¯s life from the first time he had held a hammer, was. [Preserve] Davey cast another preservation magic spell as the old one scattered from the book. He placed the book back and walked away. -You¡¯re not taking all of it? ¡°It¡¯s right to leave the remnants of Surtr here. I can come back when I need it.¡± ¡®While I¡¯m here, it might be nice to set up a transportation magic circle.¡¯ Keeping his silence, Davey looked around the workshop and fiddled with some of Surtr¡¯s tools. Then, he took the dull hammer that Surtr had used and went into a large chamber. -This¡­is like an altar. There were many types of rooms in the chamber: an office full of bookshelves, a bedroom, a kitchen made for dining, a food storage, and the last being an enormous altar-like room. ¡°Ugh, this cultist¡­¡± Perhaps it was an altar to worship the nonexistent God of Blacksmiths. As Davey walked in without a word, he could see a large safe on the altar boasting its dignity. It actually seemed like the safe was being worshiped rather than a god. Boom!! At the same time, Davey heard an evil, low-pitched growling. It was as if it had heard his footsteps. [Grrr¡­] -Someone¡¯s here. It seemed that Davey wasn¡¯t the only one who heard the beast. Intrigued, Perserque excitedly looked around, but Davey kept his focus on the safe. The sound was similar to what he had heard before coming in here. ¡®Was it just a sound or an echo of evil desires?¡¯ Whatever it was, the sound was coming from the safe. -It¡¯s the first time an evil desire has come to life this strongly. It had no life, but it growled as if a living thing was manifesting its will. Its desire was simple: caution. It seemed like the safe itself was alive, but even an idiot would see that the sound was coming from inside the safe. It was obvious that the object in the safe was the last work of Surtr. There should be a set of twin swords that Surtr did not finish, and that was what Davey was here for. The low growl warned Davey not to come any closer, but he unlocked the safe without hesitation. It could threaten him to try and keep him away, but it couldn¡¯t physically stop him. At last, the safe door opened on its own and he could see what exactly was within it. Caldeiras, the divine sword, was the best sword Surtr, the ¡®Thousand-day Blacksmith¡¯, had crafted in his lifetime. However, would that have changed if he had finished these two swords? Would it have been only one of the great swords, or maybe the second-best? Whatever it was, it was inevitable that there would be at least a slight difference in the quality between a sword made with responsibility and a sword made out of passion. CH 54 Whenever Surtr had gotten drunk, he had always said that he regretted not being able to finish the two swords. That had been his last work. -It looks finished to me¡­ ¡°No, it¡¯s not.¡± Davey calmly reached into the safe and squinted at the two swords, which were placed on top of an antique cloth which lined the bottom of the inside of the safe. These guys were probably the ones that warned him to not come any closer a little while ago. In fact, an evil desire of strong rejection flowed out when he touched the sword¡¯s surface, but perhaps because of the long period of time that had passed or because it wasn¡¯t finished, it couldn¡¯t push him away and just became silent. ¡°The finishing touches aren¡¯t done.¡± It was exactly as Davey had said. Surtr had imbued will in each of the two swords. ¡®A blacksmith who could make a soul enter a sword by creating a sword with a will. If craftsmen who had pride in their skills heard this, it would have put them all to shame.¡¯ Weirdly, the design of the twin swords looked similar to the ring pommel sword that Davey used to use. It was an enormous sword with a relatively unknown design in the Tionis continent, where long swords weren¡¯t very popular. These two swords didn¡¯t even have a properly constructed grip and looked like an incomplete blade made of iron, but Davey felt like he could see the power and Surtr¡¯s desires contained within the sword. [The Unnamed Red Sword that Cuts the Living] [The Unnamed Blue Sword that Cuts the Dead] That¡¯s what Surtr had called the two twin swords. They did not have a name, since he had been the type to only name a piece after he was finished with it. As a result, he hadn¡¯t been able to name them, and the swords probably spent thousands of years trapped inside this safe being nameless. Caldeiras was the best sword Surtr had made in his entire life, but he had confessed that he had crafted it for Ares while keeping his swordsmanship and physique in mind. However, these two swords were different; they were the only pieces of Surtr that were created solely for his own enjoyment. These were the only pieces of the genius craftsman, who had been able to make a weapon with ¡®Ego¡¯ by using his soul, that had been made for no one else but himself. They weren¡¯t crafted for one specific person, but were made so that they could find their master¡­ Perhaps it was a coincidence, but it was surprising that the two swords were a perfect fit for Davey. It was one of Surtr¡¯s best works; it had been crafted however he had wanted without anyone¡¯s influence. He had crafted numerous pieces of armor in the Hall of Heroes as well, but he had often remarked that he had never crafted a sword as outstanding as Caldeiras or these twin swords. Although the plain efficacy of these swords wasn¡¯t as exceptional as Caldeiras due to the difference in material¡­ ¡®That alone shows that these are about the same level as a divine sword.¡¯ These were definitely a different type of sword than Caldeiras. Just like when numerous countries had attacked the Pallan Empire to obtain Caldeiras, the divine sword which gave one power just by possessing it, people would probably go nuts at these swords, too. It might even be more than that because it was two swords. The swords were eighty centimeters long and six centimeters wide. They seemed more compatible for a flowy and delicate swordsmanship rather than a destructive one. Without a word, Davey took the cloth-wrapped swords out from the safe and held them. The evil desires, which were watchful of him until a little while ago, slowly became quiet and fully disappeared as they felt his delicate touch. However, their sharpness remained. ¡®I guess they are still weapons.¡¯ With this sword, one wrong move could cut Davey or even sever his finger without him noticing. It wasn¡¯t a sharpness that just came from sharpening the blade, but the sword itself had an inherent acuity to it. It was enough for the sword to be used as a weapon right now, but from the eyes of a craftsman, these two swords were still clearly incomplete. ¡°We have to find fire,¡± Davey murmured in a quiet voice as he stared at the blade, which he had picked up with the cloth. -Fire? ¡°Yeah. Not a regular furnace, but a dwarves¡¯ furnace that can heat up to a much higher temperature.¡± -To put a blade that has already been sharpened into fire¡­ ¡°I told you. It¡¯s unfinished.¡± Davey brushed the side of the blade as if he was holding a precious treasure. He could feel the blade¡¯s rather dull surface. Surtr hadn¡¯t been able to finish this because he had passed while waiting for the right time. When he had worked, his last step had probably been to incorporate mana into the surface of the sword: a mana that would become more concentrated as time passed. There was no way of telling what kind of mana that was just by hearing the name, but as it had been thousands of years after Surtr¡¯s death, it was safe to say that the sword absorbed the highest concentration of mana. ¡®It should have been plenty of time, right?¡¯ As a sword got better with time, these might be far greater than Surtr would have imagined. This was the last unfinished work of the ¡®Thousand-day Blacksmith¡¯. Although it was something that normal craftsmen wouldn¡¯t dare to fix because of the pressure, all Davey wanted to do was hammer it. ¡®Failure? How could I fail after laying my eyes on something like this?¡¯ Surtr had been confident that Davey would not mess up, and at this point, Davey slowly began to understand why Surtr had thought that way. 23. Take This! ¡°What a catch!¡± It was more of a retrieval than an accidental gain, since Surtr had actually given Davey ownership of the two swords. Since these were undiscovered swords, no one could say anything to him for having them. Davey quickly got out of Surtr¡¯s underground workshop and went back to the territory, which was in a state of disorder. He borrowed a horse and went straight to the path leading to the royal palace. Although he had killed Viscount Guerta, the man¡¯s crimes were clear, and no one really had the right to condemn Davey for it. At times like this, he felt that the system of rank and status was unjustly convenient. This was probably why the nobility enjoyed it so much. Bleep! The description of the sword, which Surtr had called [The Unnamed Red Sword that Cuts the Living], came up. -Name: Currently none. -Status: Unfinished. -Completion Level: 90% -Details: The first sword of the final work created by the great blacksmith, who had used mana in refining his crafts, by pouring out all his strength before passing; power has not yet manifested due to its incompletion; ego exists, but is still asleep. Because of that last 10%, the sword had been sealed for thousands of years without a name. It also wasn¡¯t surprising that it had an ego, since the low, watchful growl of a beast was heard even before entering the underground workshop and opening the safe. That was probably part of the subconscious of the ego within the sword. ¡°The other one is the same as well¡­¡± Davey had taken two swords from the underground workshop. As they were called twin swords, they had the same design but different colors. Also¡­ Their current situation and completion level were the same. [The Unnamed Red Sword that Cuts the Living] was first, and [The Unnamed Blue Sword that Cuts the Dead] was second; after all, one of them had to be made first even if they were twins. And as it had been Surtr¡¯s own weapon and had been made with more effort than Caldeiras, there was affection and passion in the way he had crafted the sword. ¡°You have arrived. I hope you enjoy your time at the capital.¡± Davey arrived at the large city near the capital and entered the mana gate, which quickly brought him to the capital of the kingdom. As Davey was still disguised as a commoner, the low-rank mage managing the mana gate did not recognize him. This was normal, since the media hadn¡¯t developed that well here. He should have arrived a little later with a carriage and his party, but he had no reason to stay at the royal palace for a long time now that his territory was up and running. ¡°Why do you think the royal palace summoned me?¡± -Well, publicly, you accomplished a great achievement. It¡¯s probably to reward you for your outstanding service. ¡°Though, it¡¯s money that I earned.¡± -Income tax isn¡¯t for nothing. You have a bad habit of asking questions when you already know the answer. It was an outstanding service. Most countries, including the Rowane Kingdom, asked for a portion of an individual or group¡¯s income as an income tax. Currently, the Rowane Kingdom¡¯s income tax ranged from 5% to 30%; it seemed like a high percentage, but it wasn¡¯t any different from Earth. Of course, most of the ruling nobility easily evaded this income tax and lived luxuriously. However, seeing those who chose to do that getting their heads cut off because of it, it didn¡¯t really seem like a wise choice. -That¡¯s probably what the normal expectation is. ¡°And the real reason?¡± -Isn¡¯t it obvious? The moon grass you are growing is the golden egg; did you not earn far more than the kingdom¡¯s annual budget in just one quarter? Since the Rowane Kingdom¡¯s annual budget was 100 thousand to 150 thousand gold, Davey had earned a lot. -If they were to nationalize your business and make you act as they want, the Rowane Kingdom would become far richer. Support us at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡®Well, to be exact, the nobility would be the ones getting richer.¡¯ The Heins Territory had become the only territory in the entire eastern continent that could ship out moon grass. To be honest, Davey was a little surprised that he had received the continent¡¯s attention. It also meant that what he had done was a big deal. The harvesting of moon grass was something deemed impossible, even if one tried their best, after all. After checking a few things while roaming the capital¡¯s streets, Davey quickly headed into the royal palace. He was greeted with an unusual disorder in the palace. As many of the servants were killed after being swept up in the fight between the political enemies, it seemed like the entire group of servants was completely switched up. Perhaps because of that, most of the servants who looked down on him weren¡¯t here anymore. Of course, even if they were, they couldn¡¯t mistreat him since he wasn¡¯t regarded the same as before. ¡°Welcome, Your Highness.¡± It was none other than Royal Attendant Bespard who greeted Davey. He was the older brother of Royal Attendant Bernile, the attendant that had followed Davey to the Heins Territory, and also the right hand of the king who the nobility couldn¡¯t mess with. As such, Bespard was a person Davey could trust. ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Royal Attendant Bespard.¡± ¡°You look much stronger now, Your Highness.¡± ¡°I¡¯m still stick-like on the outside.¡± ¡°It seems you are joking more than last year.¡± Royal Attendant Bernile sometimes showed a smile, but his expression never changed. He seemed almost like the Terminator. Because of that, a younger Davey had used to joke around, calling him the Terminator and asking him where John Connor was. ¡°I see that you have made a very successful business in your territory.¡± It wasn¡¯t something that a royal attendant should ask, but Bespard was capable of asking even more. ¡°Well¡­ It seems that the heavens were pleased. I was just given a nice gift, that¡¯s all.¡± As Davey grinned while shrugging it off as a joke, Bespard quietly closed his eyes like he was satisfied with that. CH 55 ¡°Anyway, the royal palace¡¯s atmosphere is quite troubling¡­¡± Davey commented to Royal Attendant Bespard while pretending to know nothing, when he was actually the one who had caused this chaos. ¡°Yes, apparently a secret ledger was revealed. His Majesty the King was furious, so all the servants and nobility who were involved have been stripped of their title and were all sentenced to death by a beheading.¡± ¡°And where¡¯s His Majesty the King?¡± ¡°He has just gone to his bedroom after finishing a heavy load of work.¡± As if he was venting everything he had endured, King Krianes was merciless. Even if Marquis Peiltris, along with the small number of royalists, had received a large amount of intel, it would have been impossible to get rid of the nobility this quickly without King Krianes¡¯ involvement. ¡®That¡¯s why I can¡¯t discern him.¡¯ -Davey¡­ Perserque called Davey as if she had more to say, but she just sighed in the end. -You are very stubborn. The nobility was also falling apart after passing around the buck. ¡°I will escort you to the First Prince¡¯s palace,¡± Royal Attendant Bespard said. ¡°Thanks.¡± It would be right for Davey to see King Krianes as soon as he arrived, but he should wait for another day since the king had already gone to bed. When Davey was silently following Bespard, he heard a haughty voice. ¡°Well, look who it is.¡± ¡°Carlus,¡± Davey said. He turned and glanced at the dark hallway, where he saw a normal yet familiar-looking face of a boy staring at him arrogantly. ¡°It¡¯s you, Big brother Davey.¡± When Davey saw the boy walk toward him with a chuckle, he nodded to Royal Attendant Bespard. ¡°Then, I will take my leave.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± After letting Bespard leave, Davey glanced at the boy. He asked, ¡°Yes, have you been well?¡± Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve been doing well.¡± Carlus put on a cheesy smile and walked haughtily toward Davey. Then, he glanced around and mumbled irritably with a frown, ¡°You lowly thing, being all proud because you had success in your business.¡± ¡°Yes, well. You¡¯re so envious that you came all this way to see me, even though we don¡¯t like each other?¡± Davey grinned. Carlus returned a smile. ¡°It¡¯s a business that even someone as ignoble as you has succeeded in, so anyone can probably do it too. Don¡¯t be arrogant; you were just lucky. Your inferior blood isn¡¯t going anywhere.¡± ¡°You ass. You really say anything to your older brother, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Ha! Older brother? Who?¡± Carlus scoffed. He didn¡¯t seem to realize how big of a deal Davey¡¯s accomplishment was. ¡°Tsk. That¡¯s why you¡¯re an idiot who will never be able to become independent from Queen Lynesse.¡± ¡°What?¡± Carlus¡¯ expression immediately turned dark. He looked like he would punch Davey if he said anything more. ¡°You¡¯re out of your min¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re the one who is out of your mind.¡± Davey lightly flicked off Carlus¡¯ hand that was grabbing his collar. At that moment, Carlus¡¯ frown deepened. ¡°Wh¡­ What?¡± ¡°It seems like you think you¡¯re all that because everyone pampers you. You know, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a dumber dumbass than you.¡± ¡°Du¡­ Dumbass¡­¡± ¡°You only know how to piggy-back on someone else. If you¡¯re stupid, you should at least be conscious of what¡¯s going on around you.¡± ¡°You dare insult me?!¡± As if he didn¡¯t care that Davey was his older brother, Carlus hit the roof and threw his fist toward Davey. ¡®Yeah, he wouldn¡¯t have shot an arrow at me at the hunting competition if he wasn¡¯t this big of a dumbass. Ah, now that I think about it, it¡¯s pissing me off.¡¯ Pak! ¡°Woah?!¡± Thud! In just mere moments, Davey grabbed Carlus¡¯ fist and slammed him on the ground. Upon hitting the floor, Carlus looked both confused and in pain. ¡°Do you know what you say so habitually is actually an insult to His Majesty?¡± Even though Davey''s mother was from a baron family on the outskirts of the kingdom, his father was the king of this kingdom. If Davey were of ignoble blood as Carlus had said, then he would also be insulting King Krianes. ¡°Does it hurt?¡± Davey asked. Carlus tried to move, but he soon began choking and twisting his body. He got red and began to wheeze when Davey pressed on his veins. ¡°It hurts because you¡¯re young.¡±[1] -What is that fascinating nonsense? If you¡¯re in pain, you should go to the doctor or the priest. ¡®There was such a saying in my past life.¡¯ -What an astounding way of thinking. Thinking that it was pathetic, Perserque clicked her tongue. Carlus, who also seemed to think that it was ridiculous, stared up at Davey with a frown of hostility and humiliation. He seemed to not understand the pain he was feeling. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± Davey glanced at Carlus, who was staring up at him while moaning in pain, and wondered what he could do to fuck him over really nicely. Then, after contemplating shortly, he just let Carlus go. ¡°Keugh¡­ What did you¡­¡± Carlus groaned. He looked like he wanted to charge at Davey right now, but he stepped back; perhaps it was because he had suffered an injury. ¡°Let¡¯s wait and see! The work you are so confident of right now will be taken away from you!¡± As Carlus shouted and ran away, Perserque stared at Davey. -You. You have quite an intense anger toward him. Why did you let him go? ¡°I didn¡¯t just let him go.¡± In his past life, before his coma, Davey had trusted that lost cause because they were family or whatnot, but he finally had enough of that. As he chuckled, Perserque closed her mouth. He then added, ¡°I messed with him a little.¡± Seeing Davey grin widely, Perserque frowned. -You¡­ I don¡¯t really want to say this, but you shouldn¡¯t smile like that often. ¡°Why?¡± -It¡¯s scary, to be honest¡­ Perserque murmured with an indiscernible gaze. ¡®Is it that bad? I guess this is also a bad habit,¡¯ Davey thought, but soon shook the thought off. Then, he let go of whatever he held onto and walked away. ¡°Hair loss, which can¡¯t even be solved with magic, is a universal sin. Among them, the worst is?¡± -P¡ªPatchy hair loss! You didn¡¯t¡­ ¡°And I gave him another gift. We should be able to see it in the conference room tomorrow.¡± -Hiccup! Realizing what Davey had done to the escaping Carlus, the life drained out of Perserque¡¯s face and she began hiccupping. ¡®I can¡¯t kill you that easily.¡¯ Davey hated when people said that young kids could do no wrong. If they committed a wrongdoing, knowing what would happen, they should be punished. This was especially so when they were old enough to know better. * * * ¡®What¡¯s yours won¡¯t be yours anymore.¡¯ That¡¯s what Carlus had said to Davey as he ran away. Since Carlus was¡ªat best¡ªa dumbass, most of what he had said could be disregarded, but¡­ ¡°Even if he is an idiot, he¡¯s not dumb enough to think that a tantrum will make everything go his way¡­¡± -You never know. Maybe that boy named Carlus is now in worse shape than you thought. ¡°What if¡­¡± Davey¡¯s worst nightmares came true. ¡°It¡¯s amazing. Of course! This is a joyous event of the Rowane Kingdom!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. It takes about four months for moon grass to be harvested. However, the quarterly profit is more than double the kingdom¡¯s annual expenditure.¡± ¡°With this money, the kingdom can grow and develop!¡± ¡°Defense spending could be increased right away. It could also be used to fund other territories so that they could expand their businesses!¡± The nobility shouted so passionately that they were practically spitting apart. Davey didn¡¯t understand why these people were getting ahead of themselves, when he, the owner of the business, wasn¡¯t saying a single word. ¡®Hm¡­ Maybe I¡¯ll dabble in the food industry after I repair the facilities in the territory.¡¯ Davey spoke in his mind to Perserque. -Food industry? ¡®People say the best business to run to get rich is to sell water and food.¡¯ -Do you have something in mind? ¡®Um¡­ I want to try Korean food, but I¡¯m completely new to that cuisine.¡¯ It was a shame that there were no chefs among the heroes. This was the royal court. In the midst of the bullshitting members of the nobility, Davey was the only one lost in thought. Slam! ¡°What I¡¯m saying is! We should fund the moon grass business for the sake of our kingdom!¡± ¡°Haha, you are frustrating. Count Bellis! Do you think that the moon grass business will just expand if we spend money on it? From what I hear, there¡¯s only a certain part of the land in the Heins Territory that can grow it!¡± ¡°So! We should nationalize the business. Then, after studying it and expanding it, we can put it out there¡­¡± Davey¡¯s head was starting to hurt. King Krianes, who was sitting on the throne, put his hand on his forehead, as if his head was also hurting. ¡®What is this chaos?¡¯ Davey¡¯s head began throbbing at the nonsensical argument between the nobility and the royalists. Since Marquis Peiltris who continuously beheaded the members of the nobility was absent, those present were unable to resist the opportunity and revealed their greed. In the end, both sides showed a desire for power, whether they were royalists or nobility; however, there was a slight difference in the direction of their desires. ¡°Enough,¡± King Krianes said, finally fed up. ¡°First, we should reward Prince Davey, who has brought celebration unto the kingdom.¡± It was unclear as to what he was thinking, but he asked Davey as if he was examining him. ¡°Davey.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± Davey, who was thinking about his next business idea, stopped and turned his head. ¡°You did well. You accomplished a great thing without any help,¡± King Krianes said. ¡°I am honored, Your Majesty,¡± Davey replied. ¡°The kingdom was able to escape a major crisis because of the income tax you sent from your territory. Tell me; I will grant you any reward you want.¡± As King Krianes spoke, everyone¡¯s attention was immediately drawn to Davey. The king was acting like he would grant Davey anything that he asked for. Although, there was a high probability that Davey¡¯s request would get set aside with a bunch of excuses and then disappear as if it was never asked for. ¡°I just did my part, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Davey, your contribution is greater than any other in the last decade. Do not hesitate to ask.¡± King Krianes spoke to Davey like he was testing him, so Davey suddenly felt irritated. However, he didn¡¯t show it and just put on a na?ve expression. He said, ¡°Your Majesty, I currently do not have anything in mind for such a big reward. Would you grant me some time to think about it?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll grant it.¡± Once King Krianes stopped speaking, everyone else began talking. They mostly talked about how the successful moon grass business in the Heins Territory must be expanded and supported, and also about how the business should be nationalized and managed by the kingdom. Of course, it was all bullshit that would nearly be impossible to bring to life. The situation even worsened when Duke Bariatta came along. Everyone went silent as he spoke up. It seemed like, although his power was faltering, he still had authority. ¡°There¡¯s something that we should check first¡­ The amount His Highness paid as income tax from the successful moon grass business¡¯ profits was about seventy thousand gold.¡± Duke Bariatta paused for a second, then continued after glancing around the room emotionlessly. 1. The name of a famous book in Korea. It means that growing up is painful, and that the pain one feels while growing up is the sign of youth. ? CH 56 ¡°It¡¯s more than half of the kingdom¡¯s annual expenditure. It is true that the income tax Prince Davey has paid has rescued the Rowane Kingdom out of a financial crisis and brought hope for our recovery. You all seem to be getting ahead of yourselves. Shouldn¡¯t we discuss the root of this matter first?¡± Duke Bariatta maintained a tone that made it seem like he had no other intentions, and spoke as if he was trying to help Davey. ¡°Discuss the root of the matter?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. What you are debating about is how to make the moon grass business beneficial to the kingdom, isn¡¯t that right?¡± ¡°Yes. This is a revolutionary business. If we utilize it well¡­¡± ¡°However, why are you trying to give the business rights to the kingdom and make decisions about it without the opinion of Prince Davey, the biggest contributor?¡± Everyone went silent as Duke Bariatta spoke, and so he went on. ¡°Are your statuses greater than the royalty of this kingdom?¡± No one seemed to be thinking clearly because of the sudden success of this business; in reality, there was really no reason to nationalize the moon grass business. ¡°Also, isn¡¯t Prince Davey already independent from the palace?¡± Duke Bariatta pointed out. ¡°B¡ªBut¡­¡± ¡°Marquis Farondis.¡± ¡°Y¡­ Yes.¡± ¡°If you were told to give all your wealth to the kingdom for its well being, would you do it?¡± ¡°Th¡­ That is¡­¡± Everyone remained silent. -Why do you think he is helping you? ¡®Does it look like he¡¯s helping me? To me, it looks like he¡¯s playing a trivial trick.¡¯ Search bit.ly/3iBfjkV for the original. Perserque nodded. Unfortunately, Davey could already sort of see what Duke Bariatta was trying to do. ¡°Ahem!¡± The conference room was filled with silence and a few awkward coughs. Most of the people were trying to gain some profit from the business by not allowing it to be monopolized. Some were probably trying to find a way to use the money earned by the territory to fill their own pockets. ¡°As such, everything is up to Prince Davey. This is not something for you people to argue about.¡± ¡°Ahem¡­ Of¡­ Of course.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t thinking straight.¡± The atmosphere started to settle down, and it seemed like the end of the conversation. However, there was no reason for Duke Bariatta to take Davey¡¯s side without any insidious intentions. ¡°Let the Heins Territory take care of their own business. That¡¯s what is beneficial to the kingdom, is that not right, Your Majesty? If this business were forced to be nationalized, that would be oppression. Then, no one would want to start a business in the future.¡± Duke Bariatta stared at Davey with indifference. Davey just silently nodded. Then, he commented with such sarcasm, ¡°There¡¯s an old saying: give them an inch and they¡¯ll take a mile.¡± The faces of the nobility and royalists turned red with embarrassment. ¡°So, Duke. That¡¯s not all you had to say, am I wrong?¡± Davey spoke to Duke Bariatta. ¡°Did it seem that way? But yes, there¡¯s something more important. I just felt that the situation needed some intervention.¡± If anyone else saw this, it would seem like Duke Bariatta was looking out for Davey despite being aloof. As Duke Bariatta spoke, he pulled out a small bunch of papers from his chest pocket. It was a properly wrapped parchment, which looked like a command paper from an emperor. ¡°It is correspondence from the High Priest of the Valchas Empire.¡± ¡°Correspondence?¡± King Krianes asked. ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± Duke Bariatta handed the letter to King Krianes. He continued, ¡°They are asking to examine the stigmata of Prince Davey, and if it is confirmed, they are proposing that he be moved to the empire so that he could be given the title of a saint.¡± Duke Bariatta had checked the correspondence from another country¡¯s High Senate, the people right under the Pope, who was the commander of the entire empire, without the king¡¯s permission. -What a selfish man. And this kingdom is a mess. From just this act alone, Davey could tell how unbelievably powerful the duke was, and how weak the authority of royalty had become. Perhaps this was how powerful the Kim family had been near the end of Joseon.[1] ¡®No matter what world I¡¯m in, it¡¯s obvious what would happen when the country¡¯s situation becomes difficult.¡¯ ¡°Prince Davey has been given a stigmata at an early age. However, no one is asking for the saint¡¯s title to be given to His Highness. This cannot happen,¡± Duke Bariatta said. ¡°That¡¯s nonsense! Prince Davey is the First Prince of this kingdom! We cannot send him to the Holy Empire because of a stigmata!¡± A young count, who was silently frowning, quickly shouted. "Haha. Count Rhonda. It is the Valchas Empire. Do you not know of them?¡± ¡°Of course, I do! I know them too well! The Valchas Empire! Their national power is greater than any kingdom and is clearly that of an empire! The country that serves Freyja, the Goddess of Wine!¡± ¡°Ha¡­ How can you act like this when you know about them?!¡± ¡°But this is unfair treatment! It is not just anyone, but the First Prince! How is this different from paying tribute to the empire?!¡± ¡°Ahem! Watch your words! Someone might hear!¡± ¡°This is the Rowane Kingdom, not the Valchas Empire! Since when did the Rowane Kingdom become a vassal state of the empire?!¡± ¡°Haha! Have you ever seen a man so blind to the vision of the future?!¡± Even as Count Rhonda shouted, most of the nobility seemed to be hushing one another and staying quiet. ¡°Okay, you are going to send me off after checking the existence of my stigmata?¡± Davey, who was fed up with the situation, finally asked Duke Bariatta in a slow and calm voice. Duke Bariatta nodded. ¡°This will be helpful to you as well, Your Highness. And this is something that should be fulfilled as royalty¡­¡± ¡°Sure, you all know that I was given a stigmata, right?¡± ¡°Your Highness, look at the entire forest and not the individual trees. The Valchas Empire is the Rowane Kingdom¡¯s brother nation and a friendly ally.¡± ¡°So, you think the empire will better protect this kingdom if I go and receive the title of the saint?¡± Duke Bariatta paused for a second, then said, ¡°Royalty all bear that much responsibility. Remember, no good comes from ruffling the feathers of the Holy Empire.¡± Duke Bariatta seemingly spoke of an inevitable outcome. Davey remained silent for a moment. Then, one of the nobles, who couldn¡¯t read the room, shouted with frustration, ¡°Then!! What happens to the territory?! I¡¯m talking about the Heins Territory that Prince Davey is the seigneur of! And what happens to the moon grass business?!¡± ¡°Unfortunately, according to the law, the prince can no longer manage the territory after receiving the saint¡¯s title and becoming part of the empire.¡± As if the nobles realized what Duke Bariatta was getting at, their eyes shone with greed. Before, the Heins Territory was a cursed land that no one had paid any attention to, but now, they could be swimming in a pool of gold upon possessing it. -They¡¯re trying to play a dirty trick. ¡®Wow, this is getting interesting.¡¯ Davey chuckled, feeling intrigued by how the situation was progressing. He stared at the nobles as they began to debate once again, like it had already been decided that he was going to go. ¡°Then we must quickly appoint a new seigneur!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. If he receives the title of the saint, we have no choice but to find and appoint a capable person as seigneur.¡± ¡°Ahem! My son happens to have reached adulthood recently¡­¡± It seemed that everyone was trying to involve themselves, their family, or their associates. However, Duke Bariatta wasn¡¯t one to just watch from the sidelines since this was why he had been so adamant about the business remaining independent. ¡°About that matter, I dare speak a word.¡± Duke Bariatta spoke directly to King Krianes. ¡°Currently, the Heins Territory has become the most important territory in the kingdom. The seigneur of that kind of place cannot be filled just by anyone.¡± ¡°Go on,¡± King Krianes said. ¡°Since Prince Davey will not be able to manage the territory after he goes to the Valchas Empire and receives the title of the saint, someone else must do it in his place. God knows that the only person capable of that is the Second Prince Carlus.¡± Duke Bariatta was simply saying that they should make the Second Prince Carlus, Queen Lynesse¡¯s son, the seigneur. His suggestion was to leave the business independent, then hand it over to Carlus so that his family could take all the profit. He had just spun it differently, but he was also getting ahead of himself and bullshitting exactly like the others. As soon as Duke Bariatta stopped speaking, a boy who kept silent until now finally stood up. It was as if he had been waiting for this very moment. It was the Second Prince Carlus; he attracted even more attention because he was wearing a weird hat unlike before. He gave Davey a big smirk, then stood up. He bowed to King Krianes and confidently opened his mouth. As everyone was waiting for his speech¡­. ¡°Ribbit!¡± A strange frog-like croak came out of Carlus¡¯ mouth. -Giggle! At the same time, Davey shook as he held in his laughter and Perserque, who couldn¡¯t hold it in, covered her mouth with her small hands. It was only right for a present to be opened at an important place, right? 24. How to Get in Touch with Dwarves. ¡°Th¡­ This is¡­¡± As if even he was bewildered by the sound coming from his mouth, Carlus frowned. However, unlike his intentions, his voice just kept proudly boasting its presence. ¡°Caw! Cock-a-doodle-doo!¡± When the nobles saw Carlus making all kinds of weird bird noises, their jaws dropped. This was even enough for the composed Duke Bariatta to lose his cool. He asked, ¡°Carlus. What are you doing?¡± ¡°Th¡­ That is¡­ Squeak!¡± Carlus stuttered. He looked so confused by how he couldn¡¯t control the sounds from his mouth, even though he was making them. ¡°Y¡ªYour Majesty! Growl¡­ Woof woof!¡± It just seemed like Carlus was goofing off. -Y¡­ You. This is a little¡­ Hup! Ahahahaha!!! Perserque, the former Demon Lord, couldn¡¯t hold it in and burst out in laughter. ¡°Snicker!¡± In fact, it wasn¡¯t just Perserque who couldn¡¯t hold in her laughter. Everyone else was in the same situation. Some of the nobles laughed at how ridiculous Carlus looked, then covered their mouths and tried to keep their composure. Among them, Davey was barely holding it in too. ¡°How dare you try and joke around in the royal court! Get out!¡± As King Krianes shouted angrily, Carlus tried to express how this wasn¡¯t his doing. ¡°Your Majesty, please believe me! Quack quack!¡± ¡°Guard! Lock him up in a room! Leave him there to think about his wrongdoings, and don¡¯t let him out until I say so!¡± ¡°Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cock-a-doo!¡± As the guard pulled him out of the room, Carlus, who was desperately shouting, began to flail so hard that his hat was tipped off of his head. 1. The Andong Kim family was a family of nobility that had become extremely powerful near the end of Joseon, the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, and had been the ones who held the power in the country. ? CH 57 ¡°Giggle!¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Oh my!¡± Carlus¡¯ hat flew off and the thing he had wanted to hide was revealed in front of everyone¡¯s eyes. -Oh my¡­ In just one day¡­ The top part of Carlus¡¯ head was shiny and glossy, as if he was wearing a bowl on his head. ¡®Skinhead! The Sun is shining! A nasty, patchy baldness!¡¯ The size of the bald patch was almost the size of Davey¡¯s hand. As if more hair had fallen out while Carlus had kept his hat on, his blond hair floated in the air like electrons flying around. -Ahahahahahaha!!!! Perserque laughed so hard that she shook. Davey ignored her and stared at Carlus with a smirk. Carlus met Davey¡¯s gaze and tried to shout furiously, but only unintelligible animal noises came out of his mouth. Thud!! He was rushed out of the conference room and the doors closed. Davey stood up from his seat. The nobles, who were dumbfounded by Carlus¡¯ strange actions, returned to their senses. They didn¡¯t know what to do, and King Krianes coughed in discomfort. ¡°He is still too immature to manage the Heins Territory,¡± Davey said calmly, then glanced at Duke Bariatta. As the confused nobles all gathered toward him, he continued, ¡°Now, I will speak. Duke Bariatta.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± Davey smiled at Duke Bariatta¡¯s composed response. ¡°Since when were you above the king?¡± ¡°Your Highness?¡± It was highly disrespectful, but Davey¡¯s question was piercing. Instead of Duke Bariatta answering, it was another noble who yelled, ¡°What?!¡± ¡°I will ask again, Duke. Is this kingdom yours?¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± Duke Bariatta spoke emotionlessly, but Davey could feel his hostility; in the end, he was a human being with emotions and intentions. ¡°Your Highness, my actions were all for the Rowane Kingdom¡­¡± ¡°Then why are you reiterating the same bullshit as those people?¡± Davey asked. ¡°Y¡ªYour Highness! How could you?!¡± ¡°What? I just said the same thing that you did, Duke. Also, why wasn¡¯t His Majesty informed about the correspondence regarding a highly important matter of the kingdom? Did you think it wasn¡¯t worth reporting? You really are the king, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Your Highness! That is not true!¡± Duke Bariatta shouted. ¡°It¡¯s not? I thought it was since you announced it so confidently.¡± Duke Bariatta was stunned at Davey¡¯s words. Looking him dead in the eyes, Davey said with a grin, ¡°From what I can tell, I don¡¯t think you understand the situation¡­. You give them an inch, and they want to take a mile.¡± ¡°Your Highness, this is the royal cou¡­¡± Duke Bariatta spoke. ¡°So, what did you resolve about this matter in this conference? To sell off royalty as per the Holy Empire¡¯s wishes? To take this opportunity and gain sole control over the territory and its business?¡± For just a second, Davey saw confusion appear in Duke Bariatta¡¯s eyes. Even if he was royalty, it was extremely dangerous for him to act like this, especially when the Bariatta family had overwhelming power in the kingdom. Davey remained calm, simply grinning before bowing toward King Krianes. ¡°The main idea is that everything will be solved if we can appease the Holy Empire.¡± ¡°So you have a way to settle their request?¡± At King Krianes¡¯ mysterious question, Davey chuckled. ¡°The Holy Empire¡¯s inhabitants are people, too. Perhaps the High Priest might be a problem, but that¡¯s about it.¡± * * * The meeting of the royal court fizzled out. Well, that was probably how the nobility felt, but it was quite a valuable time for Davey, who had a lot to benefit from it. As soon as he got back to the First Prince¡¯s palace, Davey pulled out a communication crystal that had a mana stone attached to it. Then, he contacted a place by entering a number he had prepared in advance. The crystal emitted a faint light before a young priest showed up. This magic communication device was made by connecting a mana stone to a communication crystal; it wasn¡¯t a difficult system to make, but it was something only the wealthy could enjoy because of how expensive the mana stone was. Appropriate skills were also needed to make things happen. Of course, it wasn¡¯t a problem for Davey, because he was sitting on a big pile of money right now. ¡®This is why you need to choose your business item well.¡¯ The territory¡¯s curse, which had been going on for over ten thousand years, had actually become the springboard for success. A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled. [Hup! I have received your call, Prince Davey! I am Archdeacon Belliam, the Treasurer of the Valchas Empire.] ¡°I apologize for the sudden call, Archdeacon Belliam.¡± [Oh, please don¡¯t say that. This was already discussed, right?] ¡°Haha. So, may I ask what the Pope has decided to do?¡± Davey asked the young priest in the crystal ball, and the priest chattered and chuckled. [Yes, I did get a call from the empire, and the Pope is willing to accept your offer. He also said not to worry; this was High Priest Muless¡¯ independent decision and it will never happen again.] Of course, even if the Valchas Empire was built on sacred land, people still lived there, and they had to run their business as well. Davey had told the Pope one thing: moon grass would not be able to be harvested if anything happened to either the Heins Territory or himself. Someone like the Pope should¡¯ve understood the implications from that comment alone. [Anyway, I didn¡¯t imagine that the Rowane Kingdom would think to send you to the Valchas Empire. Well, it isn¡¯t a bad offer, but we believe that it would be a loss to us in the long run. Haha!] The young priest slurred the end of his words and giggled. As he was still young, he was more friendly than serious. ¡°Then, please keep an eye on it.¡± [As you wish. Haha! If the product is supplied to us on time, it is definitely not a bad thing for the Valchas Empire as well. However¡­] ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that part. I will set aside a certain amount for the empire¡¯s purchase in the next quarter.¡± [Oh! Thank you for going out of your way and doing that! Haha, the Pope said that he would be satisfied if all went well, and he personally asked for you to sell more high-quality leaves in the future.] ¡°I will cultivate some of the remaining land and harvest some additional leaves to sell to the empire.¡± Perhaps this deal was very worldly and materialistic, but Davey didn¡¯t care about that. The Valchas Empire had basically announced that if one wanted special treatment, they would have to bring them something. Even though he had released a certain amount to the market, it was true that Davey hadn¡¯t been completely satisfied with the amount. ¡®It¡¯s a dirty deal? I didn¡¯t sell only part of the supply for no reason.¡¯ In fact, Davey didn¡¯t even have to ask; the Valchas Empire would¡¯ve probably judged that it was more beneficial to maintain a continuous supply of moon grass rather than taking him from the Rowane Kingdom. Of course, they had to know that moon grass could not be harvested without Davey and the Heins Territory. Even if other organizations found out about their deal, they probably could not complain; they would probably try to profit from it by offering something like the Valchas Empire. By then, Davey could slowly expand his business. And if everyone got into deep water all at once, they could not blame each other. ¡®Let everyone fall in deep! It¡¯s a business based on everyone pulling each other down.¡¯ ¡°Running a business is easy.¡± -Liar. Davey bitterly smiled at Perserque¡¯s criticism. ¡°Well, the matter with the Valchas Empire is taken care of.¡± The person who had tried to transfer Davey to the Valchas Empire was High Priest Muless. Since he was at the high ranks of the High Senate, his influence was even greater than some small kingdoms. However, Davey had made a deal with the Pope, the commander of the Valchas Empire. In the end, people lived there as well. And since a political fight was a matter to be dealt with on their own, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem any longer. If the empire were to remain silent because of internal issues, the nobility of the Rowane Kingdom would not be able to touch Davey any longer. It was a pretty good outcome. Davey quickly ended the call with Archdeacon Belliam, pulled out another crystal ball, and tapped on its mana stone. Just like before, it began shining and showed a man¡ªno, it was two people this time. [Sob¡­ Sir Bernile¡­ It¡¯s too much¡­] [Ahem! You have received the honor of assisting the First Prince¡¯s work by his side! How could you be so lazy¡­ Hup! Your Highness.] It was Amy, buried in a pile of papers with tears in her eyes, and Royal Attendant Bernile, who was taking care of the state of affairs at the territory in Davey¡¯s place. One was a royal attendant, and the other was Davey¡¯s personal lady-in-waiting who had looked after him for a long time, but the work they were doing was closer to a personal assistant and a proxy than their actual jobs. ¡°Thank you for your hard work, Royal Attendant Bernile.¡± [I¡¯m just doing what I ought to do.] ¡°And Amy?¡± [Y¡­ Your Highness? Is it really you?! Your Highness! Please help me!] [Hey! I told you: no dinner if you don¡¯t finish the task I assigned to you! Ahem! Your Highness, I apologize for showing this ugly side of me.] ¡°Haha¡­ Don¡¯t work her too much,¡± Davey said. Amy was quite bright for a lady-in-waiting, and so, Davey was investing in her future. ¡®This is what a healthy company environment looks like, isn¡¯t it?¡¯ Right now, Amy was still young and na?ve, but she was going to become exceptionally capable in a few years. ¡°Anyway, how is the restoration work going?¡± It had just begun raining in the territory, and the ground was starting to come back to life; however, because it had been abandoned and undeveloped for a long time, there were too many problems to just develop it right away. The biggest concern was the lack of skills and time. The foundation had to be stable and strong for any building; if the territory was built on a weak foundation, there was a high chance that it would cause problems in the blueprint that Davey had designed for his future city. ¡®I have to do something now, when I have the money. It¡¯ll make things much easier in the future.¡¯ [Sigh¡­ I did inspect it as you said, Your Highness, but¡­] ¡°Time is the problem?¡± [Yes. To rebuild everything according to the design you left, it is going to take a while.] The estimated timeframe to rebuild the Heins Territory was about ten to twenty years. This was the time needed to build a strong foundation for the Heins Territory, which hadn¡¯t been developed in a long time and was crumbling, and to fix the water system, and cultivate the farmland. Those things wouldn¡¯t be magically fixed, and not everything could be done with money. ¡°What about the wizard towers, schools of alchemy, and the merchant companies?¡± [They are staying at the temporary lodgings for now, because the materials haven¡¯t arrived yet. But they have all received the permit to build on the land as soon as it arrives. Everything is proceeding accordingly.] ¡°Okay. They can do what they want, but they can¡¯t violate the rules I have set.¡± [Your wish is my command.] Royal Attendant Bernile, the old gentleman, bowed his head with a satisfied expression. ¡°And don¡¯t worry about the problems regarding the lack of skills; I¡¯ll return with the best-skilled technicians in the continent. We have to start our second business, don¡¯t we?¡± [The best technicians on the continent?] Royal Attendant Bernile looked puzzled. He was probably wondering what Davey meant. ¡°Yeah. They¡¯re really stubborn and not willing to do business a lot of the time, but I know a species that will never turn down my offer.¡± It was trading diamonds with corn; there was no better business idea than something that was low-risk and high-returns. Realizing who Davey was referring to when he said, ¡®the best technicians of the continent¡¯, Royal Attendant Bernile widened his eyes. CH 58 [Your Highness? Are you talking about the dwarves? But it is difficult to get in touch with them without His Majesty¡¯s command¡­ Also, they are an unfriendly species, and they do not easily cooperate even with high-status people.] After listening to Royal Attendant Bernile¡¯s concerns, Davey replied, ¡°I will take care of that, so just prepare the materials as I said. If possible, from a merchant company with good credit.¡± [Ah¡­ Yes, I will make sure to prepare it. The Alioui Merchant Company has already offered to provide all the supplies as quickly as possible.] The Alioui Merchant Company was a large, continent-wide company that had taken over half the supply of moon grass at the auction with their overwhelming amount of funds. ¡®Man, they sniff out money-making opportunities like dogs.¡¯ Well, that was probably why they were a major merchant company. [I will say nothing more since it is your plan, Your Highness, but¡­] As prideful as they were, the dwarves had a strong passion for their crafts and skills. It wasn¡¯t intentional, but Davey had two things that would definitely grab their attention; although, they were two nameless and incomplete works. * * * The dwarves used to be referred to as midgets or subterranean people in the past. They were about 100 to 130 centimeters tall; although they were short, they could grow impossibly long beards and had bulky muscles, and they had an amazing level of heat resistance. Because of their characteristics, they had once been called the ¡®iron race¡¯. Unlike elves, who had become legendary beings due to hiding for over three hundred years, dwarves had some interactions with humans. There weren¡¯t many of them, but they formed tribes with a certain number and lived near mountains or volcanoes. ¡®They were born as talented craftsmen.¡¯ The dwarves were quite a bit smaller compared to humans, but their strength was far superior, and their level of precision completely outstripped ordinary craftsmen. -Well, people say that no species is as meticulous as the fairies, but¡­ ¡®The fairies have already gone extinct.¡¯ -That¡¯s right. However, you never know; they might be hiding out somewhere like the elves. As long as the fairies, the only species comparable to dwarves, were known to be extinct, it was safe to say that the dwarves were the best craftsmen in the entire Tionis continent. Due to Davey¡¯s success in the harvesting of moon grass, King Krianes would grant him one request. Most of the nobles were probably expecting him to ask for the position of the Crown Prince of the Rowane Kingdom, since it was vacant and no one had been selected yet. However, as Davey had no interest in that kind of position, he had boldly decided to ask for something different: to allow him into the dwarf tribe¡¯s village located in the southern region of the Rowane Kingdom. Befitting for the dwarves, who did not enjoy interactions with other species, the first condition they presented when interacting with humans was that only high-ranking people could enter the village. That mostly referred to the king or his proxy. To put it nicely, they were respectfully declining any visitation, but it really was no different from telling humans to keep out. Of course, most of the continent¡¯s dwarves traded items that they crafted for a few basic necessities from the kingdom under that very condition. The Rowane Kingdom had made a deal with the Yellowstone Tribe of dwarves located in the southern region and traded them quite a large amount of meat and liquor for crafted items every year. In fact, the sword on King Krianes¡¯ waist and all the crowns he wore were outstanding works made by the dwarves. Even the same iron sword differed greatly in terms of durability, sharpness, and the ability to conserve energy if it was made by the dwarves, which showed how extraordinary their skills were. Furthermore, since they were highly skilled in subjects like architecture, they were absolutely necessary to the Heins Territory, which was lacking in time, skills, and manpower. -But they would have to be insane to follow you into the Heins Territory. Davey nodded at Perserque¡¯s comment while staring at the line of carriages. Since the palace knew that he was trying to get in touch with the dwarf village, they couldn¡¯t send him off on his own. He was going as King Krianes¡¯ proxy, so it was inevitable for a large group of servants to travel with him. As a result, he couldn¡¯t do as he wanted and make the journey to find the Yellowstone Tribe with only a small party. Of course, he had to be satisfied with this, since this was the smallest party he could get. Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°Your Highness, we are soon entering the region of the Yellowstone Tribe.¡± A high-ranking knight reported to Davey, who was reading a book while traveling on a horse. ¡°Sure.¡± As they went through the mana gate and traveled for an entire day after that, the landscape became one of gigantic yellow rocks. Davey suddenly remembered how people responded when he had said that he wanted to meet the dwarves. Because he had already done something that stirred waves throughout the continent, the nobles had wondered what he was up to, and King Krianes had stared at him silently. ¡®Can I ask why?¡¯ King Krianes had asked. ¡®I need their help to repair the facilities in the territory,¡¯ Davey had replied. ¡®Hm¡­¡¯ ¡®Y¡ªYour Majesty! The dwarves are picky people! If we were to rub them the wrong way¡­¡¯ The nobles had been worried that Davey might cause trouble there, so they had shouted and strongly opposed Davey¡¯s request. However, Davey had simply ignored them all. It was natural that the nobles felt this way, since if Davey were to ruffle the dwarves¡¯ feathers and they left to another kingdom, it would be a huge loss. ¡®They are not humans. Davey, if you are trying to provoke them without thinking thoroughly¡­ Even if it is a reward¡­¡¯ ¡®Do not worry; I will prepare a proposal that will make them unable to slam the door in my face, at the very least.¡¯ Perhaps the knights who were traveling with Davey knew about this too, since they seemed to be watching him so that he didn¡¯t cause any trouble. He felt bad for them, since they were clearly anxious. But¡­he was going to cause trouble. -The smell of iron and black smoke. It¡¯s quite a nostalgic scent. ¡®You¡¯ve had encounters with dwarves before?¡¯ -Do you know how old I am? Of course I¡¯ve seen dwarves before. Perserque, who was floating up in the air and appreciating the view, looked intrigued as she smelled the metallic scent of iron and saw the black smoke. Davey didn¡¯t know how long she had been trapped in the sword for, but her expression of delight suggested that everything around her was new and fresh. The party stopped when they reached the large door made of wood and iron. It sat in between the gigantic rocks on the rocky terrain. ¡°Stop! Who is it?!¡± As soon as Davey¡¯s party passed the rocky terrain, someone stopped them and peeked out from the top of a watchtower. It was the dwarves; they were about a meter tall, with inhumanly large muscles and a beard almost as long as their height. The dwarves located here were from the Yellowstone Tribe. They had huge battle-axes in their hands and wore durable armor; it seemed like they were the guards protecting the tribe. ¡°We are from the royal palace of the Rowane Kingdom! Give us permission to enter the village of the Yellowstone Tribe!¡± One of the high-ranking knights slowly pulled up on his horse and shouted. ¡°You want permission to enter the village? We didn¡¯t hear anything about it.¡± Since Davey had suddenly come here without sending word prior to his arrival, the dwarves looked like they were in a predicament. ¡°I have a proposal I think you¡¯d like to hear.¡± Davey offered a friendly smile. The dwarf who had the flashiest armor and battle-axe among the guards stared at Davey as if he was deliberating. ¡°You are?¡± ¡°I am Davey, the First Prince of the Rowane Kingdom.¡± ¡°Ahem! I am Gerrit, the captain of the guards.¡± Gerrit awkwardly coughed and nodded. ¡°Well, a promise is a promise. However, we cannot do business with your human kingdom because there is a big problem in the tribe right now.¡± ¡°What do you mean you can¡¯t do business with us?!¡± One of the guards yelled. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know! Since a promise is a promise, come in! But leave the horses there; we are not that friendly with horses.¡± Captain Gerrit said. The guards seemed annoyed, but Davey silently got off his horse and slowly walked toward the opening huge iron doors. * * * The Yellowstone Tribe¡¯s village was quite large. There were about two thousand dwarves living in this village; considering that dwarves generally lived in small tribes, the Yellowstone Tribe could be considered quite big. ¡°Woah¡­¡± ¡°Wow, it¡¯s moving on its own.¡± ¡°How is it moving like that?¡± The people in Davey¡¯s party followed him inside, and they couldn¡¯t hide their admiration as they were astonished by the automatic door and the various mechanical devices. It was rare for humans to enter a village of dwarves, unless there was something important. Even if Davey¡¯s entourage had seen dwarves before, it was their first time entering the village. Not only did the humans feel this way, but the dwarves did as well. The dwarves, who had been chattering lively and walking around, were now alert as Davey and his party showed up. ¡°Humans? How could humans come in here?¡± ¡°Are they trying to attack us?¡± The dwarves stared at the party with various emotions in their eyes: anxiety, caution, and curiosity. The party was under the spotlight as everyone¡¯s attention was drawn to them. ¡°Y¡­ Your Highness, do you really think it will be okay?¡± One of the guards asked Davey. Davey looked calm and said nothing. The guards were all afraid because their heads would be the ones sent flying if Davey were to provoke the dwarves. In the end, Davey simply said, ¡°Don¡¯t try to do anything, just stay here. I¡¯ll protect you guys no matter what happens.¡± The party seemed somewhat relieved by Davey¡¯s words, but they still looked a little anxious. Davey left most of the party outside and entered the building with gigantic mechanical devices only with a couple of knights following him. As he went in, he saw an old dwarf quietly waiting for him at a round table. The old dwarf had an unusually long beard and was distinctly large compared to the other dwarves. He seemed quite old, from the looks of his wrinkles, but appeared still sprightly, and the axe on his waist gave off an incredibly sharp energy. CH 59 -Hm, his expression already shows that he thinks this is bothersome. This is unsurprising for such a proud species. It was expected of a species so stubborn that they didn¡¯t care about being threatened with a knife to their neck. They simply wouldn¡¯t budge in any sort of situation. Just as Perserque said, the old dwarf seemed like he had just let Davey in because Davey was a guest and they had a promise, but the old dwarf didn¡¯t seem too enthusiastic about the situation. ¡®Normally, dwarves have many tribe leaders, but it seems that everyone else is absent. He¡¯s the only one here.¡¯ -It¡¯s rare for the leaders to leave the tribe unless it¡¯s for something important. After Perserque spoke, Davey silently stood in front of the old dwarf and then bowed to him with a distinct hand and body gesture. It was a unique greeting to dwarves and was often used among them. ¡®First impressions go a long way, right?¡¯ Davey did have a proposal that would make the dwarves go nuts, but he decided to think it through for a bit more. He thought, ¡®Nothing good can come out from creating conflict, since there will be some dwarves who¡¯d become my territory¡¯s residents.¡¯ ¡°May the blessing of the God of Iron be with you. My name is Davey O¡¯Rowane, the First Prince of the Rowane Kingdom.¡± Perhaps Davey¡¯s greeting was completely unexpected; the eyes of the dwarf elder, who was sitting at the table looking bored, suddenly sparkled. He spoke up. ¡°Huh? Ahem! I¡¯m Goulda, the Eighth Elder of the Yellowstone Tribe. I¡¯m surprised a human knows the greeting used by dwarves.¡± ¡°Dwarves are a species of outstanding craftsmen. One would be foolish to not treat those skills with respect.¡± As Davey buttered him up without batting an eye, it seemed like Goulda¡¯s expression softened a little. He replied, ¡°Ahem! It¡¯s rare for me to like any human, but I like you. Well, the other grandpa elders are all busy, so I came here instead.¡± ¡°Thank you for your time.¡± ¡°Since the Rowane Kingdom has done business with our Yellowstone Tribe for a long time, this is the least that I could do.¡± Currently, the kingdom was starting to crumble from the nobles¡¯ tyranny, but the Rowane Kingdom had been a pretty good place to live in the past. There didn¡¯t use to be much discrimination based on social status or species, and everyone had shown respect for one another. It was only recently that the nobility, who were led by Duke Bariatta, was running wilder¡­ But they had no reason to provoke the dwarves unless they were idiots. So, thanks to the pleasant impression of the past, Davey was able to enter the dwarf village rather easily. ¡°Sure. So, what brings a greenhorn prince like you to the village? As you know, most deals happen outside the village,¡± Goulda stated. ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Davey replied. ¡°In fact, I believe that the business period between our tribe and your kingdom hasn¡¯t arrived yet.¡± Davey quietly nodded at Goulda. ¡°That¡¯s right. According to the contract, the business period isn¡¯t for a few months.¡± ¡°Then, what is it?¡± ¡°Actually, I have come here to ask for your cooperation on a few different things. The beer and meat in the carts outside are just to show my appreciation.¡± Goulda stroked his thick beard, which was tied up. He soon appeared to be bored. ¡°Ahem! I don¡¯t dislike humans that know their manners. And I also don¡¯t dislike your human beer made of barley. However, we, the Yellowstone Tribe, cannot give you the thing that you want.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± Goulda didn¡¯t bother explaining any further. ¡°I can¡¯t discuss any more details with an outsider.¡± He paused slightly and sighed. Then, he went on. ¡°All I¡¯m trying to say is this: since you have come a long way, I won¡¯t expel you right away. You can stay here for a few days, but I¡¯m warning the others that you will be kicked out immediately if you cause any problems.¡± As Goulda stood up like he had nothing more to say, the knights seemed a little angered. They felt that they had been disrespected alongside Davey, whom they had escorted here. Davey silently raised his hand and stopped the knights from doing anything. He glanced at Goulda, then brought out his authority. ¡®[Check Information].¡¯ Beep! ¡®Even dwarves can¡¯t escape the authority of the Demon Lord.¡¯ -Name: Goulda. -Age: 180. -Sex: Male. -Species: Dwarf. -Title: None. -Status Effects: Tired; annoyed; contemplating. -Notes: The Eighth Elder of the Yellowstone Tribe, and the youngest. -Current Emotion: Wants to focus on refining the Primordial Inferno, the divine sword of dwarves; annoyed by the fact he was forced out here to face humans because he is the youngest; a little curious and interested as it had been a long time since humans had entered the village; feeling somewhat friendly to the castor, who knows his manners; thinking that having to host them is bothersome. Dwarves generally had a lifespan of 250 years, so Goulda¡¯s age wasn¡¯t particularly surprising. As the bothered Goulda silently glanced over at him, Davey focused on one thing written on the translucent box in front of him: [Primordial Inferno]. He found it familiar, since he had heard it from the crazy blacksmith who had been married to his hammer. [There is one thing I made with those guys, but it was a long time ago and I made it when I wasn¡¯t as skilled¡­ Honestly, the quality isn¡¯t so good. Back then, those midgets and I celebrated for days, because we were so proud.] [Are you asking how outstanding it is? Bring me something that you made.] [Well, I think it¡¯s about this good. You think it¡¯s funny? There¡¯s no one who masters a craft right from the beginning! Whatever. Hammer already!] ¡°Then we¡¯ll stay here for a few days. Thank you.¡± Davey instantly understood what was going on and smiled. 25. Uh, Give Me A Hammer. The village of dwarves was usually pretty loud. Perhaps to compensate for their small height and size, their rowdy, chattering voices were as loud as a foghorn. And unlike elves, they had lively and vigorous personalities. Most of their days were boisterous. A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled. There were two things that dwarves couldn¡¯t live without: alcohol and gambling. There were some who would gamble everything and be ruined, but these dwarves were a strange species that stopped gambling after reaching a certain limit. ¡®That¡¯s probably why they¡¯ve lived for so long.¡¯ Davey, who was being treated relatively well by the dwarves, spent his time relaxing as if he had no regrets. The dwarves seemed troubled by the problem in the village, but he didn¡¯t involve himself and simply gathered information from the outside. Not everything would go the way he had thought; there wouldn¡¯t be anything funnier than if he failed after confidently stepping up. -Is the Primordial Inferno an extraordinary sword? ¡°To be honest, it is an exceptional sword by common standards.¡± -But to your standards? ¡°It is something I could make if I had the time.¡± The Primordial Inferno wasn¡¯t a sword made for attacking; it was simply the sword that the dwarves worshiped. Surtr, the ancient hero, and a few dwarf craftsmen had forged this sword, giving it a few abilities, such as harmony, development, and the blessing of the God of Blacksmiths, to make it a significant symbol. There were probably many more abilities aside from these, but Surtr hadn¡¯t gone into the details, and Davey hadn¡¯t taken interest in it either. To be honest, from the moment the Primordial Inferno had broken apart, it was safe to say that its significance and meaning was already gone. It might¡¯ve been different if Surtr¡¯s techniques had been passed down, but without that, it was simply difficult to mimic his distinct techniques even with a considerable amount of effort. ¡°I guess the Primordial Inferno is closer to a prototype.¡± -Prototype? ¡°So like¡­ How should I explain this? Ah, I should say that this is the start of Caldeiras. Although the usages are different, the crafting method used is similar.¡± That was probably why the dwarves were racking their brains to fix the sword. It was a special method of crafting with mana, and most craftsmen didn¡¯t even think to try it because of their pride and fear of failure. However, this world revolved around both the laws of physics and anti-physics: the laws of physics operated with physical power, and the laws of anti-physics operated with mana, a huge mass of energy. This world consisted of those two laws, and that probably wasn¡¯t any different on Earth. -It¡¯s the basic theory for mages. ¡°Whether it be the divine sword or the Primordial Inferno, the challenge is to harmonize those two laws well. Most craftsmen don¡¯t even attempt it because they want to see the limit by purely working with metals.¡± ¡®Of course, there were some oddballs.¡¯ ¡°From hammering to handling ingots, everything about the traditional way had to be turned upside down. Only a sliver of the mana crafting method would be understood even after abandoning all existing knowledge. You think those narrow-minded dwarves would invent it? No way.¡± The dwarves weren¡¯t able to do that because they weren¡¯t human, and because their pride was too great and their skills were too excellent. -Then why is an object as great as that doing here? ¡°The Primordial Inferno is the first work of the humans and dwarves. It¡¯s made to promote harmony between them. Well, I haven¡¯t heard any details either,¡± Davey calmly explained, then got up. -Where are you going? ¡°We¡¯ve had quite a bit of fun, right? Now, I have to do my job.¡± Taking the dwarves back to the Heins Territory was a minor problem; Davey¡¯s main goal was to borrow the Great Furnace that had a concentration of highly advanced skills. -If that¡¯s what you were complaining about, you could¡¯ve just made it yourself¡­ ¡°It¡¯d take a long time to make it with the current technology. I will borrow the furnace and the skills, and that will be a pretty good selling point for the dwarves.¡± Davey chuckled and left the room without hesitation. When Davey suddenly appeared, the curious dwarf children peeked at him from afar before quickly disappearing. It seemed like humans were pretty unfamiliar to them, since only a few dwarves had actually come into contact with humans before¡­ -So? I don¡¯t think those stubborn people will easily let you borrow the Great Furnace. ¡°First¡­¡± Davey looked around rather thoughtfully, then started moving after having found something. ¡°Why don¡¯t we go to the tavern first?¡± -Alcohol? CH 60 It was important to have a plan. Dwarves mostly enjoyed gambling and indulging in alcohol. Not all dwarves were like this, but because most dwarves were surprisingly good at self-control, they do enjoy gambling in moderation. In fact, those that were stressed and frustrated from work usually relieved their stress by drinking and gambling, since even the most extraordinary craftsman experienced stress. Davey stepped into the tavern and the Eighth Elder Goulda recognized him immediately. The old dwarf asked, ¡°Hm? What are you doing here?¡± ¡®I thought he was too busy to do business, but he¡¯s drinking here?¡¯ It seemed like the old dwarf had been drinking here for a while, since the number of glasses in front of him were enough to leave any human speechless. As Davey sat in front of Goulda with a laid-back attitude, Davey scoffed and said, ¡°I thought you were quite busy, but it seems that you have some time to relax. Let¡¯s have a drink together.¡± ¡°Hmph! Even the most important matters need to be slept on. To rush into dealing with the matter is, in fact, worse than doing nothing at all. And right now, Big Brother Goulda has kicked us all out, so¡­ But you said you want to have a drink?¡± ¡°I heard the dwarf-made spirit is quite strong.¡± It was not the Eighth Elder Goulda who responded, but Gerrit, the captain of the dwarf guards, who was nearby. ¡°What? Spirit?¡± ¡®I thought he¡¯d be watching the door, but he¡¯s here drinking, too. Alright.¡¯ ¡°Hey Malcolm! This human here wants to drink the dwarf-made spirit!¡± Gerrit shouted. ¡°Huh?¡± Everyone suddenly perked up. The dwarves, who were too drunk to even realize that Davey had entered the tavern, looked at him in fascination. It was as if they were looking at a mystical animal. ¡°Phahahaha!¡± ¡°You want to drink the spirit? You¡¯re out of your mind! And the person you¡¯re drinking with is Elder Goulda?¡± People began chattering from all over, as if they had understood what Davey had meant. ¡°Hey, human. You said your name was Davey?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°I¡¯m warning you, but the alcohol content in dwarf-made spirit is no joke. It¡¯s too strong for a human to drink.¡± ¡°Well, this is nothing.¡± Davey grinned and chugged down a glass of spirit that was right in front of Goulda. He felt a strong yet clean scent of alcohol punch his nose. ¡°Hup!¡± ¡°Hm¡­¡± At the same time, the dwarves, who were chattering and laughing nearby, looked surprised. ¡°Whew! This is what alcohol should be like.¡± Davey chuckled and clicked his tongue. -I don¡¯t understand why people drink alcohol¡­ ¡®To be honest, it¡¯s just super strong and doesn¡¯t taste good at all.¡¯ ¡°It feels a little weak, but it doesn¡¯t matter. So, Eighth Elder. Would you care for a battle?¡± Davey asked. Goulda squinted at Davey. He still looked a little bothered when he gradually widened his eyes in surprise. ¡°Hey, are you really okay? You chugged that down in one shot. Can you tell how many fingers I am holding up?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not bad,¡± Davey replied. ¡°Pahahaha!!!¡± Goulda burst out in laughter, but he soon slammed his glass on the table and stared at Davey intensely. ¡°Alright. We dwarves don¡¯t treat good drinks poorly! Let¡¯s do it! Hey, Malcolm! I¡¯ll pay for everything, so bring this greenhorn prince all the drinks that he wants!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not responsible for anything!¡± The muscular dwarf wearing an apron walked into the kitchen while shaking his head. Then, he put down several glasses filled with the same amount of spirit as Goulda had. ¡°Dwarves love a good bet. On the off chance that you win, what do you what? Although, I¡¯m not in the position to grant whatever your request is because of the important matters at hand.¡± ¡°I just want to hear your story.¡± ¡®Approach them slowly.¡¯ As if he liked Davey¡¯s response, Goulda let out a hearty laugh. Then, they simultaneously grabbed the handles of their wooden glasses and glared at each other. Goulda warned, ¡°I won¡¯t go easy on you. If I win, you will leave this place. Although it¡¯s been a long time since a human I like has come here, the timing isn¡¯t good right now.¡± ¡°As you wish.¡± Support us at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. * * * ¡°Groan¡­ Hey, I¡¯m totally fine. Why don¡¯t you give up?¡± Goulda asked Davey. ¡°I think you¡¯re at your limit.¡± ¡°Damn¡­ You are one nasty human¡­¡± Davey had thought that Goulda would be more stubborn, but Goulda was fair and honorable. To Davey, who had a master-level abundance of mana, being drunk meant nothing to him in the first place. Well, he was sort of holding out with his willpower, but even though his physical strength wasn¡¯t like the past, his willpower still was. -A true fraud. ¡®I can win against him even without mana.¡¯ -What did you have to do to get like this? Davey reminisced about his past since Perserque asked him in amazement. He remembered one of his swordsmanship teachers: the man who had instantly united the World of Martial Arts as soon as he appeared. At first, he wondered how a man who was remembered as a terrifying being could have become a hero. However, the man had been a human being with feelings. The other heroes of the Hall called Dokgo Jun, the Heavenly Destroyer, ¡®The Hero of One Person¡¯. -The Hero of One Person¡­ ¡®Well, I¡¯ve only kind of heard tales of that world, so¡­¡¯ Whatever it was, Dokgo Jun was the reason why Davey could drink a crazy amount of alcohol. The man had been the greatest drunkard to have ever lived. Since even Daphne, the immoral saintess who liked to drink, had warned Davey to never have a drink with him, it was clear how much of a heavy drinker the man had been. The problem was that because Davey had learned swordsmanship from him, he had often had drinks with him. Thinking back, Davey thought that maybe the most difficult thing he had to endure while training at the Hall was having had to have that damn drink. Since Dokgo Jun¡¯s usual spirits could even wipe out transcendent beings who handled mana, it had been difficult for Davey to bear it. ¡®Compared to his, dwarf spirit is nothing.¡¯ [Hiccup! You want to learn more? Hiccup! Then get me another bottle. I¡¯ll teach you if you can tolerate it. Just so you know, if you pass out, I¡¯m going to work you hard.] The image of Dokgo Jun worshiping alcohol as a god and working as the missionary was still fresh in Davey¡¯s memory. ¡°Hiccup! I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d ever see a human better at drinking than a dwarf¡­¡± ¡°There are many kinds of people in the world, right?¡± ¡°Pahahaha! Hiccup! Everything looks like¡­it¡¯s spinning¡­¡± Thud! Finally, Goulda gave in to his intoxication and slept with his head slammed against the table. It was clear who the winner was. ¡°Wow! Grandpop Goulda fell!¡± ¡°What a rare sight!¡± ¡°Pahahaha!!!¡± As Goulda fell asleep, the surroundings became rowdy again. Even the dwarves, who were shocked at how much Davey was able to drink, laughed and chattered. ¡®A few seconds ago, he couldn¡¯t even hold himself up properly from being so drunk. Now, he has good judgment.¡¯ ¡°Hey, you human! Amazing!¡± ¡°My, how did you drink all that?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe the drunkard of our tribe passed out like that!¡± ¡®The best?¡¯ Davey chuckled and stared at Goulda, but the old dwarf had already passed out from all the alcohol. -You¡¯re going to have to wait a day. ¡®I think so, too.¡¯ Watching Goulda be carried out by other dwarves, Davey turned his glance over to the remaining dwarves and smiled. ¡°Who wants to be my next competitor?¡± ¡®I¡¯ve ignited their competitive spirit, so I should at least make a campfire with it.¡¯ * * * ¡°Well, a bet is a bet. Okay, what are you so curious about?¡± Goulda asked. ¡°Did you say the Primordial Inferno has been causing the village to be so disorderly?¡± Davey threw a question back. After hearing Davey¡¯s question, Goulda suddenly went stiff from going all limp from the alcohol. Then, with a chuckle, he slumped onto the table. ¡°Well, what can be done? The problem is the old sword that had been protecting our Yellowstone Tribe has broken.¡± ¡°It broke?¡± ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s strange.¡± Goulda seemed dissatisfied by something and let out a sigh. ¡°Then, can¡¯t you just give up on it?¡± Davey asked. Goulda stared at Davey as if he was trying to figure out the intentions behind Davey¡¯s honest question. ¡°Even though it¡¯s old and not made for attacking, it¡¯s kind of like our spiritual anchor, in a way.¡± ¡°Is that so? I apologize.¡± ¡°Usually, the tribes take turns taking care of the sword. The tribe that receives the sword must take care of the sword for a certain amount of time; that is the promise and the rule. It¡¯s been under the care of my father¡­ But my brother and I are in charge of it now, because my father returned to the earth much earlier than we had expected.¡± After hearing Goulda¡¯s explanation, Davey managed to figure out the current situation. It was the Yellowstone Tribe¡¯s turn to take care of the dwarves¡¯ sacred weapon, but after Goulda¡¯s father, who had been the only one fit to manage the sword, had passed so early, Goulda and his brother were hurried into taking over the role. Then, now that the sword itself had broken apart¡­ Davey could sort of understand the situation. As Davey nodded his head slowly, Goulda stared at him silently. Goulda asked Davey, ¡°Okay, since I like you, I will ask this question: is that all you wish to know?¡± Davey smiled. Dwarves had a strong sense of pride, but they were kind to species they found friendly and likable. All he did was have a drink with Goulda, but of course, he didn¡¯t try to maintain a good impression for nothing. He said, ¡°Actually, I am a little skilled in blacksmithing, so¡­ Would I be able to watch you do your work as a late learner?¡± Goulda flinched as he heard Davey¡¯s question. * * * As soon as the sun came up, Goulda quickly headed to the Central Workshop, the best workshop of the Yellowstone Tribe, as if he was never drunk. Davey quietly followed along. Although magic existed in this world, scientific technology was less developed than Earth because magic was much more advanced. In fact, when the people on Earth used technology to raise the temperature of a blast furnace, most kingdoms and empires required the help of magic or alchemy. All that the furnaces of a smithy in a territory or city could do were tasks like melting iron and such, but¡­ The Great Furnace of the dwarves was different. This enormous furnace, the pinnacle of the dwarves¡¯ skills and crafts, was their pride. Hundreds of spinning wheels spun to automatically operate bellows, and it withstood extremely high temperatures because it was made out of a special material. As such, the temperature the Great Furnace could go up to was about 3000 degrees celsius. Of course, even this Great Furnace would start to crumble if the temperature was raised higher than that. -I can¡¯t believe that all this was made without any magic or alchemy and just by their craft. Intrigued by Davey¡¯s explanation, Perserque flew beside Davey while nodding. Even though she had lived for a long time, she still couldn¡¯t have seen something like this. This was unsurprising since she had mostly lived in spirit form. ¡°Oh, Gol¡­ Hey, who did you bring in here?¡± CH 61 Dozens of dwarf craftsmen were already at the Great Furnace hammering away. A few of the oldest dwarves frowned when they saw Goulda leading Davey inside. Addressing them, Goulda said, ¡°Can¡¯t you see? It¡¯s the human who has come to visit the village.¡± ¡°Goulda, you¡¯ve gone mad!¡± ¡°How dare you bring a human into this place?!¡± The old dwarves responded just as Davey had expected. Goulda was the Eighth Elder, meaning that there were other elders, and the other elders had refused to meet Davey because of their work in the Great Furnace. Among them, he could see an old dwarf who looked very similar to Goulda. ¡°Goulda,¡± the dwarf said. ¡°Big brother.¡± ¡°Explain this nonsense.¡± As the dwarves glared at Davey with cold eyes, Goulda let out a deep sigh. He explained to his brother, ¡°It was a bet. Apparently, this greenhorn prince from the Rowane Kingdom knows blacksmithing.¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just trying to let him shadow our work here for a little while.¡± ¡°So, you brought a human into this Central Workshop? Goulda! Are you insane?! You¡¯re still drunk, aren¡¯t you?!¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine! It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve met a human that I like. As one of the elders, please trust my judgment and have faith in this greenhorn prince.¡± ¡°Goulda, you¡­!¡± Goulda was unexpectedly brave. He did initially find Davey bothersome at first, as did the other elders, but he was a man who kept his promise. At that moment, he addressed Davey, ¡°Hey, you greenhorn prince.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Davey.¡± ¡°¡­Yes, Davey. This is all I can do for you.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°A promise is a promise. I am helping you today, but don¡¯t think I will do this again.¡± ¡°This is enough for me.¡± Davey smiled. As if he didn¡¯t like how Davey was smiling, Goulda scoffed and turned away. He said to the other dwarves, ¡°What are you all doing?! I told you we have important work to do today!¡± ¡°Damn it! What is this nonsense?!¡± A dwarf even threw his hammer on the ground. They were probably infuriated that Davey, a human, had entered the Great Furnace. -They¡¯re overreacting. ¡®Even time doesn¡¯t change the stubbornness of craftsmen. Since I¡¯m the one doing something completely impudent right now, don¡¯t get too angry.¡¯ Perserque puffed up her cheeks in discontent. -You¡¯re just going to let them talk to you like that? ¡®I would react in the same way, too.¡¯ The weapon being worked on here was a legacy of Davey¡¯s teacher, Surtr. Davey had seen the divine sword, and he was in possession of his teacher¡¯s last work, the two twin swords. All that was left to see was one of his teacher¡¯s past works, which was in the Great Furnace. ¡°Damn it! You learned blacksmithing? Do you even know what we¡¯re doing here?¡± One of the dwarves shouted at Goulda. ¡°God, it¡¯s not just any weapon; it¡¯s the thousand-year-old sacred object!¡± Another added. ¡°I know! Everyone, I am asking for a favor on behalf of my position as an elder.¡± The infuriated dwarves closed their mouths once Goulda shouted with determination. However, their hostility toward Davey did not subside easily. -Is there a reason to help these people? ¡®Who said anything about helping them? I¡¯m just here to trade diamonds for corn.¡¯ Davey was just taking a look around before he could make a trade. ¡°Have a little mercy on the late learner,¡± Goulda pleaded. ¡°What are you all doing? Goulda is an elder, too! If he has decided so, we must respect it!¡± Right then, the old dwarf who looked exactly like Goulda helped him out. He was Golgouda, Goulda¡¯s older brother and the First Elder who was taking care of the Primordial Inferno in this generation. As the First Elder, he was the highest-ranking one, so it was safe to assume that he was the commander of the entire Yellowstone Tribe. ¡°Ahem¡­ I will allow it since Elder Golgouda has spoken.¡± ¡°However, this mustn¡¯t happen again!¡± Perhaps Elder Golgouda had a much stronger influence than expected. The dwarves who initially complained simply picked up their hammers from the floor and began to focus on their work again. ¡°Human.¡± Elder Golgouda glanced at Davey. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I gave you permission on account of my younger brother. But if you get caught doing any funny business, I will crush your skull with my battle-axe.¡± When Davey smiled at his threat, Golgouda just turned and walked away. It was as if he didn¡¯t like Davey¡¯s response. * * * The Primordial Inferno was a gigantic sword with an antique design. It was about two meters in length and had a blade that was easily over 30 centimeters in width. Although it was called a sword, it looked closer to being a structure with many parts attached to it. It wasn¡¯t a weapon made for attacking, but maybe that was because it couldn¡¯t slash. The sword, a sacred item of the dwarf village, was placed in the center of the black workshop. It looked half-broken but still magnificent. Davey just stared at the Primordial Inferno without a word. -What are you looking at so closely? ¡®That can¡¯t be fixed.¡¯ Davey, who was silently looking at the sword, decided boldly. He said to Perserque, ¡®Fix it? Fixing it is as disrespectful and stupid as trying to revive an old man who died after living a good life. They¡¯re better off making a new one. That sword is too old.¡¯ The Primordial Inferno was crafted using the same method that was used to make Caldeiras, but unlike the divine sword, it was never completed. That was why it wasn¡¯t able to withstand the long period of time. ¡°What are you all doing?! Pull it!!¡± ¡°Hey! Where¡¯s the iron you made?!¡± ¡°You damn people! Hammer properly?! Do you all want to die?!¡± The workshop was like a battlefield. All the dwarves were highly skilled, but they would never be able to fix the Primordial Inferno even if they all worked on it. There was no reason for the dwarves to work this hard on any regular sword, but the Primordial Inferno was a sword imbued with many blessings. It was more of a magical instrument than a regular sword. That was why the dwarves were carefully taking it apart piece by piece and working on it delicately. -They have a nasty personality, but they are surprisingly hard workers. As Davey watched the dwarves discuss their next steps and then cautiously work on the sword, Perserque mumbled as if feeling surprised. ¡®Did you just realize that dwarves have a hot temper?¡¯ -I know they do. Even if they had a nasty personality, the dwarves were extremely polite to those that they respected. This was the first time Davey had met a dwarf, but he had heard about them before. The sun was starting to come down, but the dwarves continued on with the restoration work that had started early in the morning. Davey was impressed by how they were grinding their souls into their hammering and how hard they were studying the sword. Davey got lost in his thoughts as he sat comfortably and observed the dwarves, like a lion watching its prey. ¡®With that passion and skills, they would be perfect for the development of the territory.¡¯ The dwarves were much more talented than Davey had thought. Although, there was no way they would come to his territory and fix the facilities even if he asked, since they weren¡¯t focusing on anything else other than that sword right now. The most hardworking and fastest dwarf among them was First Elder Golgouda, the older brother of Goulda who had brought Davey here. He was silently hammering away, not thinking about his health. It was as if he had committed a sin. Support us at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°Damn! Golgouda, you¡¯re going to collapse if you keep working like that! Get some rest!¡± One of the dwarves shouted to Golgouda. ¡°I¡¯m fine! Where are the pliers? Get me the next piece!¡± ¡°Damn it!!¡± Golgouda was pushing himself so much that the other dwarves went pale just from watching him. He probably felt the most responsible for the Primordial Inferno breaking, since he was supposed to take good care of it. And since the sword broke as soon as Golgouda and Goulda had inherited the management of the sword from their father who had passed, it seemed inevitable for him to feel guilty. Davey clicked his tongue at Golgouda, who was fiercely working while clenching his jaw. ¡®Working like that isn¡¯t going to solve anything.¡¯ To be frank, Davey could see that Golgouda didn¡¯t have a clear judgment right now, but he could also see that Golgouda¡¯s outstanding skills were the only thing allowing Golgouda to hold on to the sword. The old dwarf was desperately working on the sword even though he wasn¡¯t skilled enough to fix it. He was basically taking one step forward and one step back, making no progress. Whatever it was, all the dwarves did was just hold on to a glimmer of hope. Davey was silently watching the dwarves work when an opportunity for him to step up appeared unexpectedly. A dwarf wearing black barged into the workshop and said, ¡°Ha! These damn Yellowstone Tribe folks. You guys managed to break the sword.¡± ¡°Torrs?¡± ¡°Why did the Blackstone Tribe show up here?¡± The other dwarves murmured. The Blackstone Tribe was a tribe of dwarves who were located in the southern part of the continent. ¡®When did they come here? The Blackstone Tribe is pretty far from this place.¡¯ The workshop went silent at Torrs'' sudden appearance, except for one person. Torrs commented, ¡°You all speak so shamelessly when you have destroyed the sacred item.¡± ¡°Shut your mouth, Torrs!¡± Goulda shouted, incapable of containing his anger. Torrs, the dwarf in black, just shrugged his shoulders and came into the Central Workshop. ¡®This is getting interesting!¡¯ Torrs watched the other dwarves and smirked at Golgouda, who was ignoring his approach. He said provocatively, ¡°What do you think, Elder Golgouda? I didn¡¯t really like the fact that the sword was in your possession in the first place.¡± ¡°You!!¡± ¡°Give the sword to the Blackstone Tribe now. Our craftsmen are probably better than this. Ptui!¡± The other dwarves frowned in anger as they saw Torrs spit on the ground and provoke their First Elder. ¡°That¡¯s not true! We have the finest elder in our tribe!¡± ¡°Ha! That¡¯s funny. Not even the best elder of the Blackstone Tribe will be able to fix this!¡± ¡°Even though you say that, you have struggled to fix this sword for a while,¡± Torrs remarked. Perhaps it was because Torrs spoke the truth. The other dwarves clenched their jaws in fury. However, Golgouda silently hammered at a piece of the Primordial Inferno. Clang!! Clang!! He ignored Torrs and desperately swung his hammer over and over again, like he was praying. ¡°Hand it over now. Don¡¯t insult the sacred sword any longer!¡± Torrs shouted, and the frowns of the other dwarves deepened. At the same time, Golgouda¡¯s hammering intensified. It rang out. Some dwarves were so enraged that their jaws were clenched and their eyes were red. Davey could practically feel their anger just by looking at them. ¡°This has been discussed and agreed upon by all the elders of the other tribes. We can¡¯t leave the sword in the hands of the least skilled tribe. Well, I would¡¯ve been able to trust you if Great Elder Gould was here.¡± As everything was based on abilities and skills for dwarves, no one could say anything to Torrs. Clang!! Clang!! The intense hammering sound rang throughout the entire workshop, and that was when it happened. CH 62 Clutter! Elder Golgouda, who was continuously hammering the sword, threw his hammer on the ground. He had a hopeless gaze, as if he was looking at a terminal patient. ¡°Ah¡­¡± Everyone let out a shameful sigh and frowned. Then, Elder Golgouda also glared at the Primordial Inferno and ground his teeth. He seemed so infuriated that tears were forming in his eyes. ¡°I guess there¡¯s nothing more to see here! The men of our tribe are here! Don¡¯t be stubborn and hand it over now!¡± Torres yelled in anger. While Golgouda collapsed onto his knees with a dejected expression, a few young dwarf men followed Torres into the workshop and began taking the parts of the Primordial Inferno. They wrapped the separate pieces in the cloth they had prepared. -You? Davey was done organizing his thoughts. He knew that not everything in the world would go his way, but he felt this situation had become more complicated than he had expected. ¡°Huh?¡± Davey silently stood up and went into the Central Workshop, grabbing a small hammer near him as he headed in. The dwarves looked at him with puzzled expressions, but he walked past them and reached the Primordial Inferno. Then, he stared at Golgouda, who was sitting hopelessly near the sword. ¡°You¡­¡± ¡°May I ask you something?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Elder, are you really a true craftsman?¡± Davey¡¯s voice was far colder than anyone had imagined. 26. Let¡¯s Call You Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon. The heated atmosphere of the Central Workshop grew cold in seconds. At first, Elder Golgouda did not understand what Davey was saying; however, as realization dawned upon him, he glared at Davey with bulging eyes. His gaze was one of intense anger, and he looked like he wanted to grab his hammer and hit Davey with it right this second. Golgouda asked quietly, ¡°What did you say?¡± ¡°A true craftsman feels the soul of what they are making and respects it. But you, Elder, threw it away from the beginning.¡± Golgouda flinched at Davey¡¯s reply. [Although it¡¯s very faint, a soul enters everything that a craftsman creates. A person who disrespects this fact has no right to be called a craftsman. Crush their heads!] There was one thing that Davey had mastered at a similar level to his teacher at the Hall, and that was blacksmithing. Out of all the heroes who had taught Davey, Surtr had been most devoted to teaching him and the fastest to improve him. It wasn¡¯t because he had been an exceptional teacher, but because Davey was unique in that he had learned many other skills, such as magic, swordsmanship, alchemy, holy power, and more. Normally, one¡¯s lifetime was too short and people didn¡¯t have the capacity to master all these subjects. In that sense, the skills Surtr had taught Davey coincidentally suited him well. Although, he couldn¡¯t catch up to the delicate handwork of that crazy talented blacksmith. ¡°A human?¡± Torres, the dwarf of the Blackstone Tribe, frowned when he noticed that Davey was here. He shouted, ¡°Hey, Grandpops Golgouda. Now you¡¯re bringing humans into the Central Workshop? Since when did the Central Workshop become a place where anyone could enter?!¡± ¡°Davey! Stand back! You¡¯re not part of this!!¡± Eighth Elder Goulda, who brought Davey here, quickly tried to stop Davey as soon as Torrs spoke. Still, he kept his eyes on Golgouda. ¡°Let me change the question. Do you really want to fix this?¡± Davey asked Golgouda. ¡°What are you saying? Of course, I¡­¡± Golgouda replied with a frown. However, Davey cut him off before he could finish. ¡°Then why did you do it?¡± Golgouda¡¯s eyes widened at Davey¡¯s question. ¡°Does pride sustain you?¡± After speaking, Davey walked over to where a piece of the Primordial Inferno was located. Then, he tapped on its surface with a small hammer. Clang¡­ Clang¡­ He could hear a clear ring that sounded nothing like hammering metal. It resonated through the workshop. ¡°Tsk. It¡¯s long gone. It can¡¯t be used.¡± Davey clicked his tongue. The mana circulation system of the Primordial Inferno had come to an end. A regular lump of metal could last for tens of thousands of years if properly maintained, but it was impossible for an artifact mixed with mana to last that long since the metal itself would become weathered by the mana. ¡°Hey, human! What are you doing?! How dare you get near that! Get away!¡± A few dwarves came to their senses and ran over to Davey to stop him. ¡°What are you thinking? How dare you interfere here.¡± ¡°Get lost right now!¡± The atmosphere began heating up again as the dwarves scowled, looking like they were going to smash Davey¡¯s head in with their hammers if he did something. ¡°This exceeds his authority! We must formally make a complaint to the Rowane Kingdom!¡± ¡°Elder Goulda! How are you going to take responsibility for this?¡± The voices of the livid dwarves were getting louder, and some dwarves were coming at Davey to try and pull Davey away. ¡°Elder Golgouda.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have an answer?¡± Golgouda squinted at Davey, as if trying to figure Davey out. ¡°You. What kind of nonsense is¡­¡± ¡°Do you not want to fix it? Or are you trying to escape reality by giving an already dead artifact misplaced significance?¡± Some of the dwarves flinched at Davey¡¯s words. ¡°You¡­¡± ¡°Three thousand years, right? I think it¡¯s been that long since the Primordial Inferno has been made, and it has tirelessly protected this village for that time.¡± As Golgouda clenched his jaw, Davey continued, ¡°You¡¯re trying to revive a sword that has passed its natural lifespan? You call yourselves craftsmen? This precious sword has been your spiritual anchor, and yet you treat it like this?¡± Regardless of pride, this sword was a work of Davey¡¯s teacher, meaning that this matter somewhat concerned Davey too. Thud!! As soon as Davey stopped speaking, he roughly moved his arms, and the couple of dwarves who held him simply fell onto the floor. ¡°Woah!!¡± ¡°Keugh!¡± ¡°Since when did dwarves become this shameless?¡± Davey remarked. Dwarves were a race of craftsmen; they were skilled and deserved to be called the best in the continent. So how could they not know the condition of an item that had died and could no longer be revived? ¡®That¡¯s bullshit.¡¯ Davey shrugged off the dwarves who were holding him back and took a quick look at the sword part in his hand. Then, he threw it into the nearby furnace without hesitation. ¡°No!!¡± Some of the dwarves screamed, but Davey walked over to another sword part and did the same thing. The dwarves swarmed him, but he kept throwing the parts into the furnace without a word. ¡°You damn human!¡± ¡°Do you want to die?!¡± With menacing, bloodshot eyes, the dwarves swung their hammers at Davey like they were trying to kill him. Even if it was broken, the Primordial Inferno was probably still the symbol of their species. However, some dwarves, including Elder Golgouda and Torres, the dwarf from the Blackstone Tribe, just vacantly stared at Davey. ¡°N¡­ No¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s it¡­¡± At last, the dwarves collapsed onto their knees with blank expressions. They looked at the sword parts that were thrown into the furnace. There were looks of anger, emptiness, and extreme confusion. Some dwarves were even shedding tears in frustration. ¡®Man, I really look like the asshole here.¡¯ -I¡¯ve never seen those stubborn bulls be that dismal. Ignoring Perserque¡¯s chatter, Davey coldly criticized the dwarves, ¡°The sword is already dead, but you just don¡¯t know if you can make a new one.¡± ¡°Shut up! You don¡¯t know anything! Stop speaking as if you do!¡± ¡°I should beat you to death!¡± Some of the dwarves threateningly glared at Davey. ¡°You didn¡¯t even try because you thought it was impossible? You guys are supposed to be the greatest craftsmen!!¡± Crash!! As Davey roughly kicked the anvil near him, the anvil crumpled as if it had been hit with a large metal ball. ¡°Stop it! How miserable are you going to make us?!¡± One of the bitter-looking elders shouted in sorrow. The dwarves probably knew that it was pointless trying to fix this sword, which had already reached the end of its life, and that they weren¡¯t skilled enough to create a new one. They couldn¡¯t admit it because of their strong sense of pride, and it led them to self-rationalize and believe that nothing could ever replace this sword. It was the worst thing a craftsman could do. ¡°We are the most skilled among the craftsmen in this continent, and even we couldn¡¯t restore it!¡± The dwarves shouted, ¡°Then, are you saying that you can create this damn sacred sword?¡± A quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled. ¡°Yes,¡± Davey replied calmly. ¡°You must be joking! Even the best craftsmen cannot handle the metal refined with that strange arrangement, and you think you can do it?! A greenhorn human prince?¡± ¡°It is none other than the work of the ¡®Thousand-day Blacksmith¡¯! It¡¯s not something that can be made with your trivial skills!¡± ¡°Then just accept it and learn, you people,¡± Davey said. -Think of it in this way. Your plan is useless if you can¡¯t win them over¡­ ¡®Let¡¯s think of it as a warm-up.¡¯ As soon as Davey made his decision, he began to move. He quickly gathered a few things in the workshop and started his work. He classified the reagents by smelling them and neatly organized the tools he needed in one place. ¡®This should be good for the materials.¡¯ It was befitting to be called the Central Workshop, the place where the best of the best craftsmen gathered; this was the dwarves¡¯ pride and dignity. Davey immediately turned to face the enormous Great Furnace that could reach up to 3000 degrees Celsius. It was the dwarves¡¯ pride, the pinnacle of their skills. A red fire was still wavering inside from its earlier use. He could feel the intense heat that prevented any regular person from approaching it. However, releasing his mana, Davey stuck his hand inside the furnace without hesitation and cast a spell with his hands. A strange unfamiliarity followed, since this method used mana in a completely different way. It was the mana crafting method: the method that most craftsmen didn¡¯t dare to try, and the specialty and vision of Surtr, the ¡®Thousand-day Blacksmith¡¯. It was a method that was created by a bizarre way of thinking. ¡°Hup?!¡± ¡°Th¡­ The color of the flame¡­¡± CH 63 The transformation was instant. The red flame in the furnace merged with Davey¡¯s mana to become a brilliant blue flame. The temperature hadn¡¯t changed, but it was as if something fundamental had transformed. ¡°Hm¡­ This should be good enough for the temperature.¡± Davey didn¡¯t care about the dwarves¡¯ shock or confusion. He just silently waited for the furnace¡¯s temperature to rise. Once it reached his desired temperature, Davey immediately stuck in the metal he had prepared and only pulled it out after it had become bright red from the heat. Then, he placed it on the anvil with a practiced gesture and secured it in place using a few clips. He could hold it if it were small enough, but the base of it was quite big. ¡°What are you doing? Combining cadmium and mithril into an alloy is forbidden! It¡¯s common knowledge!¡± ¡°We shouldn¡¯t have let that damn human in!¡± Feeling stupid for hoping for some kind of miracle, the dwarves expressed their displeasure out loud. However, their great unhappiness went as quickly as it came when they heard Davey speak. ¡°Who said that methods beyond common knowledge can¡¯t be used?¡± Davey asked. Clang! The dwarves went silent as they heard the resonating sound of a hollow echo. ¡°Did your ancestors say that? Or the ¡®Thousand-day Blacksmith¡¯?¡± Clang! It was unusually clear for the sound of a dull hammer hitting a piece of hot iron. ¡°Aren¡¯t you just binding yourselves to the rules that you have made?¡± With every hit from Davey¡¯s hammer, a large ripple seemingly traveled across the piece of metal. The transformation was taking place. As the hammer hit the surface, a blue wave enveloped the metal, then scattered away. There was no such thing as common sense; everything depended on how a technique was utilized. Cadmium and mithril could be combined, depending on the crafting method. One example would be the method that the dwarves called deviant. First, Davey mixed the forbidden reagents when mixing types of metals. He then allowed the reagent to be absorbed by the steady flame fused with mana and twisted the metallic layers. Among the acts that were not to be done during crafting, some new methods existed. It was kind of like a difference in perspective. ¡®Anyway, mithril is a pretty expensive metal¡­¡¯ Davey thought that this workshop was quite high class. Clang! Clang!! A blue wave spread out, rippling with each strike of the hammer. The metal began changing. Since it was difficult for ordinary craftsmen to find the layers of iron and strike them, it was quite surprising that Davey was able to find the layers that changed with every strike and hit them with precision. Perhaps the transformation of the shape of the metal was so rapid, or because Davey hadn¡¯t hammered in a long time, but he was engrossed by the task for a long time. When he finally snapped out of his work, he saw that the metal in front of him had roughly become the shape of a large sword. The sword was so sloppy and dull that it would seemingly take a long time to be completed, but its waves of mana were similar to what the dwarves had been desperately trying to hold on to. Actually, the mana seemed much stronger than that, but that was unsurprising since it was made by Davey, Surtr¡¯s student. ¡®Hm, was I too focused?¡¯ Davey realized that quite a long time had passed, but no one had stopped him. He acknowledged the fact that he was able to be this focused because no one was bothering him. As he lightly tapped the incomplete sword-shaped metal that was on top of the anvil, a faint light shone to reveal its existence. The mana that he had arranged into a pattern were interacting with each other and reacting. Davey gently turned his head before holding up part of his work to the dwarves who were staring at him in shock. Then, he said with a smile, ¡°How easy is that?¡± Even he thought what he said was ridiculous. * * * Search bit.ly/3iBfjkV for the original. Ordinary magic swords were made by engraving a magic circle on the completed weapon, then either embedding a mana stone in a regular sword or getting help from a mage. However, instilling a will in a sword required a different process. ¡°H¡­ How did this¡­¡± The dwarves looked extremely shocked, staring at a weapon that completely broke the commonly accepted knowledge. No one ever imagined that Davey would show them something like this. To them, he was a boy who had suddenly visited from the Rowane Kingdom. It was a little misleading to call Davey a boy, since he was an adult by human standards, but he was still a mere child to the dwarves. They didn¡¯t know what his ultimate request was, but he had entered the village by borrowing the king¡¯s authority; however, he didn¡¯t show any of his intentions at first. Of course, the dwarves looked down on him; although there was a promise, Davey was an unwelcome guest who had come without sending word beforehand. On top of that, they were busy with their own troubles. The Eighth Elder Goulda looked out for Davey, since he saw Davey as an amiable human who knew the manners and etiquette of dwarves quite well. However, the other dwarves could care less about him. But now¡­ ¡°H¡­ How¡­ Without a mana stone, the sword¡­¡± Incapable of completing his sentence, the Sixth Elder Perdom¡¯s gaze shook in disbelief. He probably expressed what the others also felt. A magic sword was powered by an intricately attached mana stone; it produced multiple types of mana from connecting to the stone¡¯s mana. But there was a problem. A sword that used a mana stone for power could only be used for a certain number of times, since it couldn¡¯t continuously produce mana like the Primordial Inferno or the divine sword. As such, the dwarves who had lost most of their ancient skills were unable to do anything; even if it was the same power, a power that replenished itself and one that had a certain number of usages were fundamentally different. It was sort of similar to how a magic stone was much more advanced than a mana stone. To the dwarves, the Primordial Inferno was probably the ultimate symbol of the pure skills of a craftsman. However, a magic artifact without a mana stone, something that they believed couldn¡¯t be crafted anymore, was made in front of their eyes, and it only took a craftsman¡¯s hammer and anvil. The dwarves stared at Davey, the human boy who was hammering as if he had forgotten about his surroundings. As he picked up part of the enormous sword and showed it to the dwarves, their jaws dropped. ¡°So? Now do you understand?¡± How could they understand when something unbelievable was happening right in front of their eyes? * * * -I think I saw mana thinly spread every time you hammered it, but¡­ ¡®Spreading mana can easily be done with the power of a mana stone. I¡¯m talking about the layers.¡¯ -Layers? ¡®The sword absorbs mana on its o¡­ Simply put, it circulates mana through itself.¡¯ ¡°Elder Golgouda.¡± ¡°Hu¡­ Huh?!¡± Startled by Davey, Golgouda ran over toward Davey with his eyes wide open. ¡°Can you tell what I did?¡± Davey asked. ¡°Th¡­ That is¡­¡± As Golgouda struggled to explain, Davey grabbed his hammer and lightly tapped the surface of the sword. Clang! Clang! The sound was as clear as a bell. It definitely sounded hollow, but the sword was strangely sturdy. ¡°Like the divine sword, there are extremely rare objects that replenish their own power without a mana stone, and they have a nucleus made from metal,¡± Davey explained. ¡°Y¡­ Yes.¡± ¡°Most magic artifacts die when the mana stone runs out of stored mana. So, for something to release a strong power while enduring a long period of time like the Primordial Inferno, it must be able to circulate mana on its own.¡± A mana arrangement and magic circle could be used to make something circulate mana on its own, but these people were craftsmen, not mages; they didn¡¯t craft objects based on magic. ¡°Do you see these layers?¡± Davey asked Golgouda. ¡°Layers?¡± ¡°Yes. Whether it be the Primordial Inferno, the divine sword, it absorbs mana, devil mana, or holy power on its own. The exact details might be different, but the point is that the crafted item itself must have the shape of a magic circle.¡± ¡°B¡ªbut then it can¡¯t be a weapon! The shape of a magic circle is¡­¡± Golgouda was flustered and tried to explain, but Davey just grinned. ¡°So, we change the layers of the inside of the metal. We delicately create hundreds of layers and change them to take on the form of a magic circle.¡± As far as Davey knew, the only thing that could constantly store and release power like a mana¡ªno¡ªmagic stone, was Caldeiras, the divine sword, possessed by Illyna de Pallan, the imperial princess of the Pallan Empire. When he first saw Caldeiras, he couldn¡¯t even dare analyze it because of how advanced it was. ¡°Then¡­ If you randomly change the layers of the inside, the sword won¡¯t be able to last; it¡¯ll break even at the slightest impact.¡± Golgouda argued. ¡®Of course, the durability won¡¯t be strong if it¡¯s hollow.¡¯ ¡°So, that¡¯s why the craftsman envelops it in a thin layer of mana using an artifact or his own power and makes a buffer. That is the main point of the mana crafting method.¡± Davey answered. ¡°Buffer?¡± -But you were quite aloof when you first saw Caldeiras and me. ¡®A man who maintains their poker face when seeing a pretty girl is much more attractive than one who drools at her.¡¯ -For me, it doesn¡¯t matter if they drool or not if they are my type. ¡®What about me?¡¯ -You are too much of a stick. How do you feel about bulking up? Davey was pretty muscular; since he ate and worked out a lot during his spare time, he had gained a lot of muscle. As he complained, Perserque giggled. ¡°Most skills disappeared with time. As war changed from life and death between species to war between humans, the skills probably degenerated inevitably.¡± It was honestly disrespectful to compare this time to the past when all humans had to unite to match them. ¡°Let me ask you a question: are the dwarves now less skilled than the ones before?¡± Davey asked Golgouda. ¡°That is¡­ Sigh, yes. Our skills are nothing compared to our ancestors.¡± ¡°Is it impossible by your nature?¡± ¡°Definitely not!!¡± Davey glanced over at the other dwarves as Golgouda shouted loudly. Their hostility was long gone, and their eyes were filled with vitality. It was like they had discovered something new, some newfound hope. CH 64 A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled. ¡°This is all I can do for you. Its state is exactly like before, right when the ¡®Thousand-day Blacksmith¡¯ first handed it over to the dwarves. The rest is up to you,¡± Davey said. ¡°But¡­ We can¡¯t even work on the finishing touches with our current level of skill,¡± Golgouda replied. ¡°Then, you have to learn.¡± Davey smiled. Golgouda had an eager expression on his face. ¡°C¡­ Can you teach us those skills?¡± ¡°I¡¯m willing to do that for a trade. You¡¯re okay with that, right?¡± Davey asked. ¡°Of course! I would sell my soul to the devil if I could catch up to our ancestors¡¯ skills!¡± ¡°T¡­ Teach me! I will do anything you say!¡± ¡°Teach me! N¡ªNo, please teach me, wise teacher!¡± The other dwarves were eager to learn as well. ¡®Man, look at the change in attitude.¡¯ ¡°Alright. Then¡­¡± No one regarded Davey as a mere greenhorn prince anymore, since the dwarves had seen what he could do with their very own eyes. They¡¯d probably still struggle to believe it without first-hand experience, because it was hard to believe that a young human who was barely an adult was an expert blacksmith. The dwarves stared at Davey nervously as he was thinking. ¡°Then, we¡¯ll start after we finish my work.¡± The dwarves felt relieved, their knees almost buckling. Davey felt bad, but he had his own priorities. He did come here to ask for the dwarves¡¯ help with repairing the territory¡¯s facilities, but there was still something with far more importance than that. ¡°Your work?¡± ¡°Actually, I have come to this village to borrow the Great Furnace.¡± ¡°The Great Furnace?¡± ¡°I have to finish these weapons because I was kind of asked to do so.¡± Davey pulled out two cloth-wrapped weapons from his backpack. ¡°Is that a sword?¡± As Davey unwrapped the objects, the dwarves¡¯ eyes sparkled; they had instinctively felt that the weapons weren¡¯t finished. ¡°Hm¡­¡± ¡°Amazing!¡± ¡°Wow¡­¡± The dwarves were known to be the craftsmen of the century, despite being less skilled than their ancestors. Looking at the incomplete swords, they widened their eyes in shock and surprise. They looked on as Davey unwrapped the two dull swords and pulled them out. *** -Why does everyone give you such a look whenever you show them something? One day, I think you¡¯re going to get arrested for blasphemy. It was really starting to seem like a bad omen, but Davey wasn¡¯t afraid. ¡®Do you think I¡¯d be afraid of God¡¯s punishment, especially when I have a stigmata?¡¯ -Tsk tsk. The real punishment doesn¡¯t come from God, but people. The dwarves stared at Davey because of the amazing talent he had shown, but they were now only staring at the two incomplete swords in his hands. The two swords were too long to be daggers and too short to be called longswords; they weren¡¯t designed like the common swords in this continent. Still, the craftsmen had already recognized what they were. ¡°H¡­ Hey¡­ W¡ªWhat is that sword?!¡± Out of all the surprised dwarves, it was none other than First Elder Golgouda, the best craftsman in the Yellowstone Tribe, who asked Davey. ¡°How does it look?¡± Davey asked. ¡°Are you kidding? What is¡­ No way, did you make this?!¡± ¡°Hm, I didn¡¯t make it, but I will be the one finishing it.¡± It was just a fact of the matter. Even if he had the materials, Davey wasn¡¯t skilled enough to make something like this; after all, these twin swords had been made by Surtr, the ¡®Thousand-day Blacksmith¡¯, near the end of his life. ¡°T¡­Then, the craftsman who made this sword¡­¡± Golgouda asked. ¡°He died. A long time ago.¡± ¡°Ahem! I¡ªI apologize.¡± Perhaps Golgouda jumped to conclusions, but he nodded with a bitter expression and backed away after listening to Davey¡¯s reply. Davey had no need to feel guilty, since it was true that Surtr was dead. He couldn¡¯t help but chuckle, seeing an old dwarf get flustered after thinking he had hit a nerve. Davey said, ¡°He¡¯s been dead a long time. It¡¯s already been thousands of years.¡± Perhaps Golgouda understood what Davey was implying. He widened his eyes. ¡°Thousands of years ago? N¡ªNo way, are you¡­!¡± The problem was that the sword¡¯s potential exceeded its initial design due to the long period of aging from abandonment. -Aging? It¡¯s not even alcohol. ¡®All things created with the mana crafting method need a certain time to age. The Primordial Inferno¡­ No, the sword that will be newly crafted needs a few months to settle down before it can be worked on again. And it¡¯ll have to be meticulously maintained during that time.¡¯ -Is that so? ¡®Well, there is a clear difference in the difficulty of maintenance and crafting.¡¯ Wondering about how he should finish the swords, Davey squinted and slid his fingers down the side of the blade. To be honest, he needed some time to think about it, because the swords had a lot more potential than he had expected. Even if the swords only retained 10% of their original condition, he couldn¡¯t help but feel nervous about working on something so great. He didn¡¯t have a lot of time to work on them, so the swords¡¯ quality would ultimately depend on how much effort and skill he could put into them in a short amount of time. ¡°H¡ªHey! Do you have the materials to finish them?¡± Golgouda asked. ¡°Hm? No, I don¡¯t. I¡¯m planning to use an alloy with mithril, so I was going to borrow some from here.¡± Davey didn¡¯t expect to be given any exquisite materials, but since this was a dwarf village, he would probably be able to get some high-quality mithril. He wanted something like orichalcum or adamantium to finish the swords off, but it was difficult to obtain something that luxurious. However, that problem was solved unexpectedly. ¡®How lucky.¡¯ ¡°W¡ªWait! I¡¯ll lend you my workshop! Although I am not very skilled as compared to you, I have maintained it meticulously! There are plenty of tools for you to use your full abilities!¡± Golgouda offered. ¡°Hm?¡± Davey was puzzled, since a personal workshop was a sacred space to a craftsman. Golgouda shouted passionately, ¡°And I have something that you can use for the finishing material!¡± Golgouda wasn¡¯t cooperating just because Davey was going to teach him; his eyes were filled with the desire to see the finished work of Surtr, the ¡®Thousand-day Blacksmith¡¯. The Primordial Inferno didn¡¯t seem to concern him any longer. ¡®Excuse me. Out of everyone, you shouldn¡¯t be the one to act like that.¡¯ The dwarves stared at Davey, curious as to what he was going to show next. They were almost like dogs excitedly wagging their tails. ¡°If it¡¯s you¡­ You might be able to make a sword that matches up to the divine sword! Just wait!¡± The dwarves stared at Golgouda in shock as he ran off somewhere as fast as he could. ¡°No way, Grandpops Golgouda!¡± ¡°Is he going to bring that out?¡± ¡°He¡¯s crazy! He¡¯s going to bring the thing that he even hid away from the elders?!¡± Davey looked puzzled as he heard the dwarves shout in shock. ¡®How great is it that they are making that big of a fuss over it?¡¯ Davey¡¯s question was answered as soon as Golgouda ran over and handed him a small object. He could feel the mana, which was intensely unique and different from the usual kind. ¡°What¡­is this?¡± Feeling the unfamiliar kind of mana, Davey squinted and unwrapped the cloth to see something white. Although it was for a mere second, he realized what the object was almost instinctively. -Bones? ¡®What the hell.¡¯ ¡°These are the bones of a dragon that my ancestors have left me. It seems that it has absorbed mana for quite some time.¡± Davey was dumbfounded at the unexpected finishing material he had received. It had been a long time since he was this shocked. ¡°Yes, it is my family¡¯s treasure that has been passed down from generation to generation. I have looked after it because there wasn¡¯t anyone who could use it, but¡­ You¡­¡± Golgouda looked at Davey with twinkling eyes. He knew the dragon bones were absolutely perfect for the incomplete swords, which had been circulating mana and aging for thousands of years. ¡°Wow.¡± Davey was truly astonished. He wasn¡¯t as good a craftsman as Surtr, but that didn¡¯t mean that Davey couldn¡¯t do what Surtr had been able to do; it was common for the student to outperform the master in the craftsman¡¯s path. He felt that this could very well create an extremely great weapon. *** ¡°Ahem! W¡ªWise teacher! Let¡¯s have a talk!¡± One of the dwarf elders, who was awkwardly glancing around, approached Davey hesitantly. ¡°Uh¡­ Hm. I understand that Grandpops Golgouda has helped you with a lot of things¡­¡± ¡°Yes, I am honored to have received many gifts from him.¡± ¡°Right. Don¡¯t you think that he would feel a little uncomfortable if you were to use his workshop when you already got the finest material out there? So¡­why don¡¯t you use my¡­¡± ¡°Y¡ªYou grandpa!¡± Golgouda shouted. ¡°Shriek!¡± ¡°Get lost! I already called dibs on him!¡± ¡°Hmph! How could you take all the honor for yourself?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! This is tyranny!¡± ¡°Our workshops can match up to yours! This is up to the wise teacher to decide!¡± ¡°W¡ªWhat?!¡± Golgouda shouted. The atmosphere got riled up in seconds, and the dwarves looked like they could start a fight at any minute. Dwarves were known to be hot-tempered, so they would really end up in a fistfight if Davey just left them to keep bickering. It seemed like progress wouldn¡¯t be made unless he put a stop to these dwarves, who were fiercely arguing as if they had a death wish. ¡°Now, now. Everyone stop,¡± Davey said. ¡°Ahem!¡± ¡°Since Elder Golgouda offered his place first, it would be right to use it.¡± ¡°Ahem! If you say so¡­¡± ¡°If there¡¯s anything you need, don¡¯t hesitate to ask! I will get it to you!¡± ¡°Ah! It¡¯s a very small amount, but I have orichalcum!¡± ¡°What! You grandpa?! T¡ªThen, I will use my family treasure, too! I will give you the 100-year-old Torcilim reagent!¡± Sixth Elder Perdom shouted as if he was in a large auction. ¡°Hmph! 100 grams of adamantium! It is our family treasure! I could boast about it for decades if it were to be used in the last work of the ¡®Thousand-day Blacksmith¡¯!¡± ¡°Look at this guy! You think that¡¯s important?! It¡¯s the family treasure! Family treasure!¡± ¡°Hey, you grandpa! It¡¯s better to invest it and raise the prestige of our family, rather than letting it rot somewhere! And is that the reagent in your hand? You always threw your hammer at me whenever I asked to see it!¡± Seventh Elder Ranselle shouted, not backing down. The elders kept yelling. It became a competition of who could offer the best thing; now, everyone hopped on the bandwagon and began shouting, presenting Davey with what they had. Individually, the materials offered weren¡¯t as notable as the ancient dragon bones that Golgouda had offered, but they all added up into a significant haul. ¡®Wow.¡¯ Davey couldn¡¯t help but let out a gasp of astonishment as the dwarves went on. Even if they were dwarves, it was still difficult for them to accumulate fine materials. Extremely rare metals such as orichalcum or adamantium were very valuable; few craftsmen could even see these materials in their entire lifetime. Only tiny amounts could be found at once, so it only became a sizable amount over the accumulation of generations. It was truly something that deserved the title of a family treasure. CH 65 ¡°Hey, you people. How could you give up your family treasure that easily?¡± Davey spoke to the dwarves. ¡°It¡¯s fine! We can¡¯t use it anyways! I think our ancestors would be happy if you used it in the last work of the ¡®Thousand-day Blacksmith¡¯, wise teacher!!¡± Davey was afraid that the dwarves¡¯ ancestors would really feel that way. The ancestors were also dwarves, after all. ¡°Sigh¡­¡± Davey let out a deep sigh and looked at all the materials laid out in front of him. -You don¡¯t have enough? ¡®All these materials are also going to disappear, too.¡¯ Davey thought as he looked at the orichalcum, adamantium, and various aged reagents. Not only that, but there were also the dragon bones that were going to be the finishing material. ¡®I think I¡¯m going to have to tweak my design a little.¡¯ Davey was going to use what he was given; he decided to look at the bright side. * * * ¡°I will issue my authority as the highest-ranking elder! I cannot give up anymore!¡± Golgouda shouted. ¡°You cheap grandpa!¡± ¡°Hmph! Tsk tsk!¡± At last, the dwarves¡¯ fight about whose workshop Davey was going to use came to an end with Golgouda¡¯s dirty trick. It could be seen as a cheap trick, but it could also be seen as realistic and practical. ¡°H¡ªHow do you like it? Wise teacher! Is it just right?¡± Golgouda asked. ¡°Haha¡­ It¡¯s very nice!¡± Davey was truly in awe when he saw Golgouda¡¯s workshop. The old dwarf wasn¡¯t called the best craftsman in the tribe for nothing; the workshop was neat and tidy, and had a furnace directly connected to the Great Furnace, along with various tools and anvils. ¡°Ahem! As much as I want to assist you on the final work¡­¡± Golgouda¡¯s voice trailed off. He glanced at the two swords on the anvil with a strong yearning in his eyes, but soon shook his head as if he had decided. ¡°I can¡¯t do that, since there are rules I must keep as a craftsman. Like you said, we will think about it while you work.¡± Davey watched Golgouda, who walked away after speaking gallantly, and mumbled quietly, ¡°Hm¡­ He could¡¯ve watched if he wanted.¡± -What are you going to do if someone steals your techniques? ¡°They won¡¯t know how to do it even if they watch.¡± Davey wasn¡¯t exactly wrong to say so. He then added, ¡°Well, then. Let¡¯s get started.¡± Davey stared at the furnace that was burning with a bright blue flame, then immediately pushed the two swords in. He spread his hands and closed his eyes. Whoosh!!! Blue energy began escaping from his body, creating a giant magic circle in the air. ¡®If you don¡¯t have something, improvise with the next best thing. There¡¯s more than one way to skin a cat.¡¯ Davey wasn¡¯t enlightened enough to be a craftsman as outstanding as Surtr, but he was getting there in his own way. Even though Davey had trained for about a thousand years, he still couldn¡¯t catch up to the accomplishments that one human had achieved in a lifetime; Surtr wasn¡¯t called monstrously talented for nothing. ¡®Now that I think about it this way, maybe I wasn¡¯t really that gifted,¡¯ Davey thought, but he soon shook the thought off. He believed that the things he lacked in comparison to Surtr could be improved by doing something else. He took the shiny swords that were surrounded in a blue flame out of the furnace. Then, he grabbed his hammer and took a deep breath. * * * The workshop was quiet aside from the constant sound of hammering. Davey felt like it had been so long since he had used his abilities to make something. Clang!! Clash!! Every time he hit the burning sword, a blue flame rose up and disappeared. The swords were almost finished, but Davey heated them up in the furnace and hammered them again. If the only available material for the finishing touch was mithril, he was going to just plate a few parts and be done with it. However, his plans all changed because of the family treasures like orichalcum, adamantium, and the dragon bones the dwarves had brought him. Living things were eventually bound to break and decay over time. However, dragon bones were different; the bones of dragons were the only mana-infused remains of an enormous being. As such, the bones only got stronger with time. It wouldn¡¯t even decay over ten thousand years if there was a sufficient source of mana. Davey knew that the ancient dragon bones were valuable and rare, but he didn¡¯t expect any to be left in the continent. He squinted at the dragon bones that were placed separately from the other materials. ¡®I know how to work with it.¡¯ He smiled as he remembered something from his time at the Hall of Heroes. [Eh! You puny girl! Give it!] [Who are you calling a flat-chested puny girl, you jackass?!] [What¡¯s with you, girl? I didn¡¯t say you are flat-chested!] [Shut up! I¡¯m going to burn Davey alive!] [What¡¯s wrong with you, bitch?! Why are you trying to burn a perfectly normal boy?] Davey didn¡¯t know why he had been punished when Surtr had been the one who teased her¡­ The Hall of Heroes, the gathering place for the heroes¡¯ souls, was created by the heroes¡¯ minds. It was very similar to paradise in a way; it seemed to be like a reward for the heroes who had worked so hard in their lives. Thanks to that, Surtr had once given Davey dragon bones by borrowing the power of Odin, the God of Mages. Of course, an appropriate amount of effort was needed to create something very high-quality. Since Surtr couldn¡¯t just whip up something like dragon bones, he had pushed and nagged Odin who had experience in materializing a small amount of dragon bones. Davey could still see the image of the little mage sobbing as she handed Surtr the bones. [That¡¯s it. That¡¯s one of the main materials of the divine sword. It¡¯s difficult to obtain, but you should know how to use it if you ever encountered it, right?] At that time, Davey was annoyed at how Surtr had been making him use an ancient relic that he didn¡¯t think really existed. But that turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Davey became lost in his blacksmithing as he started to concentrate, and nothing could bother him. Every one of his brain cells was focused on polishing the two swords, and he hammered away and forgot that time even existed. The swords¡¯ natural color deepened with every hit of Davey¡¯s hammer. As the blue flame scattered away, the blue and red sheen of the swords intensified and brightened. Clang!! Clang!! The sound was much louder and clearer than the sound of hitting regular metal. It resonated through the workshop, but Davey didn¡¯t plug his ears; he took in the entire sound and sped up the process. -It¡¯s beautiful¡­ Even Perserque was infatuated with the shine of the swords. She quietly watched Davey as he worked. At last, the dark maroon-colored sword absorbed light and transformed into a clear ruby color. The blue sword transformed into a mystical sapphire color that looked like a supernova in the night sky. And finally, Davey finished building the grip and pommel of the swords, which shone on their own, and began sanding the blades on a sharpening stone. It would have been nice if these swords were the common ones that could be sharpened using a machine, but because of their quality and material, they couldn¡¯t be affected by regular stones. Thankfully, Davey was able to sharpen and envelop the swords in mana since he had the sharpening stone, another family treasure, that one of the dwarves had given him. Whoosh¡­ Whoosh!! The two swords vibrated while intensely releasing mana like a newborn baby crying from its birth into the world. Davey wiped off the sweat from his forehead. The workshop was like a sauna from the heat of the endlessly burning furnace, but he didn¡¯t cast any fire resistance spells and simply endured the heat. This was a risky job that would fail if the temperature was even a little off. Whoosh¡­ Whoosh!! Running his fingers down the shining red and blue swords, Davey felt that the dull, rough texture had been replaced with smoothness. ¡°I should give you a name now.¡± Davey already had names in mind, ever since laying eyes on them for the first time. ¡°You guys are now Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon!¡± Whoosh!!!! The swords vibrated like crazy, as if aware of their own existence. It would take time for their ego to awaken, but this was a sign that they had instinctively accepted the name. -Those are awful names¡­ Davey could hear Perserque¡¯s tired comment coming from behind him, but he was eager to examine the status of the swords first. ¡®[Check Information].¡¯ Since he didn¡¯t have a reason to wait, Davey reached out toward the swords. He didn¡¯t hide his excitement and used Perserque¡¯s authority. Bleep!! -Name: Red Ribbon. -Status: Finishing up. -Shape: A wide, two-bladed Ring Pommel Sword. -Length: 88 centimeters. -Width: 6 centimeters. -Contractor: Davey O¡¯Rowane. -Completion Level: 99.9%. -Details: The first sword of the final work created by the great blacksmith, who had used mana in his crafts, by pouring out all his strength before passing; sword repaired and completed by the student of the great blacksmith to execute his teacher¡¯s final wishes; stats are out of this world; not at 100% completion level because the ego has not woken up; large amounts of elemental and devil mana circulating; has the absolute authority to cut the living; cuts and ignores all physical attacks on the sword; all abilities amplified when held together with twin sword. Bleep! -Name: Blue Ribbon. -Status: Finishing up. -Shape: A wide, two-bladed Ring Pommel Sword. -Length: 88 centimeters. -Width: 6 centimeters. -Contractor: Davey O¡¯Rowane. -Completion Level: 99.9%. -Details: Second sword with stats that are out of this world; second of the twin swords; large amounts of the power of the spirits and holy power circulating; has the authority to cut the dead; cuts everything that does not exist in the physical world; destroys authority of immortality; lethal to demon-type beings; all abilities amplified when held together with the first sword. ¡°¡­¡± Without a word, Davey raised the Red Ribbon and lightly slashed down on a mithril anvil. The swing was light and had no mana on it. However¡­ ¡®Slash it.¡¯ This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV. Shwing! As soon as Davey wished for it to be cut, the mithril anvil was divided into two without the slightest resistance. The greatest dwarf-made anvil that didn¡¯t even dent when struck multiple times with the Aura Blade had been cut into two by a single swing. ¡°¡­¡± -¡­ There was a moment of silence. Then, Davey picked up the Blue Ribbon and slashed the air. Crack! He heard the sound of something being sliced in the air. ¡°Wow¡­¡± -What kind of sword cuts mana with a swing?! The Blue Ribbon wasn¡¯t able to cut the anvil as easily as the Red Ribbon, but the mana floating in the path of the Blue Ribbon had stopped flowing and disappeared. It was the sword¡¯s authority to cut things that didn¡¯t exist in the physical world, and since mana was an energy that was part of the law of anti-physics, it had been slashed apart. It seemed like Davey had created something insane. CH 66 27. Fearless Vampires. ¡®How long was I here for?¡¯ Davey wondered. It didn¡¯t feel like a long time, but he wasn¡¯t sure. He often lost track of time and worked for days when he was very focused. -It has finally come to an end. ¡°Thanks for waiting.¡± -No, it¡¯s fine. It was quite fascinating, so it was worth it, I guess. Davey tilted his head in confusion as Perserque giggled. He asked, ¡°Fascinating?¡± -Well, it¡¯s nothing! ¡°Ah, what is it? Tell me.¡± Feeling anxious, Davey scolded Perserque, but she just stuck her tongue out and scattered away. He felt goosebumps coming along as it seemed like she was never going to tell him, but he shook that thought off. Nothing would change even if he kept thinking about it. Creak! Thud!! Davey slowly opened the workshop¡¯s heavy doors to see a few of the young dwarves dozing off while standing in front of the workshop. They were obviously craftsmen, but it seemed that they stood guard here to keep the place quiet while he worked. ¡°Hm¡­¡± Davey initially thought that maybe he should leave them be, but he immediately woke them. ¡°Snore¡­ Drool¡­ Huh?¡± The dwarf woke up as soon as Davey shook him. He opened his eyes in a daze, but quickly widened his eyes to stare right at Davey. He shouted, ¡°Huk!!¡± ¡°Did you see a ghost or something?¡± Davey asked. ¡°T¡ªTeacher! I¡¯m sorry!¡± ¡°Well, there isn¡¯t anything to be sorry about. What are you doing here?¡± ¡°That is¡­ Hey you! Stop sleeping and wake up!¡± Feeling flustered, the dwarf who was talking to Davey beat the other snoozing dwarf to wake him up. ¡°Hup! Teacher! Have you finished?¡± The other dwarf asked. ¡°We were guarding this place in case anyone tried to disturb you!¡± The first dwarf explained. ¡°How long was I in there?¡± Davey asked. ¡°About four days¡­ Are you okay?¡± ¡°Four days?¡± ¡°Yes, we were worried since you wouldn¡¯t come out to eat even if we knocked¡­ Ah! I will go and send word to the elders.¡± As the dwarves quickly ran off, Davey stood still and stared into space. He had worked through the night before, but he couldn¡¯t believe that he had just hammered for four days straight without eating or sleeping. -Your determination was similar to that of a madman¡­ Davey felt strangely nervous, but he couldn¡¯t bring himself to ask Perserque for more details. For four days, or 96 hours, he had focused on his work with no food or sleep. He had survived on just water. If he had stayed a little longer, he probably would¡¯ve collapsed from working too hard. Now that he realized that, he strangely felt more tired than before. -You should get some sleep. ¡°I¡¯m still good,¡± Davey said, but he was pretty tired from pouring all of his energy out for an extended period of time. ¡°Wow! Wise teacher!¡± ¡°You are back!¡± The elders had been discussing matters, but dropped everything to come running to Davey. They were like little children running toward a snack. ¡°Did you make progress?¡± Davey asked the elders. ¡°Yes! We made some progress because of the hints you left us!¡± Like a child, Elder Golgouda proudly showed Davey a large object. It definitely needed some improvements, but it had the potential to become pretty good if some parts were fixed. ¡°S¡­. So, teacher. Is it finished?¡± One of the old dwarf elders asked with caution. No one stopped him from asking; perhaps the others were curious, too. ¡°Ah, this. It turned out way better than I imagined.¡± Davey put down the two cloth bundles that were in his arms The dwarves gasped. ¡°Wow!¡± ¡°This is the final product of the last work of the ¡®Thousand-Day Blacksmith¡¯!¡± ¡°It¡¯s finally done!¡± Before, they looked worn out from studying how to create a new sacred object. But now, they looked completely rejuvenated. ¡°T¡ªTeacher! Please show us!¡± ¡°Ah, man¡­¡± As Davey unwrapped the cloth and the dwarves gasped in surprise, the two swords, which didn¡¯t even have a sheath yet, emitted a faint light and boasted their presence. ¡°Woah¡­¡± ¡°No way! A sword shining on its own¡­¡± ¡°Is this the armory created by a true craftsman?¡± The dwarves were on their knees while they let out astonished gasps. It was as if they were praying to a God. Among them, some had tears in their eyes, as if a devoted person had encountered God. ¡°To see a work as great as this¡­ For something this great to be created with the material I offered! I have no regrets!¡± ¡°Me neither!¡± ¡°Wow¡­ Look at that beautiful figure!¡± Well, the swords were extraordinary. They were rare and unique, so knights would most likely gladly die for them. The dwarves instinctively noticed the strange power within the swords and wanted to ask Davey about it, but he didn¡¯t give them a chance to. ¡°I think I need to get some rest. I am human, after all.¡± ¡°Ahem!¡± ¡°I¡­ I apologize.¡± Still, the dwarves couldn¡¯t easily let go of their desires to examine the swords in detail. * * * Davey was completely knocked out after his four days of endless work. He only woke up after one entire day had passed, even though he was strong enough to not feel tired very easily. Perhaps because he had put all his strength and energy into making the swords, he had fallen into an incredibly deep sleep. But after a proper rest, Davey felt super refreshed. He woke up and spent his time relaxing and sharing his wisdom with the dwarves who were racking their brains trying to make a new sacred item. ¡°W¡ªWise teacher! Wouldn¡¯t the sturdiness be significantly decreased?¡± ¡°Ah, you have to alter the temperature of the flame. You need to adjust the temperature as you work with the tougher metals that also have more mana-affinity than mithril. That way, you won¡¯t risk breaking it.¡± ¡°Woah¡­¡± ¡°And Elder Romdhi, don¡¯t try to force layers just by hammering. You have to do it naturally.¡± ¡°L¡ªLike this?¡± ¡°A little lighter.¡± ¡°Ah! Okay! Thank you, Wise teacher! Wahaha!¡± They were dwarves skilled enough to be the leaders of a dwarf village. Even though there were some that could not be elders, everyone here was craftsman with highly acknowledged skills. They were all proud of that fact. Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. Only the most extraordinary craftsmen could become elders, but if someone other than dwarves saw them right now, they looked more like newbies who were beginning to learn blacksmithing. They were just much more passionate. These dwarves had let go of their pride and were now purely filled with passion. They yearned to learn more; it was as if they had gone back to the time they first held their hammer. And so, teaching them was also quite an interesting and rewarding job. Dwarves were as stubborn as bulls, but they always repaid their debts. For better or for worse. To them, they owed Davey a huge debt of gratitude. And the more they were indebted to him, the more he could gain from them; it wasn¡¯t a bad trade. -That¡¯s not how you really feel. ¡®I have an excuse to relax and enjoy my life. How nice is that?¡¯ -You are quite easygoing. ¡®You have to rest when you have the chance. After all, we¡¯re all doing this to live comfortably, right?¡¯ -I wish I had a body. Strangely, Davey felt that Perserque would lay around all day and sip juice if she was given a physical body. As for the situation in the Heins territory, Davey had nothing to worry about since he was getting daily reports from Royal Attendant Bernile through the communication crystal. Since the territory needed another month to really get up and going, all he could do was idly stare at the sky even if he was at the territory right now. Thanks to the techniques Davey was teaching them, the dwarves were successfully crafting their second sacred item. Everything was going according to plan, so the enormous sword that was the main component of the sacred item began showing its greatness. The dwarves made everything other than the nucleus and the skeletal structure with their own skills and techniques, so they were extremely proud and delighted. The sacred item might just be a trivial tool to Davey, but it was a new spiritual anchor to the dwarves. They were probably overjoyed at the fact that they were able to recreate the sacred item with their own hands. There was a high rock cliff that overlooked the entire area from just outside the village. This was where the elders of the Yellowstone Tribe, which was surrounded by rocky terrain, came to grab firewood. It was also a nice place to enjoy the view, perfect for relaxing with a hammock or something. ¡°Thank you, wise teacher. We dwarves are known to be hot-tempered, but we always repay our debt. We are forever indebted to you.¡± As Davey was enjoying the view while munching on a coconut-like fruit, someone approached him and handed him a unique-looking ceramic. It was Golgouda, the highest elder in the Yellowstone Tribe. He greeted the dwarf, ¡°Oh, Elder Golgouda.¡± ¡°This is, um¡­ This is a liquor that my brother really cherishes. I heard that you like to drink.¡± Quite a long time had passed with Davey sharing his wisdom with the dwarves after he had finished the Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon. In the meantime, he taught them new skills during the day and had drinks with them at night. The dwarves were very friendly to Davey, a human who knew the etiquette of dwarves and the person who gave them a glimmer of hope. Of course, they probably liked him more because he won the Eighth Elder Goulda, the best drinker in the tribe, in a drinking competition. CH 67 ¡°Thank you. I like the aroma. It¡¯s not too strong, either,¡± Davey commented. Golgouda nodded. ¡°I¡¯m glad you like it. Not all dwarves like strong liquor. Actually, I have something I want to talk to you about too.¡± ¡°Something else?¡± ¡®Is he going to come at me for cutting his mithril anvil?¡¯ Davey began to think of an excuse. As a joke, he thought that maybe he should hand over one of the twin swords as collateral. Whoosh! Of course, Davey had to think of something else. The two swords, which didn¡¯t even have conscious egos yet, vibrated in strong opposition to his idea. ¡°The truth is¡­¡± ¡°Ah, I¡¯m sorry about the anvil. At a later time, I¡¯ll¡­¡± Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original. ¡°Hm? What are you talking about?¡± As Golgouda looked at him with a puzzled expression, Davey quickly shut his mouth. ¡°Nothing. Anyway, what¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°Ahem! I may be old, but my ears are still fine. Other than finishing the last work of the ¡®Thousand-day Blacksmith,¡¯ I did hear that you wanted to bring us dwarves over to repair the facilities in your territory,¡± Golgouda said. ¡°Well, yes.¡± Davey had intended to bring the matter up later, but things were now made easier with Golgouda mentioning it first. ¡°We dwarves never forget a favor. Although our skills are nothing compared to yours, we will help you with anything.¡± ¡°Are you sure? It might take a long time.¡± ¡°We have received a huge favor from you, wise teacher. We are no longer going to be remembered as incompetent ancestors to the next generation, and we have also regained our pride. Also, you have allowed us to discover the skills our ancestors had studied,¡± Golgouda said. Davey said nothing. The sacred item held a lot more significance than he had expected. ¡°I didn¡¯t even say a proper thank you. You set us on the right path when we were caught up in our stubborn ways, tainting the name of the dwarves.¡± Golgouda spoke calmly and chuckled, as if he was a grandpa talking to his grandson. It was an honest and friendly smile that came from the heart. He then made a pledge. ¡°Although we are lacking, we will follow you, teacher. We swear on the God of Iron that we will always stand with you when you have any problems. The Yellowstone Tribe will always follow you, even if all the other tribe villages are hostile.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°We should be the ones thanking you.¡± There wasn¡¯t a hint of regret in Golgouda¡¯s smile. ¡°Then, please become my territory¡¯s residents,¡± Davey offered. ¡°Residents?¡± ¡°I want to make the Heins Territory, which I am managing, into a unique territory.¡± Currently, there were many species living in the continent, but each had their own exclusive region. There wasn¡¯t any place where various species lived in harmony. ¡°So, can I assume that you are asking us to consider leaving this place and moving there?¡± Golgouda asked. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not right away. And to be exact, I am not requesting the dwarves of the Yellowstone Tribe to move.¡± Golgouda tilted his head in confusion. ¡°Then?¡± ¡°I will tell you the details later. All I need right now is your cooperation.¡± Golgouda looked puzzled, trying to figure out Davey¡¯s intentions. But he soon shook away that thought. He opened his mouth to say something when¡­ ¡°Elder!! Elder Golgouda!!¡± Someone hurriedly ran toward them and called for Gologuda. ¡°What is it?¡± Golgouda¡¯s smile vanished from his face. He asked in a solemn tone, because the approaching dwarf was one of the attack dwarves guarding the village. ¡°There¡¯s a big problem! I think an intruder has hidden in our village!¡± ¡°Intruder?¡± Golgouda frowned. Whip!! Crash!! A sharp red object flew toward the two dwarves when Golgouda had just heard the news. Davey got off his hammock and swung his arms. The object that bounced off his arm was a red knife, but it wasn¡¯t made out of metal. It was made out of blood. * * * ¡°Ahhhhh!! Goddamn Davey!!¡± The scream was one of insanity. The ladies-in-waiting turned pale as the boy had completely lost his cool and was flipping out. He just kept screaming without any thought; he was too angry to think straight. ¡°Davey!!! Davey!!!¡± As he was breaking, kicking, and destroying everything around him while screaming Davey¡¯s name, he didn¡¯t seem to be in good shape. First of all, not a strand of hair could be seen on the top of his head; it was as if he had shaved only the crown of his head for some kind of surgery. It was what people called a large bald patch! What enraged the boy more was that he wasn¡¯t even completely bald. He just had a patch of baldness about the size of a palm at the very top of his head. However, Davey¡¯s curse didn¡¯t stop there. ¡°Yo¡­ Your Highness¡­ Please calm¡­¡± ¡°What?! Ribbit!!¡± There was a strange animal sound that he kept blurting out at the end of his sentences. It didn¡¯t happen all the time, only emerging when he had something to say during important moments. It also occurred regardless of his intentions; it was as if it waited for the perfect timing. Because the animal sounds happened just some of the time, it looked like Carlus was joking around. It was so bewildering that even Queen Lynesse, his biological mother, couldn¡¯t figure out what was wrong with him. Since it wasn¡¯t a disease, the examination of Ramdas, the palace doctor, yielded no answers either. The only people who could recognize some mischief were the priests. However, the curse plaguing Carlus was made by the dark mages who were constantly oppressed and persecuted, meaning that the traces of the curse couldn¡¯t be easily found even if the low-ranking priests examined him. As wild and destructive as dark magic was, it was developed in secret. And so, the details about Carlus¡¯ symptoms, which were similar to madness, were hard to find. However, Carlus was fully aware that his weird symptoms started to happen after he had encountered Davey, the First Prince of this kingdom and the idiot that he thought to be inferior to him. ¡°Gahh!!!!¡± ¡°Please calm down, Your Highness!¡± Of course, others assumed that Carlus had gone mad and was oddly obsessing over Davey. ¡°Cacaw!! Cock-a-doodle-doo!!¡± Carlus frowned in extreme anger and confusion. He was hiding it as best as he could, but news about his hair was already spreading. The rumor turned even more strange because of his weird animal cries. He was flipping out since he wasn¡¯t used to things not going his way. ¡°Giggle!¡± Then, one of the ladies-in-waiting could no longer hold in her laughter. She giggled at Carlus¡¯ strange voice. She instinctively covered her mouth, but he had already heard her. She cried out, ¡°Y¡ªYour Highness!¡± ¡°Yes, you are all mocking me too! How dare you lowly beings!!!¡± Carlus lost his cool and was blinded by anger. Trembling in fear, the lady-in-waiting collapsed onto the floor from Carlus¡¯ menacing attitude. However, he simply walked over to her and strangled her without hesitation. ¡°How dare you insult me?! Die!! Die!!!¡± ¡°Gasp!! Wheeze!¡± The lady-in-waiting flailed around, but a little girl couldn¡¯t beat the strength of Carlus, who had insisted on getting swordsmanship training. Watching her go limp after flailing around and even pissing on the floor, the other ladies-in-waiting went pale. It was an insane situation, but no one could say anything; there was no one who could stop Carlus. ¡°You¡­ Are you guys mocking me too?!¡± Carlus shouted. ¡°N¡ªNo, Your Highness!¡± ¡°Please have mercy!¡± As his anger shifted toward the other ladies-in-waiting, they simultaneously began trembling and got on the floor to beg for forgiveness. If they didn¡¯t do so, they were convinced that they would die just like the first girl did. ¡°No¡­ No! You are mocking me as well, right? Ehehehe¡­ Ribbit ribbit!¡± Laughing strangely, Carlus¡¯ eyes shone with malice, and it looked like he was going to kill everyone here immediately. The ladies-in-waiting had to calm him down somehow, but they couldn¡¯t say a word as they trembled in fear. That was when a relaxed and easygoing voice was heard. ¡°Hm, I haven¡¯t seen anything this interesting in a while.¡± Carlus, who was walking toward the ladies-in-waiting, opened his eyes wide and turned toward the voice. Then, he stopped for a second as someone entered the room through a window that had opened on its own. He was surprised that someone had broken in, but that wasn¡¯t his concern. ¡°Kyakk!¡± ¡°Shriek!¡± The intruder was holding onto a human head. It was still bleeding, as if it had been freshly ripped off of someone. The ladies-in-waiting fainted, foaming at the mouth, as they watched the horrendous situation. But Carlus, who had lost his mind, growled at the intruder with a threatening scowl. ¡°Who are you? Do you have any idea where this is?!¡± ¡°Oh, I haven¡¯t introduced myself yet. My name is Pace.¡± The man with icy blond hair and eerily red eyes had a cunning handsomeness. However, his extremely pale skin made Carlus question if he was really human. Unphased by the situation, Pace calmly greeted Carlus with a sly smile. ¡°Actually, I heard that you were disappointed by one of our people.¡± ¡°Your people?¡± Pace smiled eerily and snapped his fingers. Whoosh¡­ A space opened up near him and someone was pulled out from it. It was a battered-up woman hanging on a cross; she was in a shape so bad that it was difficult to tell whether she was alive or not. However, Carlus was familiar with the woman. ¡°You¡¯re Mother¡¯s¡­¡± It was Shari, the quiet lady-in-waiting who used to be under Queen Lynesse. Carlus thought that she had disappeared at some point. ¡°You¡­ What are you? Growl¡­¡± CH 68 Carlus grit his teeth, because strange animal sounds were escaping from his mouth again. It truly was a curse. Listening to his weird sounds, Pace laughed his head off and lightly flicked his hand. He chuckled, ¡°Kekeke. Someone played a funny trick on you.¡± Paching! As soon as Pace spoke, something shattered from within Carlus¡¯ body. ¡°I can easily break that. Consider this on the house.¡± ¡°Who are you¡­ Hup! The weird animal noises¡­¡± Carlus muttered. ¡°That won¡¯t happen anymore since I just broke the curse. Is that important, though?¡± Pace asked. ¡°What?¡± This time, no strange animal noise followed his sentence. Carlus realized that the weird cries that were bothering him had disappeared. ¡°Sign a contract with me. We will take care of the person you despise,¡± Pace said. ¡°Hup?!¡± Realizing that Pace wasn¡¯t offering empty promises, Carlus gulped. He flinched, feeling a pressure pressing down on him. He frowned menacingly and turned pale. ¡°How is that?¡± Pace asked. ¡°You¡­can kill him? Davey has a stigmata, and someone else is also protecting him. He¡¯s not that easy a target.¡± Pace should have been surprised at Carlus revealing information that should be disclosed with caution, but he just shrugged. ¡°He¡¯s nothing but a human.¡± ¡°You speak as if you aren¡¯t one.¡± ¡°Well, it should be settled soon. I have already sent my subordinates that way.¡± Pace slowly stood up and as he did, Shari, the lady-in-waiting who was hanging from the cross, disappeared into the air. Pace¡¯s red, bloody eyes shone. ¡°They should have his head by now.¡± * * * Only one authority allowed for blood-related abilities, such as making blood stronger than metal. It came from an unknown power. It was the power of blood, the authority of vampires. However, the thing that appeared before Davey¡¯s eyes wasn¡¯t exactly a vampire. ¡°Who are you?! How dare you come in here!¡± ¡°Show your¡­ Gasp! Elder! Look!¡± The dwarves, who were flustered at the sudden attack, ran all over the place. It was only after an unexpected discovery did their jaws drop. -A demonic beast¡­ And a high-level one at that. ¡®The power of blood is unique to vampires, but a demonic beast has it too.¡¯ The beast was about the size of a house, and it had huge claws and spiky thorn-like fur. Its appearance was threatening. ¡®The blood-made knife probably came from that.¡¯ The beast looked down at the village as if eyeing its prey, then it fixed its gaze onto Davey. -Grr¡­ The beast smiled eerily, took a deep breath, and let out a loud roar. -Roar!!! The volume was astonishing. ¡°Keugh!¡± ¡°Agh!¡± The aftermath was quite severe; as soon as Davey reflexively released his holy power and cast a protection spell on the two dwarves who were in front of him, an intense vibration resonated through the village and began breaking the surrounding rocks apart. Thud!! The two dwarves couldn¡¯t endure the bestial roar even with Davey¡¯s protection spell and collapsed onto the ground. The beast came down, looking satisfied. It never cared about the dwarves anyway, since its target was Davey in the first place. ¡°Would you look at that?¡± Davey scoffed at the absurdity of the situation. The beast slowly circled around Davey. To Davey, its thoughts of playing with him before killing him were plain as day. Demonic beasts were animals that acted on instinct. The beast using the power of blood, which was the vampires¡¯ unique power, was unexpected, but it didn¡¯t change the fact that it was an idiot. ¡®And this beast has such thoughts? It¡¯s not even funny.¡¯ ¡°You think you¡¯re the predator?¡± As if it understood Davey, the beast, which was putting pressure on the surroundings with an eerie strength, became extremely furious. -Grr¡­ Roar!!! Davey¡¯s gentle provocation had gotten the beast ferocious in seconds. -Blood aura? Perserque sounded surprised as she noticed the red energy current that was surrounding the beast¡¯s claws. The power of blood was a unique power that vampires of a certain rank could release, and some high-ranking ones could even release a red blade energy. Even if it was the same aura, a blood aura was sharper and stronger than a regular one. This particular beast had the power of an ¡®Expert¡¯ level. Normally, it took a person of the highest level in ¡®Expert¡¯ to easily kill any demonic beast that wasn¡¯t a high-ranking one. However, this red beast in front of Davey was incomparably more dangerous than regular demonic beasts. ¡°Hm¡­¡± Crack!! Davey didn¡¯t have to care about someone watching him go wild because no one was conscious. He put his hand into a void as he stomped and smashed the ground. It was helpful that he had forcibly created a subspace because he didn¡¯t have a good space to store them separately. The spell to create a subspace purely from a mage¡¯s powers and without any tools was a high-ranking seven-circle spell, and it was difficult to cast with the mana circles Davey had now, since he hadn¡¯t reached the seventh circle yet. All he could do was create a very small space that was enough to store two swords. The best way to deal with the beast was to use high-level holy magic or borrow the power of the divine sword, but Davey had two tools that were much better than that. -Roar!! Even the Aura Blade of a ¡®Master¡¯ would have a hard time slashing the beast¡¯s body, which was like a huge lump of metal. However, Davey didn¡¯t cast Aura Blade, the symbol of the ¡®Master¡¯ level, or Aura, the symbol of the ¡®Expert¡¯ level. All he did was swing what was in his hand. ¡°People have to use tools.¡± Since he now had the best weapon, Davey had to try it out. One could only truly appreciate a new car after taking it for a ride. [Demon Sword Art 24th Form] [Majestic Flash] It was a slow and gentle slash that seemingly couldn¡¯t even cut the beast. However, as soon as the blade came close to its body, a red afterimage instantly accelerated and split into a dozen strands that covered the sky. 28. An Omen The World of Martial Arts hit its prime when Davey¡¯s swordsmanship teacher, Dokgo Jun, the Heavenly Destroyer, had been alive. From what Davey had heard, there was a time when people grew tired of the extremely corrupt Orthodox partisan dignitaries and those who trained in martial arts found it increasingly difficult to do anything. [So, what I did! Hiccup! So¡­ Um, what did I say? Hiccup!] To be honest, Dokgo Jun had been nothing but a drunkard who couldn¡¯t really be believed. But Davey had heard numerous times that he had united the entire World of Martial Arts with one sword. There were 88 moves that Dokgo Jun had made, and each one had been like a finishing move; his destructive and extremely powerful swordsmanship combined with Sword Lord Ares¡¯ and became the most optimal form for Davey. Split!!! With a momentary vibration of the air, the beast was shredded. ¡°Woah, this is nice.¡± Davey¡¯s expectations were exceeded. He had made these swords for himself and no one else; as such, there was no way the swords wouldn¡¯t be compatible with him. Davey shook off the blood on the sword as soon as the charging large, red demonic beast fell onto the ground. The blood slowly began evaporating, as if burning away as steam. ¡°I think this is enough for the Red Ribbon.¡± As Davey spoke calmly, Perserque poked his cheek. -You. That thing isn¡¯t dead yet. ¡°I know.¡± Shshshsh¡­ ¡®Be careful of what you wish for.¡¯ Thanks to the Red Ribbon, the beast had been cut into several pieces. As its blood began moving and combining with each other, as if it had its own will, Davey put his hand into the void again. He pulled out a sapphire-colored sword. ¡°Perserque. Do you know anything about a demonic beast having qualities of immortality when it¡¯s not even a high-ranking vampire?¡± -A beast using the power of blood isn¡¯t normal in the first place. -Grr¡­ Roar!! Showing an unbelievable recovery speed, the beast¡¯s shreds of flesh clumped together before it came back alive. The insane beast came at Davey in extreme anger, charging as if it was going to rip him into shreds with its sharp claws. Its speed was no different than before. Split!! As the red flash of light cut its body once again, its attacks lost strength and it flew into the air. ¡°Well then¡­ Let¡¯s see the authority of destroying immortality.¡± High-ranking vampires had a survival skill similar to ¡®Reach,¡¯ which hid the source of immortality somewhere away from the physical body. Breaking the source would kill it, but without breaking that, the physical body could revive again and again. Death was possible if the physical body was shredded into very small pieces, out of power, or exposed to a large amount of holy power. However, it was difficult for that to actually happen. Simply put, it meant that this fight was going to be an annoying one. As much as it was an OP ability, there were still some limitations; the physical body would be extremely weakened if the source were attacked or if it was struck with high-level holy magic. It would also become less powerful if the body were separated from the source of immortality. It was kind of like a balance patch from God, the divine will¡­ But it was clearly still a dangerous power when fighting with an unprepared opponent. Unlike ¡®Reach,¡¯ the source of immortality, the survival skill of vampires, couldn¡¯t be hidden far away from the physical body. That was because immortality was quite a high-level authority. It was only given to the high-ranking vampires who were strong enough to be the Lords. Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡®But why¡¯s that kind of power given to a demonic beast?¡¯ Davey momentarily thought that maybe he should capture the demonic beast and investigate this, but it was unfortunate that the current situation wasn¡¯t that great. As the demonic beast, that kept reviving when slashed with the Red Ribbon, collapsed onto the ground with one strike from the Blue Ribbon, it felt strangely exhausted. The Red Ribbon was far superior to the Blue Ribbon in terms of precision and sharpness, but the Blue Ribbon was highly effective on demon-type and immortal beings. CH 69 ¡°Hm¡­ Did I destroy the source of immortality itself?¡± Davey wondered. -It¡¯s a little different. I think that the system itself is broken. ¡°What did Surtr put in this sword?¡± The sword Surtr had made could very well be a weapon that would allow a human to kill God. Since Davey wasn¡¯t the one who put the authority to destroy immortality in the sword, he couldn¡¯t understand the mechanism of it; he did learn a lot of things from Surtr, but there were still some important things that he didn¡¯t know. -Other than that, the long aging process and the OP finishing material are probably aspects that amplified the power. Still, it doesn¡¯t affect everything just because it can destroy immortality. Davey knew that these swords would turn out absolutely amazing, but he did feel a little bitter for some reason. ¡°Let¡¯s think about the complicated things later.¡± Davey calmly glanced somewhere else. Then, he smiled at the empty space. ¡°Ready or not¡­¡± Crash!! The air momentarily vibrated before the red blade energy Davey had released cut through it. ¡°Here I come, you ass.¡± * * * Boom!! It was an enormous crash. Pedkhid, the vampire, quickly ran away without looking back. His instincts of fear overtook him entirely. ¡®I¡¯ll die if I get caught! I¡¯m going to die! I¡¯ll really die if I get caught!¡¯ Pedkhid couldn¡¯t even think about why a powerful and dignified noble like himself had to be running away so disgracefully; he was consumed with the thought that he had to run away from that lunatic of a human. ¡®He¡¯s not easy!¡¯ Pedkhid had thrown his dignity out the window, running away once the human suddenly found him. He had seen how the human easily slashed the demonic beast that was sent to provoke him. Boom!!! Boom!! ¡°I can see you.¡± Feeling a chill in the air, Pedkhid reflexively rolled onto the floor. He then saw frightening red energy slice the space where his neck had just been. ¡°Shriek!!¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t paid yet, sir.¡± The human teased Pedkhid in exactly the same way he had done with the demonic beast. He also didn¡¯t look tired at all, even though he had run quite a long distance. ¡°D¡ªDamn human!!¡± Pedkhid swore and threw himself down on the ground once again. He didn¡¯t expect this at first¡ªno, he had underestimated his opponent, thinking him to be like all other humans. When Pedkhid had first been given the assignment, he didn¡¯t understand why Pace, the high-ranking vampire who was his master and superior, had given such orders. They were dignified nobles, so they had no need to be this cautious in killing a human. Furthermore, Pace was a transcendental being who ranked above regular vampires. Pedkhid was also a mid-rank vampire, but he could proudly say that his powers were close to that of a high-rank vampire since he had received the grace of Pace. In fact, as the demonic beast he had controlled had also received Pace¡¯s grace, it was also a powerful being that even strong Swordmasters couldn¡¯t easily kill. According to Pedkhid¡¯s plan, he was going to scare the human with the demonic beast and toy around with him. But now, everything was clearly a mere delusion on his part. He had misunderstood the severity of the situation. Crash!! ¡°Keugh!¡± As the monstrous human instantly flew up and pinned him on the ground, Pedkhid¡¯s survival instincts began to ring like an emergency alarm. ¡°S¡­ Seriously, what are you?! Shriek! What are you doing?! Stop it!!¡± Pedkhid yelled. ¡°What do you mean?! This is an act of love!¡± ¡°¡­¡± In the sudden silence, Pedkhid could tell that this human was absolutely crazy. ¡°Man, you need to make these kinds of jokes to enjoy life. Do you really believe that gays do this to express affection?¡± The human complained, still pinning Pedkhid down so that he couldn¡¯t move. Then he pierced through Pedkhid with two fingers. ¡°Kuk!!¡± Feeling an intense pain, Pedkhid went as stiff as a plank. The human smiled with satisfaction. ¡°Now you¡¯re calm.¡± ¡°W¡­ What did you do to my body, human?! You inferior species¡­ Do you want to die? Get rid of this now!¡± Pedkhid shouted without thinking. The human just shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll let you go later, but there¡¯s something I want to make sure of first.¡± ¡®Sorry, but I¡¯m famous for being good at keeping secrets among the vampires!¡¯ Pedkhid thought. He was sure that he would never reveal anything to the human, but he was soon dumbfounded by what the human said next. ¡°Oh, really? Sorry, but I know a perfect spell that can read all of your thoughts.¡± Pedkhid thought something like that couldn¡¯t exist; however, all he could do was scream as a strange dark purple flame blazed from the human¡¯s hand. * * * The strange flame, which seemed to be alive, burned. It threatened to burn Pedkhid¡¯s legs. [Mind Subjugation] [Dark magic ¡®Curse Mark¡¯] [Spell Merger] [Fire of Interrogation] However, the scorching dark purple flame left no burn wounds. It only gave him a nasty pain. ¡°Kaaaah!!! It¡¯s hot! Hot! Put it out! Please put it out!!¡± Pedkhid squirmed around, screaming with snot and spit all over his face. Perserque frowned. -You. He is the enemy, but this is¡­ ¡°Don¡¯t worry. He¡¯s not going to die,¡± Davey said. -You know that I¡¯m not worried about him dying! ¡°Demon Lord, do I have to consider the situation of someone who is after my life?¡± Perserque frowned at Davey¡¯s rhetorical question. -You are right, but¡­ As Perserque struggled for an answer, Davey dulled the flame that was hurting Pedkhid. He said calmly, ¡°Well, okay. We don¡¯t have to be barbaric when we can do something else.¡± -I won¡¯t stop you if you are aware of it. Davey wondered if this awfully sweet little girl was really the cause of a world war between species. He then watched the trembling vampire before stepping on him. ¡°Keugh!¡± Perhaps due to the mental shock, Pedkhid¡¯s pupils dilated. It looked like he had been ripped apart despite not having a single scratch on him. ¡°I don¡¯t need a lot from you, so let¡¯s keep this short.¡± ¡°Groan¡­ Moan¡­¡± ¡°First, what are you?¡± ¡°Huff¡­ Puff¡­ Human! You think I¡¯d¡­ Shriek!¡± Pedkhid trembled and squirmed at the sight of the dark purple flame in Davey¡¯s hands. ¡®This isn¡¯t an ordinary flame, but a type of curse made to cause pain. It makes sense that he is afraid.¡¯ Davey knew that such a curse was made to cause the victim a nasty pain, like they were burning alive, but the curse wouldn¡¯t kill or injure them. ¡®It might be foul and wicked, but what more could you expect from a curse that has malicious intent in the first place?¡¯ Rho Aias, Davey¡¯s dark magic teacher, hadn¡¯t taught Davey this so that he could use it like this; she had taught him this curse so that he could learn how to counter it. However, Davey was the kind of person who had to use everything he had. ¡°You want more?¡± ¡°P¡ªPedkhid! I¡¯m a count!¡± ¡°Hm¡­ How does a mid-rank trash like you have the power of immortality?¡± Davey asked, knowing that the power of immortality was the source of pride for the vampire nobles. Pedkhid knew exactly what would happen if he stayed silent. He had seen the demonic beast that had the power of immortality be slaughtered in one blow. ¡°You could actually die if I slash you right now. So, next question. Your target is me, and it¡¯s because of that vampire lady-in-waiting, right?¡± Davey asked. ¡°T¡ªThat¡¯s right!¡± Pedkhid probably didn¡¯t want to tell Davey, and it was true that he was better at keeping secrets than most; however, he had answered almost reflexively because he was in such severe pain. He even struggled to stay conscious. ¡°Then, answer me this: why do you and that demonic beast from earlier have the power of immortality?¡± Pedkhid stared at Davey while trembling. He looked like a million thoughts were running through his mind; he couldn¡¯t tell Davey even if he wanted to, but he was scared of the pain. He was in a predicament. Davey thought that maybe he should pressure Pedkhid a little more, but he couldn¡¯t. As Pedkhid began squirming around in pain, Davey simply asked, ¡°Hm?¡± Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°I¡¯d rather choose death!¡± With those last words, Pedkhid began puffing up like a balloon before bursting apart. Boom!! -A taboo¡­ And it¡¯s complete death. What a cruel curse¡­ Pedkhid¡¯s last words might have not been his, but a message of the person who had inflicted him with the curse. The fact that he wasn¡¯t granted the use of immortality meant that he wasn¡¯t that valuable. His complete death was so cut and dry that it was almost meaningless. ¡°I did expect that to happen.¡± Davey nodded. He put distance between him and Pedkhid¡¯s exploded body, then squinted. ¡°I guess this is all I can get for now.¡± -Davey¡­ After Perserque lowered her head and mumbled apologetically, Davey answered calmly, ¡°There¡¯s nothing for you to be sorry about. I asked him for small bits of information at a time because I knew this would happen. I¡¯ll have to get the rest from the others I capture.¡± Perserque tightened her lips as if she was somewhat leery. * * * Once a curse was broken, it would be made known to the one who cast it. This meant that Davey knew that one of the curses he had inflicted on Carlus had been undone. It had become dormant, to be exact, but Davey was nonetheless surprised. It would have been pretty difficult to find it, and yet they did. Seeing the dwarves working day and night on the restoration of the sacred item, Davey felt a little bitter. It wasn¡¯t like he hadn¡¯t suspected it since vampires never forgive those who had hurt their prestige. Davey had guessed that this situation was inevitable as Shari, the vampire lady-in-waiting whom he had slashed, definitely seemed to be from quite a prominent family. CH 70 -The demonic beast ran wild for just a few moments, but¡­ Dozens of houses burned down, leaving dozens of severely injured people. Davey hadn¡¯t heard about the details of the damage, but it was a miracle that there were no casualties. ¡°Oh, wise teacher! You¡¯re here!¡± Elder Golgouda and Goulda greeted Davey. The incident with the demonic beast had caused them a lot of trouble, on top of the headache-inducing restoration of the sacred sword. ¡°Wise teacher, I am ashamed to have shown you this ugly sight,¡± Golgouda said regretfully. ¡°That¡¯s alright. Are you hurt anywhere?¡± Davey asked. ¡°Thankfully, I¡¯m fine. The beast¡¯s attacks were less severe than I thought. Although, dozens of houses burned down and some dwarves were injured.¡± ¡°Do you usually have demonic beast attacks here?¡± At Davey¡¯s question, Golgouda bitterly smiled and shook his head. Then, he opened his cupboard and brought out a huge bottle as if he had been waiting to do this. He simply said, ¡°I think there¡¯s something you want to say, wise teacher. Let¡¯s have a drink.¡± * * * ¡°I cherished this liquor for a long time, but I can bring it out for you!¡± It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV. Lightly swirling the aromatic liquor in his cup, Davey quietly closed his eyes. ¡°Next time, I¡¯ll show you what the liquor of other continents tastes like.¡± ¡°Other continents? Is it liquor from the eastern or southern continents?¡± ¡°It¡¯s similar.¡± Davey was talking about the hard liquor from the World of Martial Arts, to be exact. He thought it would be perfect for these dwarves since it was as potent as the notorious dwarf-made liquor. Then, he said, ¡°Actually, I came here to give you this.¡± ¡°And this is?¡± Golgouda asked. ¡°It¡¯s a notebook with the information you need to restore the sacred item. It¡¯ll take you a while to finish it, and I have to start heading back.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± The dwarves looked disappointed, but they still held onto the notebook dearly. Golgouda spoke up, ¡°I really don¡¯t know how we¡¯ll ever repay this debt¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t expect anything. Actually, I should be the one thanking you.¡± Davey had obtained the bones of the ancient dragon, orichalcum, adamantium, and many other valuable materials, so it actually seemed like he should be the one repaying them. It was true that the dwarves had greatly contributed to the creation of the twin swords, which were currently half-dormant. ¡°That¡¯s a different matter. We did that because we wanted to,¡± Golgouda said. ¡°So did I; I had my own reasons as well.¡± Davey felt a little thankful to these dwarves who had taken care of his teacher¡¯s work and had held onto it however they could. Although, this was different from what Davey had to do. ¡°Anyway, the dwarf guards were quite busy.¡± ¡°That is¡­¡± ¡°Goulda.¡± ¡°Ahem!¡± Goulda coughed awkwardly when Golgouda stopped him from talking. ¡°What is it?¡± Davey asked. ¡°Brother, is the wise teacher an outsider? How are you going to gain any trust when you hide something like this?¡± Goulda criticized. ¡°Ahem!¡± Golgouda cleared his throat as if he was in thought, then he slowly opened his mouth. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. They say that a child has gone missing from the orphanage. We are trying to get the guards to find evidence of the child, but¡­¡± Demonic beasts were evil. There seemed to be nothing left behind, even though some kind of evidence should have been left if a child was involved in an incident where the demonic beast had run that wild. ¡°We have a problem now, because nothing is being confirmed and there¡¯s huge confusion¡­ I think that it might be dangerous for you to keep staying here, wise teacher.¡± ¡°Speaking of, I have something to tell you.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I think I¡¯m going to head back.¡± As the two dwarves stayed silent, Davey added, ¡°I think that the demonic beast hid here not because it was after the village, but me. The problem should go away if I leave.¡± ¡°What¡­¡± ¡°I apologize for not telling you.¡± ¡°N¡ªNonsense! How is that your fault?¡± It all depended on perception; any person who was hostile toward Davey would have gladly pointed their fingers at him. Afterwards, Davey just made an excuse that his stigmata had stimulated the demonic beast, leading to the beast attacking the village. After all, it was true that he was the target. He was only apprehensive that the vampires might take their anger out on this village after he left, but he didn¡¯t have the power to care about that right now. At last, the two elders said nothing. Perhaps they also thought it would be safer if Davey went back. * * * There was something about Davey that had inspired the dwarves to focus on more than just their business. There were probably a multitude of reasons behind the sudden change, but there was no need to bring that up. ¡°S-Stop! Show your identification!¡± The first thing Davey did as soon as he sold the moon flower leaves was to buy equipment from the merchant companies to resupply the militia, which had now become the royal guards. He believed that the guards who protected the territory¡¯s palace were the face of the territory itself. The royal guards wore leather armor and used worn spears or swords. Perhaps it was because of the several dwarves who had followed Davey in, but the royal guards watching them from the run-down watchtower came down and stopped them. They were terrified. ¡°Your seigneur,¡± Davey said. As both he and his party were pretty tired from the long journey, Davey had gone straight to the point and skipped the complicated, formal process. ¡°S¡ªSaint, sir!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a saint. Was everything okay while I was gone?¡± ¡°Yes, yes!!¡± As if he was a private meeting the division commander, the royal guard gave a stiff answer with a voice as loud as a foghorn. His response amused the dwarves. ¡°The territory feels exceptionally quiet today.¡± ¡°T-That is¡­ The merchant companies and mercenaries already went by today, sir!¡± ¡°Alright. Keep up the hard work. I¡¯ll hear the detailed report once I get in.¡± Perhaps it was because Davey had just returned to the territory after a few weeks. Monmider, who was the captain of the royal guards, Royal Attendant Bernile, and the other servants greeted him in a straight line as soon as he entered the run-down palace. He had said before that he wanted to skip the formalities, but they were forced to do this because of Bernile¡¯s strong opinion that Davey¡¯s authority as the seigneur and the prince of this country would weaken if they didn¡¯t do this. ¡°The people behind you¡­¡± Royal Attendant Bernile¡¯s voice trailed off. ¡°They have come here from the Yellowstone Tribe to help repair the territory¡¯s facilities. We should be grateful for them. Please bring them drinks and meat since they¡¯re probably tired from traveling. What about lodgings?¡± ¡°I have prepared it in advance as you ordered, but it is not great due to the lack of time,¡± Royal Attendant Bernile said. ¡°That¡¯s alright; I heard everything about the territory on the way here. That¡¯s what we¡¯re here for, is it not?¡± Eighth Elder Goulda, the only elder who followed Davey here, spoke confidently on behalf of all the dwarves. ¡°Yes¡­ I am Royal Attendant Bernile. Please call me whatever you are comfortable with.¡± ¡°I am Goulda, the eighth elder of the Yellowstone Tribe.¡± Dwarves rarely left their village, even if they were doing business with humans, so many humans had never actually seen dwarves in person despite having heard about them. As such, the servants of the palace couldn¡¯t help but be fascinated by the dwarves. ¡°Wise teacher, you don¡¯t have to do all this for us,¡± Goulda said. ¡°How could I not? You are all my precious guests,¡± Davey replied. ¡°Haha, dwarves are meant to live with fire and stone. And your problems are ours as well.¡± Hearing Goulda¡¯s comment, Captain Monmider¡¯s gaze slightly changed. He seemed to wonder what he had done to make these dwarves, who seldom left their village, act like this. ¡®Man, you really don¡¯t trust anyone.¡¯ ¡°I think the captain is going to need to have some faith.¡± ¡°I¡ªI¡¯m sorry!¡± ¡°Right? It¡¯s not like I constantly stab you in the back or something.¡± ¡°Of course not!¡± ¡°The Heins Territory was my mother¡¯s territory; I¡¯m from here as well.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± Now realizing his mistake, Monmider backed away while bowing his head apologetically. ¡°Let¡¯s go inside; I¡¯m tired.¡± ¡°I will get the bath running.¡± ¡°First, let¡¯s do a quick briefing.¡± Davey had heard most of the territory¡¯s matters through the communication crystal. He knew that the preparation to harvest moon grass was going smoothly, but he hadn¡¯t been in a good situation to receive reports on the little details. ¡°There are seventeen merchant companies in total that have currently bought land in the territory and are building.¡± ¡°The total number of people?¡± ¡°With the wizard towers, the schools of alchemy, the temple, the merchant companies, and the small number of guards, it¡¯s about three thousand people.¡± ¡®Wow.¡¯ ¡°There¡¯s about three thousand people requesting to immigrate here, and our current number of residents is only about two hundred¡­¡± ¡°It is still increasing. The people who have predicted that this place will become profitable are thinking of making a commercial district here. Since this territory¡¯s location made it quite good in terms of transportation, it seems they want to make a middle point between the Holy Empire and the Empire.¡± ¡°The estimated number of people?¡± ¡°It seems that about four thousand people will request to immigrate here after the second quarter.¡± Davey was surprised by the numbers now that he was hearing them for himself. ¡®Two hundred to four thousand¡­ That¡¯s about twenty times more.¡¯ ¡°Everything is going well.¡± Any city needed a population to prosper. They would face many problems if the number of residents increased all of a sudden, but Davey wouldn¡¯t be able to run this territory if he was afraid of that. Nothing really bothered him right now. ¡°Wise teacher, I see that the conditions of the territory are abysmal.¡± ¡°I am ashamed.¡± ¡°More than that, I am horrified by the condition of this palace you live in,¡± Goulda said sternly and tapped the tools on his belt. ¡°This is a good chance for us to repay the debt. Although our skills are nothing compared to yours, we will make a new space for you to live in as the best craftsmen in the continent.¡± Dwarf-made palaces and castles were famous continent-wide, because dwarves normally didn¡¯t leave their villages a lot, and their skills, unique design, and finish were incomparable to anyone on the continent. ¡°Don¡¯t say that you¡¯re fine or something. No one follows a leader that does not take care of themselves, no matter how outstanding the leader is.¡± ¡°No, I wasn¡¯t going to say anything.¡± ¡°Ahem!¡± ¡®Was I too transparent?¡¯ ¡°However, I was wondering if I could ask you to add a few things I would like. It¡¯s probably something that you will like, too.¡± As Monmider quietly lowered his head, Goulda laughed heartily and said, ¡°Great! Hey, you people! It¡¯s time to show them what we¡¯ve got! Is there anyone tired from walking for just a few days?!¡± ¡°Of course not! If we were tired, we wouldn¡¯t live up to the name of ¡®the best craftsmen in the continent¡¯! Alright! Let¡¯s get to it!¡± As Davey vacantly stared at the eager dwarves who were rushing inside, Royal Attendant asked cautiously, ¡°Pardon me, Your Highness, but¡­¡± ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°You¡­didn¡¯t brainwash them or something, right?¡± Royal Attendant Bernile looked embarrassed as Davey stared at him with a flat expression. CH 71 The quarter flew by quickly, because everyone was extremely busy and working hard. Since Goulda was very skilled, he was the one assigning people to the appropriate areas. The dwarves¡¯ main goal was to repair the territory¡¯s facilities. After hearing about the current situation in the territory, Goulda used his unique expertise as a dwarf and placed the appropriate technicians and young men in areas the way Davey would have done too. Of course, Davey generously provided artifacts or alchemy tools to boost the dwarves¡¯ efficiency to the extreme, and manpower, as it would be difficult for them to do everything alone. He was able to obtain all these resources, since the territory was packed with wizard towers, schools of alchemy, temples, and merchant companies. And since the territory had more than enough money and all the organizations were handing him small bribes, there were no shortages of any resource. ¡°Let¡¯s do that here¡­¡± ¡°I have a good idea for that.¡± For days, Davey discussed the development of the territory multiple times with the dwarves. The better the foundation, the more the territory would benefit. If they were to create a space or facility that everyone would want to live in, the merchants nearby would be desperate to build things of similar quality to prevent their sales from decreasing. Then, the wizard towers and the schools of alchemy would be forced to match that quality as well, since they were proud organizations. Davey was trying to rapidly improve the condition of the territory while preventing the organizations¡¯ power play of establishing their branches here. To him, this was worth a shot. Of course, it didn¡¯t matter if they acted out of his expectations, because he had nothing to lose. Perhaps it was because of the dwarves¡¯ special skills, but most of the shabby portable lodgings made out of wooden panels were replaced with temporary houses. However, problems began arising from the sudden increase in the territory¡¯s population. There was conflict from the friction between a growing group of people in the territory. No resident was allowed to discriminate against another, and Davey always made thoughtful and fair decisions, but life didn¡¯t always go as planned. Davey only managed to solve the immediate problems after pulling several all-nighters. Now, all he wanted to do was sleep. He groaned, ¡°Damn it. I think fighting would be much easier than this.¡± -Being a leader isn¡¯t easy. ¡°Now I know why kings lived such short lives,¡± Davey said to Perserque as he plopped down onto his large bed. The coziness and warmth of this new ergonomic bed by the School of Alchemy surrounded his entire body. Befitting for royalty, the bed was huge. It would also be considered a pretty high-quality bed on Earth as well. ¡®I want to relax.¡¯ Davey covered his eyes and let out a deep breath while laying silent in the dark room. ¡°Groan¡­¡± Then, for some reason, there was a little girl¡¯s voice in the supposedly empty room. Davey got up almost reflexively and noticed that there was something curled up inside the blanket, which was at the center of the bed. ¡°¡­¡± Remaining calm, all Davey could do was stare at the small squirming thing with mixed feelings. 29. You Have to Take Responsibility for Your Child. It was human, but the lumpy shape was too small to be an adult human. ¡°Did I get the wrong room?¡± -There¡¯s no way. Davey squinted and quickly lit a mana stone lantern, despite still being in disbelief. Once the dark room was lit, the shape was revealed to be¡­definitely someone wiggling in the middle of the massive bed, which seemed like it could fit seven or eight people! It wasn¡¯t uncommon for someone to enter Davey¡¯s room. Bribes didn¡¯t always come in the form of money. Sometimes, it came in the form of offering sexual services. It had been about two months since Davey had returned from the dwarf village. It seemed that the organizations saw Davey as an incredibly important business partner after confirming that moon grass was consistently harvested. And so, this was one of their ways of offering bribes. This wasn¡¯t rare or a big deal in a world where monarchy was deeply rooted in society, but it was different for Davey; he wasn¡¯t interested in sleeping with a woman he didn¡¯t love. He wasn¡¯t impotent, but he had learned different values from his time in the Hall. [Davey! If you use your dick thoughtlessly, I will rip it off even if I have to leave the Hall. Do you understand me? You know I always keep my word.] The warning of the immoral saintess had sunk deeper than Davey had thought. ¡®For the first ever saintess to have no filter¡­¡¯ It first started with sex workers from different territories, since the Heins Territory didn¡¯t really have such businesses. Several different people were responsible for bringing these young and beautiful girls into Davey¡¯s room, but Davey never bothered to find out who they were before sending the girls back. However, people from noble families and students of mages or scholars¡ªpeople with some social status¡ªbegan showing up. Of course, Davey sent them all away. But this was a regular occurrence when he wanted to take a rest, so he declared one thing: whatever business they had would be thrown out the window if they sent someone to his room one more time. The declaration caused a pretty big fuss, but it was quite effective. No one came to see him afterwards, and he was able to enjoy his time relaxing, but¡­ ¡°Do you think those guys assume I¡¯m a pedophile just because I don¡¯t want to fool around with women?¡± -Giggle. As Perserque smiled mysteriously, Davey flipped over the blanket and the shape finally revealed itself. ¡°Sigh¡­¡± Unsurprisingly, it was a cute girl with glistening red hair. She was dressed in a white dress that made her look pure and innocent. She seemed to only be about five or six and looked quite well off. With chubby cheeks and small hands, her cute appearance was enough to turn heads on the street. Davey did expect it to be a child since the figure was too small to be an adult. He believed that those guys mistook him to be impotent or a pedophile since he didn¡¯t sleep with any of the previous women. ¡°Hm¡­¡± The small child groaned while waking up, then slowly opened her eyes. Her bright and clear red eyes had a deep gaze, as if staring at them would get you lost in their depths. ¡°Hi, little girl. Who are you?¡± Davey asked cautiously. He already planned to beat those damn people later. ¡®She¡¯s a child. She doesn¡¯t know anything.¡¯ ¡°Hm¡­¡± The girl rubbed her eyes with her small hands before blankly staring up at Davey for a while. She looked up at him with indiscernible eyes and soon opened her eyes wide as if she definitely recognized him. Then, she smiled brightly. ¡°Giggle!¡± ¡°Hup!¡± -That¡¯s too cute¡­ It hurts my heart¡­ The girl¡¯s cute smile made Davey stumble. Even Perserque collapsed in the air and landed on his shoulder. Davey shouted angrily, ¡°These damn people put this innocent child in here as a mistress?! Amy!¡± ¡®Amy just abandoned this child here when I specifically told her not to let anyone in?¡¯ Amy immediately came running when she heard Davey, as if she had been waiting. Her eyebags seemed less severe now that Davey had come back, since she had less work to do. ¡°Y¡ªYour Highness! What is¡­¡± Amy widened her eyes when she saw a little girl on the bed while Davey was standing with a menacing frown. ¡°Your Highness! Did you?!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous. Did I not specifically tell you not to let anyone in?¡± Amy, who was staring at Davey with a suspicious gaze, blinked. ¡°I¡ªI didn¡¯t let anyone in! Did you¡­not bring her here, Your Highness?¡± She genuinely didn¡¯t seem to know anything about this. Most of the palace¡¯s happenings would be reported to her, but if she didn¡¯t know, then the only possibility was that one of the servants had taken a bribe to sneak the little girl in here. Otherwise, the little girl had wandered in here all by herself; either way, it wasn¡¯t good. ¡°Didn¡¯t anyone take me seriously?¡± As Davey looked at the giggling girl with a severe expression, Amy quickly ran over and took the girl into her arms. She backed away with a pale face. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m sorry, Your Highness¡­ I should¡¯ve made sure to keep this place in order¡­ There definitely wasn¡¯t anyone in here before you came¡­¡± They took advantage of the slightest opportunity. The girl smiled brightly at Davey and reached out to him. She clapped her hands and giggled. ¡°Dada!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Heh?¡± Everyone froze. The little girl didn¡¯t speak very clearly, but Davey wasn¡¯t an idiot; he knew what the girl had said. Clutter¡­ Suddenly, the cupboard leaning against the wall slowly opened up while everyone was still frozen in place. A blue-eyed little girl, who looked exactly like this girl on the bed, peeked out. ¡°¡­¡± Davey¡¯s silence went on for longer than expected. * * * The sun rose after the night with two moons passed. ¡°Scream! Miss! You can¡¯t run around like that!¡± ¡°Giggle!¡± Davey was woken up by someone¡¯s excited laughter. He stared blankly at the ceiling and covered his eyes while taking a deep breath. ¡°Wow, I really didn¡¯t expect this.¡± He could only blame his own stupidity; if he had just used [Check Information] on the little girl in the first place, things wouldn¡¯t have gone this chaotically. -I don¡¯t know. I think I did want you to feel a little guilty. Perserque said as she flew toward Davey, who was vacantly staring into space. ¡°How do I change a name that I¡¯ve already chosen?¡± Support us at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. As soon as Davey complained, the door of the silent bedroom burst open, and a cute girl with long, red hair came running in. She was still wearing a white dress, but it looked more luxurious than before. She looked around the room, and when she found Davey, she came running toward him with a terribly cute smile. CH 72 ¡°Giggle! Dada!¡± ¡°Y¡ªYes¡­¡± Davey held the girl in his arms with an awkward and forced smile. He asked, ¡°Why are you so cheerful in the morning?¡± ¡°Hehehe! Dada! Dada!¡± Nobody knew that a sword could have the authority to materialize into a human. Davey was aware that Caldeiras, the divine sword, could materialize and show her ego, but it made no sense for a sword to become a blob of energy and adopt the human form all by itself. -Name: Red Ribbon. -Status: Complete. -Shape: A wide, two-bladed Ring Pommel Sword. -Length: 88 centimeters. -Width: 6 centimeters. -Contractor: Davey O¡¯Rowane. -Completion Level: 100% -Details: Ego has awakened; consciousness of ego is quite young since the ego has awakened earlier than expected due to an unknown reason; although the original creator is different, it sees Davey O¡¯Rowane, the person who finished the sword with everything he had, as her father; ego develops with time; caution: extremely cute. ¡°¡­¡± -I¡ªIt¡¯s not me! As Perserque shouted with a bright red face, Davey quietly nodded. Honestly, Davey had thought that he had seen everything; he had survived being thrown into an extreme wasteland and multiple battles that should have killed him. He had changed a curse into a blessing and had also created a springboard for the territory¡¯s success. However, he had never expected nor experienced a sword of his making that took on the form of a human and saw him as her father. ¡°Hehe. Hehehe.¡± As the little girl giggled happily in Davey¡¯s arms, he looked up at Amy who was wheezing. Amy tried to catch her breath. ¡°Wheeze¡­ Wheeze¡­ I¡¯m sorry, Your Highness¡­ She is¡­ Wheeze¡­ Very active¡­¡± Davey could tell that the little girl had incredible stamina despite being young; after all, she was similar to the divine sword. Although she took on the form of a little girl, she was probably a huge ball of energy that had been accumulating for over thousands of years on the inside. ¡°Thanks for working so hard in the morning¡­¡± ¡°It¡ªIt¡¯s fine¡­¡± Amy backed away, looking at Davey and Red Ribbon like she couldn¡¯t understand this situation. She usually didn¡¯t doubt Davey, but if even she was looking at him like that, everyone else would definitely be bewildered. Perhaps it was because of the red-haired girl playing in his arms, but Davey soon saw the blue-haired girl looking up at him. She had her arms out, tugging on his shirt. ¡°Blue Ribbon¡­¡± ¡°D¡­ Dada.¡± ¡®When did she come in here?¡¯ Blue Ribbon sounded similar to Red Ribbon. In fact, they had such similar appearances that it would be difficult to tell them apart if it wasn¡¯t for their differently colored hair and eyes. Davey could also tell them apart by the slight nuances in their voice and impression. Maybe it was because he had made them, but he could strangely distinguish them rather easily. ¡®Maybe I have really become their dad.¡¯ When Davey suppressed a deep sigh from escaping his lips and picked up Blue Ribbon, he heard a gurgle. Red Ribbon wasn¡¯t hiding her happiness, and Blue Ribbon blushed while hugging him tightly. He glanced at them and thought, ¡®They are so cute that it hurts my heart.¡¯ ¡°Miss, your hair isn¡¯t done yet,¡± Amy said. ¡°Noo!¡± The girls stuck their tongues out to Amy and buried their faces into Davey¡¯s chest. Looking at Amy¡¯s helpless expression, Davey said, ¡°Red Ribbon, you have to be a good girl and listen to her.¡± He persuaded Red Ribbon, since she listened to him relatively well. Red Ribbon pouted and held Amy¡¯s hand. ¡°Sigh¡­¡± Amy, who was wheezing a couple of minutes before, now blushed. ¡°Y¡­ Your Highness, the girls are so cute! Where did you find them?¡± It was a relief that she didn¡¯t think Davey was actually their father, although to be exact, he did create them. ¡°Who knows about these girls?¡± Davey asked. Amy played with her fingers, then answered hesitantly, ¡°For now, only a few of the servants in the palace. Since Lady Red Ribbon is very active¡­¡± She meant that Red Ribbon had been running around the palace as soon as morning came, having stayed quiet for the entire night. ¡°They don¡¯t yet know that the girls are associated with me, right?¡± ¡°Pardon? Ah¡­ Yes.¡± ¡°Okay. Keep this a secret until I¡¯m done organizing my thoughts. And make sure to keep everyone quiet.¡± Although Amy seemed like she couldn¡¯t understand Davey¡¯s actions, she nodded. Davey wouldn¡¯t need to do any contemplation if these girls were really normal children. Feeling like he was going to get an ulcer, he forced a smile and quietly told Amy, ¡°Let them do whatever they want, except for going outside.¡± Amy vigorously nodded like she would absolutely make sure of it. * * * ¡°Okay, let¡¯s see.¡± As Davey spoke in a determined tone, the eyes of two girls who were sitting on the bed glistened. He added, ¡°First, do you want to try this? It¡¯s called a cookie.¡± ¡°Cwookie?¡± ¡°Yes, a cookie. Do you want to try it? It¡¯s good.¡± ¡°Giggle!¡± ¡°Blabber!¡± When Davey handed each of them a cookie, Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon smelled it with shining eyes, then simultaneously shoved it in their mouths. There was no way to tell how swords like them could eat, but it seemed like they could. Inconveniently, Davey had to find out the details himself since Perserque¡¯s [Check Information] only provided him with basic information. -How can it be possible for a sword to eat? ¡°They sleep and they eat. I know that they have emotions because they are egos, but¡­¡± The children reached out with spreadout palms after already gobbling down the cookies. ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°Dada¡­¡± ¡°Cooooookie.¡± ¡®Do they want more?¡¯ Davey found the situation weird since it felt like he was really teaching his children. He said, ¡°You can¡¯t. Your teeth will rot if you have too many.¡± ¡°Aww¡­¡± Red Ribbon didn¡¯t hide her disappointment. Blue Ribbon looked at Davey in sadness even though she didn¡¯t explicitly show it. Sob¡­ Sob. Both girls soon looked up at Davey in tears, the best weapon of children. ¡°No.¡± Sob¡­ ¡°N¡­ No.¡± Weep¡­ Sob¡­ ¡°You can¡¯t¡­ You can¡¯t¡­ You can¡­ Okay! I¡¯ll allow it. You can have one more!¡± ¡®Oh, disciplining them is hard already.¡¯ ¡°Yay!¡± The two girls excitedly ran into Davey¡¯s arms and smiled. ¡°Damn¡­¡± Davey couldn¡¯t help but frown. Still, he made sure to hide that expression from the children. -They¡¯re not going to listen to you if you do whatever they want. ¡®No way. I mean, they¡¯re swords.¡¯ -From the looks of it, they are similar to real children. They might change depending on how you teach and discipline them. ¡°Hm¡­.¡± -Giggle, isn¡¯t it funny? They might become saint swords or demon swords depending on how you teach them. Well, although the standard for whether a sword was a saint or demon depended on the user and not the sword itself, Perserque had a point. ¡°Well then, let¡¯s check out the most important thing.¡± Davey couldn¡¯t just let go of his suspicions so easily. It wouldn¡¯t be a problem to think of them as innocent children if they were left like that, but¡­ Davey asked, ¡°Okay, then. Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon. Do you think you can go back to your original form?¡± The children understood language rather well. Their speech wasn¡¯t fully developed yet, but that might be due to them not having materialized for long yet. The two kids initially tilted their heads in confusion, but soon went into Davey¡¯s arms as if they understood. A quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled. Davey smiled at the children¡¯s warmth for a moment. Very quickly, the two kids emitted a bright light from their bodies as they fully transformed into two swords. Cute, red-haired Red Ribbon transformed into a red sword, and shy Blue Ribbon turned into a blue sword. The children did not protest the transformation, perhaps because that was their original form. ¡°Hm¡­¡± Davey lightly swung the swords after making sure the children had fully transformed. It was a relief that the swords hadn¡¯t weakened or anything from the egos¡¯ awakening. It actually seemed like the power within them had become denser. ¡®Transformation is natural as well.¡¯ Davey realized that the girls could change their forms quite naturally as if they relied on instincts. ¡°That¡¯s good. You can come back now.¡± As Davey spoke with a cookie in his hand, the swords soon changed back into two girls and ran toward him excitedly. It was as if they were never swords in the first place. ¡°Dada!¡± ¡°C¡ªCooookie, p¡ªplease!¡± They were trying so hard to speak even when they couldn¡¯t pronounce words properly. As Davey handed them a cookie with an insuppressible smile, the girls began nibbling their cookie with a serious face; they were trying to savor it. ¡°Since I can¡¯t just leave them, I should still declare that they are under my care.¡± -Aren¡¯t they your daughters? Well, foster daughters might be more like it. ¡°Are you trying to make me ineligible for marriage?¡± -Wasn¡¯t that your intention in the first place? Davey clicked his tongue at Perserque¡¯s question and stared at the girls. He could¡¯ve just said that he was taking care of them if they were just children, but they were still his first pieces of work that had an ego. Even if they were swords, it didn¡¯t seem too bad to live up to their expectations and act as their father. It was right to take responsibility for them since he had created them in the first place, but¡­ -Royalty must be cautious with adoption. ¡°Right.¡± It would cause quite a commotion if an unmarried man were to adopt two children with an unknown bloodline. His reputation would be damaged instantly, and trivial rumors would spread. Everyone else would raise a fuss even when the man in question wouldn¡¯t care at all; some nobles just have their noses stuck in everyone¡¯s business. ¡°Whatever. They can talk crap about me if they want. I¡¯m not going to care about that when I have a million other things to do.¡± Davey needed to develop a territory and regain his strength. To Davey, who had unexpectedly come back to another life after spending nearly a thousand years in the Hall, there was no clear goal. The only thing he could think of was to live a long life since he had never led a long life in both his past and current life combined. CH 73 ¡°Dada!¡± The girls, who were giggling and playing with each other, handed Davey a half-eaten cookie. ¡°You¡¯re giving it to me?¡± Davey asked. ¡°It¡¯s tasty!¡± ¡°Hehe!¡± Realizing what Red Ribbon was trying to say, Davey took the cookie. She flailed about excitedly, and the girls stared up at him with sparkling eyes. They wanted to see when he was going to eat it. ¡°You girls are so sweet,¡± Davey praised. As he unhesitantly munched on the cookie because he found them to be so adorably thoughtful, Red Ribbon happily giggled and hugged his neck to give him kisses all over. Knock knock. ¡°Your Highness, it is Amy.¡± Davey stopped himself from squirming at Red Ribbon¡¯s adorable nature, which he could never get tired of. He then heard a knock at the door. He coughed awkwardly and wiped the smile from his face. ¡°Ahem, what is it?¡± ¡°You have a visitor.¡± ¡°Without a message? Did they throw their manners out the window?¡± ¡°That is¡­ It is Princess Winley.¡± ¡°What? Where is she right now? Lead the way!¡± There were always exceptions. Amy didn¡¯t say anything for a while, as if she was a little bewildered by Davey¡¯s confident shout. * * * ¡°Big brother!¡± The green-haired girl, who was admiring the small but elegant garden, ran into Davey¡¯s arms as soon as she saw him. ¡°Have you been well?¡± Davey asked. It had been almost six months since they had last seen each other. The last time they had met was just as Davey was leaving for the territory. ¡°I really missed you, Big brother.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. Are you hurt anywhere?¡± Davey patted Winley on the back and stroked her head. As she blushed and looked up at him, she slightly pushed him away. She said, ¡°You¡¯re mean. How could you not even send a letter?¡± ¡°Haha, sorry. I was a little busy.¡± ¡°Hmph¡­ I¡¯m letting it slide because of the territory¡¯s situation, so consider yourself lucky,¡± Winley said. ¡°Anyway, where¡¯s Baris?¡± ¡°He is¡­¡± Winley slightly frowned and squinted. Then, she gasped with sparkling eyes, as if she had found something interesting. ¡°However, Big brother, who are those children¡­?¡± Winley had just now noticed Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon, who were clinging onto Davey¡¯s back and hiding behind him. She couldn¡¯t help but smile at the two girls, who peeked out from behind Davey with nervous faces. Winley exclaimed, ¡°T¡ªThey¡¯re so cute!¡± ¡°Woah!¡± ¡°Kyak!¡± Winley immediately ran over and hugged them, so Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon flailed around in surprise. But they couldn¡¯t escape from Winley¡¯s arms as she screamed about how cute they were. Winley also rubbed her cheeks against theirs. ¡°Dada!¡± ¡°Nooo!¡± The girls seemed to like it only when Davey did it; he guessed that there was a difference between a parent and a stranger. ¡°Let¡¯s go in now.¡± Davey stopped Winley after seeing the girls¡¯ look for help. Regaining control, Winley backed up from the children. ¡°Hm¡­ I must¡¯ve gone crazy for a second.¡± She kept glancing over at them like she would hug them for days without letting go if she got the chance. As she put aside her desires and followed Davey into the drawing room, her eyes sparkled as she saw the children cautiously reach for the cookies. She asked, ¡°My! So cute! Big brother, who are these children? Residents?¡± ¡°They are under my care,¡± Davey replied. ¡°Yours?¡± ¡°They are my daughters.¡± ¡°Oh my¡­¡± Winley shook her head in disbelief. ¡°You are doing something new every time I see you, Big brother. Really¡­¡± ¡°There¡¯s a reason I have to take care of these kids.¡± ¡°Then, I don¡¯t have anything to say¡­¡± Winley was soon distracted by the nervous glances of the children, who were playing with each other in such a cute way. She opened her arms while panting. ¡°H¡ªHey kids, do you want to come into my arms?¡± ¡°Um¡­¡± There was no way the children would go. Winley couldn¡¯t help but frown as the girls hid inside Davey¡¯s arms. ¡°Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon, you have to be nice to your sister.¡± As Davey stroked their heads while smiling, the children hesitantly went to Winley and handed her the cookie they were holding. It was as if they were trying to make Davey happy. ¡°Coookieee¡­¡± ¡°This is for me? Really? Kyak!¡± ¡®Does she like it so much that she has to scream?¡¯ ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°Eeh¡­¡± Unable to hold back, Winley hugged them and rubbed her cheek against theirs. Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon squirmed with a faint frown on their faces. Winley cooed, ¡°You guys are so cute! Hey, do you want to follow me home?¡± ¡°Noo!¡± This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°Dada!¡± The children declined Winley¡¯s offer instantly. They were explicitly showing their unhappiness. Davey couldn¡¯t help but sigh at Winley, who was still screaming about how cute the children were despite their refusal. He soon asked Winley while swirling his teacup, which was filled with the black tea that the ladies-in-waiting had served them. ¡°Anyway, how did you come here? I know you¡¯re busy in your territory.¡± ¡°Big brother, you¡­ The territory has become pretty quiet now, since the barbarians haven¡¯t been too rowdy recently. Keep up with the news, would you?¡± ¡°Haha, sorry.¡± Davey wouldn¡¯t have been this slow if they had exchanged letters or something, but he had been pretty busy. ¡°My, I was so shocked. I was so worried when you said you were coming to this wasteland¡­ I never expected your business to succeed so much¡­ And I also saw dwarves in the village.¡± ¡°I¡¯m getting some help from them.¡± ¡°Wow¡­ Aren¡¯t dwarves known for not coming out to the outside world? It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen a dwarf in my life.¡± Aside from Winley, the people on the territory were also constantly looking at the dwarves as if they were fascinating creatures. They were all taken by surprise. Of course, they¡¯ll get used to it since the dwarves were going to live here for a while. ¡°I would like to host you, but the territory¡¯s current state still isn¡¯t great¡­ It¡¯s going to take a few more months until everything is settled.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t complain; I¡¯m the one who suddenly came. To be honest with you, the reason I¡¯m here is¡­¡± Winley trailed off with a bitter face. Her happiness from before was nowhere to be seen. She now looked worried and solemn about some kind of secret. ¡°Big brother.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± Davey replied. ¡°The power of the stigmata¡­ Can you use it?¡± ¡°The power of the stigmata?¡± Davey calmly asked. Winley began speaking with mixed feelings. ¡°I know that I shouldn¡¯t ask this of you when you are really busy¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. Tell me.¡± Davey had only been in possession of the stigmata for a short while, since he only got it after waking up from his coma. But he was confident that he could make the impossible possible for his younger sister. ¡®What¡¯s stopping me from helping?¡¯ As Davey urged her to speak, Winley brought it up reluctantly. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, Big brother¡­¡± ¡°Man, don¡¯t be so hesitant and just tell me. I¡¯ll help you even if it¡¯s impossible.¡± Perhaps Winley was assured by Davey¡¯s words, because she began weeping in his arms. She let out all of the sorrow that she had been keeping to herself. ¡°Big brother¡­ Someone I¡¯m fond of is struggling with their life¡­ Even the priests and doctors have given up¡­¡± A weird sensation came over Davey as he heard Winley¡¯s teary voice. He asked, ¡°Even the priests and the doctors gave up?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ So, I thought maybe something could be done with the power of the stigmata¡­¡± ¡®This feeling.¡¯ Davey felt like something serious had happened. 30. The Signs of a Plague Winley, who burst into tears in Davey¡¯s arms, only stopped crying after she was completely exhausted. Comforted by Davey¡¯s presence after being so emotionally distressed for a long time, she eventually collapsed from dehydration and fell asleep, and Davey had no choice but to lay her down. Davey would have to learn about the details some other time. He murmured to himself, ¡°She¡¯s probably worn out. She must have been struggling with this for a long time¡­ Leave her be. It seemed like it was a long journey here.¡± The Ordem Territory, the territory where Winley and Baris were from, was pretty far from here. She must have been pretty tired if she had traveled here for days without rest. That was probably how much she treasured the person. Davey felt a slight fever as he stroked her forehead while she was asleep. [Restore] Winley looked much more comfortable than before after Davey cast a healing spell with his leftover strength. ¡°Hwoo¡­¡± ¡°Is Sister sick?¡± Perhaps Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon instinctively felt that Winley was sick from looking at Winley asleep. They followed Davey in and asked with a frown, like they had already forgotten that they had rejected her affection just a few moments ago. ¡°She should be fine after a good rest. Let¡¯s leave her be so that she can sleep well, okay?¡± Davey spoke to the girls. ¡°It¡¯s not good to be sick. Red Ribbon is going to stay beside her!¡± Red Ribbon climbed onto the bed and fell asleep while holding Winley close. Blue Ribbon also climbed into the opposite side of the bed carefully, and closed her eyes while hugging Winley. Davey normally wouldn¡¯t have allowed it, but the girls were balls of energy that naturally released spirit power, holy power, or mana. It seemed that their presence would undeniably help Winley regain her strength. He watched Winley sleep, then left the room after Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon completely fell asleep too. CH 74 ¡°Dada!¡± ¡°Giggle!¡± Winley only got up when it was already late evening. Looking at her with concern, Davey asked, ¡°Are you feeling better?¡± ¡°Of course, Big brother. Your younger sister is quite healthy.¡± ¡°Nonsense.¡± ¡°Me! Red Ribbon slept, too!¡± ¡°Bl¡­ Blue Ribbon, too!¡± It was still shocking to hear that swords could sleep. Davey didn¡¯t know what the children were laughing about, but the children ran around the room, giggling joyfully. ¡°It¡¯s fascinating. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s because of those children, but¡­ I feel a lot better than usual.¡± Aside from feeling well rested, Winley¡¯s amount of mana had probably increased too. She was also a mage, so she would¡¯ve absorbed some of the power the two children, who were balls of energy, had released. ¡°That¡¯s a relief. Hey kids, do you want to go play outside for a bit?¡± ¡°Okay!¡± After the children answered simultaneously and scuttled out of the room, Davey turned to look back at Winley. ¡°Are you okay now?¡± ¡°Yes, thank you for your concern.¡± ¡°How long did it take you to travel here? I would¡¯ve gone instead, if you had contacted me.¡± ¡°H¡ªHow could I? You¡¯re busy, too¡­¡± Looking like she was going to cry, Winley lowered her head. ¡°Okay. Explain it to me.¡± Winley nodded with tears in her eyes, and she finally revealed the severity of the situation. ¡°We first brought priests, but they said that it was an illness incurable with holy power¡­ So, we called the doctor, and they said that they couldn¡¯t cure it either¡­¡± ¡°They couldn¡¯t cure it?¡± Comforted by Davey¡¯s presence, Winley began sharing her concerns. She revealed that Portna, her bodyguard and close friend, had been shot with a poison arrow by the thieves instead of herself. Because Winley had fallen into a trap after chasing the thieves too far, she would¡¯ve been severely injured or maybe dead if Portna hadn¡¯t taken the shot for her. ¡°What about an antidote?¡± ¡°The priest did remove the poison with an antidote spell, but blue-black spots began showing up after that¡­ And she keeps coughing up blood¡­ Sob¡­ Weep¡­¡± The real problem only showed up after Portna had returned to the camp after being detoxified. She began suffering from a high fever, and blue-black spots started showing up on her body. From then on, she began coughing up blood and gradually losing a lot of weight. It seemed that the priest who was treating Portna had mentioned that an extremely high-ranking priest with a stigmata might be able to fix her while they were trying to find a way to deal with this disease, which wasn¡¯t treatable with the power of a regular priest or the art of medicine. That was probably what had brought Winley here to the Heins Territory in a hurry. ¡°¡­¡± -Davey? Perserque called out in puzzlement, since Davey was just quietly listening to Winley. -Why do you look like that? ¡®Nothing. It¡¯s just that the symptoms are familiar.¡¯ When Davey couldn¡¯t think of any words to comfort Winley, who began crying from emotional distress again, all he could do was just silently stroke her vibrant green hair. He murmured, ¡°It must¡¯ve been hard for you. No one¡¯s perfect from the beginning. Take this mistake to heart and make sure that it doesn¡¯t happen again.¡± ¡°Sob¡­ Weep¡­ Big brother, what do¡­ What should I do? Because of me, Portna¡­ Weep¡­ Sob!¡± Davey patted Winley on the back as she sobbed in his arms. The symptoms manifested about two weeks ago. This unknown poison, which first made Portna lethargic, began to continuously harm her even after it had completely left the body after detoxification. It was a disease. Blue-black spots began showing up on her body, she was coughing up blood, and she constantly felt languid. Winley had heard from the priest that this disease couldn¡¯t be treated with holy power, so she had turned to the art of medicine. Unfortunately, even the doctors hadn¡¯t been able to find out just what the disease was. Feeling sorry for Winley as she was falling apart, one of the priests had said that maybe the power of the stigmata could cure Portna. Of course, Davey was the only person with a stigmata that Winley could ask for help from. Like she was grasping at straws, she had come to the Heins Territory straight away without rest, since the only person who had a stigmata she could possibly ask was Davey. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll take a look at her,¡± Davey said. ¡°R¡ªReally?!¡± Winley did want to hear that Davey was going to treat Portna. It probably pained her so much that the person she was fond of was dying because of her mistake. Davey had no choice but to comfort Winley until she calmed down. Then, he called out, ¡°Royal Attendant Bernile.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± In the quiet office, Davey, who was organizing documents that had records of the various matters of the territory, spoke quietly. ¡°There should be an intelligence guild in the territory. Find the most trustworthy and informative one, and get me the branch leader.¡± ¡°Your¡­wish is my command.¡± Although Bernile could¡¯ve found Davey¡¯s orders to be ridiculous, Bernile just bowed his head silently to carry out his orders. * * * ¡®There¡¯s this thing called intuition. In life, there are times when people suddenly feel a premonition even without any clues or evidence.¡¯ This thought popped into Davey¡¯s head, because he did get that feeling from the moment he heard Winley¡¯s story. ¡°Ah¡­ I keep feeling like something big is going to happen.¡± -Don¡¯t you always manage to turn it into a huge gain? ¡°That is true, but¡­¡± Davey answered bitterly and sighed. He calmly rose from his seat. ¡°The increase in the number of patients isn¡¯t something to be appreciated¡­ There¡¯s one illness that I know fits the symptoms.¡± -There¡¯s really¡­an illness like that? ¡°The problem is that there¡¯s no way that specific disease would be on this continent.¡± -Hmm? What does that have to do with getting the intelligence guild? Confused by Davey¡¯s words, Perserque tilted her head. ¡°There¡¯s something called causality; there¡¯s no such thing as a result without a cause. Portna was shot with a poisonous arrow, and she received an antidote spell, but she became sick the next day. She seems to be suffering from an unknown illness, one that not even the priests and doctors know of¡­ It makes no sense.¡± There was no way that the barbarians, who had to live off of thieving and attacking the outskirts of the kingdom because they didn¡¯t have their own territory, could get their hands on that kind of poison. And it couldn¡¯t be just any ordinary poison if the priests and doctors had given up. -Then, in that case¡­ ¡°Someone gave the barbarians a poison with a special kind of virus¡­¡± Davey, who trailed off, sighed and then continued, ¡°Or there¡¯s a possible cause of the illness that Winley didn¡¯t mention.¡± ¡®Although, I feel that it¡¯s the first one.¡¯ Whatever the illness was, Davey needed to know the cause to discover an appropriate treatment. This was one of the first things he had learned when he had been taught the art of medicine: understanding the overall situation. ¡°Come in if you¡¯re here.¡± Davey threw the documents that he was reading while standing onto his desk. ¡°And don¡¯t try to discern me.¡± If someone else saw Davey, they wouldn¡¯t know who he was talking to. As he mumbled into the emptiness, a man wearing a black mask soon appeared in front of him with a faint presence. Looking over, Davey thought to himself, ¡®He seems quite skilled.¡¯ ¡°¡­¡± The man who silently bowed to Davey was wearing a black uniform and mask. The only body parts that Davey could see were the man¡¯s strong, large hands and sharp eyes. Regular people would probably instinctively freeze up at the man¡¯s hidden killing aura, but Davey wasn¡¯t really tense at all. After all, he wasn¡¯t particularly impressed by the man¡¯s concealment skills. ¡°I heard that there¡¯s something you need,¡± the man said after a short silence. ¡°Yes, I apologize for making you come and go when you¡¯re busy.¡± ¡°¡­It¡¯s an honor that you have asked for me.¡± ¡°Sit.¡± Davey offered the man the seat that was in front of him. He sat down, but the man chose to remain standing. The man¡¯s gaze seemed to suggest¡­nervousness. It was probably inevitable that he felt that way, since Davey had found him right away despite his usage of concealment skills to hide his presence. By nature, assassins were extremely wary of people who could find their location. ¡°I¡¯ll be straightforward with you. I want to buy some information. How much can you offer?¡± Davey asked. ¡°Everything¡­¡± The man answered without an ounce of hesitation. ¡°Has a price.¡± Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡®Of course. Nothing is free.¡¯ ¡°Then, you can get me anything if I pay the right price?¡± ¡°If you pay appropriately, we can get you information about the underwear color of the kingdom¡¯s princesses. If you want, we can also get you the underwear itself¡­¡± ¡°Tsk, what would I do with such a dirty thing?¡± Davey chuckled hollowly at the man¡¯s calm but confident voice. The man did promote his guild¡¯s information gathering ability and drive, but¡­ ¡®What a weird way to express it.¡¯ As Davey looked at the man in shock, Perserque crossed her arms and pouted as if displeased. A short silence surrounded the office. A lot of intelligence guilds in the Rowane Kingdom were exceptional, but they were still just minor intelligence guilds of a small kingdom. However, Davey could strongly feel that this man¡¯s guild was a part of something bigger; it seemed like they worked continent-wide. Of course, Davey wasn¡¯t surprised since his territory was getting the spotlight and becoming a site of exchange as several merchant companies, wizard towers, and schools of alchemy were gathering. However, it was inevitable that the shadows grew alongside the light; intelligence guilds were known to sniff out money better than merchants. It was safe to say that Davey¡¯s territory had new information to be discovered every single day, so it wasn¡¯t weird that an intelligence guild that worked on a continental scale had an eye on this place. That pretty much meant that they probably had the ability to get Davey what he wanted fast. Davey could see the man''s serious gaze when they made eye contact. The man would¡¯ve heard about him if he wasn¡¯t an idiot, and so, the man probably knew that he wasn¡¯t going to say anything lighthearted. Furthermore, Davey wasn¡¯t a well-known person, but had seen through his concealment skills. Davey kind of felt bad. He could see how tense the man had become, but he still had to ask for what he wanted. CH 75 ¡°Then, what about the ones of the imperial princess of the Pallan Empire? Would it be difficult to get some of hers?¡± Davey asked the man. ¡°¡­¡± -¡­You pervert. For a second, Davey felt like he heard Perserque genuinely complain in irritation. But still, he thought to himself, ¡®Well, I could be roused if it was a girl as pretty as her.¡¯ Although the Pallan Empire¡¯s imperial princess was still quite young, both Davey and her had come of age and were independent adults. Since Davey didn¡¯t bother to make any excuses and simply stared at him, the man silently closed his eyes. His eyelashes quivered. He was trying to figure out the true meaning of Davey¡¯s words: was he serious, or was there a different meaning to his words? After some contemplation, he gave the best answer that he could provide. ¡°I¡­am fond of my life.¡± There was a hint of tiredness in his sighing voice. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s enough for me,¡± Davey replied calmly and lightly threw a pouch of gold coins toward the man. ¡°It¡¯s payment in advance.¡± The man looked shocked as he caught the unexpectedly heavy pouch of gold coins. ¡°It¡¯s one hundred and fifty gold coins. There should be a female mage named Portna under Winley, my younger sister. Investigate her recent whereabouts.¡± ¡°Secretly trail the woman?¡± The man asked. ¡°Could you say it¡¯s for medical purposes? Do you see me as some kind of perverted stalker?¡± Davey replied. He felt like the man looked a little less interested in the task. -You¡¯re not a perverted stalker, and yet you mentioned the underwear of the Pallan Empire¡¯s imperial princess? The man in front of Davey couldn¡¯t converse with Perserque, but he also looked suspicious of Davey. ¡®[Check Information]¡¯ Beep! -Name: Jack (Aina Helishana). -Age: 124. -Sex: Male (Female). -Species: Human (Dark Elf). -Title: Lethal. -Status Effects: None. -Notes: Possesses assassination skills of entry-level ¡®Master¡¯; leader of fourth division of the Echo Guild, a continent-wide intelligence guild; known as Jack in the guild. -Current Emotion: Confusion. ¡®Hm? She was a woman? And a dark elf?¡¯ Davey stared at the man after reading his information. He noticed that the man didn¡¯t have particularly dark skin or long ears. -Dark elves don¡¯t have dark skin in the first place. They are just different types of elves and they look the same, just like how mages and dark mages don¡¯t look different from each other. ¡®It might get ugly if we provoke her too much.¡¯ -And are you one to be troubled by that? ¡®Of course, not.¡¯ Davey chuckled secretly and went on. He asked the dark elf, ¡°Can you do it?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t take the payment.¡± After some careful consideration, the dark elf quietly handed back the pouch of money to Davey. ¡°What are you trying to say?¡± Davey asked. ¡°I won¡¯t take the money.¡± The dark elf replied. ¡°You¡¯re going to do it for free?¡± ¡°Not that, either.¡± The dark elf calmly answered and lowered her head. ¡°I will¡­calculate the payment afterwards.¡± ¡°What if I rip you off?¡± With a chuckle, Davey lowered his head further. ¡°This is my proposal since, although you seem to be more perverted than I thought, you don¡¯t seem like the kind of person to not keep a promise. You are not cheap, and you have integrity.¡± The dark elf wanted to see how Davey would act, then build a friendly relationship with him if he was to her liking. The probing was a little disrespectful, but it didn¡¯t feel terrible. Davey was just a bit surprised that she was a dark elf, but it probably wasn¡¯t anything too extraordinary since she could even change her sex. She seemed to have a sturdy, muscular figure, but that was actually fake. As Davey used his power to glance into the darkness for a bit longer, he began to see an image of a thin and short girl. ¡®No wonder. This was the power from a piece of the will of God.¡¯ ¡°Is that your organization¡¯s offer?¡± Davey asked. ¡°No, my personal one,¡± the dark elf answered. ¡°Sure. Do whatever you want.¡± ¡°Okay, then¡­¡± The dark elf bowed her head for a short goodbye, then disappeared into the air. ¡°You¡¯re going to focus more on your concealment abilities? What a sense of pride you have.¡± As he chuckled, Davey thought about the information that he had read about her. ¡®She¡¯s a dark elf and had also hidden her sex¡­ And isn¡¯t the Echo Guild one of the most famous guilds in the continent?¡¯ -It is not only merchants who can quickly notice a cash cow. Besides¡­ Perserque trailed off and quietly asked. -Do you know anything about the family name, ¡®Helishana¡¯? ¡°Helishana?¡± -You don¡¯t know? ¡°It¡¯s the dark elf¡¯s family name, right? Is there something about her?¡± Perserque smiled softly and shook her head. -It doesn¡¯t matter if you don¡¯t know. Forget about it. ¡°What a bummer.¡± Their conversation didn¡¯t go on for long. * * * Winley must have been tired from traveling for a long time, but she followed Davey as if she couldn¡¯t wait even a moment longer. However, she didn¡¯t have enough strength to endure another long journey since she had come all the way here without rest. As if she had fought in a battlefield while being emotionally drained, Winley was currently a mage who lacked strength. ¡°I know your physical condition the best. Stay here,¡± Davey told Winley. ¡°No! I¡¯m going with you!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be stubborn.¡± Davey sounded serious, but Winley refused to budge. ¡®I wonder if she knows how bad of a physical state she is in right now.¡¯ Horseback riding was quite a physically draining activity. Davey wondered what Baris was doing in a situation like this, but he thought that Baris must have his reasons, since Baris cherished his twin sister more than anything in the world. Baris just didn¡¯t act like it. ¡°We have to travel for days to get to the Orden Territory. A carriage will slow us down, and from the symptoms you have described, we don¡¯t have that kind of time. You might even slow us down.¡± Davey intentionally criticized Winley so that she would change her mind, but she kept saying that she could travel by horse in a teary voice. -I don¡¯t know why you are so weak against that sister of yours. ¡°Big brother, I can go! I¡¯m not weak!¡± Technically, Winley could; traveling wouldn¡¯t be a problem since she could just hold onto her consciousness with her mental strength. However, Davey just didn¡¯t want her to do that. Wondering about how to solve this problem, an unexpected solution simply presented itself. * * * ¡°Nice to meet you. My name is Yulis, a class-5 ¡®Master¡¯. I am humbly a part of the Red Tower.¡± Mages usually excluded their gender, but included their class and proficiency when introducing themselves. ¡®Class-5 ¡®Master¡¯.¡¯ People who took the oath of mana found faking their classes very distasteful, so the red-haired mage who appeared to be in his twenties in front of Davey was almost a 5-circle ¡®Master¡¯-level mage. A 5-circle mage; considering this mage¡¯s age and that his skills were almost that of an entry-level ¡®Master¡¯, he had reached an incredible level. After all, it required an exceptional amount of effort and talent that went beyond the level of a ¡®Swordmaster¡¯. If swordsmanship trained the physical body, then magic strengthened the mind. Unlike the few people who became masters in their forties and fifties after devoting their entire life to magic, this mage was already at the entry level of ¡®Master¡¯ before the age of thirty, and was working his way up to the higher levels. Davey was a special case, since his standard of time was a little different. ¡°I am Davey O¡¯Rowane. I have heard great things about you, Class-5 Yulis. It¡¯s an honor to have someone as respected as you to come to this shabby territory.¡± It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡®Heard things about him? I don¡¯t even care about him. And I have no reason to converse with him.¡¯ Regardless of his continental fame, Yulis was from the Central Tower in the central continent. Any involvement with him would only result in trouble. ¡°Shabby? Nonsense. This territory is the shining star of the eastern continent right now. And I¡¯ve wanted to meet you since Princess Winley had spoken so highly of you,¡± Yulis said with a smile, showing no hint of sarcasm. Looking at his impression, he was a righteous young man who might be a little too hardworking. However, Davey had already classified Yulis as a highly dangerous individual. ¡®He¡¯s dangerous!¡¯ -You shouldn¡¯t be so quick to judge. Is there a reason for you to be so wary of him just because he traveled with your younger sister? ¡®Of course there is. That¡¯s a good enough reason. How dare he touch her with his dirty hand?¡¯ Aside from being kind-hearted, Yulis was also a genius that even the wizard towers acknowledged. On top of that, he was from a good family. There was nothing second-rate about Class-5 Yulis, including his status, wealth, personality, looks, and abilities; he was the golden boy. Furthermore, becoming a ¡®Master¡¯ at such a young age held more merit than one would imagine. ¡®Man, you¡¯re tall, too.¡¯ The problem was why Yulis was involved with Winley, so Davey simply asked, ¡°But how does someone like you, Class-5 Yulis, know my sister?¡± He squinted suspiciously. Winley nudged Davey in shock. She exclaimed, ¡°B¡ªBig brother!¡± ¡°Haha, that¡¯s alright. I would also be wary in such a situation. I was actually on the way to the Heins Territory to take care of business, but then I ran into Princess Winley, and we happened to travel here together,¡± Yulis explained. Blushing, Winley lowered head. ¡®People say there¡¯s no use in working hard to raise a daughter. Ah, I can¡¯t do it. Let¡¯s get rid of him right now.¡¯ -You have to be patient. And besides, Winley isn¡¯t even your daughter! If Perserque didn¡¯t shout and hold back his arms with an invisible power, Davey would have swung his sword. ¡®Phew¡­¡¯ Davey bitterly smiled as he made his sword disappear without Yulis noticing. ¡°I don¡¯t know how I should thank you for helping my sister,¡± Davey said. ¡°No, that¡¯s okay. Princess Winley was actually the one who helped me,¡± Yulis replied. It seemed that Winley had used her magic to chase away the fearless bandits whom Yulis had encountered on the way here. He added, ¡°So, I came to see you. I was wondering how to repay you.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Yes.¡± Davey nodded. ¡°Although I am lacking, I think I may be able to help you. I am familiar with spatial magic, other than flame magic.¡± ¡°Te¡ªTeleportation magic!¡± As Winley exclaimed in surprise, Davey secretly let out a gasp. Mages usually studied one subject of magic for their entire lives; it wasn¡¯t because they were interested in that one subject, but because life was too short for them to learn other types. ¡°I happen to have a small mana gate with me. I was going to use it to move some essential products,¡± Yulis revealed. ¡°A¡ªA small mana gate!¡± Davey stared at Winley who shouted in shock. He asked, ¡°Is that something great?¡± ¡°B¡ªBig brother, of course! Unlike installation-type large mana gates, small mana gates are extremely luxurious artifacts. They are rare even among the mages of the wizard towers!¡± Winley explained. ¡°Hm¡­¡± ¡°It is a secret treasure of the continent, so only mages who are knowledgeable in spatial theory above the class-5 level and those who possess mana similar to the High Wizard could have it. I never expected someone like that to be at the Red Tower,¡± Winley said. Apparently, Yulis had been on his way to get the wizard tower¡¯s important supply himself to prevent it from getting damaged in the process. And since Winley was also a mage, she had lots of curiosity and an eagerness for knowledge. Davey decided to hold off on getting rid of Yulis for now. A mana gate would allow them to move without a lot of strain. In addition, Winley was still a mage, so she wouldn¡¯t react adversely to the teleportation magic even if she wasn¡¯t a spatial-related mage. It was difficult for Davey to use a long-distance teleportation spell since it could only be done above the 6-circle level. Davey nodded gratefully. ¡°Then, I owe you.¡± As Davey smiled and offered a handshake, Yulis laughed and grabbed his hand. But Yulis turned slightly pale when he felt Davey¡¯s firm grip. CH 76 Zip zip zip!! Tzzz!! With an enormous spark, a light appeared above the territory¡¯s town square. Then, the surroundings changed once the light went away. This was the Ordem Territory. It was rather far from the Heins, and it was a region where tribes of the Thieves¡¯ Guild, who looted plains and forests without settling anywhere, began operating. It had metal mines and large amounts of farmland, so it was also the family land of a venerable count. Although the territory was currently unstable due to the Thieves¡¯ Guild turning the place upside down, it didn¡¯t change the fact that it was quite a big and developed territory. Of course, the atmosphere was more depressing than what Davey had expected. ¡°Haha¡­ It¡¯s not pretty, is it, Big brother?¡± Winley said. ¡°Was there another attack?¡± Davey asked. He smelled the nasty scent of burning flesh once he amplified his senses. This odor of protein burning away was very similar to that of burnt human flesh. The territory looked normal and quiet, but it had a strange gloominess. Looking around, Davey was starting to feel grateful that Baris and Winley had grown up so bright despite being in this kind of an atmosphere. Winley frowned slightly. ¡°This makes no sense¡­ There shouldn¡¯t be an attack from the Thieves¡¯ Guild for a while¡­¡± Thinking that something had happened again in the territory, which had burning corpses, Winley mumbled in confusion. She thought that another incident where a large number of people had to be cremated had taken place. ¡°Unless these people died of an internal conflict, there¡¯s only one thing that could¡¯ve caused a mass burning.¡± With a cold gaze, Davey pointed to a group of people who were dressed in red cloth and red armor. Looking at the red armored men who were using wagons to move the corpses of the residents, Winley widened her eyes. ¡°W¡ªWhat is this¡­¡± Her voice quavered, because she didn¡¯t understand what exactly was going on. ¡°My, my, isn¡¯t this Princess Winley? You¡¯ve returned.¡± A man wearing a monocle emerged from among the knights and bowed to Winley. He wore a kind smile, but it looked odd for some reason. ¡°My name is Count Lington. I was dispatched here from the Coalition for Disease Control¡­ You are more beautiful than what I have heard. It seems that rumors don¡¯t do you justice at all.¡± ¡°My apologies, but there is an important matter at hand. I think we may have to converse later.¡± ¡°Haha, I would like to as well, but the current situation is quite unfortunate.¡± Lington smiled awkwardly but still seemed friendly. His outward appearance was like an old-fashioned scholar. ¡°First¡­ I apologize for coming to the territory without notifying you, and for allowing the knights to roam freely.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Lington squinted at Winley, who stayed silent with a complicated look on her face. He then said, ¡°First, come in. We have just finished quarantining the royal palace that you will reside in with a magic artifact from the Holy Empire.¡± His words made Winley frown. * * * Baris wasn¡¯t at the territory; it seemed that he was absent for whatever reason, meaning that the armored men were occupying the seigneur¡¯s castle when he wasn¡¯t present. This was quite a shitty situation, but there was a separate reason as to why Winley couldn¡¯t formally complain any further. ¡°Sigh¡­ I know that the situation may be uncomfortable, but please try to understand. Please have some tea. This is a tea brewed from beneficial herbs,¡± Lington offered. ¡°¡­To my knowledge, I don¡¯t think I handed over the authority of the seigneur to you, Count Lington,¡± Winley replied. ¡°Haha¡­¡± ¡°Baris is the seigneur of the Ordem Territory. However, those rights belong to me when he is absent.¡± Winley looked displeased as she expressed her thoughts. ¡°I am aware. I know that it is brazen of us to come here and request for whatever we want.¡± This was honestly no different from a robber acting as the owner of the house when the actual owner had come back. But Lington was unperturbed. ¡°However, as I told you before, we are from the Coalition of Disease Control.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Davey had heard about the Coalition of Disease Control before. They were a multinational organization that had special rights, since they had been acknowledged with the seals of the three empires¡¯ emperors who had conquered the continent. ¡°It is true that the Coalition of Disease Control¡¯s main purpose is to provide free medical attention all around the continent. It is an organization founded by the three wise emperors with good intentions.¡± ¡°I have heard of it, yes. However, what are the people of the coalition doing here in the territory?¡± Winley asked. Davey could tell that she couldn¡¯t shake away her anxiety. -How can you know without using [Check Information]? ¡®Winley has a habit of grasping her skirt with her right hand whenever she¡¯s anxious.¡¯ -Your love for your younger sister is almost like a disease. ¡®Why do you care that I cherish my sister this much? She is so cute.¡¯ Winley was clearly prettier than most nobles, who were already known to mostly be quite good-looking. Her big, round eyes and cute facial features caught the attention of many sons of the nobility in the Rowane Kingdom. Rumor had it that she had rejected the marriage proposal of a foreign prince who had fallen in love with her at first sight when he had visited the kingdom for an international visit. But Davey didn¡¯t know for what reason she had declined. -Tsk tsk. Perserque stared at Davey pathetically as he explained, but he ignored her to pay attention to Count Lington. ¡°As you know, Your Highness, there is a wicked disease going around in the territory. The coalition is currently calling the disease, ¡®Blood of the Demon¡¯.¡± ¡°The¡­ ¡®Blood of the Demon¡¯.¡± ¡°Yes. This nasty disease causes blue-black spots to appear on the affected and makes them cough up blood. It is fatal. This wicked illness is also known to be extremely contagious.¡± Life drained out of Winley¡¯s face, because Lington had mentioned symptoms that were the same as what Portna was experiencing. Winey hurriedly cried for help with teary eyes, ¡°N¡ªNow is not the time! Big brother! We have to hurry for Portna!¡± ¡°My, I have yet to greet Prince Davey. I have wanted to meet you ever since hearing about you. I heard that you have received a stigmata and that you have successfully harvested moon grass in your territory.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fortunate that the conditions are favorable.¡± Lington laughed exaggeratedly. ¡°There is no result without a cause. It is probably because you are so extraordinary, Your Highness. Haha, I see that the shining individuals of our continent are gathered here.¡± ¡°My apologies, Count Lington, but I must leave. I have an urgent matter to take care of. Lindy!¡± Winley quickly shouted for Lindy, who was her lady-in-waiting, but Lindy didn¡¯t show up at all. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but the servants of the seigneur¡¯s palace and the knights are all under quarantine right now,¡± Lington explained. ¡°What?¡± Infuriated, Winley glared at Lington. Lington answered while wiping the sweat off his forehead with a handkerchief. ¡°It¡¯s inevitable. The ¡®Blood of the Demon¡¯ is a highly contagious disease. It can be avoided if managed well, but it becomes uncontrollable if a single infected person roams free. Please understand.¡± Not knowing what to do, Winley stared at Lington who bowed his head with a pale face. ¡°B¡ªBut this is clearly an overreach of power¡­¡± ¡°I am aware. It is also true that we are shameless. However, Your Highness, I hope you understand that we acted according to the agreement of the Alliance of Nations. There were precedents set in the past for us to be given the authority of the territory in emergency situations,¡± Lington explained. ¡°And, unfortunately, this disease is incurable, regardless of the level of holy power. It doesn¡¯t work.¡± ¡°That can¡¯t¡­be¡­¡± ¡°That is why we have stepped up, so please leave it to us. We will make sure to carry out an effective treatment method and give you good news.¡± Lington¡¯s words were like a false commitment of good will. * * * There was nothing Davey could check for himself even if he spoke to Lington, because he had to go and see it for himself. He walked into the treatment center with an adequate excuse, quickly picking up the foul odor that blew toward him. Groan¡­ ¡°It¡­ It hurts¡­¡± The center looked horrid. There were gruesome moans and groans of pain. There were also the bodies of residents who had already died from the disease. Portna, who was Winley¡¯s knight, had been the only one suffering from the unknown disease at first. But numerous residents began suffering from the same thing in a matter of days. The red armored knights were loading the bodies onto a wagon and continuously burning them. -The smell of burning corpses is sickening. My head aches. ¡®Me too.¡¯ Davey calmly walked into the center. Normally, this wouldn¡¯t have been allowed, but he had come because he knew how to use holy magic and because Winley had pleaded so desperately. The treatment center was a confined space made by layering several pieces of fabric. Here, people were treating quarantined patients who all had different symptoms. ¡®No, instead of treatment¡­ This is more like quarantining to prevent the worst-case scenario.¡¯ The solution was horrendous, but also realistic in a way. -¡­ Perserque covered her mouth and looked around in shock. -I¡¯ve never seen a disease this terrible in my lifetime¡­ ¡°This disease shouldn¡¯t exist.¡± -What are you saying? And there¡¯s a weird smell wafting through the air. As Perserque mumbled, Davey walked into the special quarantining space where Portna was. Immediately, the strange odor intensified and assailed his sense of smell. -Ugh¡­ Unlike Perserque, who immediately frowned, Davey calmly and somewhat stiffly went inside to see a woman who was tied to her bed. The woman was Portna, the escort knight whom Winley pleaded for Davey to save. Looking at the corpse-like woman, Davey said, ¡°It smells like Blue Death Blossom.¡± -Blue¡­ What? ¡°Blue Death Blossom. It¡¯s probably called the Tostart flower here.¡± -I¡¯ve never heard of it. ¡°It¡¯s a rare flower that grows in extreme conditions. It¡¯s difficult to see now.¡± The smell was strangely unpleasant, but was also strangely addictive. Taking it in, Davey continued to explain, ¡°The Tostart flower is extremely poisonous.¡± A drop of the flower¡¯s essence was enough to kill hundreds of people. It was a flower loved by assassins, but it couldn¡¯t be used if it was this difficult to obtain or harvest despite its high effectiveness. Davey approached Portna silently and put his hand on her wrist to feel her pulse. Thud¡­ Thud Thud¡­ Thud thud thud. Thud¡­ He could feel a weak pulse through his fingertips. Then, he released his mana to surround Portna to see through her. Since he didn¡¯t have some high-tech equipment like a CT or an MRI available, he had no choice but to check her by using mana. This required an extremely delicate control of mana, but Davey was someone who had learned everything from Odin, the God of Mages. Portna was so pale that she almost looked dead, but her prominent pulse indicated otherwise. She was said to have been exposed to the disease far sooner than the residents, but she was still alive when others were already dying. ¡°39.7 degrees Celsius. Her brain cells are going to cook,¡± Davey commented. Portna¡¯s skin was as cold as a corpse, but her organs were extremely hot; her state was completely out of balance, and it was almost miraculous that she was still alive. The disease had horrendous symptoms, outcomes, and deaths. Davey had expected this when he first heard it from Winley, but he couldn¡¯t help but sigh at the complicated situation. ¡®If Portna was a normal human, she would¡¯ve already died by the time I got here.¡¯ ¡°I don¡¯t understand. There¡¯s no way this disease exists in this world¡­¡± -What do you mean? Tell me, too. ¡°This disease was rampant in a different world. Since it¡¯s a virus that was made in special circumstances, it¡¯s not something like a cold, cancer, leukemia, or like the Black Plague.¡± This was certainly a virus made from gene modification, meaning that this disease wasn¡¯t natural. One could even call it a bioterror attack. ¡®Even the people who made this virus died because of it.¡¯ A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled. -It was made? ¡°Melting Acceleration Virus.¡± -M¡ªMelting¡­ What? ¡°Melting Acceleration Virus. The method that the virus kills its host is wicked, but it is also quite contagious. It has a history of killing millions of people with one outbreak in a short amount of time. And¡­¡± Davey closed his eyes. ¡°It took ten years to develop a cure for it. Two hundred million eight thousand people died before the cure was developed, and eighteen thousand people were saved from it. I think we¡¯re going to have to make an antibody fast.¡± Davey quickly grabbed a knife, tube, and a glass test tube that was nearby. He put holy power into the knife. ¡®It¡¯s important to disinfect.¡¯ That was when¡­ ¡°What are you doing?!¡± Someone¡¯s wary voice stopped Davey. CH 77 31. Participating in the Frontline of Medicine! ¡°What are you doing?!¡± It was an angry shout that was both formal and cold. The person who shouted also grabbed Davey¡¯s knife-wielding hand. ¡°I asked what you are doing to a dying patient.¡± The man who stopped Davey was wearing a red uniform. He looked quite meticulous and picky. He also had his nose and mouth covered with a red cloth, so he wondered why Davey was here without any kind of protection. With a harsh tone, he asked again, ¡°This is a restricted area that¡¯s for authorized personnel only. Who are you, and why are you in here?¡± Davey pulled out a small token from his chest. Showing the status of royalty during such a situation would be quite helpful. ¡°I am Davey O¡¯Rowane, the First Prince of the Rowane Kingdom.¡± ¡°Ahem¡­ My apologies. I am Baron Gorneo. Although I am still lacking, I am a member of the Coalition of Disease Control.¡± As Davey examined the man¡¯s uniform, he could see that the man was wearing the same red uniform as Count Lington and had a brooch with a strange symbol. ¡°I see.¡± ¡°However, I cannot let you in here even if you are a prince. I¡¯m sorry, but you must leave!¡± Gorneo shouted. Seeing his unwavering attitude, Davey put down his knife and asked, ¡°Am I not allowed to be here?¡± ¡°The disease that has spread in this territory is transmitted through the air under special circumstances¡­ Oh no! Use this to cover your nose and mouth! Hurry!¡± Realizing that Davey didn¡¯t have anything covering his face, Gorneo quickly pulled out a piece of cloth. He pushed Davey out. ¡°There is a low chance of catching the disease outside, but there are several infected patients here! Hurry!¡± When Davey silently accepted the cloth, Gorneo yelled with urgency, ¡°I heard that you came to this territory because of this outbreak, Your Highness! I heard that you have a stigmata; however, this can¡¯t be cured, even with the power of the stigmata!¡± Davey stopped Gorneo as he spoke firmly. ¡°Did you check that it couldn¡¯t be cured?¡± ¡°No, not really, since it is difficult to encounter anyone with a stigmata. However, a High Priest with a similar level of holy power has told us that, so¡­¡± ¡°Aghhhh!!!¡± That was when Davey and Gorneo heard a desperate cry of help. As they both hurried over, they saw a man screaming and struggling while tied to his bed. ¡°Damn it!!¡± Baron Gorneo immediately ran over to the patient to do an examination. It seemed like he had completely forgotten about keeping Davey out. He then yelled, ¡°Since when was he like this?!¡± ¡°Th¡ªThat is¡­¡± ¡°Get me a painkiller! Calm him down first!!¡± Davey ignored the fact that Gorneo was treating the patient with both urgency and determination. He simply stared at the patient. -It¡¯s horrible¡­ ¡°Blood foam, pus from the eyes that resemble bloody tears, and the spots on his body are moving around irregularly.¡± -Davey? Perserque called upon Davey with her eyes open wide as she heard him murmur. Davey boldly stopped the person who was bringing the tube and the medicine. ¡°Wh¡­ What are you¡­¡± ¡°That patient is going to die if you give that to him right now,¡± Davey said. ¡°Pardon¡­ Pardon?!¡± ¡°Give me the tube.¡± Davey snatched the sterilized tube away and promptly walked toward the screaming patient. Then, he covered the screaming man¡¯s mouth and wiped away all the bloody foam that was spewing out of the man¡¯s mouth. It was dangerous, since his finger could very well be bitten off, but his body was durable enough to withstand the bite of a human. ¡°H¡ªHey, what are you¡­?!¡± Gorneo, surprised by Davey¡¯s sudden intrusion, was about to shout when Davey ripped off the patient¡¯s top. Then, Gorneo¡¯s eyes flew wide open in surprise. ¡®I don¡¯t know what they¡¯re doing when they¡¯ve got an emergency patient. Time is of the essence. There are two lumps¡­ No, another one is forming.¡¯ Davey squinted at the presence of the air bubbles. He could tell that a clot of the virus-infected blood was building up in the man¡¯s lungs. The patient was surely going to die if it wasn¡¯t extracted immediately. ¡®Eight millimeters from the bottom, and three millimeters from the right. This human is going to die if I¡¯m even a little bit off.¡¯ Taking a breath, Davey felt the area with his fingertips and concentrated. He touched the patient¡¯s ribs with two fingers and then courageously raised the tube with a sharp end. Ching! A faint light began emitting from his hands as he held onto the patient and the tube. [Pain Alleviation] [Holy Coating] Whoosh¡­ Holy magic was just a different type of magic, but casting two spells simultaneously was pretty difficult. The two holy magic spells began activating, then Davey pierced the sharp tube past the patient¡¯s ribs and into his lungs. Stab! Davey expected the patient to squirm in pain, but the man only screamed and spewed even more bloody foam. He was struggling to breathe properly. ¡®A little more!¡¯ Davey, who was moving his fingertips along the tube that he pushed slowly and precisely, pierced the tube in much more boldly. Shocked by Davey¡¯s actions, Gorneo came at him and grabbed him by the collar. Davey didn¡¯t even have the time to take his hands off the tube. ¡°You!! What are you doing with this human¡¯s life?!...¡± Davey could feel Gorneo¡¯s intense fury in his voice. It probably wasn¡¯t because someone was doing his work, but because Davey was being reckless with a patient. To someone else, Davey¡¯s actions carried a stronger intention to kill than to save. All Davey did when Gorneo shouted in anger was to point at the patient with his chin. ¡°Say someth¡­¡± Davey¡¯s actions only infuriated Gorneo even more. He looked like he was going to hit Davey, not caring that Davey was a prince. But he soon froze as he turned his glance over to where Davey was pointing at. ¡°Cough¡­ Cough¡­¡± Before, the patient was in so much pain that he couldn¡¯t breathe. Now, he actually calmed down and was only coughing a little. Squirt¡­ A blue-black liquid quickly came flowing into the tube that Davey had inserted. ¡®He¡¯s going to have trouble breathing again if it doesn¡¯t drain for a while.¡¯ ¡°Give that to me.¡± Davey brushed off Gorneo, who was stunned into stillness. He took a test tube from the nearby doctor. He poured the liquid from the patient into the test tube without hesitation and closed the lid. ¡°Stop the bleeding and then stitch him up. Just so you know, the patient will die of shock if you give them painkillers within 24 hours of those symptoms showing up, so don¡¯t. And,¡± Davey said rather unwillingly, then stared at the surprised Gorneo. ¡°Someone with a stigmata is immune to almost everything.¡± ¡®The power of God isn¡¯t nothing.¡¯ Ignoring the dumbfounded stares all around him, Davey took the test tube with the blue-black liquid and left. The people inside the treatment center were frozen in place until he left. * * * Putting the incident at the treatment center behind him, Davey returned to the seigneur¡¯s palace to see Winley, who was probably devastated. ¡°Oh, Big brother!¡± As soon as Davey entered the room, Winley, who was holding her face with a teary frown, stood up with wide eyes. ¡°You¡¯re back.¡± Beside her was Yulis, who had a soft smile on his face. It definitely seemed like Winley was hiding something as she was flustered and red. She asked, ¡°B¡ªBig brother, did you¡­hear?¡± It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°Hear what?¡± ¡°N¡ªNothing!!¡± Jumping at Davey¡¯s question, Winley vigorously shook her head. Davey glanced over at Yulis, since he could sense the strange atmosphere in the room. Yulis said nothing and just smiled, while Winley blushed and seemed to not know what to do. Yulis was also considered to be the best person for marriage¡­ A girl of Winley¡¯s age was bound to have some interest in a person who looked like that, and since Winley was a girl¡­ ¡®There¡¯s no use in raising a daughter!!¡¯ -She is not your daughter! Davey chose not to hear Perserque¡¯s shouting. ¡°I got some information about a few things. There are two people from the Coalition of Disease Control here: Count Lington and Baron Gorneo. Ah, their titles were from their past. They are members of the coalition,¡± Yulis explained. ¡°Members?¡± Winley, who was staring at her herbal tea with tired eyes, looked at Yulis in puzzlement. ¡°Yes, I should first tell you about the Coalition of Disease Control. Would that be okay?¡± ¡°I was just wondering the same thing.¡± ¡°Ahaha. It¡¯s a good thing I found something.¡± Yulis laughed and put his quill on paper. Then, he drew a pyramid of circles: one on top, three below that, and then fifteen below those. He continued, ¡°First, this is the hierarchy of the Coalition of Disease Control. It¡¯s probably best that I explain the big picture.¡± ¡°Hm¡­¡± ¡°You all know that the Coalition of Disease Control is an organization founded by the three emperors for treatment purposes?¡± ¡°That¡¯s my impression of it.¡± Davey nodded. No matter what it was, the Coalition of Disease Control was still the largest official medical organization of the continent. ¡°In terms of hierarchy, there is one leader, three chairmen, and fifteen council members. There are numerous knights and people related to medicine, but these people are the important ones.¡± ¡°Are the three chairmen the three emperors?¡± ¡°You are quick. And the leader is none other than His Excellency, the Pope of the Valchas Empire. I heard that he participated in this good cause to support it.¡± External trauma could easily be fixed with a recovery spell, but diseases were complicated. Therefore, the coalition¡¯s purpose was quite transparent and easy to understand. ¡°And there are fifteen council members below them. Most of the members have great accomplishments or are skilled enough in the art of medicine to have been acknowledged. However, all their personal information has been erased to prevent them from carrying out any personal business.¡± These people had erased everything about them for one cause¡­ ¡®I can practically see that they are crazy.¡¯ ¡°There are two council members on the continent right now: Count Lington and Baron Gorneo. Well, the ranks are just titles since they hold no meaning now.¡± Yulis slurred the end of his words and smiled bitterly. ¡°The important thing is that they have been given the power of not only the three emperors, but the Alliance of Nations. Count Lington¡¯s words are actually valid.¡± This meant that the actions the men had taken to stop the outbreak of the disease in this territory were justified. Of course, that didn¡¯t mean that they were allowed to kill all the residents recklessly. CH 78 ¡°The Rowane Kingdom is also a part of the Alliance of Nations. If we were to protest against this, not only would we be making enemies with the three empires, but it could be considered treason against our kingdom and the countries in the alliance,¡± Yulis explained. Simply put, he was saying that the repercussions would be like an atomic explosion if they were to rub the coalition the wrong way. ¡°But the residents are afraid,¡± Winley pointed out. ¡°Well, it hasn¡¯t been long since they¡¯ve arrived here. All we can do right now is wait¡­ Prince Davey?¡± Yulis called upon Davey, who kept silent. ¡°Oh, yes.¡± Davey snapped out of his thoughts and nodded. Yulis chuckled. ¡°And the order protecting the place is the Knights of Destruction, and I have heard that the captain dispatched here is Count Collio.¡± ¡°Count Collio? Um¡­ From the Lyndis Empire, the most powerful empire in the eastern continent¡­¡± ¡°Yes, he is one of the royal knightage¡¯s captains. I heard that he retired a few years ago, but it seems that he¡¯s here.¡± Yulis added with a sigh, ¡°Well¡­ It doesn¡¯t seem like a bad idea to leave it to them for now¡­¡± It wasn¡¯t a bad decision to leave it to the coalition, since they were the continent¡¯s best medical organization. However, it seemed like Davey¡¯s worries weren¡¯t going away. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have brought the two of you here if I knew how dangerous it was¡­¡± Winley blamed herself. When Davey just hugged her and patted her on the back, she murmured, ¡°Bro¡­ther?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s going to be fine.¡± ¡°Okay¡­¡± Comforted by Davey¡¯s voice, Winley gradually stopped trembling. At least they had gotten off on the right foot. What they planned to do from now on was more important, and it was meaningless to dwell on what had happened. Davey was determined to keep his promise; Winley was his precious younger sister who brought him joy and laughter, after all. Then, turning to Yulis, Davey said, ¡°Anyways, never mind me, but we caused a huge inconvenience to you, Class-5 Yulis.¡± Yulis shook his head and laughed. ¡°No, not at all. I forgot to tell you, but Portna is part of the Red Tower.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Yes.¡± ¡°Since one of the mages of the Red Tower is severely ill, I must stay and monitor the situation as an elder.¡± It looked to Davey that Yulis was being genuine since he was someone of a virtuous character. In fact, it said that Yulis truly did want to help when he checked with [Check Information]. ¡®But why does it look like he has another reason?¡¯ -Don¡¯t blindly trust the power of [Check Information]. The power couldn¡¯t be perfect even if the authority was a fragment of the power of God. * * * -Why didn¡¯t you stay there and treat people? ¡°It wouldn¡¯t have helped even if I was there.¡± When she heard Davey¡¯s aloof answer, Perserque tilted her head in confusion. She wondered why he left without any hesitation when he had seen the patients and knew what the disease was. -And all you did was take some weird pus. ¡°This is key.¡± Davey smiled bitterly as he lightly shook the liquid in the test tube. ¡°I told you that it¡¯s a virus. We can treat the disease right away by finding the cause.¡± -But if we do that¡­ ¡°There¡¯s a fifty-fifty chance: you either get to live or you die on the spot. Acupuncture could also work, but only for certain cases.¡± To Davey, it made no sense to make such a rash and extreme decision. He continued, ¡°If the coalition is at least suppressing the number of dying residents as best as they can, I have to find a cure when I have the time right now.¡± What Davey was trying to do was simple: to make an antivirus or an antibody. This disease didn¡¯t exist in this world, but it was strong enough to remain and wreck the human body, so Davey¡¯s method was the only way to find a cure. Hypocria, the Goddess of Medicine who previously cured this disease, had said that she had to watch numerous people die while she developed an antibody. The process of developing a cure for a nasty disease was incredibly arduous. Candidly put, the history of medicine was stained with blood; as such, it was crucial for those who practiced medicine to learn the importance of life while learning the art of medicine. Even Davey, who hadn¡¯t personally experienced the bloodstained history did understand the magnitude of life. -An antibody¡­ ¡°When something bad enters the human body, the human body secretes something to destroy it. And it remembers the information of the intruder and makes an antibody for it.¡± Perserque nodded in understanding. Antigens and antibodies; the human body was truly fascinating. -It¡¯s common in the medical field, right? The Coalition of Disease Control probably tried several different ways to create an antibody as well. Of course, they most likely didn¡¯t succeed since the method to create this antibody was completely beyond common knowledge. -But¡­how are you going to make an antibody with just that? Davey was just staring at the tube, but he suddenly raised his head. ¡°Come in if you¡¯ve arrived. Don¡¯t just stand there.¡± There was no one other than Davey and Perserque, who was floating, in the room, but his words were clearly for someone else. Shshshsh¡­ Just then, a presence could be felt. The empty space began distorting, and someone started appearing in the air. ¡°¡­¡± Davey could only see the eyes of the man in the black uniform and mask, just like before. The man looked slightly shocked, his emotions showing through his eyes. It seemed like Jack had tried to hide as best as he could, but Davey¡¯s skills as an assassin were probably more than ten times better than Jack¡¯s; honing a craft for close to a thousand years was nearly impossible for ordinary people. Time was probably the most valuable resource that the heroes who couldn¡¯t reach the end in their lifetime could have in the Hall. ¡°You found me again,¡± Jack said. ¡°I found you because I can see you,¡± Davey replied. ¡°That makes¡­¡± ¡°Sense.¡± ¡®You should look at who you¡¯re talking to before teaching a fish how to swim.¡¯ Although Davey¡¯s physical body wasn¡¯t that experienced yet, his inner self was another story altogether. Davey cut Jack off and glanced over in irritation. Then, Jack approached slowly. ¡°This is the information you were looking for.¡± ¡°Good work. And are you going to receive the compensation?¡± ¡°Not yet. And take this as well.¡± Jack calmly handed Davey a capsule that contained two different piles of documents. Well, Jack was actually Aina Helishana, the dark elf. ¡°This is?¡± ¡°I brought it because I thought that it would be useful.¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to get fired if you keep doing this kind of charity work.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. We calculate everything.¡± Offering the extra documents wasn¡¯t the intention of the Echo Guild, the enormous intelligence guild, but of Jack¡¯s own accord. Since Jack was offering them, Davey accepted the documents. He went on to read and squint at the documents. ¡°Hm¡­ Are you sure this is accurate?¡± Jack silently nodded. The information was probably true since anybody who sold information as their livelihood had to be known as reliable. ¡°Okay, then. I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m going to have to ask for one more thing.¡± When Jack quietly nodded, Davey made his request. ¡°I need large quantities of the products listed here. Put it under the name¡­ Coalition of Disease Control.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°What would be wrong with that? You already know that the coalition is here. Just tell them that Baron Gorneo ordered it. You have to get it as soon as possible. I don¡¯t know how many more will die each day that we don¡¯t have the items.¡± Puzzled, Jack tilted his head, but it was good for both of them to have a win-win situation. ¡°The quantity of each medicinal herb should be more than enough to fill up one carriage. I think you should be able to obtain it faster and more accurately than mercenaries.¡± ¡°I will get it to you as soon as possible¡­¡± Jack slightly bowed and disappeared into thin air. Watching him, Davey just shook the test tube in his hand. * * * As soon as the sun came up, Davey headed to the headquarters where the Coalition of Disease Control¡¯s doctors and administrative members were having a meeting. The knights who normally blocked his entrance into the headquarters no longer did that; perhaps they were given different orders from the members. ¡°Ah! Prince Davey, you¡¯re here,¡± Count Lington said. ¡°Thank you all for your hard work,¡± Davey replied. Lington chuckled. ¡°Haha, what is there to call hard work? It is you who¡¯s done the hard work, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Hm¡­¡± ¡°I heard that you saved an emergency patient at the treatment center yesterday.¡± ¡°It just happened, so I dealt with it.¡± ¡°Hahaha! I was really surprised. I didn¡¯t know you were versed in the art of medicine.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not enough to be proud of.¡± Lington shook his head vigorously. ¡°Not something to be proud of?! The treatment method you tried yesterday, Your Highness, was something that was new and bold to all of us. Isn¡¯t that right, Baron Gorneo?¡± When you''re just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°¡­¡± Gorneo lowered his head. Lington said, ¡°Thank you for your help yesterday, but¡­¡± ¡°Enough with the formalities.¡± Davey cut Gorneo off and stared at Lington. He said, ¡°Thank you for stopping the territory from getting into worse shape. It has been a huge help.¡± Lington shook his hands in dismissal. ¡°That is the very reason we are here.¡± ¡°However, it is not that I cannot trust the two of you, but looking at the disease, we cannot afford to waste any time.¡± ¡°Then, you are saying¡­¡± ¡°I will treat them. So please give me the right to participate in treatment activities.¡± Slam!! Gorneo bolted up from his seat, exclaiming, ¡°Absolutely not!¡± ¡°No?¡± ¡°Does this situation look like a joke to you?! Do you think they will be fine if we leave them to someone else for a few days like you want?!¡± Gorneo shouted. Davey squinted. ¡°That patient. Do you know that he would¡¯ve died if I was two or three minutes late?¡± Gorneo flinched at Davey¡¯s question. Normally, he would¡¯ve given them carrots and used his stick moderately, but he didn¡¯t have the luxury, nor did he think to do that since the patients would have to be treated as soon as it was prepared. ¡°Let me ask again: do either of you have a way to cure this disease?¡± Davey asked. ¡°T¡ªThen! Are you saying that you have a way, Your Highness?¡± ¡°You should at least hold onto any chance if there is one.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°I am not trying to take away your jobs or anything. This is a territory of my kingdom, and the territory of my younger sister.¡± As Gorneo glared at Davey as his tightly held fists trembled, the atmosphere soon turned extremely hostile. ¡°Isn¡¯t it a good idea?¡± Lington just fixed his monocle, which made his sharp eyes pop, and calmly wiped the cold sweat off. It seemed like he had no intention of acknowledging the threatening atmosphere. ¡°Count Lington!¡± Gorneo shouted. ¡°We must face reality. It hasn¡¯t been long since the ¡®Blood of the Demon¡¯ has spread in the Ordem Territory. It¡¯s a relief that we acted quickly and not all the residents were affected. However¡­¡± Lington trailed off before his next question. CH 79 ¡°What happened in the Contas Empire¡¯s territory in the west? All the residents ended up dying, and dozens of doctors and knights died as well,¡± Lington said. ¡°That is¡­¡± Before Gorneo could finish his sentence, Lington went on. ¡°Baron Gorneo, you were also there. So, are you trying to maintain your pride in this situation? If there is even a sliver of hope¡­ It might be right for us to hold onto it.¡± ¡°That damn pride! Sigh¡­ Well, alright.¡± Gorneo let out a deep breath, as if he was holding back something that he wanted to say, Then, he glanced at Davey and lowered his head. ¡°You seem to be quite confident, Your Highness. Can you really show us something?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t deny it.¡± ¡°¡­Alright. I am agreeing because you are the First Prince of this kingdom, and you possess a stigmata with special authority. If you think lightly about human life, I will make sure to hold the royal palace accountable!¡± Even though the patients weren¡¯t from Gorneo¡¯s country, neither were they his responsibility, Gorneo still treated them as his top priority. ¡®I wouldn¡¯t hand over part of my rights to someone I couldn¡¯t trust, either.¡¯ ¡°I won¡¯t let you down at least¡­¡± Davey smiled. Gorneo left the room as if he had nothing more to say. On the other hand, Lington spoke while maintaining his calm gaze. ¡°I will put my faith in you, Your Highness. Haha, although this is unbelievable.¡± ¡°I am grateful for your consideration.¡± Davey nodded. ¡°No, that¡¯s alright. I was surprised that you have a better knowledge of medicine than I had expected. In fact, such cases do appear rarely, but¡­ If it¡¯s alright, can I ask who you learned that kind of knowledge from?¡± Davey didn¡¯t answer the question. He could say that he had learned it from Hypocria, the Goddess of Medicine from a different world, but he didn¡¯t really have a reason to tell them. * * * Although she was anxious, Winley couldn¡¯t hide her happiness when she heard that Davey was officially participating in medical activities. It seemed like she only relied on him and not the Coalition of Disease Control. Winley and Yulis were surprised at the fact that Davey possessed medical knowledge, but they soon expressed that Davey should tell them if there was anything he needed, and that he should unhesitantly ask them for support if anything came up. ¡°The Red Tower will provide support, since I have quite a large amount of funds I can use with my personal authority. If there¡¯s anything you need that requires magic¡­¡± Yulis offered. Davey appreciated Yulis¡¯ good intentions, but he didn¡¯t really need them. Afterwards, Davey went into the individual treatment tents and obtained a few more test tubes with the blue-black liquid. Then, he divided them into the tubes he had prepared. The Artmite ore was a hard, solid ore that became sticky and tough after being melted at a certain temperature over a long period of time. It was the material of the test tubes, and that was probably why glasswork wasn¡¯t necessary in the Tionis continent. Count Lington provided Davey with a lot of information to show his full support, especially since Davey had decided to participate. The little pieces of information allowed Davey to put forward quite a few hypotheses. ¡°I guess they are still the best medical organization in the continent,¡± Davey murmured as he glanced over the data and progress reports in the pile of documents. He had to complete this task perfectly now that he had started. Baron Gorneo, one of the council members, wasn¡¯t happy about this, but Davey had no reason to care about his situation. As Davey was observing the changes in the test tubes, two of the doctors in the administration came to Davey and reported their progress. ¡°Your Highness, we have finished classifying the patients that you talked about.¡± ¡°Well, then. Let¡¯s try to buy some time.¡± The completion of the antibody was estimated to be four days. During this period of time, Davey was determined to keep each and every one of the residents alive. * * * ¡°Do you think it will be okay?¡± The elderly man asked. He looked quite old, but his unusually massive physique for his age and the sharpness of his gaze clearly showed that he was no ordinary being. ¡°For what, Count Colio?¡± Count Lington replied. Count Colio was the former captain of the royal palace of Lyndis¡¯ knights and was currently one of the Knights of Destruction¡¯s captains under the Coalition for Disease Control. He was a ¡®Swordmaster¡¯ who used to be famous in the Lyndis Empire. ¡°The thing with the First Prince of the Rowane Kingdom. If he¡¯s really doing something¡­¡± ¡°Yes, then the face of the coalition would be damaged.¡± Davey, a teenager, had stepped up to solve what the people of the so-called ¡°best medical organization of the continent¡± had been struggling with for years. Of course, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem if this was all. However, even to Lington, Davey really seemed to have something. The stigmata was a holy power, not something that gave him knowledge. That meant Davey either picked it up on his own or he learned the art of medicine from someone else. ¡°It could potentially make people doubt our qualifications. They wouldn¡¯t have been able to protest if we declined like Baron Gorneo.¡± Lington just coolly nodded in agreement. ¡°That is also true.¡± ¡°Then, why¡­¡± ¡°However, Count Colio¡­¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be good if the disease could be cured?¡± Lington smiled. Count Colio¡¯s face stiffened slightly. ¡°Right.¡± ¡°Since it has come to this, so what if Prince Davey is successful in curing the disease?¡± Lington smiled. ¡°It¡¯s a win-win situation for him and for us. It will push the field of medicine forward, and the ones who deserve honor will be given it. It¡¯s a win-win situation, is it not?¡± Count Colio did not speak about who would be the one being given the honor. 32. The Antibody, and Movement. ¡°As Count Lington mentioned, the Coalition for Disease Control is changing all treatment measures to yours like you wanted,¡± Baron Gorneo said. ¡°Thank you for making such a huge decision.¡± ¡°But you must keep in mind. I will go so far as to watch you. I will at least have to be the line in the sand.¡± Davey was replacing Gorneo; since Davey was nothing but an imposter to him, there was no way Gorneo was going to go down easily. ¡°To be honest, there are some who are saying that we should not accept your ideas.¡± ¡°Baron Gorneo.¡± ¡°Remember that the art of medicine isn¡¯t a stepping stone for prestige.¡± Gorneo, right now, was simply stating the obvious. ¡°I know it sounds crazy and it¡¯s hard to believe, but have some faith. I have no intention of letting Winley and Baris¡¯ residents die.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°This disease¡ªno, this variant of a virus¡ªcauses high fevers, randomly alters body temperatures, and melts the entire body by the minute.¡± ¡°What are you¡­¡± There was no significant difference between the Melting Acceleration Virus and a regular virus during its initial stages, but¡­ ¡°A virus remains dormant for a certain period of time when it first enters the human body. Only after a period of time does it become active.¡± Speaking calmly, Davey grabbed the arm of a patient who was moaning in pain. He pressed on their entire body, and the bedridden patient began frowning from the pain. Groan¡­ ¡°Just endure a little bit. The pain will subside soon.¡± Davey spoke to the patient, then kept listing the symptoms. ¡°First, the muscles start to melt. Then, the bones begin to melt, starting with the joints and cartilage.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°It would actually be a relief if it ended there. Next, it¡¯s the organs. It begins with the rectal area and the gonads, then it travels up to the kidneys, large and small intestines, and then the pancreas, liver, and stomach.¡± Gorneo¡¯s face was filled with surprise. Then, he expressed shock when Davey kept explaining and listing out the symptoms of a patient from the beginning stages to the end. His shock was understandable, since this disease was rarely known in this world. ¡°By then, the fluid of liquified internal body parts begins flowing out of the holes. Since it looks like blue-black spots on the skin as it leaks out, that¡¯s probably how it gets the name, ¡®Blood of the Demon¡¯.¡± ¡®Do you know why I am explaining this to you?¡¯ ¡°Prince Davey, don¡¯t tell me that¡­¡± ¡°Well, it is officially called ¡®Blood of the Demon¡¯ here, but it is also called the ¡®Melting Acceleration Virus¡¯ in a different place.¡± ¡°A different place¡­ ¡®Melting Acceleration Virus¡¯¡­¡± ¡°This is the important part. Doctors who encounter this disease try the same thing and then come to one conclusion: they have to find the source and remove it, since it cannot be treated with drugs.¡± ¡°Yes¡­ That is true¡­¡± ¡°So, what happened?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°If I¡¯m right, most of them have died during the procedure, and the remaining few have been completely destroyed by the virus that grew inside their bodies.¡± ¡®Am I wrong?¡¯ Baron Gorneo trembled, feeling nervous. ¡®What a sight.¡¯ ¡°I feel a little more comfortable, sir¡­¡± The patient said in between groans. ¡°Yes, try to endure the pain a little bit more even if it hurts. I will definitely keep you alive if you want to live.¡± ¡°Th¡­ Thank you¡­¡± The patient was just a commoner, one of the underprivileged members that this damn monarchal continent paid no attention to. Nobody would really care if people like that died. However, they were all just human beings and patients to Davey. Davey had no intention of compromising anything related to the art of medicine, even if it¡¯s because of the promise he had made with the person who had taught him the art of medicine. ¡°What about the items I asked for?¡± Davey asked. ¡°I have prepared them at the location you have specified.¡± ¡°Shriek!!¡± Gorneo widened his eyes in surprise when he heard a man responding to Davey. It was natural since someone had suddenly appeared when there wasn¡¯t any presence before. ¡°Alright. Put it on the tab and let¡¯s finish it in four days.¡± A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled. Gorneo blankly stared at the man disappearing into thin air, then followed Davey with mixed emotions. * * * Four days went by. Gorneo honestly couldn¡¯t hide his bewilderment. ¡°My, the color is changing.¡± ¡°How is the blue-black color changing back to red?¡± Gorneo couldn¡¯t even hear the little girl and the man with square glasses who were speaking in fascination. ¡°How is this¡­¡± That was all Gorneo could say. If he never witnessed this with his own eyes, he would never have believed it. ¡°What did I say? I told you I was going to finish this in four days.¡± ¡°Big brother!!¡± ¡°Now all you have to do is monitor the situation and administer it.¡± ¡°Sob¡­ Weep¡­ Thank you, Big brother¡­¡± Watching Winley, the little girl, weep as she ran into Prince Davey¡¯s arms, Baron Gorneo just flopped onto his chair dejectedly. CH 80 ¡°Oh my¡­ I can¡¯t believe it!¡± The man automatically shouted in awe when he saw the red liquid. ¡°Did you really¡­make an antidote?! No way¡­ No kind of medicine worked!¡± Something like this had never happened. ¡°I wish I had a microscope¡­but there¡¯s nothing like that here.¡± The man didn¡¯t even know what a microscope was, but the important thing was that¡­ ¡°An antibody¡­ An antibody! The first thing that the doctors, who were the best of the best in this field, gave up on was making an antibody!¡± The man, Baron Gorneo, gasped in astonishment. ¡°It¡¯s not easy.¡± Davey just grinned. The human body had a system that prepared for the next viral attack by remembering its initial attack; this was the relationship between antigens and antibodies. However, Gorneo had thought that an antibody couldn¡¯t be developed for this nasty disease. Since he was also an exceptional doctor, he had attempted to make an antibody numerous times, but had failed time and time again. Yet, right in front of his eyes now was the outcome he had been searching for over the last three years. ¡°B¡ªBut this isn¡¯t something that could be made this easily¡­¡± Gorneo stammered. ¡°It¡¯s because I used something that isn¡¯t usually used in medicine. Baron Gorneo, can I tell you something funny?¡± As he stopped stroking Winley¡¯s head, Davey spoke with a smile. Then, he filled a thin needle with the transparent liquid he had made and injected it into the blue-black blood. Just then, something fascinating began to happen; the blue-black fluid started to gather in one place, as if it was running away from the needle. Then, the blue-black color subsided and all that was left was a red fluid, normal human blood. ¡°You know, the ¡®Melting Acceleration Virus¡¯ should actually be thought of as an organism that strategically targets the human body, which has strong survival instincts. It is a parasite, and an extremely malicious one at that.¡± Baron Gorneo anxiously looked at Davey, who went on to explain, ¡°So, I needed to break the spirits of this damn parasite to do something.¡± No one had ever thought about such an approach. This method needed a few kinds of medicinal herbs and a few kinds of poisonous plants that people believed could not be used for medicine. ¡°Haha, I had some trouble with finding the medicinal herbs because the names are different.¡± Everyone, including Class-5 Yulis, Baron Gorneo, and Princess Winley, shared the same thought. ¡®Where did he find that out?¡¯ * * * ¡®How much do you know, and what more do you know?¡¯ Baron Gorneo parted his lips to speak, but promptly shut his mouth. He was deep in thought. Right now, it seemed like Gorneo was interrogating Davey. But Davey just calmly handed him the test tubes he had prepared, as if he had already expected such a reaction. Davey said, ¡°The dosage per person is one over fifty. Give it to them. Exactly fifty people can be treated with one tube. Since there are markings on the tube, can I leave this to you?¡± ¡°Oh, yes.¡± ¡°One dose won¡¯t completely cure them, so they can¡¯t be up and about. The dose has to be given somewhat regularly. Well, the prescription of the drug is as written. I have obtained the ingredients and left it in the back, so use it however you¡¯d like.¡± ¡®Since it¡¯s not even my money, and it¡¯s charged to the Coalition for Disease Control.¡¯ Gorneo couldn¡¯t laugh even when Davey was speaking playfully, because Davey was acting like this wasn¡¯t a big deal. Countless doctors had given up on this disease, but this young boy in front of him had solved it in four days. Baron Gorneo felt like he didn¡¯t know what to do, but he could also feel his long-forgotten passion as a scholar of medicine returning. Then, he just bowed to Davey with wide eyes, abandoning his initial objective and the petty pride he had as a doctor. ¡°L¡ªLeave it to me!¡± That¡¯s all Gorneo could say. Afterwards, word began spreading all over the territory that Prince Davey had finally completed the cure for this nasty disease. * * * ¡°Did you hear?¡± ¡°Ah, are you talking about that piece of news?¡± Lington answered as he was relaxing and sipping on a glass of wine. ¡°Yes, the commoners are going crazy over it, saying that he¡¯s the saint who has driven out the demon. Haha, I guess it¡¯s not weird that he is being called a saint since he has a stigmata.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°And aren¡¯t I right? The prince of the Rowane Kingdom actually cracked the problem that the coalition had left unsolved for all this time,¡± Lington said. Then, he murmured to himself, sounding intrigued, ¡°And in just four days.¡± ¡°What are you thinking of doing?¡¯ ¡°About what?¡± ¡°I¡¯m asking if it¡¯s okay to just leave it like this.¡± There wasn¡¯t anything that would cause any problems, at least in principle. Prince Davey was given the authority through negotiations with Lington and was successful in curing patients. Of course, Lington could have declined the prince¡¯s help, but he was confident that he had seen all kinds of people; it was clear that Davey had a bold character that constantly pushed him forward despite any setbacks. ¡°This is how medicine will advance again.¡± Lington smiled. ¡°Hm¡­¡± ¡°This was a task that the continent¡¯s greatest doctors have racked their brains about, and they couldn¡¯t come up with an answer. It¡¯s a nasty disease that could have been forever left as an unsolved problem.¡± Holy power didn¡¯t work on this disease. Normal drugs became poisonous and caused the patient to die if administered incorrectly. In addition, the course of death was absolutely horrendous. ¡°This teenage boy has rescued humanity from a huge crisis. Thankfully, this disease hadn¡¯t caused any problems in the past because it¡¯s extremely rare, but now, the ¡®Blood of the Demon¡¯¡­ It was called ¡®Melting Acceleration Virus¡¯, right? Anyways, this disease has now lost its power.¡± The problem was that a teenage boy was the one who had developed a cure for it. If this were to be known, not only would Count Lington¡¯s reputation be damaged, but the reputation of everyone who was involved. It wasn¡¯t really their fault, but it was just that an outsider had done their work for them. Thud!! ¡°Who is it?!¡± Count Colio shouted angrily. A knight quickly ran into the room. ¡°I¡ªI¡¯m sorry! But it is urgent news!¡± ¡°Now now, don¡¯t be so mad, Count Colio,¡± Lington said to Colio. ¡°So, tell us. What¡¯s the matter?¡± Count Colio frowned. He didn¡¯t like the fact that Lington was remaining calm even in a situation like this. ¡°Th¡ªThat is¡­ The patients who were given the new cure developed by Prince Davey¡­¡± ¡°Hm? Has something gone wrong?¡± ¡°No! Apparently, they are making a rapid recovery¡­¡± Shwing¡­ Splatter!!! The knight who was wearing a strange, hooded cape that only had holes for the eyes fell. Blood splattered everywhere and he collapsed onto the ground. Count Colio¡¯s sword glistened. ¡°I don¡¯t like it.¡± Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original. Lington, who was smiling, murmured in a quiet voice, ¡°Count Colio. I am¡­¡± ¡°Tell me.¡± ¡°I am a doctor. I am a doctor who fixes people and politics.¡± Then, Lington put his hands behind his back and stared out the window. ¡°Let¡¯s perform a little bit of a procedure. Our funding is going to get cut off if we leave the situation as is, right?¡± With an eerie smile, Lington¡¯s eyes sparkled with a hint of madness. Lington had received quite a lot of funding for the treatment of the ¡®Melting Acceleration Virus¡¯. And part of that money had been used to achieve his other precious goal. Count Colio had joined forces with him for the same goal as well. ¡°So, let¡¯s do it quietly and secretly. Now that it has come to this, let¡¯s get rid of that wary Baron Gorneo who is digging up dirt on us. Ah, and the person who has the stigmata and the talented mage of the wizard tower¡­ They are quite interesting. Don¡¯t kill them.¡± The eerie smile on Lington¡¯s face deepened as he said thoughtfully, ¡°I guess there will be some resistance, but a ¡®Swordmaster¡¯ should be able to do it. Just subdue them. We can just tell the public that the Ordem Territory has been completely destroyed by monsters. It has to be a win-win situation, right?¡± * * * ¡°Big brother, do you know what the residents are calling you? They are calling you a saint. A saint¡­! Yes. I knew you were extraordinary, but I didn¡¯t know you were well-versed in the art of medicine as well.¡± Davey lightly pinched Winley on the cheek because her sparkling eyes were so cute, so she groaned quietly. Yulis, who had his gaze fixed on her, laughed. ¡°Your Highness, you are more fascinating the more I get to know you. But how did you know?¡± Yulis asked. ¡°Know what?¡± Davey asked while he organized some documents and divided the medicine into separate tubes. ¡°Um¡­ The ¡®Melting Acceleration Virus¡¯. You already seemed to know about that disease.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Big brother! Does that mean we can save Portna?¡± Winley exclaimed. ¡°Of course. She actually needs to be the first one to be treated because she is in the worst situation.¡± Baron Gorneo, who was absent because he had to go administer the cure, seemed very wary and meticulous. Looking at him, Davey respected the man¡¯s integrity and determination. ¡®That kind of good will is hard to see.¡¯ -Good will¡­ Count Lington seemed like a person who could embrace anything on the outside. Davey wouldn¡¯t have doubted him if he didn¡¯t catch the familiar feeling in his smile. However, the man seemed more like a researcher rather than a doctor. On the other hand, Baron Gorneo was stubborn, but Davey respected his dedication to medicine. Perhaps that was why Davey was able to treat Gorneo with kindness even though Gorneo had been nothing but snippy. -Well, you rarely had a chance to meet someone new. You can meet new people and start growing from now on. Perserque was the only person who could truly understand Davey, and she was the only person he could truly understand. Davey smiled at her warm words. ¡°Anyways, I wonder where Baris went. I heard that he left the territory with some knights.¡± ¡°He also has his work to do.¡± Winley puffed up her cheeks and complained, as if she didn¡¯t like the fact that Baris was absent. ¡°Anyway, Your Highness, is there anything I can do to help?¡± Yulis asked. ¡°That¡¯s right, big brother! All I¡¯ve done up until now was just watch you. So please let me do something to help you.¡± Davey thought about what they were saying, then nodded. ¡°Then could you alter the temperatures of those fluids that are being heated?¡± ¡°The¡­temperature?¡± This shouldn¡¯t be a difficult task for them, since they knew magic from the Red Tower. CH 81 ¡°It should be easy to manage with a heater spell. I¡¯m going to go see if the treatment is going well, so please maintain the current temperature,¡± Davey said to Winley, who nodded with determination. * * * The atmosphere of the tent turned awkward after Davey followed Baron Gorneo out. ¡°You seem to really like Prince Davey, Princess Winley.¡± A simple magic spell for temperature change was easy for both Yulis and Winley, both of whom had learned the Red Tower¡¯s magic. Yulis, who was familiarly handling the heat with mana, asked the question with a faint smile on his face, so Winley¡¯s expression softened. Winley smiled. ¡°Right? Big brother has always been such an amazing person, even in the past.¡± ¡°In the past¡­¡± ¡°He¡¯s always kind to us. He stayed by our sides, saying that we¡¯re family even though we have different mothers. He¡¯s a little feisty¡­ But we will never be able to forget the warmth he shows us.¡± Winley couldn¡¯t even remember when it was, but she smiled while rubbing her red cheeks. ¡°That¡¯s why I like Big brother so much. I still remember the old story called ¡®The Three Little Pigs¡¯ that he told us when we were younger.¡± ¡°I¡¯m envious,¡± Yulis mumbled without a hint of insincerity and smiled softly. ¡°Then, Princess Winley, if I¡­¡± Whoosh¡­ Whoosh¡­ Whoosh¡­ Feeling a vibration, Yulis stopped talking and pulled out a small object from his chest pocket. ¡°A communication artifact?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ My apologies. I must get this.¡± Winley just smiled brightly and nodded. Yulis quickly got up and left the room with a pale face. ¡°Hehe. Maybe I¡¯ll bake some delicious cookies for Big Brother.¡± Winley started to think about what she should do after this whole incident came to an end and the coalition finally left. Since Davey was here anyway, she wanted to show him the specialties of the territory and make him delicious food with the baking skills she had acquired. She smiled, thinking of all those happy thoughts. It could seem like she had romantic feelings for Davey, but she was just unfortunately obsessed with her older brother. Tap¡­ Tap¡­ ¡°Oh, are you already back?¡± It had been about five minutes since Yulis had left. Winley, who was releasing mana from her fingers, turned around and smiled when she heard footsteps behind her. No, she was going to turn around if it wasn¡¯t for something hitting the back of her neck. Thwack! ¡°Ah¡­ Oh?¡± Winley collapsed without being able to fight back. She only saw a blurry image of an old knight wearing a red uniform with a scarf instead of a hood before passing out. * * * ¡°Teacher,¡± Yulis greeted. ¡°Well, has everything gone well?¡± Hellison asked. ¡°Yes. Prince Davey is extraordinary. I didn¡¯t know that he¡¯s knowledgeable in the art of medicine.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°The most outstanding thing about him is his confidence.¡± ¡°Hm, confidence, you say?¡± Hellison appeared to be satisfied, stroking his white beard. Yulis nodded. ¡°What do I say¡­ He displays the confidence of someone who has a lot of experience. The fact that he has that kind of confidence at such a young age probably means that there could be something I don¡¯t know about.¡± ¡°If you feel that way, then that probably is the case.¡± ¡°Yes, there is a lot to learn from being by Prince Davey¡¯s side. But honestly, I have some personal desires.¡± ¡°Desires?¡± ¡°Yes. Perhaps he could become a close friend regardless of age or group interests.¡± Apart from his capabilities, Davey was strangely kind and warm. He was slightly different from the members of royalty or nobility who lived a planned life from the moment they were born; if Yulis had to describe him, he seemed like a free person. ¡°Chuckle! I see that you¡¯ve met a good person. There are things that cannot be judged by age. Remember that there are things to learn, even from a three-year-old.¡± ¡°Yes, Teacher.¡± Hellison contently stroked his beard. ¡°And I did some research on the thing you asked me about.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Did you find anything?¡± ¡°Yes. Baron Gorneo and Count Lington, the two people in charge of the Coalition for Disease Control¡¯s special project. Most of their information has been lost, but I managed to find something.¡± Hellison sighed, then went on. ¡°Yes, Baron Gorneo is indeed a good person. It¡¯s rare to see a person that good-willed and dedicated. However¡­ That guy named Lington is a little different.¡± Yulis quietly listened to what Hellison had to say, even forgetting the fact that his face was stiffening up as his teacher¡¯s explanation went on. And when that story came to an end¡­ Boom!!!! Yulis widened his eyes, witnessing how the tent with Davey¡¯s cure went up in flames with a large exploding sound. ¡°N¡ªNo!!!¡± Yulis lost his usual smile, crying out loud. He hurried away. * * * A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled. ¡°Princess Winley!¡± Yulis hurried over, screaming while looking at the burning tent dejectedly. He and Winley were taking care of the cure that Davey had left them not too long ago. But this had happened in the few moments he was gone. [Listen! Communicate!] [Water Cyclone!] As he reflexively released his mana, a staff burst out of his Yulis and shone. At the same time, a large amount of water came flowing from the empty space and swirled around to extinguish the fire. Shhhh¡­ ¡°P¡ªPrincess Winley!!¡± Yulis had reflexively used an advanced 4th circle magic spell. He lost a substantial amount of mana because he had suddenly used magic, and quite a high circle one at that. But ignoring the feeling of life draining out of him, he ran into the remains of the tent without noticing that his robe was becoming a mess. However, all he could see was the cure that had been entirely destroyed. ¡°What in¡­¡± Yulis couldn¡¯t see Winley anywhere. He froze up before he widened his eyes, remembering something. He didn¡¯t think this would be the case, but what his teacher had just told him definitely made it a possibility. Although Yulis knew that this person didn¡¯t have a normal past, he didn¡¯t think that this person would cause a scene here. With a pale face, Yulis immediately began to move without hesitation. ¡®Prince Davey has an exceptional knowledge about medicine and has a stigmata, but he doesn¡¯t have power. I cannot get him involved in this. Then¡­¡¯ Yulis knew that only he could do something about this. Upon coming to that conclusion, he immediately cast a 5th circle flying magic spell and quickly followed the traces. His full name was Lington Bornithiad, and he was a genius who had shown talent in medical knowledge from a young age. He was born in the Ryuthis Kingdom, a medicinal kingdom that existed in the eastern continent and was later subjugated to the Lyndis Empire, the superpower of the east. However, Lington had once been punished and banned from medical activity in the Ryuthis Empire because of his strange nature. That had happened when a cure for a disease had to be developed but not many patients had been inflicted with the rare disease. At that time, 15-year-old Lington had kidnapped about two hundred of his territory¡¯s residents and had carried out hundreds of experiments on them after injecting them with the virus. He did end up successfully developing the cure¡­but it was said that only ten of the two hundred residents had survived at the end of the experimentation phase. The survivors were all disabled, dying less than three months later. It was obvious that Lington would do anything to achieve his goal. A person who killed someone else was called a murderer, and one who killed more than a single person was called a serial killer. A person who killed a hundred people was called a slaughterer, but killing ten thousand people could earn someone the title of hero. However, Lington¡¯s strange ideology only made him look like a demon who had killed ten thousand people. ¡°You must be well!!¡± Yulis quietly ground his teeth. * * * Meanwhile, Davey, who was examining and treating patients in the treatment center that Baron Gorneo had led him to, frowned at the red armored knights. They were surrounding him with their swords out. He called out, ¡°Hey, Baron Gorneo.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Well, is there a problem?¡± Baron Gorneo shook his head vigorously. ¡°Absolutely not! Hey you, what are you all doing?! How dare you take your swords out in the sacred treatment center!!¡± Gorneo was a superior of the knightly order, and so, they should be following his orders, but no one put their swords down at his command. The knights, who were all wearing strange-looking hoods with only the eye holes cut out, released ¡®Aura¡¯ from the tip of their blades. They were seemingly boasting that their power was higher than ¡®Expert.¡¯ The knights declared, ¡°We have no grudge against you, but an order is an order.¡± ¡°Order?¡± ¡°Following the order of Count Lington, you must die here, Baron Gorneo. Your Highness, please follow us.¡± Baron Gorneo widened his eyes in shock. ¡°Why would he do such a thing?!¡± Of course, the knights disregarded Gorneo¡¯s protests. They said, ¡°Do not fight back. It will just be more painful if you do.¡± Clang!!! One of the knights swung his sword at Gorneo. ¡°Oh, really?¡± At the same time, a pale hand easily grabbed the end¡ªthe blade¡ªof the sword without blinking an eye. 33. The Chase ¡°Groan¡­¡± The probability was very low for an ordinary person, who was now aging and getting old, to block the blow of a knight who was more skilled than the ¡®Expert¡¯ level. Gorneo had no doubts that he would have been beheaded by the sudden attack. He did have Davey, a young man, by his side, but he had heard nothing about Davey having power. He just knew that Davey possessed an unstable stigmata¡­ He was so certain that he had no choice but to die from that attack, so what was this? Cling¡­ Cling! The knight who held onto that sword was trembling. He looked at Davey, who held onto the blade with his bare hands, with mixed emotions. ¡°Y¡ªYour Highness?¡± Gorneo called out. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Davey asked. ¡°Oh¡­ Oh, yes.¡± ¡°Keugh!¡± The knight groaned, using all of his strength to yank the sword out of Davey¡¯s grip. But the sword just wouldn¡¯t budge no matter how hard he tried. ¡°Did you say that Lington sent you?¡± Davey asked the knights. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Well, that politician guy bothered me a little, but I didn¡¯t think that he was stupid enough to do something like this.¡± Davey¡¯s eyes shone dangerously. At the same time, he tugged the sword toward him. The sword-wielding knight followed the sword, falling toward Davey. CH 82 * * * Swish!! The knight who was trying with all his strength to retrieve his sword from Davey lost his balance and fell toward the prince instead. Once the knight fell, Davey immediately let go of the sword. He then placed his hand on the knight¡¯s stomach. [5th Circle] [Zero-charge Thunder] Boom!! ¡°Keuhuk!!¡± With a sudden sound, a magnificent blinding light momentarily engulfed the surroundings before disappearing. Sizzle¡­ The knight now looked like a piece of burnt meat. Davey glanced at the stiffened knight with boredom, then his expression hardened. He said, ¡°So, they told you to kill us.¡± Realizing that something was off, the knights tried to move. ¡°Don¡¯t cause a ruckus in a hospital room, you asses.¡± ¡°Kuk!!!¡± Davey could see confusion arising in the knights, all of whom he slammed to the ground with ease. ¡®They are being pressed to the ground by an unknown pressure. Of course they are in disbelief.¡¯ For the knights, this mission should have been an easy success, since the assassination target wasn¡¯t someone to be cautious about. Obviously, the knights were now baffled, because the situation wasn¡¯t what they expected. ¡°Well, you should know that your death is also a possibility during an assassination,¡± Davey spoke calmly. He felt one of the knights flinch as he stepped on them. -Davey, if you shed blood here¡­ ¡®That¡¯s why I¡¯m not using my sword.¡¯ Davey had no intentions of shedding blood here. [5th Circle] [Zero-charge Thunder] This was a proximal-type 5th-circle magic spell that caused a high-voltage shock. Its force was so strong that it could knock out a troll, who had an incredible recovery speed, in just about two hits. It was also the most advanced magic spell Davey could currently use with the highest circle level he could employ. This was also the best way to get rid of the knights without causing a scene. ¡°Keuhuk¡­ W¡­ What is¡­¡± The knights all turned pale, realizing just who had caused their comrade to fall to the ground. At the same time, the knights who had barely escaped from Davey charged at him. Thump¡­ Of course they were surprised that Davey was using magic, but there was no way they could have known that his main weapon of choice was a sword. ¡°Kuk?!¡± Boom!! Davey took another step forward as another knight fell to the ground. ¡°W¡ªWait!¡± Boom!!! Shriek!! Realizing that something was wrong and that they had to escape, the knights who were still standing quickly turned away to run. However¡­ ¡°I¡¯m coming. Let me see your backs.¡± Boom!! [Fast-traveling Teleportation] [Flash] ¡®You shouldn¡¯t show your back so easily.¡¯ Leaving an afterimage of himself, Davey instantly charged toward the knights. He was soon ahead of them, burning them all into a crisp. With the intense smell of burning flesh wafting through the air, Davey called out, ¡°Jack.¡± ¡°Do you need something?¡± ¡°Get rid of the bodies. And kill any enemies that come in here.¡± ¡°I will calculate this into my final compensation.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how big of a compensation you are going to ask for, but sure.¡± Jack¡ªno, Aina Helishana, who stood beside Davey like she had never left, nodded quietly. Then. she vanished into thin air. ¡°Baron Gorneo.¡± Leaving the tent, Davey could see Gorneo¡¯s eyes grow wide when he called out. Gorneo seemed to have a hard time believing what had happened in front of his eyes. ¡®Man, a lot of things surprise you.¡¯ ¡°Please stay back and keep treating them,¡± Davey told Gorneo. ¡°T¡ªThen, Your Highness¡­¡± ¡°I will come back after exterminating those worthless humans.¡± Gorneo stood in front of the tent with no words. * * * After leaving the treatment center, Davey could see the knights in red uniforms come out from his surroundings. ¡°The target uses a strange electricity! Capture him carefully!¡± There were about twenty or thirty knights, all of whom weren¡¯t ordinary. They were all skilled above the ¡®Expert¡¯ level. Davey didn¡¯t have Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon as weapons. The only person he could think of as a suitable fighting partner was Aina Helishana, but he had already given her the order to stop anyone from coming to this area. -Davey. ¡°The tracking magic spell I put on Winley has begun to move,¡± Davey muttered with irritation. Davey put his hand in the air. Whoosh!! His mana, which was circulating in his body, spread throughout the territory as a very thin and large wavelength. Since he didn¡¯t have a weapon¡­ ¡°Everyone! Eliminate the target!¡± Stab!!! ¡°Keugh?!¡± Davey had no choice but to bring one. One of the attacking knights fell to the ground, bisected. A red light rapidly dived through the sky and left an afterimage. Shwing¡­ At the same time, a Ring Pommel Sword that scattered a red light resonated with a creepy metallic sound. Red Ribbon fell into Davey¡¯s hand as it emitted a dangerously red light. Whee¡­ Stab!! Something blue fell into Davey¡¯s hands after flying through the air. During its flight, it slashed another two knights. [Telekinetic Blade Control] [Divine Sword Art: Ego Blade] [Cosmic Sword Dance] The skill was a simple Blade Control that used Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon, steering the swords while they remained in the air. To outsiders, the swords had seemingly come to life and were slashing the enemy themselves¡­ But that was technically true since both swords had egos. Davey immediately pointed Red Ribbon down and twisted Blue Ribbon so that it faced the sky. Without hesitation, he stepped out with his left foot and saluted before taking on a fighting stance. If he remained caught up with these meddlesome knights, Davey would be wasting his time. So he decided that his best option was to get rid of them now, so that they wouldn¡¯t end up slowing him down. Davey applied an explosive force to his left foot, and he put pressure on the ground. His sword flashed in the air as he used the rebound from his foot to jump up. ¡®They were all ¡®Expert¡¯? I think the assassins I met while traveling to the Felicity Territory were stronger than this.¡¯ * * * ¡°Kyaa!! W¡ªWait! Wait, stop¡­!¡± The knight who screamed and crawled on the floor¡­was beheaded. His head flew up in the air. Davey slashed multiple knights as he quickly moved through them. They were all positioned strategically to hold him up for as long as they could. He could practically feel their malicious intent. Davey thought that he would have had a hard time with them if he was just some mediocre ¡®Master¡¯. -Why did they target Yulis and Winley? ¡°Probably an excuse.¡± ¡°Shriek! P¡ªPlease!¡± Splatter! Davey was in a quiet forest; he unhesitantly beheaded the knight, since he had nothing to watch out for. ¡°There are only two council members, so some of them should listen to Baron Gorneo, right?¡± After pondering for a moment, Davey realized that they were all subordinates of Count Lington. -Excuses? ¡°It¡¯s kind of funny because I honestly just thought of it, but they can¡¯t just kill us and act like nothing happened. There¡¯s still rank to think about.¡± Davey had placed a protection spell on Winley, but it was too draining to keep it up. Because he could only use magic at about the 5th circle, he had switched the protection spell to a tracking spell, which he could maintain for longer. But now this had happened. Well, a protection spell was probably useless if the opponent was a ¡®Swordmaster¡¯. ¡°Yulis is an elder of the Red Tower, and Winley and I are royal members of the Rowane Kingdom.¡± -Right. As he walked past the cold bodies on the ground, Davey approached an ajar iron door that was under a gigantic tree. Someone had arrived before he did, and the only person he could think of was Yulis. ¡°If we died, the Orden Territory would be examined to determine what happened. The best excuse would be us being attacked by barbarians or monsters, and both cases are possible in the Ordem Territory. What could the royal palace or the Red Tower do if they just said that we died while defending the territory from invaders?¡± -What does that have to do with kidnapping Winley? ¡°Um¡­ I don¡¯t know for sure, but it seems to just be an excuse for later on.¡± After speaking calmly, Davey quickly headed underground, one that was carefully made to be rather sturdy. However, he cut through all the walls blocking him with Red Ribbon and marched on. ¡°Winley went missing. So, the Knights of Destruction, Count Colio, the captain of the order, left the territory to find her. Then, there was an attack.¡± ¡®This would be enough for them to avoid responsibility.¡¯ ¡°A¡ªAn intrud¡­ Keugh!¡± One of the Knights of Destruction shouted upon noticing Davey¡¯s presence. Davey pierced his fingers into the knight¡¯s neck, causing a sharp stab into the flesh. He kicked the fallen knight who was spewing blood, then slashed the wall once more to reveal a large space. A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled. The area was too big for a thorough search, but Davey was unfazed. He already knew of Winley¡¯s approximate location. If the path was blocked by a tough wall, Davey was going to break it with Red Ribbon. If there were someone getting in the way, he would simply slash them. -But then, did they really have to do that to Winley¡­ They could¡¯ve just said that it happened¡­ Davey could hear Perserque¡¯s confused mumbling, but he just focused on the bottom of the void. The situation was so unspeakably atrocious that it couldn¡¯t be described in any other way. -Oh my¡­ Davey and Perserque could see hundreds of people, who were tied to a bed with strange cells transplanted to them. ¡°Did the knights try to capture me alive?¡± Perserque thought about it for a second, then nodded. -The only possibility is that they were trying to obtain a high-level mage or a person with stigmata, since these people are hard to come by. ¡®How dare they.¡¯ * * * ¡°What is¡­¡± Gorneo, left behind at the treatment center, was still in panic. He couldn¡¯t comprehend just what had happened in front of his eyes. ¡°What are you doing?¡± But then, Gorneo heard a manly, emotionless voice that snapped him out of it. When he turned around, he saw a man wearing a black uniform with a black mask covering his entire face. ¡°You are¡­¡± ¡°I will make sure to carry out my part of the deal. You do your job.¡± Baron Gorneo flinched. ¡°You are fine with this situation?!¡± ¡°So what if I am not?¡± Gorneo¡¯s eyes opened wide as Jack continued, ¡°Are you going to abandon the patients in front of you because the knights caused a problem?¡± ¡°O¡ªOf course not!¡± ¡°Then why are you stopping? You should do your job if Prince Davey trusted you to.¡± ¡°B¡ªBut if the entire Knights of Destruction! And if it is true that Count Colio¡¯s involved in this matter!¡± ¡°If it is?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t Prince Davey also in danger?! Do you not have to help?!¡± Gorneo¡¯s concerns were valid; all of the knights in Knights of Destruction were above the ¡®Expert¡¯ level, and their captain, Count Colio, was once a famous ¡®Swordmaster¡¯. However, Davey was left alone and without a weapon to face enemies as powerful as these. It was true that Davey had some strange, unexpected power, but Gorneo didn¡¯t think that it was a magic bullet. However, Jack didn¡¯t seem to agree with Gorneo. He asked, ¡°Who is worrying about who right now?¡± ¡°What?¡± Gorneo asked. ¡°You¡¯re worrying about Prince Davey? Ha¡­¡± For the first time, Gorneo could feel emotion from Jack: bafflement. ¡°Frankly, there¡¯s nothing more useless in the world than worrying about him,¡± Jack stated as though it was the most obvious fact in the world. ¡°¡­¡± CH 83 Gorneo just couldn¡¯t comprehend what kind of person Prince Davey was for a dangerous assassin like Jack to fully trust and obey him. However, if Jack spoke the truth, then Gorneo¡¯s work had already been planned out for him. Gorneo wondered aloud, ¡°Seriously¡­ Who is Prince Davey¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure. I would like to know that as well¡­ But it¡¯s against policy for a merchant of information to give out that piece of information so easily.¡± ¡°P¡ªPut it on my bill!¡± ¡°That human¡­ I can¡¯t tell anything about him. All I know is that he was practically dying from a coma not too long ago, but he¡¯s become a totally different person in just these few months,¡± Jack revealed. Gorneo, who was dumbfounded by the ridiculous piece of information, strongly shook his head. He hoped that he had misheard Jack. Then, he simply said, ¡°Alright. Then, please keep me safe so that no one can bother me while I treat these patients!¡± Each of them had their job to do; Gorneo acknowledged that fact, and he began preparing to treat patients straightaway. * * * ¡°[Demi-Hellfire]!¡± A 5th circle magic bombed the entire hall, which went up in flames. Although the power of [Demi-Hellfire] was probably incomparable to the power of a legendary 9th circle spell, [Hellfire], this attack was powerful enough against ¡®Expert¡¯ level people. ¡°Gahhh!!!¡± The knights were swept up by the flames. They rolled on the floor while screaming, then collapsed miserably. ¡°Cough cough!¡± Staggering with a pale face, Yulis coughed hard and frowned. Normally, he would have never used this kind of magic on humans. ¡®Magic can easily end a life, so be careful when using it.¡¯ This is what Yulis had learned from his teacher. However, why would he have learned magic if he couldn¡¯t even use it when he needed to? Yulis had learned magic to protect people and to study. He wouldn¡¯t be worthy of being an elder if he couldn¡¯t even protect the person who was in his heart. Yulis followed the trail and left the territory as soon as Winley went missing. Since he was the only one who could do it, he had made a bold decision. After following the knights who were keeping him in check and entering this unknown facility, he felt the life drain out of him upon seeing the horrifying situation through the large glass. It seemed that Count Lington was more of a psychopath than Yulis had imagined. ¡°Keugh!¡± Crash!! Burnt to a crisp, one of the knights collapsed onto the floor and instantly broke the thick door apart. Yulis was completely exhausted from using mana extensively and could barely hold himself up with his staff. He looked past the door while supporting himself on the staff. As expected, he saw dozens of the red-uniformed Knights of Destruction who were holding out their swords, and the captain standing in the middle. Yulis yelled, ¡°Count Colio¡­ Where is Princess Winley?!¡± Count Colio silently pointed his chin. Yulis looked over. He could see Count Lington standing right by Winley, who was unconscious and tied up. Lington wiped the sweat off his forehead like usual and spoke rather unwillingly. ¡°I really didn¡¯t expect you to be lured this easily.¡± ¡°Count Lington! Do you know what you are doing?!¡± Lington just shrugged at Yulis¡¯ yelling. He cooed, ¡°Well, it¡¯s a win-win situation for both of us. Don¡¯t be so mad; it¡¯s good for us both.¡± ¡°How is this damn situation a win-win?¡± After Yulis shouted in fury, Lington tilted his head as if he truly didn¡¯t understand. He said, ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s good? Prince Davey has died and progressed human medicine one step further. And I have gained prestige from that accomplishment.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°And for you, Class-5 Yulis¡­ You will help humanity by becoming an exceptional experiment subject. There isn¡¯t a more perfect win-win situation than this, right?¡± Yulis automatically clenched his jaw as Lington continued speaking playfully, ¡°What do you think? I think it¡¯s quite perfect, so why don¡¯t you stop fighting back and start cooperating¡­?¡± Boom!!! Lington wasn¡¯t able to finish his sentence; he was interrupted by a red ball of fire exploding right in front of him. Perhaps it was because the knights had blocked the attack as if they were ready for it, but the explosion did not even leave a scratch on Lington. ¡°Oh no¡­ You don¡¯t like the idea?¡± ¡°I refuse to listen to your bullshit!¡± Enraged by the situation, Yulis¡¯ eyes shone with hostility. At the same time, he released a threatening mana from his body. ¡°Tsk¡­ Fighting back until the very end¡­ Count Colio, subdue him with the least amount of violence. A living subject is much more useful than a dead one.¡± Count Colio silently raised his sword and pointed it toward Yulis. At the same time, the knights who stood in a line all charged toward Yulis at once. * * * Yulis burned so many people alive that he couldn¡¯t remember exactly how many. ¡°Cough.¡± He coughed up blood and collapsed to the ground, since he couldn¡¯t support himself from the countless sword wounds he had sustained. He had run out of mana, and his favorite staff was all dented and cracked from the excessive mana use and blocking too many attacks. The mana stone on his staff had lost its shine as well. ¡°You held up for quite a while.¡± Even though Yulis had fought back desperately, he hadn¡¯t been able to successfully land an attack on Lington once. To be exact, he couldn¡¯t even get rid of all the knights who had come at him. Each knight was above Expert, and most of them were advanced; perhaps he had gathered only the best among the order. Yulis¡¯ skills were far superior to the knights since he was a Master, but the problem was that his endurance had a limit, since his physical body hadn''t reached the 6th circle yet. A quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled. ¡°Cough! Hack!¡± Coughing up a large amount of blood, Yulis collapsed. He kept wheezing on the ground. Count Colio slowly approached Yulis. He hadn¡¯t taken a single step after taking out his sword; Yulis¡¯ attacks had all been blocked by the tag-teaming from the Expert level knights. Colio asked Yulis in a scolding manner, ¡°Why did you come all the way here?¡± Yulis chuckled weakly and replied, ¡°I came to protect.¡± ¡°Who? That princess? Or the residents who are dead? Or Prince Davey, who is probably being dragged here right about now?¡± Colio asked. Yulis¡¯ eyes grew wide. ¡°Wh¡ªWhat¡­are you¡­¡± ¡°Elder Yulis. Did you really think we were stupid enough to come here without a plan? All the residents are probably killed by the remaining knights on the territory by now.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Ah¡­.¡± The veins in Yulis¡¯ eyes popped as he shouted in rage, ¡°Ahhhh!!!¡± Then, he screamed with everything he had and tried to help himself up. Slash!! However, he was forced back onto the floor with a terrifying slicing sound. ¡°Keugh¡­¡± ¡°You should¡¯ve run away if you wanted to save someone. You should¡¯ve escaped the territory with as many people as you could have gathered and run somewhere far away.¡± Count Colio bitterly said to Yulis, but he seemed to be directing his words elsewhere. Yulis stared at Colio in anger while he was on the ground. Then, he heard Lington mocking him while he was trying to hold onto his consciousness. ¡°Class-5 Yulis, did you think that you had to step up and rescue everyone? Or¡­ Do you have feelings for this princess?¡± Lington mocked Yulis. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Then you really are a fool! Ahahaha!¡± As Lington laughed at Yulis, the knights who were standing in line began smirking as well. Lington then tapped Winley¡¯s cheek. ¡°It seems to be the latter¡­ Well, she does have a pretty face.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Ahh¡­ Ahhh!!!!¡± Yulis tried to get up at once, but that was impossible to do. Count Colio had cut the tendon in his leg. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I think I like her. I will definitely use her well as a subject.¡± ¡°Lington!!!¡± Yulis clenched his jaw with bloodshot eyes. All he could do was scream on the ground. Mages didn¡¯t believe in God, but if Yulis¡¯ belief or faith could do something right now, he wanted to pray to be able to stand up, or maybe¡­ ¡°Get rid of him, Count Colio. He cannot just die, so don¡¯t kill him,¡± Lington instructed. ¡°¡­As you wish.¡± Yulis stared vacantly at Count Colio, raising the sword in his blurry view. Swish¡­ His ears rang, and that was when he heard a faint sound of something being cut through. No one else had seemed to notice, but it was strange how loud and clear it sounded to Yulis. He realized that the source of the sound was right behind him. Count Colio¡¯s sword was struck with Lington¡¯s hearty laughter. ¡°You can¡¯t do anything alone in life! You have figured that out far too late. Hahahaha!¡± Thud!!! However, even before Colio¡¯s sword landed, something black interfered so swiftly and naturally. It sounded like something heavy had been cut. ¡°You¡¯re wrong, you worthless piece of garbage. There are strong enemies that one can¡¯t face alone, but you guys are not them.¡± [Devil Ylgr¡¯s Exploding Fist] [Immediately Transforming Ball of Penetration] [Piercing Strike] Crack. With a bone-cracking sound, a black fist struck Count Colio right in the stomach. A deep red flame flashed for a moment. 34. Where Are You Going? It was said that most of a human¡¯s vulnerable spots were gathered in the center of the body: the head, forehead, philtrum, chest, stomach, dantian, and gonads. One would be knocked out no matter where they were hit. Boom!!! With a heavy explosion, the surrounding was ablaze with a deep red flame. The flame gradually went away to reveal a figure on the ground. ¡°D¡ªDavey¡­¡± Yulis sounded like he was dying. Perserque clicked her tongue. -He¡¯s almost dead. Feeling bad for Yulis, Davey immediately put his hand on him and began to quietly mumble a prayer. [This is your little lamb asking. I am going to borrow your amazing grace.] Davey¡¯s prayers were still as disrespectful as ever. However, the power that followed was no joke. [7th Level Holy Magic] [Sanctuary] It was a wide field of constant recovery. Whoosh!!!! A white energy flowed out of Davey¡¯s body with a dense sound and surrounded Yulis, creating a separate area. The miracle of the 7th level was that it reverted humans back to their inherent state. There were some injuries that regular recovery magic that used holy power couldn¡¯t heal, leaving behind a scar even if one had poured their power out. CH 84 However, there was a type of grace in highly advanced holy magic above the 7th level. It disregarded the notion that recovery magic with holy power couldn¡¯t completely heal everything. Davey had three types of power right now: holy power, devil mana, and normal mana. Ironically, the most developed power among the three was holy power; although, it was thanks to using his damn 9th level holy power. Yulis, who was losing consciousness, slowly looked up at Davey with wide eyes. Feeling a warmth surrounding him, he murmured, ¡°P¡­Prince Davey?¡± ¡°You¡¯re still going to call me by my title?¡± Davey replied. ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Yulis looked dumbfounded by Davey¡¯s short thank you. ¡°I don¡¯t forget favors.¡± Then, Davey slowly pulled out Blue Ribbon with one hand. ¡°Nor do I forget enemies.¡± Yulis seemed to be surprised by Davey¡¯s unexpectedly low voice. * * * [Even if it¡¯s a single strike, it¡¯s best to hit wherever causes the most damage.] ¡®Did you say that you created these skills here?¡¯ [Ah, right. You know that thing that Eva always makes¡­ That thing. A stickman! That gave me inspiration for this.] It was just shocking that this unbelievable fighting skill had been created by a stickman. Davey calmly stared at the silent Count Colio, who had been thrown into the wall by his attack. He then walked past the frozen knights and headed straight toward Count Lington. ¡°Prince Davey? How did you¡­¡± Count Lington asked. ¡°Seriously. You are foolishly brave,¡± Davey commented. Slice! ¡°Hm? Kuh?!¡± Crash!! ¡°Get out of the way. You¡¯re going to splatter blood on Winley.¡± Lington¡¯s eyes almost popped out when one of his arms was cut off in an instant. And even before a panicked scream could escape from his mouth, a strong, invisible wind blew him away and sent him crashing into the back wall. ¡°Don¡¯t die. Live,¡± Davey commanded Lington. ¡®Live so that I can cut you into pieces myself.¡¯ Choosing not to say more, Davey stared at the knights in front of him. ¡°How many people ganged up on one person?¡± Although Mencius had said that no one could win against a group ganging up on them¡­ -I don¡¯t know who Mencius is, but I don¡¯t think he said something like that¡­ Perserque pouted when Davey ignored her. ¡°Ahhh!! Ha¡­ Groan!!¡± Lington was stuck in the back wall, screaming in panic. Count Colio couldn¡¯t get up after being slammed against the wall, and the knights were staring at him, dumbfounded. ¡®What a sight.¡¯ ¡°Sir, how did you¡­ Never mind! You have to get out of here! These people are dangerous!¡± Yulis urgently shouted. Davey calmly stared at the knights. He replied, ¡°You should take care of yourself first.¡± ¡°Sir!¡± ¡°W¡ªWhat are you all doing?! Kill that damn guy!! Kill him!!¡± Lington furiously shouted while squirming on the ground. Upon Lington¡¯s command, the knights who had been glancing at one another finally held up their swords anxiously. ¡°Sir!! These people are all experts in tag-teaming! Be care¡­¡± Yulis urgently warned. ¡°Keugh¡­¡± ¡°Keh¡­¡± The knights were only at the Expert level at best; Davey was far more enlightened in swordsmanship than them. The job of a sword-wielding knight didn¡¯t require a lot of mana; Davey had to keep in mind the difference in basic physical abilities, but it wasn¡¯t like he did nothing in the meantime. ¡®Hm, three of my strength buffs ended.¡¯ Furthermore, the multiple buff spells that Davey was casting over and over again, and the precision of Red Ribbon, were making up for what Davey lacked. We are bit.ly/3iBfjkV, find us on google. The knights came at Davey, sticking to a hit-and-run tactic; it seemed that they were going to charge in at him and then retreat after blocking his attack. However, they could only get away from him after a beheading from Davey¡¯s [Aura] and sword. ¡°Has the tag-team strategy changed to a parade of suicides nowadays?¡± Once Davey asked mockingly, the life drained out of the knights¡¯ faces. They were probably afraid to charge at him recklessly, because their colleagues had splattered blood and died every time Davey¡¯s red eyes and a red energy flashed. ¡°W¡ªWhat is this¡­¡± Yulis was also in disbelief at this situation. ¡°Prince Davey¡­ How did you¡­¡± He couldn¡¯t believe what he had witnessed, so he struggled to understand what was going on. ¡°Moan¡­ What are you all doing?! Hurry up and kill him!¡± Although Lington was screaming at the knights, Davey could see that the knights couldn¡¯t approach him as easily as before. He thought, ¡®What good would tag-teaming be when a third of them died from just two attacks?¡¯ Tag-teaming was a tactic that drained the enemy, taking turns to attack and retreat until the enemy grew tired. But since the knights all died when it was their turn to attack, this wasn¡¯t a tag-teaming battle¡­ It was more like moths to a flame. ¡°Hup¡­¡± ¡°Something¡¯s weird, right?¡± The knights all flinched at Davey¡¯s question. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡± Davey firmly held onto Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon, then put all his weight on his foot and shot up into the air. ¡°Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon, it¡¯s time to play.¡± [Red Ribbon is going to play!!] [B¡ªBlue Ribbon, too! I¡¯m going to help!] [Transcendental Longsword] [Double Sword Technique] [Mountain Crush] Crack!! The combination of the [Landing Technique of a Thousand Weights] and [Mountain Crush], which contained all of Davey¡¯s strength, traveled down his swords and struck down on the knights as two large waves. The Knights of Destruction were shocked by the sudden expansion of Davey¡¯s [Aura Blade] and released their own [Aura] to block it. If one person couldn¡¯t, two people would work together. If two people couldn¡¯t, then more people would help out. Instinctively realizing that the attack was dangerous, everyone of the order rushed in, but they overlooked one thing. ¡®Cut them.¡¯ Slice¡­ The knights had disregarded the fact that they weren¡¯t going to be slashed because they were weaker, but because the sword would cut through them along with their [Aura] like paper. When they realized that, their heads were already up in the air and their bodies were on the ground. Splatter!!! A terrifying sound echoed throughout, and the white wall and ground turned red. It was a horrendous slaughter scene, but no one was sickened by the sight. Slice. As soon as Davey took care of the surroundings, he approached Winley and cut the ropes that were binding her with Red Ribbon. He held her in his arms before walking over to Yulis. ¡°Hm¡­¡± Perhaps the slight disturbance had nudged Winley awake. Her eyelids trembled before she slowly regained her consciousness. With a faint gasp, she looked up at Davey in surprise. ¡°Oh¡­ B¡­ Brother?¡± ¡°And you¡¯re not hurt anywhere?¡± Davey asked. ¡°Pardon? Oh¡­ Yes.¡± Winley mumbled, not knowing what had happened. However, she widened her eyes at the intense scent of blood. Her face went pale when she saw the room. ¡°B¡ªBrother! What is¡­ Scream! Brother!!¡± WInley, who was looking around in shock, suddenly screamed. With bulging eyes, she had glanced behind Davey to see Count Colio, who had been unconscious until a little while ago, swinging his sword with a nasty killing aura. Clang!!!! Davey blocked Count Colio¡¯s attack with his sword, but he was still knocked back by quite a distance. It was as if the buff magic spells he used weren¡¯t enough for him to match up to Colio¡¯s strength. ¡°B¡ªBrother! Are you alright?!¡± Winley widened her eyes, looking like she would shed tears at any minute if there was even a scratch on Davey. ¡°Yulis.¡± Davey quietly called out to Yulis, then he sat Winley down beside Yulis. ¡°Please keep Winley safe.¡± ¡°L¡­ Leave it to me.¡± Davey nodded to Yulis, who stuttered as he answered, and lightly stretched his neck. Crack¡­ Crack. He cracked his neck, then said, ¡°How could a Swordmaster be so shameless and attack me from the back?¡± ¡°You. Is that a demon sword?¡± Colio asked. He didn¡¯t think that Davey could be a Master. He commented, ¡°It is a sword too dangerous for a greenhorn like you.¡± ¡°Who are you calling a greenhorn?¡± ¡°I will be taking that sword.¡± After such determined words, Colio charged at Davey again with a terrifying killing aura. Although Davey had blocked Colio¡¯s surprise attack, Colio was still a Swordmaster; his specialty was fighting head-to-head. And Davey¡¯s specialty was going head-to-head as well. ¡®He¡¯ll die too fast if I just slash him.¡¯ Davey nodded as he glanced at the swords in his hands, then threw Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon behind Count Colio, which was where Count Lington was. Stab!! ¡°Kahh!!!¡± Lington, who was scuttling away, slammed against the wall again. When Count Colio slightly staggered at Lington¡¯s scream, Davey didn¡¯t miss his chance and rushed in. Then, he pushed down on the ground with all his strength and shot up into the air. Crash!!! He made another hit on Colio¡¯s unguarded gut. ¡°Keugh!! Groan!¡± Davey was astonished at how Colio still managed to get back up from the ground even though he had breathlessly rolled on the ground. However, Davey would gladly choose to have him as a sandbag. Boom!! ¡°Ugh!¡± Colio was pushed back once again. He couldn¡¯t even scream. He simply rolled on the floor after being hit by Davey¡¯s fist, which had struck him precisely in his gut, without even being able to defend himself. ¡®How could you defend yourself when you can barely breathe?¡¯ And the moment Count Colio stumbled without holding a proper stance, Davey¡¯s fist immediately hit his gut again. ¡°Groan¡­ Kah!!¡± When Davey¡¯s fist struck his gut once more, Count Colio stumbled and fell onto his knees with bulging, red eyes and a clenched jaw. ¡°Y¡­You bastard!!! Groan¡­ Kah!!¡± He shouted angrily, ¡°Stop aiming for my gut, you cheap bastard!¡± Davey pushed himself up from the ground and charged at Colio, who was almost kneeling on the ground and shouting furiously. Count Colio instinctively let go of his sword and protected his gut with his hands, but¡­ This time, Davey broke Colio¡¯s guard with his knee instead of his fist, and he rushed in. ¡°There are no dirty and cheap tricks in fighting.¡± He struck Count Colio¡¯s gut again. * * * Perhaps Colio was able to tolerate the continuous attacks on his vulnerable spots because he was a Swordmaster. He endured the attacks quite well, but he was disappointingly weak. He didn¡¯t lack skill, since he used to be a soldier of the powerful Lyndis Empire and was the royal palace¡¯s captain after that. However, Colio didn¡¯t have half of his former strength and Davey had noticed this very early on. -It¡¯s all the same according to someone that had failed after trying too hard to raise his level. They had been given their life sentence of swordsmanship. It was a burn-out that people experienced when they tried to raise their level to the extreme without sufficient preparation. The word ¡®burn-out¡¯ didn¡¯t exist in this world, but the phenomena was similar. CH 85 ¡°Even if I asked, I assume you won¡¯t tell me why you are working with that man, right?¡± Davey asked and calmly walked toward Count Colio. Count Colio backed away from Davey to put space between them. He initially thought that Davey was being strengthened by the demon sword, but he was still being bombarded by strong attacks after Davey had abandoned the swords. Only now did he realize that Davey needed no external help for strength. ¡°Who are you¡­¡± Humans weren¡¯t perfect. Davey was able to use advanced holy magic and was at a Master level in swordsmanship. He also had the physical abilities of a Fist Master. It made no sense how Davey was able to reach this level at his age. ¡®Well, a genius of the century might be able to achieve one of those things.¡¯ ¡°I saw, on the way here, that you transplanted monster cells on a human body.¡± We are bit.ly/3iBfjkV, find us on google. Yulis widened his eyes in shock. ¡°Hmm, did you get involved to recover your broken body?¡± Davey asked. ¡°Shut up!!¡± Colio screamed in fury. He would normally attack by now, but he reflexively raised his trembling hand to protect his gut instead. He was being extremely cautious. ¡°Now I¡¯m beginning to think of something crazy. The ones who gave the barbarians the poison containing the virus to spread disease in this territory¡­¡± Davey glanced at Lington. ¡°It was you guys, wasn¡¯t it?¡± Shriek! ¡°I guess I¡¯m right. You guys are pieces of human garbage.¡± These people had unleashed bioterror on a completely regular territory to find the disease¡¯s cure. And with the funding they had received, they were conducting secret experiments. Understanding the situation, Davey commented, ¡°If this gets out, I don¡¯t think it will just end with the organization being destroyed.¡± The medical organization, which was founded with good intentions, had intentionally infected people with a virus. They had kidnapped people to conduct secret human experiments. This was a world where a commoner¡¯s life was valued similarly to a fly¡¯s, and it was the nobility who enforced such beliefs. But there was still something called human virtue. Davey found it funny that the nobility would try coming for him, especially when he had caught them doing such atrocious acts. ¡°Groan¡­ Ugh¡­ C¡­ Count Colio!¡± Lington desperately called for Count Colio while moaning in pain. ¡°Be quiet!!¡± However, Count Colio looked tense; he seemed very nervous and wasn''t able to approach Davey easily. -Enough, Davey. ¡®Hm, I guess so.¡¯ Davey chuckled and relaxed his hand. ¡°Let¡¯s stop going for the gut, then.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Count Colio remained silent at Davey¡¯s mocking. Boom!! Keeping his guard up, Colio suddenly took a step forward and came at Davey. He didn¡¯t give up, making an [Aura Blade] with his sword by using every last drop of mana left inside him. This was seemingly his final attack. ¡®I guess an old eagle is still better than a young crow.¡¯ Even though Colio was a ruined Swordmaster, his power was too strong for Davey, who had an abnormal balance of power, to block. Davey was only overwhelmingly superior to Colio when it came to the experience of, and the observation of, sudden opportunities in battle. ¡°Hup.¡± Davey precisely measured the distance between himself and Colio, who was charging at him like a cannonball, in millimeters. The advantage of martial arts was that one could move more freely and faster in close proximity than using a sword. When Colio¡¯s movement was off¡­ Crack! Cracking the ground beneath him, Davey shot up and directly planted his fist on Colio¡¯s face. ¡°Hup!!¡± The moment Colio let down his guard to instinctively protect his face using his sword, Davey forcibly changed the direction of his fist. ¡®Haha! You were tricked again, youngling!¡¯ [Devil Ylgr¡¯s Exploding Fist] [Unwavering Body] [Gut Crusher] Once again¡­ Boom! ¡°Kuk!?!¡± Both fists slammed right into Count Colio¡¯s gut another time. Davey could hear someone murmur that he was cheap and dirty, but he still kept his gaze focused on Count Colio. Thud!! The shock wave from Davey¡¯s attack sent Count Colio flying. He hit the floor and rolled around in pain. Coughing up blood, he stared at Davey with empty eyes. ¡°You¡­ cheap¡­¡± ¡°Are you one to say something when you couldn¡¯t even block the attack?¡± Count Colio widened his eyes at Davey¡¯s murmur. Colio faced the simplest fact that he had forgotten about due to the absurdity of this battle: he was completely outmatched by Davey in terms of basic competency. He was filled with jealousy, envy, and anger about the unknown level Davey had reached. Colio¡¯s eyes looked nothing but empty, especially after a mix of emotions flickered through them, and his old yet strong body slowly lost its power. He fell to the ground. -He¡¯s still alive¡­ Maybe you weakened your blow too much. ¡®No, that guy is just tough.¡¯ The difference between the overall power of an Expert and a Master was almost indescribable, since it was too nuanced and detailed. Furthermore, Count Colio was someone who had an outstanding level of power, which made him the Captain of the Royal Palace Knights; he wouldn¡¯t have let go of his sword if he was completely fine. -Then, you should at least stop his breathing. ¡®He¡¯s bound to die anyway.¡¯ ¡°Bro¡­ther,¡± Winley whispered. Davey approached Yulis and Winley; she didn¡¯t know the exact details, and Yulis didn¡¯t understand the situation that took place right before his eyes. ¡°Sir,¡± Yulis called out. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± Davey asked calmly. Yulis smiled bitterly. ¡°I¡­ I really caused a nuisance. Anyway¡­ I¡¯m sorry. Count Colio ambushed the tent while I was away, and the medication¡­¡± Yulis trailed off, and he spoke as if he was responsible for what had happened. He seemed to think that all of the medication, which was the only thing keeping the dying patients alive, had been destroyed by the fire. Everyone couldn¡¯t be cured by the amount of medication that Davey had given to Baron Gorneo in the beginning. The medication would never be enough, because it had to be administered to all patients continually. ¡°Oh, that? It¡¯s okay. Don¡¯t worry about it. It¡¯s my fault for not setting up a proper defense.¡± Yulis widened his eyes, surprised that Davey made it seem like it was no big deal. He asked, ¡°Pardon? What do you mean?¡± ¡°If I died, the treatment method would¡¯ve just disappeared. Lington wouldn¡¯t have just abandoned it.¡± Yulis nodded in understanding. Davey smiled. ¡°So, head back. I¡¯m leaving Winley to you.¡± ¡°Sir, what about¡­¡± ¡°I will join you once I take care of the remaining men.¡± ¡°Oh! C¡ªCount Lington has¡­!¡± As if she had just remembered, Winley shouted in surprise. Count Lington, who had been pinned up against the wall from Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon penetrating his shoulder, was nowhere to be seen. The two swords had been thrown onto the ground, and a trail of what seemed to be his blood left a trail leading outside of the room. ¡°Oh no! He has run away¡­!¡± Yulis exclaimed. ¡°So, head back first,¡± Davey urged. ¡°I¡ªI¡¯m sorry. With the state my mana is in right now¡­¡± ¡°Just stay still.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± Yulis, who looked confused and surprised, opened his eyes wide. Mages at the 5th circle could use a type of teleportation magic. However, the range was only about five to eight kilometers. Davey had also contemplated whether he should use it when traveling from the Heins Territory to the Ordem Territory, since the 5th circle was the highest level of mana he could use right now. ¡°W¡ªWhat?! Sir, you can even use magic?!¡± ¡°Well, then¡­¡± Davey then snapped his fingers with a smile. When Winley and Yulis, who both looked utterly shocked, instantly vanished, Davey picked up Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon from the ground. He only did so after making sure that Winley and Yulis, who had disappeared without a trace, were no longer under the influence of magic. ¡°He treated someone else¡¯s daughter like crap.¡± Davey joked around, but his face was strangely tense, and it didn¡¯t seem like his facial expression was going to relax anytime soon. The fact that they had used Winley in this ruse angered him more than this damn situation itself. * * * ¡°Groan¡­ Hup¡­ Shriek!¡± Lington¡¯s escape was just a desperate struggle. Davey followed the trail of blood to see Lington standing beside a huge control facility. The man¡¯s left arm was cut beneath his elbow, and both his shoulders were ripped apart. Davey could tell his desire to live was quite great from how he was enduring the excruciating pain. ¡°You monster¡­¡± Lington stammered. ¡°Who is calling who a monster?¡± Swish!!! Clang!!! In an instant, Davey¡¯s whip-like [Aura Blade] flew toward Lington like it was going to cut him, leaving a red afterimage. However, his [Aura Blade] went nowhere near Lington and was shattered by a pink energy that suddenly appeared in front of him. The pink energy had seemingly been waiting for an attack. ¡°He¡­ Hehe. This is why people should have one final trick up their sleeve.¡± Davey silently looked down at his trembling hand. He thought about the pink energy barrier that couldn¡¯t be slashed by the [Aura Blade], which could cut through most magic. ¡®It¡¯s pretty durable.¡¯ It felt like the air was blocking his attack more so than a physical barrier. ¡®A barrier made from forcing a lot of mana together¡­ This must¡¯ve been expensive.¡± After putting away Red Ribbon, Davey stared at Lington calmly. Lington pulled out a remote-control device and began using it; at the same time, his body started fading away. ¡°You¡¯ve done enough, you monster.¡± Lington was disappearing slowly, but how he was vanishing seemed similar to what would happen when one used a mana gate, a well-known ancient remain. -He¡¯s trying to run away! Perserque shouted at Davey in surprise. ¡°What are you going to do now? Going to slash me? Ahahaha! Sure! Try slashing me if you want!¡± Lington threw his disfigured monocle onto the ground in irritation and shouted with his chest puffed up. Then, he put on a crazy smile and glared at Davey. ¡°I never let off someone who bothered my work. Just wait. One day I will throw you into an experiment room alive.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting.¡± ¡°Kehehe¡­ Kehehe¡­ Kahahaha!!¡± With a smirk on his face, Lington began laughing at Davey and looking down on him. ¡®Perhaps this situation is funny to him.¡¯ ¡°No matter how extraordinary you are, you are still nothing but a human! I have all the medicine you made, and you did not save anyone in the end! You can¡¯t save anyone now, and you won¡¯t be able to after I¡¯m gone!¡± Lington¡¯s laughter was filled with insanity, echoing throughout the entire control facility. ¡°Kehehehe! Well, alright. Do you have any last words?¡± Seeing Lington speak as if he was granting Davey a favor, Davey pulled out Blue Ribbon without hesitation. ¡°Goodbye.¡± ¡°What?¡± An activated mana gate excluded the activator from the laws of physics; this meant that Lington¡¯s blurry, faded body was already on the other side of the second dimension. CH 86 In this situation, it would usually be too late even if Davey swung his [Aura] or [Aura Blade]. However¡­ -It can slash everything, even things that don¡¯t exist in the physical world. The thing was, Davey still had a way of catching Lington, who had planned to escape by running past the second dimension. Slice!! With an eerie sound of skin being sliced, the mana that was being emitted powerfully stopped at once. Then, Count Lington felt a strange touch on his skin; his eyes widened in shock as he saw the shining blade on his neck. ¡°How is this¡­¡± ¡°You want to know? It¡¯ll cost 500 gold coins.¡± Splatter!! Hot, red blood splashed all across the control room. 35. I¡¯ve Always Wanted to Try This Clop clop clop clop clop!!! About two hundred cavalries quickly ran past Ordem Territory¡¯s gates and entered the territory. ¡°Your Highness! There are bodies!¡± ¡°Damn it! What happened in the meantime¡­ Baron Gorneo!!!¡± The boy who was leading the calvaries took off his armor and shouted urgently. The boy was Baris, the actual seigneur of the Ordem Territory, Winley¡¯s twin brother, and Davey¡¯s younger brother. His return was much later than expected. He shouted again, ¡°Search the place! The First and Third Order, hurry and take Count Lington and Count Colio into custody! Don¡¯t overdo it, and back away if they resist! Second Order, search for Baron Gorneo! All the others, protect the residents!¡± ¡°Yes!!¡± ¡°Remember! We are not fighting to the death! Rescue as many as you can!¡± After the knights gave an affirmative and scattered, Baris quickly got on his horse and rode fast. Most of the residents had stopped working and were taken to a quarantine facility after the outbreak of this disease. As such, the territory¡¯s former liveliness had disappeared in a few days, and it was now just filled with desolation. ¡®What happened?¡¯ Baris could tell that someone had slaughtered the Knights of Destruction from the blood stains and the bodies that were everywhere. ¡®Did Baron Gorneo¡¯s and Lington¡¯s knights fight because Lington did something while I was gone?¡¯ Baris, who was ruffling his hair in irritation from the complicated situation, could see more bodies as he rode further into the territory. When he arrived at the treatment center with a pale face, he widened his eyes in shock at the pile of corpses in front of the center. ¡°Th¡ªThey¡¯re all part of the Knights of Destruction?!¡± It wasn¡¯t just one or two bodies, but dozens of them. There were enough corpses to assume that all of the Knights of Destruction in the territory had died. Without hesitation, Baris entered the treatment center as if he was possessed by something. Even though there was an air-borne disease running rampant, it didn¡¯t seem to be a big deal to him. When he entered the center, he could see Baron Gorneo quietly treating patients as if the outside situation didn¡¯t matter. ¡°Baron Gorneo!¡± ¡°Hm? Oh! Your Highness, have you returned?¡± Baris¡¯ eye twitched at Gorneo¡¯s peaceful tone of voice. He said, ¡°Yes, we searched the barbarians¡¯ base and found evidence, just like you said we would. I understand that we sent a messenger pigeon, but what happened?¡± Baris was full of questions about the current situation and the pile of dead knights outside. Baron Gorneo had joined the territory¡¯s coalition later than the other people. Because of the territory¡¯s terrible state, Baris had transferred most of the coalition¡¯s rights and had just been waiting anxiously. However, after Baron Gorneo had arrived at the territory, he had heard something from Baron Gorneo that was hard to believe: someone could¡¯ve intentionally spread this disease because of Count Lington¡¯s trickery. Baris had left the territory with an excuse that he was leaving to prevent exposure to the disease. Winley, who was the only family he had to protect, had left the territory. He had felt a sense of relief that she wouldn¡¯t return until after his return. Then, he had found a few potion bottles with the coalition¡¯s symbol buried in the ground after searching for a few days. He had come right back after finding them, so he didn¡¯t understand the situation right now, since he hadn¡¯t been away for too long. Trying his best to soothe his overwhelming surprise, Baris asked out of frustration, ¡°What¡­ What happened here?¡± ¡°Prince Davey came,¡± Baron Gorneo replied. ¡°Big Brother?!¡± ¡°And he developed a cure as if it was nothing.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Baris¡¯ eyes widened at the surprising news. ¡°Yes, to be honest, I was completely astonished as well. The doctors of the coalition couldn¡¯t discover anything about this disease, even though they have studied it for years; however, His Highness figured out the disease in just three days.¡± ¡°Then, what about the bodies of the knights¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s where the problem began. It seemed that Count Lington had something else in mind, and he planned to kill us all with his knights.¡± ¡°Wh¡ªWhat about Big brother?! Then, what happened to Winley?!¡± Baron Gorneo answered calmly, ¡°Now now, calm down. It¡¯s nothing to be worried ab¡­¡± ¡°Nothing to be worried about?! The cure for the disease is important, but Big Brother and Winley are more important to me! What happened to Big Brother?! And what about Winley?!¡± ¡°Your Highness¡­¡± ¡°They are safe, right? Tell me!! If something has happened to the two¡­ Especially if anything happened to that fool of a Winley, who blindly trusts people!!¡± Baris shouted angrily as a question sounded behind him. ¡°If something happened?¡± ¡°I will get my revenge, even if it means going to war with the Empire¡­¡± Baris, who was shouting in anger with bloodshot eyes, stopped for a moment. Then, he turned his head awkwardly. It was as if he was a broken robot. ¡°Hm¡­ It seems that Prince Baris cares for you, Lady Winley, much more than you have said.¡± Yulis remarked. ¡°Hey¡­ Why aren¡¯t you acting like your usual self¡­¡± Silence filled the treatment center. * * * Lington froze up, his eyes still wide open in shock. He didn¡¯t know how he had been slashed or how the magic, which had already been activated, had been canceled. His gaze was fixed on Davey with sorrow and confusion, but Davey had no obligation to tell the dead of Blue Ribbon¡¯s OP abilities. -He became a gruesome body in the end. ¡°He should¡¯ve thought about this before doing something so inhumane. Anyway, I didn¡¯t want to kill him this easily.¡± Davey found six liquid-filled bottles while searching through Lington¡¯s tattered up and limp body. They were the cure for the ¡®Melting Acceleration Virus¡¯ that he had made in the past three days. The only people who knew how to make this were himself and Baron Gorneo. It seemed like Lington had kept all the samples, since he didn¡¯t know what the medicine was exactly made of. After all, this particular cure was worth quite a high value right now. -What are you going to do with this place? ¡°We should destroy it a¡­¡± Boom!!! It seemed that there was no need for that. -What is this?! Davey pulled out [Aura Blade] with Red Ribbon when he suddenly saw the buildings shaking. Then, he cut through the ceiling without hesitation and shot up. ¡°Just destroy all of it. There¡¯s no need to clean them up one by one.¡± It was just as Davey said; it seemed like Lington had planned to blow this place up before he left to destroy all the evidence. And as Lington had intended, the explosions came from the basement and were blowing up the place to leave absolutely no trace. -Davey, look. Davey heard Perserque¡¯s voice from his shoulder as he was dodging the falling pieces and jumping off of them. He asked, ¡°What is that?¡± -Chimera Davey¡¯s face was filled with shock as Perserque mumbled. He instantly recognized what it was. ¡®I guess the dark mage was here.¡¯ A quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled. Half of the chimeras were being killed by the splintering building. The only ones who could escape were those with the ability to fly and the larger size. -Grrr!! -Roar!! The chimeras¡¯ small number multiplied in seconds to become hundreds, and they all simultaneously began heading in one direction. -The Ordem Territory! Instantly realizing where the chimeras were going, Perserque shouted with big blinking eyes. Davey immediately stopped the strange-looking chimera that was closest to him. The chimeras were large monsters that were about four to five meters tall. They had muscles similar to ogres, a skin color similar to trolls, and their strange appearance made it difficult to think that they were living things. -Their heads and body parts are all over the place. The chimeras had their heads attached to their chests and their eyes to their shoulders. Aside from that, they had mouths all over their bodies. Their appearance was so horrendous that anyone with a weak stomach would vomit. -Roar!!! The monster rushed straight toward Davey upon discovering his presence. It roared, warning him to get out of its way. ¡°It¡¯s fast, and it¡¯s pretty strong, too.¡± Boom!! Davey instantly charged at the monster and crushed what seemed to be its head, then flattened the rest of its body. The monster wasn¡¯t completely destroyed, but it still fell to the ground from the fatal blow. However, Davey¡¯s expression wasn¡¯t at all pleased. ¡°It¡¯s tough. Was its performance extremely maximized by shortening its lifespan?¡± -If they were used in a short war¡­ ¡°Some of them could¡¯ve already gotten in their hands.¡± To be honest, it wasn¡¯t any of Davey¡¯s concern if there wasn¡¯t any direct relation; however, the monsters that had shown up and had spread all over the place were all heading to the Ordem Territory, using the forest to shield them. He sighed. ¡°Ah¡­ It¡¯s going to be difficult to catch every single one of them in this large forest.¡± -Why don¡¯t you just quickly return and defend the territory? There were some chimeras that breathed fireballs like Wyverns. And there would be a substantial level of damage if Davey just left them alone. Davey didn¡¯t think about this for long. As he looked up at the sky, he saw that it was filled with heavy, dark clouds. ¡°Humidity is good.¡± A light spark popped as he reached his hand out into the air and stimulated his mana. ¡°Let¡¯s go with this.¡± If there was no way to stop the chimeras, Davey was going to create his own way to do so; he needed to keep his promise. [5th Circle] [Fly] This magic cost a lot of mana, but Davey still used it. As he lightly stimulated his mana and released it, he floated up in the air by an invisible force. At the same time, he pulled out Red Ribbon and slid his fingers down the blade. ¡°Okay, Red Ribbon. Sorry, but I¡¯m going to have to borrow your mana.¡± It was commonly known that a mere 5th circle mage could not cast large-scale magic. However, Davey¡¯s mana was around the level of a 5th circle mage, and Red Ribbon¡¯s mana was at the 7th circle. It was possible for him to summon what was already in existence. Davey quickly flew past the chimeras and stopped them in their tracks. Then, he floated Red Ribbon up in the air and clapped his hands together. CH 87 ¡°Hup¡­¡± Buzz¡­ At the same time, magic circles began appearing with a purple light and surrounded Davey. There was one in front, one behind, and one on his left, and they came together to form one large magic array. -I¡¯ve never seen that language before¡­ Is that a rune language? In this world where magic was extremely advanced, there were languages known as ¡®inherent magic¡¯ that could only be used by certain geniuses. Each magic circle was engraved with rune words, which each had its own purpose. Shining individually, they began revolving around the entire magic array. Buzz¡­ Buzz!! The magic circles revolved like a motor, then slowly moved away from Davey and went as far as ten meters before multiplying. The circles were being produced continually, but they all differed in shape. They vibrated with each other according to their unique arrangement of mana. Magic was a study in the anti-physics realm. It was essential to control the natural, intangible forces. Even if lightning were to be made another way, it would be much more efficient to forcibly induce lighting from an existing thundercloud rather than creating one by chance. There was a huge difference between changing the direction of an existing waterway and recreating a waterway by making water and creating a path. The entire area behind Davey was made into the boundary. [Range Lock] [Boundary Expansion] [Formation Rearrangement] All Davey had to do was get rid of the chimeras running behind him; there really was no need for him to find all of them. Watching the chimeras go into his controlled area without noticing him, he quickly grabbed Red Ribbon that was floating in the air. At the same time, Red Ribbon¡¯s large amount of mana and his mana resonated together and turned on the switch, like a magnet attracting a piece of metal. The mark of a unique rune language began showing up on top of the monsters¡¯ heads. ¡°Man. I really wanted to try this, too.¡± -What is this¡­? ¡°Die, you nasty bugs!¡± ¡®It¡¯s a lightning bolt and not a rain of fire, but it shouldn¡¯t matter, right?¡¯ [Catastrophe Spell] [Bolt from the Blue] Rumble¡­ Boom!!! Hundreds of lightning bolts fell from the sky and onto the marked chimeras as Davey lightly swung Red Ribbon in the air. * * * Every one of the chimeras turned to ashes from the lightning bolts that fell from the sky like a merciless barrage. The lightning bolts, which were dormant inside the enormous thundercloud, devoured Davey¡¯s weak trace of mana and shot intense flashes of light that were about 27,000 degrees Celsius toward the monsters. Various types of magic could be shown to the world, but this type of magic was considered too dangerous to ever be taken lightly. If people knew that Davey was using it¡­ Davey felt like life was being drained out of his body from his intense concentration, but he ground his teeth and maintained the boundaries. It would seem like hundreds of lightning bolts were raining on the entire forest from afar. -This was theoretically possible, but¡­ Perserque trailed off and was now staring at Davey like he wasn¡¯t human. -Is this an amount of control that one human being can endure¡­ Shaking her head in disbelief, Perserque stopped when she saw Davey¡¯s pale face. -It would¡¯ve been nice if you told me about the hurt you¡¯ve been trying to endure¡­ Davey couldn¡¯t hear Perserque¡¯s bitter mumbling. He had to maintain the boundaries, even if his brain felt like it was burning with each additional second. * * * Perhaps the monsters¡¯ intelligence was lower to balance out their extremely elevated physical abilities. Like moths to a flame, all the monsters, which seemed to be Lington¡¯s creation, ran into Davey¡¯s controlled area and burned to ashes. -Davey! ¡°Wheeze¡­ Wheeze, I¡¯m okay. I¡¯m okay.¡± -Do you know how pale you are right now?! ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have been able to ascend to the 9th circle if I was going to die from this.¡± Davey didn¡¯t use a lot of mana, but it took a toll on his mental strength. The moment a panting Davey was about to deactivate the magic as the last monster turned to ashes, he saw something strange. ¡°Ugh¡­ I¡¯m feeling sick¡­ This is driving me crazy. I think I might die if I don¡¯t go back and res¡­¡± Davey stopped mid-sentence when he saw a carriage boldly enter his unidentifiable boundary. ¡®A carriage? Why is a carriage in a place like this?¡¯ Although it was deep in the forest, it wasn¡¯t completely out of the ordinary for a carriage to come in here. The forest wasn¡¯t a particularly rough area. However, on usual days, a carriage would have stopped or turned back if they saw lightning bolts falling from the sky abnormally. ¡®Either they wish to die, or they have a way to dodge my lightning bolts.¡¯ However, it didn¡¯t take long for Davey to shake off those thoughts. He saw a hidden group of people following the escaping carriage and killing the escorting knights in quick succession. -That is¡­ Perserque¡¯s eyes sparkled; perhaps she realized what that carriage was at the same time as Davey. -Davey, that¡¯s the symbol of royalty. A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled. There was a symbol engraved on the carriage door. This symbol usually represented a family or their affiliate; the problem was that it was of a platinum color. The only people who could have a platinum-colored symbol on this continent were royalty. It wasn¡¯t the Contas Empire, since they were thousands of kilometers to the west, so Davey could only think of two empires: the Pallan Empire and the Lyndis Empire, which were both located in the east. Davey couldn¡¯t recognize the symbol, but it was clear that the carriage was royalty, and that the royalty was being chased by an unknown group of assassins. -Ignore it, Davey. They are not ordinary beings if they are assassins chasing after royalty. If you provoke them for no reason, you might encounter a different type of danger¡­ Even though Perserque expressed her worries, Davey¡¯s gaze was fixed on the carriage since he saw someone looking out from the window with a tense expression. She only looked to be in her late teens, and she was quite tiny. Although she was wearing plain clothing, she had glittering blue hair, and was wearing a strange mask that covered her entire face. Not only that, but she was also wearing white gloves on her hands; it seemed like she was hiding her presence. And this fresh energy that weirdly cleared Davey¡¯s ringing head¡­ ¡®Hm, this scent is that of an elementalist.¡¯ ¡°Hm¡­¡± Davey didn¡¯t think for long. -Davey? Keeeee!!!! The magic circles began rotating with speed and resonating again. Davey gathered as much of the thundercloud¡¯s power as possible and left a mark on the assassins who were chasing the carriage. He exhausted all of his mana and created an inducing magic circle. Boom!!!!! A lightning bolt that was incomparably larger than before fell onto the assassins. They probably didn¡¯t know what killed them, but even if they did, they probably wouldn¡¯t think that this ridiculous natural disaster was intentionally caused by someone. Well, at least for now. ¡°Oh no! My hand slipped.¡± -¡­ ¡°Ah, I don¡¯t know! I didn¡¯t see anything!¡± Davey did think that he had met the lady¡¯s gaze through her mask, but it didn¡¯t seem to be a big problem. Then, he quietly called Perserque as he stared at the carriage riding off into the distance. ¡°Perserque.¡± -Why are you¡­ ¡°Let¡¯s¡­rest.¡± -Davey!! With those words, Davey began falling to the ground as his vision blurred. ¡®I get extremely sleepy every time I do something huge¡­¡¯ Unfortunately, he felt that he couldn¡¯t expect his level to increase as it did before when he had also used the holy magic spell. Sometimes, he couldn¡¯t shake off the thought that he was also stupid. * * * Simply put, Davey slept extremely well. What was he talking about when he always had a good night¡¯s rest? After his sixth sense had improved, there were times he had woken up from a bug crawling on the floor. ¡®There are advantages to having sharp senses¡­ But¡­ Sigh¡­¡¯ Sometimes he couldn¡¯t rest comfortably when he wanted to because of those senses. It was like his body reacted first, even when he just wanted to do nothing. As he slowly raised his head after letting out a tired sigh, Davey saw a quiet forest in front of his eyes. ¡°Perserque?¡± -Oh! Are you awake, Davey? As Davey woke up in a daze, Perserque, who was holding up a large leaf with water, approached him with a bright expression. She couldn¡¯t affect anything in the physical world other than energy forms or Davey, her companion, but she could use her demon power and cause something like a poltergeist phenomenon from time to time. At first, she could only move a piece of paper, but it was clear that her power had become stronger with time. -Have some water first. ¡°Oh¡­ Thank you. I feel better now, after a good rest. How long was I asleep for?¡± -Only a couple of hours, but¡­ Perserque trailed off with a bitter smile. -I think the Ordem Territory is probably in chaos right now. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Davey calmly got up from where he was sitting and climbed up onto a tall tree. It might¡¯ve been a relief, but it seemed that the territory didn¡¯t send a search group out for him. Well, it wouldn¡¯t have been easy to utilize the army since Baris was gone. With a giggle, Davey said, ¡°Let¡¯s go back. They¡¯re probably worried.¡± Perserque seemed displeased, but she said nothing. * * * ¡°Big Brother!!¡± It was a little unexpected that the person who greeted Davey first wasn¡¯t a resident or the royal guards, but Baris. Davey wondered to himself, ¡®He was absent when I arrived at the territory. When did he get back?¡¯ ¡°Baris? When did you return?¡± ¡°It hasn¡¯t been long since I got back! But are¡­ Are you okay?!¡± ¡°Hm?¡± Examining Davey¡¯s body in a hurry, Baris let out a sigh of relief when he found nothing wrong. There were no huge issues with Davey aside from the blood stains. ¡°It¡¯s a relief that you¡¯re not hurt anywhere. You don¡¯t know how surprised I was when I heard that Winley and Class-5 Yulis told me that you were left alone at Count Lington¡¯s hidden facility in the forest¡­¡± Trailing off, Baris grit his teeth. ¡°Then, I heard that you stayed back after rescuing the two. I was going to form a rescue group and head there, but¡­¡± ¡®You wouldn¡¯t have been able to come.¡¯ CH 88 It would¡¯ve been difficult for Baris to predict what would happen if he had stepped into the forest that was being showered with lightning bolts. Considering his character, it was actually amazing that Baris had waited around for three hours. Yulis and Winley ran out after him. ¡°Big Brother!!¡± Winley quickly came out with a surprised look on her pale face. She ran into Davey¡¯s arms, burying her small physique into his. She asked worriedly, ¡°Big Brother¡­ Are you hurt anywhere?! Do you know how worried I was?!¡± Of course, Davey was still over 180 centimeters tall and was pretty muscular. The problem was that everyone else was around 190 centimeters tall or had a huge physique. Because of that, Davey could only be considered to be ordinary, since men with rather small physiques were all around 180 centimeters tall. ¡°Hey! I told you not to come out!¡± Baris shouted at Winley. ¡°Shut up! How could I have just sat back and relaxed when Big Brother wasn¡¯t back yet?¡± Winley shouted after Baris criticized her. She stroked Davey¡¯s cheek and looked like she was going to cry. ¡°Big Brother! Are you hurt anywhere? You¡¯re okay? Right?¡± Support us at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m fine, Winley.¡± Davey chuckled and patted Winley¡¯s head like usual. As tears began forming in Winley¡¯s eyes, Davey glanced at Yulis and asked, ¡°Did anything happen after you came back?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Yes, sir. You completely destroyed the place.¡± Yulis bitterly smiled, as if he was a little sick of it. ¡°Honestly, I should¡¯ve told you this when I first saw you,¡± Davey told Yulis his exact thoughts. Then, he nodded gratefully. ¡°Thank you for keeping my dear sister safe. I will never forget this.¡± Yulis may not have been helpful, but he had gone to the facility to find Winley without considering his own life. And he had done so only after having met Winley a few days ago. ¡°I did nothing. All I know is something bad would¡¯ve happened if you weren¡¯t there, sir.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t even protect Lady Winley when I was by her side, and I am an elder of the Red Tower. It is a shameful reality. Also¡­ The cure¡­¡± Yulis said. ¡°Oh, that?¡± Chuckling, Davey pulled out a pouch from his chest and lightly shook it. ¡°That guy, Lington, kept most of it safe. I guess it was too valuable to throw away.¡± Yulis nodded in relief. ¡°Let Winley and Yulis stay here for treatment. I did already do some basic treatments, but you never know.¡± Davey just wanted to let Winley and Yulis rest. Baris then pushed the two inside, not willing to accept any arguments or retorts. Winley, who looked displeased, had no choice but to go inside with a sigh. ¡°Anyway, when did Class-5 Yulis start calling Winley that? Big Brother, do you think he has bad intentions for Winley?¡± Baris, clearly, was still very worried about his sister. Davey chuckled. He could see Baris showing his wariness of Yulis as soon as Yulis was gone. Then, Davey answered very seriously, ¡°I actually think it¡¯s the opposite¡­¡± ¡°Huh? No¡­ That makes no sense. How can Winley, that tomboy¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Really?¡± Baris stared at Davey in disbelief. Then, he shook his head. ¡°I guess you might be right¡­¡± Baris kept sighing as if he thought this situation was ridiculous. However, Perserque began joking around and suddenly pulled on Davey¡¯s cheek in this solemn atmosphere. He winced. ¡®Ow, what is it this time?¡¯ -You are nothing but an idiot! ¡®What¡¯s the problem?¡¯ -¡­You are usually pretty smart, but you¡¯ve got this situation wrong. It¡¯s the other way around¡­ Perserque sighed when Davey still didn¡¯t understand. He then muttered to her, ¡®Are you saying that it was Yulis who fell in love with Winley at first sight? That¡¯s nonsense. Then, how do you explain how she acted?¡¯ Winley had blushed when she first saw Yulis, and she had been like that since coming to the Ordem Territory. As soon as Davey entered a place where she and Yulis had been alone together, Winley was startled and tried to suppress her embarrassment. She did look like a child hiding something. -I don¡¯t know! Just live without knowing forever! ¡®Man¡­¡¯ Davey just shrugged. He thought that Perserque turning away after snapping at him was ridiculous. * * * Baris brought Davey to the seigneur¡¯s palace while telling the latter a part of the situation that had caused this situation. Just like Davey had expected, Count Lington had intentionally spread this disease in the territory by using the barbarians. Davey listened like it was nothing new, but Baris was still fuming. The entire situation was comical. It was like a robber who got caught pretending to be the homeowner after breaking in. The funny thing was that Baron Gorneo had been the one to hint about this fact. At first, he had been strongly against Davey doing anything in this territory; perhaps it had been his way of telling Davey to get out without getting too involved and shedding unnecessary blood. ¡°You are quick,¡± Baron Gorneo commented. It seemed that Davey was right. -That¡¯s the truth. Perserque mumbled to Davey as she examined the thoughts in Gorneo¡¯s mind. ¡°To be honest, I knew that Lington was dangerous, but I couldn¡¯t do anything since I didn¡¯t have any evidence nor was anything revealed. However, now that this kind of thing has happened, it wouldn¡¯t cause any problems for you, right?¡± Baron Gorneo explained as he administered the medicine that Davey had handed to him. ¡°That would make no sense. It would be tyrannous of the Empire to protest about this,¡± Baris pointed out. Baron Gorneo nodded. ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s funny how the world works. A small, weak kingdom would have no choice but to keep quiet if someone were to nitpick on them. However¡­¡± Baron Gorneo trailed off, then spoke with determination. ¡°I will make sure that this incident causes no problems. Your Highness, your accomplishments aren¡¯t small, and they shouldn¡¯t be glazed over because of this.¡± Although he was one of the weakest council members, Baron Gorneo was determined to not compromise on this. * * * The state of the territory greatly improved once the medicine was replicated and distributed. There was more than that too. A cured patient couldn¡¯t get reinfected, so Davey made Baris introduce a vaccination system to the entire territory. A newborn baby couldn¡¯t have an antibody to this disease. The best possible thing to do was to try to vaccinate people regularly to get rid of this problem. Not only that, but since there were a lot of mercenaries who entered the territory, he made Baris vaccinate them as well to completely get rid of this ¡®Melting Acceleration Virus¡¯. However, he couldn¡¯t do anything about the remaining virus yet. ¡°Over three hundred people of the Ordem Territory have died from this.¡± ¡°At least that¡¯s the only casualty count.¡± ¡°Does that not even phase you?¡± Jack threw out a question. ¡®Now he knows how to come up and talk. Since it¡¯s come to this, let¡¯s have a chat.¡¯ Davey thought as he sat in his chair, playing around with his mana. He then asked, ¡°It¡¯s a relief that the disease only caused this much damage. How many residents do you think the Ordem Territory has?¡± ¡°That is¡­¡± ¡°The best thing to do in medicine is prevention. What do you think the next best thing is?¡± Jack, or Aina Helishana, answered Davey after some pondering. ¡°Fast¡­recovery and prevention afterward.¡± ¡°And the next thing?¡± ¡°Quarantine¡­¡± ¡°This damn disease is a mad invader that has no intention of cooperating with an intellectual being. Humans have been at war with these invaders for a long time, and they will keep battling,¡± Davey pointed out. Jack kept quiet, then said, ¡°You knew about the disease, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± ¡°How much did you know about it?¡± ¡°Hm¡­ Does this have a cost as well?¡± ¡°I am also an information merchant. I am calculating the precise cost with a point system.¡± Davey couldn¡¯t help but laugh at Jack¡¯s unexpected response. He answered, ¡°I¡¯m worried that you¡¯re going to ask for an organ or something, because of all the points I¡¯ve accumulated.¡± ¡°I value my life, so¡­¡± ¡°From someone who practices medicine, this damn invader is so dangerous that it¡¯s a relief that the disease has been stopped.¡± Jack said nothing. This disease had killed millions of people in another continent. It was dangerous to try treating it as a doctor, so it really was a relief that it had only taken a few hundred people this time; although, Davey did feel a little sorry for the ones who had died. If Davey wasn¡¯t here and this disease had spread outside the territory, half of the eastern continent would¡¯ve been wiped out, starting with the Ordem Territory. No, it could¡¯ve spread to the mid-continent and even created chaos in the entire Tionis continent. Considering that, Lington was truly fearless since this ridiculous virus would¡¯ve spread throughout the continent if even one thing had gone wrong. ¡°You are very peculiar, Your Highness.¡± ¡°So, hurry up and tell me. I think that it¡¯s time to say what you want.¡± ¡°I need to collect more points. I will serve you with everything I have.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re planning to ask for that requires you to serve me with everything you have¡­ Why don¡¯t you just come and work for me?¡± ¡°Are you going to take me in?¡± Davey chuckled at Jack¡¯s question before saying, ¡°Am I crazy?¡± ¡®I don¡¯t care where you¡¯re from or what your past is, but at least take off your disguise if you want to say that.¡¯ It was unsure what Jack, or Aina Helishana, felt from Davey¡¯s gaze. But he just stayed silent. * * * Rumble!!! Crash!! The carriage, which was moving roughly, didn¡¯t slow down even after getting out of the forest. ¡°Sir Belross! Our pursuers are no longer following us!¡± ¡°The horses will not be able to tolerate the journey for much longer!¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ Slow down! Balter! Rock! Keep guarding the surroundings and prepare in case there¡¯s a surprise attack!¡± There were seven knights who currently escorted the carriage, but there were far more before. ¡°Damn it, those assassins!¡± The old knight clenched his jaw in a display of anger. Even if he was a Swordmaster, there was no way he could have avoided sustaining any injuries if assassins attacked them day and night. There was a monstrous being on this continent who was an exception to that rule, but they didn¡¯t know about that. ¡°Your Highness, this is Belross! Are you hurt anywhere?!¡± After the old knight shouted, a coughing sound could be heard from inside the silent carriage. Then, the soft voice of a girl could be heard. ¡°I¡ªI¡¯m fine¡­¡± CH 89 Creak¡­ ¡°Y¡ªYour Highness! You mustn''t come out yet!¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. Cough¡­ Cough.¡± The girl emerged from the carriage. Feeling dizzy from the fast ride, she stumbled a little. At the same time, women who seemed to be the girl¡¯s ladies-in-waiting came out from the carriage. They quickly helped to support her. ¡°Your Highness!¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine¡­ Mary.¡± Shorter than most people her age, the girl also had a small, thin physique. She had a soft yet distinct aura to her, and she looked frail enough to break at any moment. However, she was clearly not human, since she had the beastfolks¡¯ characteristic long ears above her blue ponytail. And seeing her ears sagging from exhaustion or sadness would make anyone feel bad for her¡­ The girl was a fox with strangely sharp ears. Her tail was hidden beneath her large evening dress. Still, it was clear that she was a fox and not human like her knights. But what was truly strange about the girl¡­was her face being completely covered by an odd-looking white mask. Coupled with her dress, the girl was entirely covered from head to toe, and not an inch of her bare skin could be seen. Looking at her, one could only tell that she was a young beastfolk. ¡°Is anyone hurt?¡± The girl directly looked at the knights even though her vision should have been obstructed by her mask. The knights simultaneously bowed toward the girl. ¡°Do not worry, Your Highness. We are ready to put our life on the line for your safety.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see Sir Harlus, or Sir Luxa, or Dame Hivena¡­¡± The girl mumbled quietly. All the knights flinched. ¡°That¡¯s right¡­ The attack¡­¡± The girl lowered her head as if she was choking up. Although the mask hid her expression, it was clear from her choked-up voice that she was quite depressed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ I¡¯m sorry everyone¡­ Because of a beastfolk like me¡­¡± ¡°Y¡ªYour Highness!¡± The ladies-in-waiting bowed toward the girl in shock. ¡°Your Highness! I humbly beg you, please stop your tears!¡± ¡°What do you mean that it is because Your Highness is a beastfolk?! That is completely untrue and ridiculous!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! How could anyone say that Your Highness is a lowly presence!¡± Then, all the knights lined up and kneeled toward the girl. ¡°The power of the gods was not enough¡­ And it has caused you sorrow! Please kill us!¡± ¡°Stop it! I¡­ I don¡¯t want any more people getting hurt because of me.¡± The girl¡¯s voice grew more teary. She murmured, ¡°Yes¡­ I must regain my strength for Father¡­ No, for His Majesty.¡± ¡°They are insolent assassins who dared to attack the royalty of Lyndis, the great empire of the east. Your Highness, I will definitely get to the bottom of this and kill all of the schemers!¡± ¡°Sir Belross¡­¡± The girl spoke in a choked-up voice. The old knight spoke with determination. ¡°I swear on the name of Dark Cloud Sword Belross, Swordmaster of the royal palace. I will¡­avenge the undeserved deaths of Your Highness¡¯ subordinates.¡± The girl definitely wasn¡¯t an altruist; she actually was quite a greedy person. But the knights served her so loyally because she cherished and loved her people with everything that she had. As such, she had the vassals¡¯ love even though she was part beast and was the least powerful among her siblings due to the lack of support. Furthermore, Belross became part of her personal order, which only had about 20 people, even though he had the extraordinary title of a Swordmaster. ¡°Thank you... Sir Belross, thank you¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Your Highness¡­ I know it¡¯s hard, but please hold on for a little longer. We are almost at the empire¡¯s border.¡± The girl, who was sobbing on the ground, soon calmed down. The trembling in her shoulders slowly went away, and she nodded. Then, she stepped back onto the carriage with the help from her ladies-in-waiting. Her strange but adorable ears twitched. ¡°But Sir Belross, what do you think that thunder was?¡± ¡°That is¡­ I¡¯m sorry, but it was hard for me to tell.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s just¡­¡± ¡°However, it is difficult to think that it was a natural thunderstorm. I have never heard of a natural phenomenon where hundreds of lightning bolts fall from the sky.¡± ¡°What if it was caused by someone?¡± ¡°I think that it might be worth a shot to gather all the sages of the continent.¡± The knights began whispering as the carriage started moving along. Everyone, including the people in the carriage and those who were guarding it, saw the thunderstorm. If someone told this story to people at a bar over drinks, they would just think that it was drunk nonsense. ¡°Captain, what do you think it was?¡± One of the knights asked Belross. ¡°We can¡¯t know for sure. But¡­¡± The old knight, Belross, stopped mid-sentence, then continued in a quiet voice, ¡°It seemed like those lightning bolts were aimed at the assassins.¡± ¡°The lightning bolts chased someone who was running in panic and turned them into ashes. I¡¯ve never seen a lightning bolt turn someone into ashes. It¡¯s definitely abnormal,¡± one of the knights pointed out. ¡°The important thing is that we survived. There are a lot of things to think about, but it can¡¯t be understood with common knowledge. If it is true that a human created that¡­¡± Closing his eyes, Belross paused before saying, ¡°I think the ranking for the best mages in the continent will immediately change. Well, a human couldn¡¯t have possibly done this anyways.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. They wouldn¡¯t be human, but a dragon, the original possessor of magic, from fairy tales if they could cause this kind of catastrophe,¡± one of the knights said. The knights¡¯ lighthearted conversation went on for a little while. ¡°Sigh¡­¡± The girl, who was listening to the conversation, let out a short, fatigued sigh on the pillowy sofa. None of the other people seemed to have seen it, so she was the only one who had caught a glimpse; her sense of sight, smell, and hearing were exceptionally good compared to humans and even other beastfolks. ¡®¡­He had black hair¡­¡¯ The girl had seen a man floating in the sky with many purple magic circles around him. ¡®And¡­he saved us for some reason.¡¯ It was true that they had made eye contact for a second. Of course, the girl had kept her mask on, but for some reason it felt like the man had looked her straight in the eyes. It had only been for a second, but that was enough to burn that image of him onto her brain. For a moment, the girl¡¯s keen sense of smell caught the man¡¯s scent after the lightning went away. ¡®The scent of dogwood¡­ It¡¯s faint, but natural and reliable¡­¡¯ She squeezed her hand like she was never going to forget this scent, and silently stared at the forest of thunder that she had just escaped from. 36. Things That Will Eventually Be Revealed ¡°Would you like to have a drink, Davey, sir?¡± Davey didn¡¯t know where Yulis was getting all these expensive bottles of liquor from. When Yulis offered a drink with a smile, Davey stared at him with cold eyes. ¡®This guy. I didn¡¯t expect him to like alcohol this much.¡¯ They had gone through many bottles the day before, and yet Yulis was asking again. ¡®How could he ask again? This isn¡¯t okay.¡¯ Despite having such thoughts, Davey said firmly, ¡°Of course. It¡¯s shabby, but please come in.¡± He could never resist a bottle of liquor that wasn¡¯t bitter and had a nice, deep taste to it. Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original. -You should be thankful for not getting intoxicated to the point where you can¡¯t hold yourself up. If that happens, I¡¯ll kick your butt and wake you up¡­ When Davey invited Yulis in while trying to ignore the last part of Perserque¡¯s mumbling, Winley and Baris, who had been patiently waiting behind him, peeked out and giggled. They had been pretty busy with settling the territory¡¯s remaining business, but had taken a break and showed up. ¡°Where is Baron Gorneo?¡± Davey asked. ¡°He feels uncomfortable with such a gathering. He might be feeling a little responsible for this incident, which was clearly the fault of the Coalition for Disease Control, and he was part of it.¡± Davey didn¡¯t ask further. ¡®I should respect his wishes if that is what he wants.¡¯ Baris had made a big decision to accept the remaining people of the coalition, even though they were nothing but criminals who had killed more than three hundred innocent residents. ¡°They are victims, too. And I¡¯m quite interested about Baron Gorneo¡¯s dedication.¡± Baris spoke calmly. Winley scoffed. ¡°Heh! How are you going to live life if you¡¯re that kind?¡± ¡°What about you? I wish you would just shut your mouth.¡± ¡°What? Hey!!¡± Winley screamed, but soon lowered her head because of Davey and Yulis. She avoided their gaze and carefully took a sip of her wine. ¡®You guys are drinking now that you are adults.¡¯ ¡°Now that you are adults, you¡¯ll be going to the royal palace after this birthday,¡± Davey said. ¡°Looking at how things are going at the capital, I¡¯d like to stay silent about that for a while.¡± Baris chuckled, then stared at Davey. ¡°Big Brother.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°May I ask you a question?¡± The trio looked like they wanted the answer to their questions. Davey had stayed quiet about it for too long. It was possible that he had done something related to magic or swordsmanship, but Yulis, Winley, and Baris probably couldn¡¯t wrap their heads around it. He was a Swordmaster who could use [Aura Blade], and he had the fighting skills to face a Swordmaster head-on without his sword. Not only that, but he also had a stigmata and possessed knowledge of medicine that he had learned from God knows where. Finally, he had also used magic above the 5th circle that transported Winley and Yulis to the Ordem Territory. Was this a power that someone this young could have? Davey could confidently say ¡®NO¡¯ since he had gone down that road before. It would be difficult to possess these powers if he hadn¡¯t spent a twisted thousand years in the Hall. Even Illyna, the genius of the century who had learned swordsmanship when she had begun learning how to read and write, hadn¡¯t even been close to reaching Swordmaster at the age of seventeen. The fact that Davey, who was only seventeen and had spent a third of his life in a coma, could easily reach this level when even Yulis, who was called the greatest prodigy of the continent, barely reached the Master level[1] in his thirties¡­ It wouldn¡¯t be strange if they asked if a monster was wearing the husk of Davey. ¡°Hm¡­¡± Davey let out a hum. ¡°Stop it, stupid! You¡¯re being rude to Big Brother. Are you interrogating him or something?¡± Winley shouted at Baris. ¡°Hey! You were curious, too.¡± It seemed that Winley was equally curious, but she just kept that to herself. ¡°Actually¡­ If it¡¯s not a nuisance, may I ask as well?¡± Yulis glanced at Davey with a wide smile. 1. Just a recap, Yulis is at the Entry-master level. ? CH 90 ¡°Honestly, I can comprehend everything else, but¡­¡± With a faint smile, Yulis fixed his horn-rimmed glasses, which exaggerated his soft features. He added, ¡°I¡¯m having a hard time believing the nonverbal casting, even after seeing it with my own eyes. Also¡­ I can only feel the mana of an ordinary person or less from you, sir.¡± Yulis was most curious about the nonverbal casting, which was a theoretically impossible system. Davey thought it was at least a relief that they didn¡¯t think the hundreds of lightning bolts that fell on the forest were his doing, since that was just a different level of power entirely. ¡°Hm¡­¡± Davey hummed, then chuckled. He stared at his glass, swirling his wine. ¡°I worked hard.¡± Winley, Baris, and Yulis were dumbfounded. ¡°Pardon?¡± Yulis asked. ¡°I worked incredibly hard in that short time.¡± Davey was not lying to the bewildered trio. His time in the Hall had been short; to be honest, even a thousand years were not enough for him to train and understand everything. He had trained from morning to night without rest, and he would even wake up in the middle of the night thinking about his progress. A goblin would laugh at how much effort Davey had put in when he was someone that had detested the heroes¡¯ harsh training. However, the three people seemed to have taken his words in a completely different way. ¡°Oh¡­ Haha! For you to have achieved all that in less than a year is imposs¡­¡± Baris teased. He and the others thought that Davey had gotten to this standard from training after he had woken from his coma. ¡°There are a lot of things that haven¡¯t been proven in the world, Baris.¡± ¡°Big Brother¡­¡± ¡°And I never said that I did it in a year.¡± Baris went silent after realizing that Davey had finally given him a serious answer from years of knowing him. ¡®Man, darn these quick-witted kids!¡¯ -You know that the quick-witted kid is one of the only people you truly trust, right? ¡®Be quiet.¡¯ When you''re just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. Davey couldn¡¯t tell them anything about the Hall. All he could tell them was that he worked hard, even if others protested in disbelief; he could only do the same even when answering his significant other. The only person that knew the truth¡­ -Yawn¡­ ¡­Was this cute student of Ares. Perserque laid down on Davey¡¯s knee like she was in bed and yawned. ¡°You can only feel the mana of an ordinary person or less from me,¡± Davey said to Baris. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then, how am I using a highly dense [Aura Blade]?¡± ¡°That is¡­¡± ¡°I will tell you everything when it becomes possible.¡± ¡°It must be that way if you say so, Big Brother.¡± Baris laughed heartily, as if his complicated thoughts had been resolved. ¡°Haha. I¡¯m sorry Class-5 Yulis, but I am just going to believe what he is saying.¡± ¡°Well, I have no reason to dig up what Sir Davey doesn¡¯t want to speak about, nor do I have the right to.¡± ¡°Thank you for your consideration.¡± Davey thanked Yulis. ¡°But can you tell me one thing?¡± Yulis looked motivated. At the same time, Winley put down her glass and stared at Davey. She realized what Yulis was going to ask. ¡°Do you think that¡­ I can also cast nonverbally?¡± Nonverbal casting was a dream to most mages. Asking someone about their training and achievements was rude, but Yulis still couldn¡¯t help himself. He wanted to know how it was possible with a mage who had a similar circle level, and not someone with an extremely high circle. ¡®Since I am indebted to him, I guess it wouldn¡¯t hurt to tell him. It¡¯s not anything related to the Hall as well.¡¯ ¡°If you are willing to throw away all the mana circles you have,¡± Davey told Yulis. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°The chances of success are about 10%. There will be a rebound if you fail.¡± ¡°Rebound?¡± ¡°Your brain will burn. Turn to ashes.¡± Davey had never seen it happen, but he just believed it to be true. He had heard about this conclusion from the four women who had created it. ¡°Wow¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll give you an assignment. Try casting a buff magic spell that you can currently use, like [Strength], five times over.¡± Life drained out of Yulis¡¯ face as he heard Davey. ¡°I¡­don¡¯t think I can do that.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a 1 in 10 chance that you will succeed if you can do that.¡± One should at least be able to cast a spell eight times over if they wanted to give it a try. -What kind of lunatic casts a spell eight times over? I¡¯m telling you that you are the abnormal one. Yulis smiled. It wasn¡¯t easy; from the beginning, Davey thought that creating the type of mana circle that he had was actually harder than making a mana loop of the 9th circle. ¡°I guess everything has a price.¡± One¡¯s life would always be more valuable, no matter what. * * * When one problem went away, another appeared. ¡°Hmph!¡± Hearing a pouty voice, Davey smiled bitterly. ¡°Red Ribbon, are you still mad?¡± ¡°Pip!!¡± The adorable red-haired little girl who was pouting and displaying her anger was none other than Red Ribbon. She was already cute, but she was now puffing up her cheeks, which made her look even more adorable. If Davey could, he would¡­ ¡°Red Ribbon, peekaboo!¡± Davey teased. ¡°Giggle!... H¡ªHmph!¡± However, Davey couldn¡¯t do this because he had to maintain his face. Just like what had happened with Caldeiras, weapons with an ego that had their own mana would become quite exhausted when their powers were used rapidly. Although Caldeiras was able to handle it since he had grown stronger from being alive for quite a long time, it seemed Red Ribbon, who was only about a month old, couldn¡¯t tolerate the level of exhaustion caused by the amount of mana Davey had used. ¡°Hm¡­¡± Blue Ribbon rubbed her head against Red Ribbon¡¯s back as she hugged the latter, and groaned for Red Ribbon to stop. However, Red Ribbon didn¡¯t budge. ¡°It¡¯s really good. You¡¯re not going to have some?¡± Red Ribbon, who had her eyes shut, slightly opened her eyes and glanced at the cookie Davey was quietly shaking in front of her face. But she turned away. She slightly opened her eyes again to glance at the cookie but turned away once more. It was exactly how children acted to show that they were mad: she wanted to eat the cookie, but she wouldn¡¯t because she was mad. Davey felt lightheaded from how cute Red Ribbon looked while she was trying to decide between her desire to eat the cookie and the anger that she felt. The problem was that he wasn¡¯t good with children. Davey put on a bright smile as he shook the cookie. ¡°If you don¡¯t want it, then I should eat it all, right?¡± ¡°Ooh¡­ Hm¡­¡± As expected, Red Ribbon, who was trying to disregard the cookie, looked at the cookie with desire in her eyes. However, she still wasn¡¯t willing to budge. ¡°Ee¡­ Woo¡­¡± Not knowing what to do, Red Ribbon groaned, and then¡­ ¡°Wahh!!!¡± She began crying from anger as well as sadness. -You idiot. What are you doing with a child? ¡°Oh no¡­¡± Perserque hugged Red Ribbon and comforted her. The little girl trembled and began crying even harder. Unlike her usual soft expression, Perserque looked at Davey from the corner of her eye. ¡°You¡­¡± Davey stared at Perserque, dumbfounded. Even though she squinted and glared at him, he asked, ¡°You¡¯re able to get bigger?¡± Usually, Perserque was small enough to be able to sit on Davey¡¯s head or shoulder, but she wasn¡¯t that small anymore; she was short and frail, but she definitely looked like a normal girl. -How difficult did you think it was to transform a nonexistent body made only of demonic force? Perhaps energy forms were able to interact with each other. It seemed like Red Ribbon was able to see and hear Perserque since her own body was also made of energy. -It¡¯s okay. Red Ribbon looked up at Perserque, who was patting her back and comforting her, with teary eyes. ¡°Mama¡­¡± -M¡ªMom?! A faint light began spreading as Red Ribbon hugged Perserque, who was shouting in shock. Red Ribbon wasn¡¯t going to let go, yelling, ¡°Wahh!! Mama! Mama! I don¡¯t like Dada!¡± It was said that crying was contagious in children; perhaps that was why Blue Ribbon started crying and hugging Perserque once Red Ribbon burst into tears again. ¡°Wahh!!¡± ¡°Hwahh!!¡± ¡°I made them cry,¡± Davey said playfully. Perserque glared at Davey from the corner of her eye. -It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s alright! Don¡¯t worry, Mom¡¯s here! Perserque was the former Demon Lord¡­ She was quite quick. Demons were known as extremely evil beings in ancient books, but to be honest, one would see that the debate between complete good and evil was completely useless. This was especially true when the person, creature, or demon had emotions. ¡°Ha¡­ Haha¡­ I have more cookies,¡± Davey teased. ¡°Hmph!¡± -I think you would be so amazing if you sometimes just shut your mouth, which only brings about disaster, Davey. Poor Davey¡­ The nutty aroma of the cookie in his mouth felt bitter, since he was left speechless. 37. From A Place That Couldn¡¯t Be Seen This luxurious and grand palace was greater than most kingdoms, and it was known as the Dragon¡¯s Palace. This was the enormous royal palace where the emperor of the Lyndis Empire, the most powerful kingdom in the east, resided. In the Tionis continent, there were three large empires and one Holy Empire. There was the Contas Empire, the largest kingdom in the west, which was symbolized by a scorpion with three tails, and the Pallan Empire, the continent¡¯s strongest and long-standing empire that was founded by the Sword Lord¡¯s descendants. Finally, there was the Valchas Empire, the Holy Empire in the east that served the Goddess of Wine Freyja, and the Lyndis Empire, which was symbolized by a two-headed dragon. It wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that the continent¡¯s power was in the hands of these four kingdoms. Furthermore, the Lyndis Empire was no different from an alliance that encompassed the many countries that existed in the east. And Deorte El Lyndis, the current emperor of the Lyndis Empire, was silently shooting arrows in the palace¡¯s garden that only royalty could enter. Shh¡­. Crack!! The target was a few hundred meters away, but he kept pulling his bowstring. Every time his hand left the string, his arrow cut through the wind and struck the thick, wooden target without fail. ¡°Your Majesty, you are going to tire yourself. Why don¡¯t you go rest for the rest of the day?¡± Deorte, the emperor of the Lyndis Empire, heard a voice calling out to him. He put down his bow for a moment and coldly smiled at the man who approached him. ¡°Would you like to compete?¡± ¡°Haha, I would never be able to recover from shame if I were to compete with you in bowmanship, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°You are quite a crybaby for someone who is to lead the Lyndis Empire as the future emperor.¡± There was a strong sense of boredom and weariness in Emperor Deorte, who spoke calmly. Although he looked like an elderly man over the age of seventy, his physique was as tough and muscular as someone who had been training for a long time. CH 91 ¡°Haha, I am not very talented in bowmanship.¡± ¡°Tsk tsk¡­ If you keep acting like that, your siblings are going to take your place someday.¡± ¡°Haha, if they have the guts to take it from me fair and square¡­¡± The man in his forties chuckled. ¡°Well, is the crown princess doing well?¡± Emperor Deorte asked. ¡°Yes, she is doing well thanks to His Majesty¡¯s generosity.¡± ¡°Tsk¡­ A true man should be able to support his family before setting his sights on the world.¡± ¡°I will take that to heart.¡± ¡°But some idiots abandon those they should be protecting for honor and a mere title.¡± Deorte sighed as if he was sick of it and pulled his bowstring. Shee¡­ Boom!!! At the same time, a huge amount of mana became concentrated onto the arrow. It cut through the air and was lodged in the ground after destroying the sturdy target. ¡°Amazing as always, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Tsk. Did you think I became a master from fooling around?¡± ¡°It is difficult even for regular masters to leave an [Aura Blade] on a projectile that easily.¡± He was the crown prince, and the eldest son who had been by Deorte¡¯s side for a long time. The man knew very well that Emperor Deorte El Lyndis, the commander of the Lyndis Empire, was one of the strongest among the Swordmasters. ¡°Alright. I don¡¯t think you came to me for small talk. Is there something you want to say?¡± Deorte asked, never taking his eyes off the destroyed target. ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± The crown prince raised his bow. Then, he familiarly loaded his bow and said quietly, ¡°A member of the Echo Guild came to me with information.¡± ¡°Was there any progress?¡± ¡°There is good news and mediocre news; which would you like to hear first?¡± ¡°Ha, you know how to tease your father.¡± The crown prince giggled at Deorte. He replied, ¡°At least it¡¯s a relief that it¡¯s not bad news.¡± ¡°Well, then tell me the mediocre news first.¡± ¡°Count Lington and Count Colio have died. Apparently, they were beheaded on the spot after their clear inhuman acts were revealed.¡± ¡°Tsk¡­¡± Count Lington was part of the Coalition for Disease Control, and Count Colio was Deorte¡¯s subordinate whom he had allowed into the coalition by using Colio¡¯s physical disabilities as an excuse. ¡°After deliberately spreading a disease in the Ordem Territory, a territory on the outskirts of the Rowane Kingdom, they independently carried out unvalidated human experiments for treatment purposes.¡± To be honest, the commoners¡¯ lives weren''t valued by the nobility and royalty in this world. It meant that no one could say anything even if an ill-tempered noble were to cut off a commoner¡¯s head because they were in his way. However, this was different. ¡°It is the same for a man who left his desires to madness. Alright, who did they say killed them?¡± ¡°The First Prince of the Rowane Kingdom.¡± ¡°Ah, the newly emerging adept greenhorn.¡± ¡°Haha.¡± Of course, Emperor Deorte was sharp enough to know that Count Lington was dangerous, but he had still supported him despite knowing that fact. ¡°I am just saying, but there is no need for His Majesty to feel any guilt about¡­¡± ¡°Ha, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to become the emperor if I was scared so easily,¡± Deorte said. The crown prince understood this fact very well, so Deorte just went on to ask, ¡°Well, then what is the good news?¡± ¡°According to the report sent by Baron Gorneo, who studied ¡®Blood of the Demon¡¯ with Count Lington, a cure¡­has been developed. And it was developed not by Baron Gorneo or Count Lington, but the First Prince of the Rowane Kingdom.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Emperor Deorte¡¯s eyebrow twitched slightly. ¡°That is not just any good news.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Without much reaction, Deorte asked, ¡°There is no false information about the treatment, yes?¡± ¡°They say that it has been confirmed, and some of the Ordem Territory¡¯s residents are beginning to recover,¡± the crown prince replied. ¡°The prince of the Rowane Kingdom¡­ How very interesting. There may be some people who will try and pick on the Rowane Kingdom¡¯s greenhorn because of this.¡± ¡°What should we do?¡± ¡°We cannot disregard someone that has brought such great news. Do as you wish with the ones who try to do something.¡± Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°Should we formally invite him to the royal palace sometime?¡± ¡°Hm¡­ That¡¯s not a terrible idea. If he has achieved such an accomplishment, it wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea to set up a marriage with one of the members of the royal palace.¡± When the crown prince silently lowered his head as he listened to Deorte, they could see a few knights and ladies-in-waiting moving through the quiet garden with a little girl. The girl¡¯s glittering blue hair was down, but the rest of her was strangely covered up. With a full-face mask and a pair of gloves, she was covering every inch of her skin. The girl, who was cautiously looking around as if being chased by something, carefully approached the two after seeing them. Then, she spoke in a quavering voice, ¡°I¡­ I meet the two-headed dragon of the empire¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s alright. Stop.¡± Deorte interrupted the girl, who flinched in response. A heavy silence surrounded the garden. If someone saw them, it would almost seem like Deorte absolutely despised her. There were certainly such rumors. The Lyndis Empire still tended to ostracize beastfolks, but the youngest princess was part beastfolk. She still received glares and looks of despise, but her royal status shielded her from most. Of course, that was the public¡¯s perception. The truth was actually a little different¡­ ¡°Why are you not calling me Father again?¡± Deorte asked. ¡°Th¡­ That is¡­¡± In truth, the Emperor of Lyndis didn¡¯t like having his youngest daughter leave the palace because he adored her too much. However, rumors about the emperor detesting Aeria had also spread in the royal palace; perhaps it was because Deorte¡¯s love was over the top. Aeria carefully backed away. ¡°Others are looking, and if someone were to see that you are talking to a lowly beastfolk like me¡­¡± ¡°What? Lowly?¡± Deorte¡¯s expression turned serious as he cut her off. ¡°Th¡­ That is¡­¡± Aeria stuttered. ¡°Alberth.¡± ¡°Should I get rid of them?¡± Alberth spoke with a creepy smile, as if he had thrown his poise and solemnity out of the window. ¡°Make sure to find them,¡± Deorte commanded. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You may crush them into pieces so that they can never recover. How dare they say something like this to royalty? They are quite brave.¡± ¡°F¡ªFather!¡± Aeria flailed in surprise. She grabbed Deorte¡¯s clothes while blurting out ¡®Father¡¯ instead of ¡®Your Majesty¡¯. She cried out, ¡°You cannot do that¡­ Because of me¡­¡± When Alberth and Deorte turned to her, Aeria desperately shook her head and rambled on. Even her ears kept twitching from the panic she felt. Looking at her response, Deorte only said firmly, ¡°You are my beloved daughter. It¡¯s unsurprising to destroy the entire family of someone who dares to speak about this empire¡¯s daughter like that.¡± ¡°I... It¡¯s fine. It will only damage your reputation if you act because of me¡­¡± Aeria let out a short sigh. She couldn¡¯t hide her bewilderment. She then said to Deorte, ¡°So, please pretend you didn¡¯t hear anything. Will you¡­promise me?¡± ¡°Phew¡­ Okay, I promise. Alberth.¡± ¡°I will take care of them quietly.¡± ¡°F¡ªFather!¡± Despite Aeria¡¯s shocked response, Deorte¡¯s expression was more determined than ever. ¡°Aeria, you are my daughter; the daughter of Deorte El Lyndis, the emperor of the Lyndis Empire. No one can call you lowly!¡± ¡°B¡ªBut¡­¡± ¡°If you¡¯re worried about me, you don¡¯t have to. It seems like you became worrisome while you were at the Holy Empire. Now, I have no intention of forgiving anyone who looks down on you.¡± Aeria glanced at Alberth, her much older brother, when she saw Deorte being unwilling to back down. However, she realized that Alberth had no intention of taking her side. ¡°Sigh¡­¡± In the end, she was the one who had to give up, since she had something more important than that. Deorte stared at Aeria in confusion, because she had backed down easier than expected. He quickly asked, ¡°Do you have something you want to say?¡± ¡°Um¡­ That is, actually¡­¡± Aeria had a hard time forming a sentence, since she was preoccupied with her thoughts. Alberth and Deorte¡¯s expressions softened slightly, since they figured that Aeria was going to ask for something. However, they froze like statues when they heard what she had to say next. ¡°The promise that you will help me be with the person I love¡­ When my disease is healed¡­ Is that still v¡ªvalid?¡± Although they couldn¡¯t see Aeria¡¯s face, they knew exactly what she was talking about, since they had grown used to her appearance and dressing by now. The first to snap out of it was Alberth, who said, ¡°A¡ªAeria? Are you saying¡­¡± ¡°He saved me on the way back to the empire. Although I don¡¯t even know his name¡­¡± Then, Deorte made a bold decision after observing Aeria¡¯s demeanor. He said, ¡°Alberth. What is the most important piece of knowledge of the royalty of the Lyndis Empire?¡± ¡°It is that¡­a person who cannot protect their own will not succeed in anything else.¡± ¡°I think a bug has latched onto our flower.¡± ¡°N¡ªNo!!¡± Aeria shouted loudly, almost as if she was screaming. Of course, the two didn¡¯t know that the man whom Aeria El Lyndis was talking about was the same person who had developed the disease¡¯s cure. * * * About a week had passed. Most of the patients were able to beat the disease, since the Ordem Territory had accelerated the eradication of the ¡®Melting Acceleration Virus¡¯ in the meantime. Of course, there were some patients who had died, but it was a relief that the numbers were curbed. Although, it seemed like a lot of people were calling Davey by the cringey title of ¡®saint¡¯. Known as a small mana gate, this was the continent¡¯s secret treasure that could transport a small number of people for a fixed distance. Unlike a regular one, this was portable and had its own charging function. A problem was that it took about a week to recharge once it was used, but being able to instantly teleport to a place that would take days to travel by foot was a huge advantage. ¡°Haha¡­ My apologies. It¡¯s not done charging yet,¡± Yulis apologized. ¡°It¡¯s not a problem; we can just travel slowly while we take in the surroundings. Especially since the view around the Ordem Territory is nice.¡± The idea wasn¡¯t too bad; Davey had hit it big in his huge business, but he didn¡¯t want to live a busy life. He desired a leisurely life, so a life of being overloaded with work was not the kind of life he wanted. CH 92 ¡°Big Brother! It¡¯s ready!¡± Davey saw Winley wave from inside a carriage, which wasn¡¯t luxurious, but large enough for them to travel comfortably. Normally, it would be right for only Yulis and Davey to return to the Red Tower branch in the Heins Territory, since they had business to take care of. But with Baris¡¯ request, they had decided that it would be best for Winley to be under Davey¡¯s protection for the time being. Of course, Winley¡¯s absence should have stressed Baris out, since he would have to take care of the territory all by himself. However, he had strongly encouraged her to go with Davey for some reason. ¡°We won¡¯t be moving fast, but we should arrive in about three days,¡± Winley said. ¡°Hm¡­¡± ¡°The scenery is really beautiful on the way there! So, I¡¯ll¡­¡± Winley trailed off. She widened her eyes when she spotted someone standing behind her. She exclaimed, ¡°Portna?!¡± ¡°Your Highness¡­ Thank¡­you, really,¡± Portna said gratefully. ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°Not just me, but everyone who was exposed to the disease will be forever grateful.¡± Portna came across as rather severe, but she tried her best to express her gratitude as much as possible. ¡°I will use my life that His Highness has saved to protect Princess Winley.¡± Davey patted Portna on the shoulder as she bowed and expressed her gratitude. He said with a nod, ¡°All that matters is that you lived. Value your life dearly if you want to thank me.¡± ¡°I will take that to heart.¡± ¡°Your Highness, it is time to go.¡± The moment Yulis was about to speak after examining the carriage¡­ Bzz¡­ Buzz¡­ The communication crystal in Davey¡¯s pocket buzzed from an incoming call. ¡°Amy?¡± Davey raised the crystal to see Amy, who was formerly his personal lady-in-waiting and was now learning to manage the territory in his place. -Y¡ªYour Highness!!... T¡ªThe territory! Davey stared at Amy blankly as he listened to what she had to say. He muttered, ¡°What?¡± 38. A Petty Encounter. Witnessing Amy¡¯s big fuss, Davey was lost in thought. ¡°Big Brother?¡± No one else could hear Amy, because the crystal functioned like Davey was on headphones. Still, it made his thoughts needlessly complicated. ¡°Why do you think Baris sent me too?¡± Winley asked. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Prince Baris is wise and honest, just like Sir Davey. I cannot discern everything with my narrow opinion, but¡­ Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s just for you to relax for a while?¡± Yulis gave a soft smile. Winley slowly nodded. However, that was not the case. [I¡¯m sorry, Big Brother, but can I leave Winley to you for the time being? I think you will be able to protect her better than someone like me.] [I didn¡¯t tell her, and the story hasn¡¯t spread in the territory yet, either. However¡­the whereabouts of some children at the orphanage are unclear. This definitely happened after this incident.] Search bit.ly/3iBfjkV for the original. Apart from understanding the situation, Baris had the worry of an older brother to keep his younger sister safe. This was not related to Count Lington, either. -I think that incident is related to it somehow. While Davey was just thinking, Perserque floated up to his face with a cute smile. She dusted off her light, twirling in front of him with elegant clothes. -Something similar happened at the dwarf village of the Yellowstone Tribe. ¡®And at the Heins Territory as well.¡¯ Davey was just investigating at this point, so he couldn¡¯t say anything for sure. But it could be said that whoever was doing this was intentionally targeting children and taking them away. There was definitely something fishy about this. ¡®Should I be considering dark mages who take kids to use as sacrifices?¡¯ Well, there were some cult-like branches of dark magic that required a young child¡¯s fresh blood in order to summon the Demon Lord. -That¡¯s probably not the case. Dark mages are violent but not stupid. As such, they would be extremely cautious if they were to kidnap a child to use as a sacrifice. They wouldn¡¯t act this visibly. Dark mages wouldn¡¯t be called the continent¡¯s legendary beings if they were people who would act so publicly. Thinking about this fact, Davey pondered, ¡®So, either the rumor is false, or something else is going on. It hasn¡¯t been proven that the children have gone missing. It¡¯s just a suspicion right now.¡¯ As a result, Baris thought that Winley would only bother him in this investigation and what was going on outside the territory. Winley wasn¡¯t bothersome, but Baris couldn¡¯t stop worrying about his sister who was a walking disaster. Ultimately, he had chosen to send her with Davey, the safer option, so there wouldn¡¯t be any problems. Baris could¡¯ve just asked Davey for help regarding the investigation, but he showed a desperate effort to solve things on his own. He was doing the same with Count Lington¡¯s incident too. Lions dropped their babies off from cliffs; it didn¡¯t really resonate with Davey all that much, but it wouldn''t be right for him to overprotect Baris who was trying to succeed on his own. And there was also a need to investigate other perspectives, since this situation hadn¡¯t only happened in the Ordem Territory. It was happening in other places like the Yellowstone Tribe and the Heins Territory too. ¡°I want to go as late as possible,¡± Davey mumbled. ¡°Is there a problem at the territory?¡± Yulis, who was silently looking at Winley, asked when he heard Davey. ¡°Apparently, someone that I don¡¯t really want to see is there.¡± Although he appreciated their aesthetic appearance, Davey definitely wasn¡¯t too fond of their presence. His intuition told him that they had come to see him with the full knowledge of what had happened. It wasn¡¯t difficult to get rid of them, but he had a feeling that that wasn¡¯t their only goal. However, above all else¡­ ¡®I really don¡¯t want to see Caldeiras again.¡¯ -She is the type of person to grab you by the neck as soon as she sees you. Caldeiras, the divine sword, was probably so mad at Davey that she was gritting her teeth and waiting for the chance to jump at him. Like Davey did with Red Ribbon, Davey had also drained Caldeiras of all her holy power to use the final 9th level holy magic. Davey¡¯s bitter smile didn¡¯t go away. * * * Time crawled at the pace of their carriage, which was traveling like a snail. ¡°It¡¯s true! At that time, Big brother was climbing a tree when¡­¡± ¡°Haha, Sir Davey was quite peculiar from a young age.¡± ¡°Right? Hehe.¡± Davey didn¡¯t know what made Winley so delighted, but she was cutely chattering about the time she and Davey used to play together as children. Davey simply stayed silent. -Hm¡­ You also had a time where you roamed around that freely? Davey was carefree, and everything in the world seemed so wonderful at that time. He then asked Perserque, ¡®How am I like now, then?¡¯ -You seem like the owner of an arcade, staring at little children who are trying their best at the games with the little pocket money they have. You aren¡¯t helping, even though you have a master key that can endlessly restart the games. Perserque should just say that Davey looked like he had a dark secret. ¡®What is that?¡¯ Perserque¡¯s comparison was quite something, as she had read part of Davey¡¯s memory. -Honestly, you are not normal. ¡®Do I seem that way?¡¯ Davey asked the question, but it was one that even Davey himself found it hard to answer. -There is a clear difference when you compare your way of life to someone who only has one shot at life and is afraid of the unknown afterlife. Perserque clearly pointed out what was off about Davey. He felt slightly attacked, thinking, ¡®Have you ever heard that you shouldn¡¯t criticize people?¡¯ -Sometimes blunt words are the only way to wake someone up. Perserque roamed around, laughing as if she was mocking Davey. He wanted to grab her from the air, but he just swallowed his anger. He didn¡¯t want to attract any attention. Neigh!! That was when their horse suddenly stopped in its tracks just when the rest of them were admiring the view from the quiet carriage. ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Winley slowly opened the window, since she was surprised by the sudden jolt. She saw the baffled coachman not knowing what to do. ¡°W¡ªWho are you? How dare you block the path? Do you know who is on this carriage?!¡± The coachman shouted nervously at the people who were standing in the way. They didn¡¯t seem like bandits, who usually appeared deep in the forest. The men had a high-quality horse with a glistening coat, and they were wearing strong and distinguished pieces of armor. Davey could tell that they were a formal knight order. They didn¡¯t seem like any knight order from a small territory, but looked to be knights of great power. Thud¡­ One of the knights got off his horse and slowly approached the carriage. Then, he quietly bowed his head. The man looked to be in his thirties or forties. He had a short, neat beard, and quietly introduced himself as he took off his helmet. ¡°Please forgive our insolence. My name is Duris, the Captain of the Red Dragon Knights.¡± ¡°The Red Dragon Knights¡­ No way!¡± The first to recognize them, Yulis widened his eyes in shock. ¡°Why is Princess Illyna¡¯s escort here?¡± Winley asked. Both Yulis and herself had such reactions because they didn¡¯t know who was waiting for Davey here at the Heins Territory. ¡°We have come out to escort you so that nothing goes wrong on your way back. Please forgive our insolence if you were offended,¡± Duris explained. He was nothing but respectful. Davey was actually a little surprised by Duris¡¯ uncomfortably respectful manners. ¡®I find people like that very uncomfortable. Royal Attendant Bernile looks cold, but he¡¯s actually a cheesy grandpa too.¡¯ Davey was already sick of their attitude of setting such clear hierarchical boundaries. ¡°To be honest, we don¡¯t really need any escort¡­ But the Red Dragon Knights are too strong for us to ignore your consideration.¡± Yulis asked for Davey¡¯s opinion as he chuckled. Davey was planning to use this time to relax so that he would arrive as late as possible, but it seemed like this woman had read his mind. He groaned inwardly. ¡®This is why I don¡¯t like quick-witted kids.¡¯ -The contractor of Caldeiras is the same age as you. ¡®Still a kid.¡¯ Princess Illyna was the most desired bride in the entire continent and was absolutely beautiful, but Davey¡¯s judgment about her was unfortunate. -What a bummer. I really did enjoy relaxing and taking in the view. Perserque¡¯s voice seemed too bright to think that she was really bummed. * * * To be honest, Davey had run away from the Duchy of Felicity and had left all the bothersome details to Princess Illyna. If it had been the other way around, he probably would¡¯ve gone to find her right away and shake her in the air. It seemed that she had tolerated it for quite a while, since they were only meeting now. ¡°Princess Illyna of the Pallan Empire is requesting to see you.¡± Simply put, Princess Illyna could only be described as a big shot. CH 93 Although the Heins Territory was an up-and-coming territory, it was too early for the territory to hold a value great enough for someone from an empire, especially the apple of the Pallan Empire¡¯s eye, to visit. After all, the Pallan Empire was the most powerful empire in the continent. To be exact, there were various merchant companies, wizard towers, and schools of alchemy who had set up divisions in the Heins Territory, but that was it. No one of great standing had come to the territory. Of course, Yulis could be considered an exception, but the visit of Illyna de Pallan in the territory was certainly enough for news to spread. She was none other than the doted daughter of the strongest empire¡¯s emperor. Most other nobles and royalty of other kingdoms would¡¯ve made a big fuss and gotten ready to greet her right away. Her visit was like the division commander suddenly coming to the ordinary soldiers¡¯ tents. In fact, people were saying that Davey had no choice but to agree to Princess Illyna¡¯s sudden visit. Thinking about this, Davey nodded to himself. ¡®It might not be a bad idea to jump on the bandwagon if that¡¯s how it¡¯s going.¡¯ ¡°A request¡­¡± Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original. ¡°What should I do? Should I lead her into the drawing room?¡± There was a hint of anxiety in Amy¡¯s question. Davey wasn¡¯t sure why Amy was nervous, but he had already made his decision. While pushing up her red horn-rimmed glasses, Amy just waited for his order as if she knew what he was going to say. Davey then said, ¡°Decline.¡± ¡°Yes¡­ Pardon?¡± Amy looked dumbfounded for a moment. ¡®What. Why?¡¯ Davey knew how signifcant it was that Princess Illyna had come all the way here, and he knew how great her presence was; however, that wasn¡¯t a reason for him to meet her unconditionally. Looking confused, Amy silently bowed her head and left the room; it seemed like she still remembered that Davey didn¡¯t like to say things twice. * * * -You. Are you not afraid of the consequences? Princess Illyna was triggered when Davey had refused her request. Davey declined once more, then declined again and again. They kept requesting and declining back and forth, like they were trying to see who was the more stubborn one. Both sides had thrown their courtesy towards each other out the window and were just competing to see who was more persistent. Although Davey was the one who started it, Princess Illyna was also being petty and had chosen to play dirty. Thanks to that, the people who were suffering weren¡¯t them, but the people stuck in the middle. Davey did hear that the Red Dragon Knights, Illyna¡¯s personal knight order, were fuming because he had refused Princess Illyna¡¯s request to visit. Regardless, he chose to ignore them. ¡®They aren¡¯t causing trouble since they aren¡¯t idiots.¡¯ ¡°I¡¯m not denying her for no reason,¡± Davey told Perserque. -No way¡­ Are you increasing the territory¡¯s value even in a situation like this? Perserque looked sick of it. ¡°Let¡¯s act hard to get while we¡¯re at it.¡± There was something called noise marketing. The visitor was none other than the precious princess of the most powerful empire in the continent; there was no better advertisement for the territory than this. It was even better in the Heins Territory, since lots of information circulated from the large number of intelligence guilds and merchant companies based here. -Life is not a game. You are not scared of anything, really¡­ How are you so unafraid when there¡¯s no way the other person will act as you think? It wasn¡¯t like Davey didn¡¯t know what Perserque was trying to say. He shrugged and said, ¡°It¡¯s okay because it¡¯s that Princess.¡± ¡®Although it¡¯s just my guess for now.¡¯ Davey didn¡¯t worry about the consequences or aftermath when he chose to do something; he was just cautious before making up his mind. Actually, this trait of his may cause the people around him to dislike him. It was the worst possible decision to make in this world where everyone conspired against everyone, but he chose to move forward rather than retreat. The competition between persistence and stubbornness went on for a few days; it didn¡¯t become a huge problem, just like Davey had expected, since Princess Illyna probably didn¡¯t want that either. At last, Princess Illyna was the first to wave the white flag. Did she just go back? Well, not exactly. Growing impatient from the continuous rejection, Princess Illyna chose to¡­ ¡°Hey, Prince Davey.¡± ¡°Do princesses of empires learn how to jump over the wall nowadays?¡± Princess Illyna chose to jump over the wall. She put on a bright smile when Davey asked in bewilderment. She asked, ¡°Don¡¯t we have a lot to talk about with each other?¡± Her smile was dazzling, since she was one of the most beautiful women on the continent. But strangely, it seemed slightly off this time. ¡°Don¡¯t we?¡± Princess Illyna asked again. The princess of the most powerful country had persistently requested to meet an ordinary prince of a small, insignificant kingdom, and the prince had been blatantly denying her request for no reason. It had been a petty competition of stubbornness that would make people think that they were joking around with each other. Princess Illyna hadn¡¯t been able to hide her shock, so she ended up waving the white flag and then following through in the most outstanding way possible. ¡°Hm, a lot to talk about¡­¡± Davey pretended to think about it, as if clueless about what Princess Illyna was talking about. The princess smiled cutely as she stood on the windowsill. Her rich blond hair and hairpin, which was pinned on the back of her head, stood out against the night sky. They shone so brightly. She asked, ¡°We don¡¯t? Are you sure about that?¡± ¡°Come down from there first. The wind is cold.¡± Princess Illyna quickly looked around before entering the room. She was in an elegant and refined short dress, blushing with a slight frown on her face. It was as if she had remembered something as soon as she heard Davey. Then, she slowly came down from the windowsill while trying to pull down her dress. ¡°Someone¡¯s going to think that we are having a rendezvous,¡± Davey teased. ¡°I¡¯m afraid to even hear that in my dreams.¡± Illyna snapped with a bright smile. ¡®Ouch, a scratch! It seems like she¡¯s quite mad.¡¯ Davey appreciated the smile of a beautiful woman, but he didn¡¯t really want Princess Illyna¡¯s anger. Of course, aside from being selfishly beautiful, he felt like he was dealing with a cute younger sister rather than a possible romantic interest. Princess Illyna had a young face, and she was also short, after all. ¡°Seriously, I didn¡¯t know how difficult it would be to get a moment of your time, right, Prince Davey? It¡¯s funny that I¡¯m saying this, but it wouldn''t even be this difficult to meet a king,¡± Illyna pointed out. ¡°Haha, it¡¯s give and take, right?¡± Davey responded. ¡°There¡¯s a rumor going around the territory that I¡¯m doing anything and everything to meet you.¡± ¡°I was aiming for that,¡± Davey said playfully. Illyna picked up her teacup with a straight face. ¡°Did you do that to raise the value of the territory¡­¡± She looked sick of Davey, now realizing why he had constantly refused her request. ¡°I know that it¡¯s a little arrogant for me to say this, but don¡¯t you think you are too fearless?¡± ¡°I am quite courageous.¡± Davey smiled. Princess Illyna clicked her tongue. ¡®She clicked her tongue?¡¯ -That Illyna girl can be quite rude at times¡­ Princess Illyna did not know of Perserque¡¯s existence; however, Perserque had observed Princess Illyna for a long time through Caldeiras. -Don¡¯t tease her too much, Davey. She has a kind heart. Perserque pulled Davey¡¯s ear and whispered. It seemed that she had some affection toward the princess. ¡®It¡¯s ticklish, man.¡¯ -Giggle. Davey glared at Perserque, who was backing away with a soft smile. He then glanced at Illyna. He said, ¡°Let¡¯s stop here as both of us have done wrong. It seems like you have a lot you want to talk about if you jumped the wall in the middle of the night.¡± ¡°I grew impatient because of someone. First, I want to thank you.¡± Princess Illyna put her hand on her chest and bowed. ¡°I am indebted to you for my life. I thought that I should make that clear.¡± Davey hadn¡¯t really taken action to save Princess Illyna, since he had only thought about Winley at that time. But he did end up saving the princess too, so he didn¡¯t explain himself to Princess Illyna. ¡°And I was able to awaken Caldeiras thanks to you.¡± Although she was the contractor, Princess Illyna was just Caldeiras¡¯s master. She hadn¡¯t been able to materialize her into a sword yet. However, she was able to do that after the swordsmanship tournament at the Duchy of Felicity. There were probably a few reasons, but either it was because her level had increased after that incident, or¡­ [Davey!!! Damn you!!] ¡®Or it became less difficult as Caldeiras¡¯s power became weaker.¡¯ -You¡¯re quick. Princess Illyna¡¯s brooch began to shine even before she could say anything; the light took on the form of a little girl and charged toward Davey. She looked to be around six years old; her appearance was a mix of green and silver like Perserque, but they were different in many ways. If Perserque had a soft and cheeky cuteness, this girl had the cuteness like a young child. With an angry face, the small girl grabbed Davey¡¯s neck and shook it, ignoring the fact that she was an energy form. [Because of you! Do you know that all of this is because of you?!] ¡°Caldeiras.¡± Illyna tried to stop the figure of Caldeiras who was screaming with tears in her eyes by pulling her back, but Caldeiras held onto Davey¡¯s neck for a long time and didn¡¯t think about letting go. Although he normally would¡¯ve plucked Caldeiras off, Davey just silently put up with her tantrum. Besides, it was true that Davey had stabbed her in the back. [Do you know how long I was unconscious?!] ¡°Sure, did you sleep well?¡± As Davey patted and stroked her head, Caldeiras clenched her jaw. [You should¡¯ve at least told me before you were going to use my mana!!] How could there be time to tell her when people were dying by the minute? Caldeiras probably knew this as well; however, the reason she wanted to see Davey was probably not because of the holy magic. It was true that she took a hit from the loss, but she was a divine sword that had been through a lot. [Per¡­ Where is Per¡­] Unsurprisingly, Caldeiras couldn¡¯t see Perserque. The only beings who could see Perserque were Davey, and Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon, who were contracted to his soul. ¡°You can¡¯t see her?¡± [¡­] ¡°She¡¯s doing well. Perserque came to me when the stigmata formed unexpectedly. We¡¯re companions.¡± Caldeiras glared at Davey with tears in his eyes. [Per! Per! He didn¡¯t do anything bad to you, right?! You¡¯re okay?! Right?! Answer me! Please¡­] As Caldeiras shouted mournfully into space, there was a worry and yearning in her voice that made it difficult to think that they were once adversaries. It seemed like she was worrying if Perserque was alright, and whether Perserque was really with Davey and not anywhere else. -Davey. After silently staring at Caldeiras for a while, Perserque called out to Davey. -Can you¡­lend me some of your mana? ¡®Of course.¡¯ Perserque smiled brightly as soon as Davey agreed. Then, she floated both herself and Caldeiras up into the air. She put her forehead against Caldeiras¡¯s. Whoosh¡­ At that moment, a large amount of mana began escaping from Davey, but he didn¡¯t want to disturb Perserque. He knew that she was using this as a way to get in touch with Caldeiras. ¡°C¡ªCaldeiras?¡± Princess Illyna widened her eyes when Caldeiras suddenly became quiet and floated up into the air. CH 94 ¡°Let¡¯s leave them be, since they are doing something important.¡± As he had no intentions of interrupting a touching reunion, Davey stopped Illyna and smiled at her. Maybe it was a good thing that Caldeiras hadn¡¯t mentioned Perserque to Illyna. Since the princess had shown an extreme hatred for vampires, it could¡¯ve caused unnecessary problems if Illyna knew that Perserque was the former Demon Lord. ¡°¡­Okay.¡± Illyna slowly nodded with suspicion. She was uncertain of the situation, so she just agreed for now. She went on to address Davey. ¡°Then, let¡¯s talk.¡± ¡°Hm¡­¡± ¡°To be honest, I have a lot of questions to ask you. However, you are not kind enough to answer everything.¡± That wasn¡¯t completely true, but Davey said nothing. After a moment, he said, ¡°Well, I do feel a little guilty, so I¡¯ll answer sincerely.¡± ¡°So, who are you exactly?¡± Illyna asked Davey. ¡°I am Davey O¡¯Rowane, the First Prince of the Rowane Kingdom and the legitimate child of Queen Lennie Alishad.¡± ¡°What I am asking is¡­¡± Illyna let out a sigh. ¡®I would¡¯ve answered you if you asked properly.¡¯ Princess Illyna clenched her jaw out of frustration and stared at Davey, who glanced over while trying to hold in his laughter. She said, ¡°Sigh¡­ Well, alright.¡± Then, she smiled coldly as if another thought had popped into her head. Strangely, it was different from the elegance and refined appearance she had shown when they had first met. ¡°I¡¯ll lure you out slowly¡­ I have a lot of time¡­¡± With a calm murmur, Princess Illyna put down the bundle of cloth that she held onto when she first came in. ¡°Is that the sword that you used then?¡± Davey asked, referring to the large sword that Princess Illyna had used before. It would be difficult for ordinary people to swing it, but she needed a sword that heavy to be able to use Sword Lord Ares¡¯ [Longsword]. Although, Davey was using something else in place of the weight since he had risen to quite a high level. ¡°It¡¯s a little different. This is my usual sword.¡± Illyna looked Davey in the eye with an unwavering gaze. There was a sense of thirst and yearning in her expression. ¡°I won¡¯t beat around the bush. Teach me the [Longsword] of the Sword Lord.¡± ¡°Can I decline?¡± ¡°I will keep asking.¡± ¡°What if I keep declining?¡± ¡°I have a way of keeping you.¡± Illyna smiled brightly. Then, she pulled out some papers from her chest. ¡°This is¡­¡± Davey frowned while skimming through the documents. An eerie smile appeared on Illyna¡¯s face. ¡°An offer of engagement. I don¡¯t know about you, but the royal palace will react differently. I am determined to get what I want; I have thrown away my dignity and everything else for this. I¡¯m prepared to play dirty if I have to. Do you want to fight?¡± -You. You thought about it for a moment, didn¡¯t you? ¡®It¡¯s your imagination.¡¯ -Don¡¯t toy with me. ¡®¡­¡¯ Princess Illyna¡¯s declaration clearly showed her crazy determination. She was also quite obsessed over the sword, almost in a slightly twisted way. She went on, ¡°I will formally send this to the Rowane Kingdom if you keep avoiding me. Father vowed that he would give permission to anyone I choose, even if they are a slave. However, if they were the seigneur of the up-and-coming Heins Territory¡­¡± Princess Illyna spoke truthfully. She was serious about sending the offer of engagement to the royal palace if Davey kept avoiding her. ¡°Then, what are you going to do if they accept? I think you don¡¯t value yourself enough.¡± Davey revealed a bitter smile. Princess Illyna¡¯s bright smile never faltered. She still looked as cute and beautiful as ever. ¡°Oh my, I¡¯m not against it if it is someone as skilled, capable, and wealthy as you.¡± Davey instinctively felt that Illyna wasn¡¯t someone open to reason. He clicked his tongue and pointed at the window. ¡°Tsk. Let¡¯s not say anything we don¡¯t actually mean. So, let¡¯s have a more productive conversation the next time we see each other.¡± When Davey calmly told her to get out, Princess Illyna glared at him silently. Then, she got up from her seat, slammed her hand on the table, and walked over to him. ¡°No, I¡¯m not giving up.¡± Then, she stared at Davey with determination. Davey clicked his tongue at her obsession. ¡°I have a bad personality and I¡¯m stubborn. So, I don¡¯t hide in the back like other girls and walk on eggshells,¡± Illyna said. She grabbed Davey and quickly pulled him towards her with a bright smile. She declared, ¡°Well, let¡¯s see who is more stubborn.¡± 39. Decepticon Fleet Prototype, Megatron. Illyna was obstinate and pushy; there were a lot of words to describe her, most of which suited her and her steely determination. Conversely, Davey was also just letting her do whatever she wanted because her blatant declaration of her goal was rather amusing. ¡°Aren¡¯t you busy?¡± Davey, who was writing a few calculations for an experiment after finishing a few small tasks around the territory, asked. He stared at Illyna, who was writing on a bunch of documents and putting them inside her magic pouch before sipping her tea. A floral scent faintly spread around the room as Illyna¡¯s bright, honey-like hair swayed in the wind. Davey couldn¡¯t help but sigh in admiration, looking at how she organized her documents with such familiarity. He looked at her petite, feminine physique despite having trained in swordsmanship and her glistening eyes. ¡°I am busy. That¡¯s why I¡¯m doing this here. They say that people need to be in close proximity with each other to grow close.¡± Davey scoffed at Princess Illyna¡¯s confident answer. ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous! Do you know anyone who does their work in some other man¡¯s office?¡± Winley asked in bewilderment, but her question went unanswered. ¡°Oh my, what do you mean ¡®some other man¡¯, Princess Winley? I heard friends often do this. In fact, Duke Orba, the minister of the empire, visits Count Perdoom¡¯s place quite often,¡± Illyna pointed out. ¡°Eek! I don¡¯t understand when Big Brother became your friend, Princess Illyna!¡± Illyna quickly put all the signed documents away and savored her tea one sip at a time. She looked amused by how Winley was anxiously yelling like a child who was about to lose her favorite toy. ¡°You¡¯re right. Let¡¯s stop with all this work.¡± ¡°Eek!¡± Winley stared at Illyna in bewilderment, realizing that the princess was unreasonable. ¡°Hm¡­¡± ¡°More than that, I¡¯m curious as to why Class-5 Yulis is here.¡± Illyna asked a very aggressive question, with a harsher tone than usual. Yulis smiled. He looked at the princess like he was looking at a grumpy younger sibling. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be a problem since Sir Davey and I are friends.¡± ¡°Since when?¡± ¡°Um¡­. I don¡¯t know since when.¡± Illyna immediately stared at Davey. She demanded, ¡°And yet you don¡¯t even want to be involved with me? What did I do wrong?¡± ¡°Um¡­ I thought that I would create a lot of enemies if I were to befriend you.¡± Davey shrugged. ¡°Eek! I¡¯m fine! Let¡¯s be friends! And speak informally!¡± Illyna said. It was a battle between three¡­ no, four: Winley, who had her claws out toward Illyna, Yulis, the youngest elder of the Red Tower who was chuckling at the amusing situation, and Princess Illyna, who was complaining about how they were being cheap and not including her. Princess Illyna was trying to get close to Davey in any way she pleased, but Davey liked her character. He wouldn¡¯t have agreed to meet her in the first place if her personality seemed twisted, even if she was the emperor of the Pallan Empire. Unexpectedly, Davey was living however he wanted after he had regained some of his power. He was very aware of this fact himself. -You act like this despite knowing that fact? Perserque, who was sitting on Davey¡¯s shoulder and yawning, giggled while pulling his ear. -Hm? Tell me, or I will put my entire arm inside your ear. ¡®That¡¯s terrifying. Please don¡¯t do that even in my dreams.¡¯ ¡°Now that I think about it, you two look quite close, Princess Illyna and Yulis. Do you know each other?¡± Davey asked. ¡°You didn¡¯t know? The story about them is quite famous.¡± For a moment, Davey was intrigued by Winley¡¯s revelation. Although she was tomboyish, she was a princess, so she had gone to quite a few informal social events before her actual debut. Because of that, she knew what was going on in the world. ¡°Wasn¡¯t there news about an arranged engagement? I know about it since I¡¯ve heard about the rumors,¡± Winley said. ¡®Aha. No wonder Winley¡¯s hostile towards her from the beginning.¡¯ Davey nodded to himself. To Winley, Princess Illyna was a woman rumored to be engaged to a man she liked. Davey thought, ¡®She has a reason to be wary of her.¡¯ -Stupid¡­ [Huh? Is he an idiot?] After he was done mumbling to himself, Davey could hear Perserque and the cheeky Caldeiras talking. He just ignored them. Winley looked like a small cat that was hissing at its enemy, and Illyna just looked like a calm fox. ¡°Anyways, don¡¯t you have things to do at the division of the Red Tower, Yulis?¡± ¡°Well, there¡¯s nothing for me to do there, honestly. I actually have things to do with Prince Davey here right now. Perhaps something about magic,¡± Yulis said. Although it was phrased strangely, Yulis was very interested in the nonverbal casting Davey had performed out of the several unbelievable magic spells he had shown. One wrong move and Davey would receive all the attention of those insanely inquisitive mages, and he absolutely did not want that. However, Yulis was keeping quiet like he wanted to be considerate of Davey. Davey was beginning to feel a little grateful for how considerate and thoughtful Yulis was. Knock knock. ¡°I have gotten everything you asked for and moved them into the storage in the basement, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Oh, they¡¯re finally here? Good work.¡± Yulis, Illyna, and the growling Winley all glanced at Amy, who peeked into the room and reported to Davey. Amy had now officially taken on the management of the territory in place of Davey, but she was still wearing her lady-in-waiting uniform. Of course, the material and color of her clothes were different, and she had on some accessories to show the status difference, but there was no way of knowing why Royal Attendant Bernile had allowed that when he was always meticulous and rational. ¡°She¡¯s¡­not a lady-in-waiting?¡± Illyna cautiously mumbled after Amy went away. Her presence had caught Amy off-guard. This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°Amy is Big Brother¡¯s personal lady-in-waiting,¡± Winley said. ¡°Now she is the alternate manager of the estate. She has received the title of a baron,¡± Davey revealed. ¡°Really?¡± Winley widened her eyes in surprise, since it was a hundred times harder for women to receive a title compared to men in this world. ¡°Outstanding.¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably difficult for the royal palace to think about these things, since that place is chaotic right now.¡± The political fight between the royalists, led by Marquie Peiltris, and the nobility, led by Duke Bariatta, was currently at its climax. CH 95 Something huge should happen soon, since Davey had received a report that there were some extremely secretive movements in Duke Bariatta¡¯s territory. ¡°Sir Davey? Where are you going?¡± Yulis asked Davey. ¡°Do you want to come with me?¡± It was usually the type of thing that alchemists would go crazy over, but it should be interesting enough for a mage as well. Yulis got up from his seat without hiding his excitement. He knew that Davey was going to show him something amazing again. ¡°W¡ªWhat is it? Take me too!¡± Sticking to them like glue, Princess Illyna spoke briskly and followed along. She probably wouldn¡¯t understand even if she saw it, but it wouldn¡¯t be a big problem since it would still be entertaining to watch. * * * The seigneur¡¯s palace where Davey resided was a very old building. It was where Queen Lennie Alishad, Davey¡¯s mother, had lived when she was younger. This was also the home of the Alishad family, his mother¡¯s ancestors. However, Eighth Elder Goulda was shocked at how the building was about to collapse from being abandoned for a long time and began building a new one¡­ And that was when Davey had arrived. ¡°Oh! Wise Teacher! You have arrived!¡± Goulda said to Davey. ¡°It¡¯s become much taller in the meantime.¡± ¡°Ahem! I still have the instinctive precision of my race, even though my skills are nothing compared to yours.¡± Everything about the new seigneur¡¯s palace was different from the old one, starting with its size. A lot of materials were being used, and Davey had bought a lot of magic equipment to help with building the place. The construction pace was no joke, thanks to the large number of craftsmen and workers. ¡°I created seven floors, since there¡¯s a basement as well. Do you like it?¡± Goulda asked. ¡°Of course, I do. Honestly, I¡¯m thankful that you are helping me.¡± Davey nodded. ¡°Hahahaha! Your business is the Yellowstone Tribe¡¯s business as well! Ah, that grandpa Golgouda has asked how you are doing.¡± ¡°Are you talking about Elder Golgouda?¡± ¡°He said that the sacred item is in its final stages.¡± The Primordial Inferno was the dwarves¡¯ sacred item and spiritual anchor that had protected them for over three thousand years. Davey had crafted the skeleton of it, but the rest had been left up to the dwarves. It seemed like everything was going so well thanks to Davey¡¯s huge contribution to the completion of the sacred item that they had been struggling with. It was just a matter of time before the Halo of Fire was finished. ¡°D¡ªDwarves! Now that I think of it, I saw a few around the territory.¡± Dwarves were known for staying in their villages, so people usually knew of their existence but had never seen one in person. Of course, there were some dwarves who had left the village because there were oddballs among them as well, but they were like extremely rare natural monuments. They were unlike elves, who had hidden their entire existence. ¡°It¡¯s the first time I¡¯m seeing one in person, too¡­¡± Winley, Yulis, and Illyna stared at Goulda in fascination. Looking at them, Goulda asked, ¡°Hm? Who are these people here?¡± He was a dwarf, so human titles meant nothing to him. ¡°They are my guests. And this is Winley, my younger sister.¡± ¡°H¡ªHello. My name is Winley O¡¯Rowane,¡± Winley greeted. ¡°Oh! Is this not the person you complimented so much?¡± Goulda waddled over and laughed heartily as he held Winley¡¯s hand. He exclaimed, ¡°I¡¯ve heard so many good things about you that my ears were about to fall off, Princess Winley! You are one beautiful human!¡± ¡°Ah... Haha¡­ Th¡ªThank you.¡± Winley looked back and forth between Davey and Goulda, then blushed. ¡°And these people?¡± Goulda asked. ¡°This is the elder of the Red Tower and the princess of the Pallan Empire,¡± Davey replied. ¡°Hm¡­ Important people. Well, it doesn¡¯t matter to me anyways! Pahahaha!¡± ¡°Groan¡­ This is the first time I¡¯ve felt insignificant.¡± Princess Illyna, who was completely out of the picture, complained quietly about how everyone was treating her coldly. ¡°Ahem! This is not the time. Should I inform you about the current situation?¡± Goulda asked Davey. ¡°That¡¯s alright. I just heard that the materials have arrived in the workshop. They are in the basement.¡± ¡°Ah, those giant god warriors. Alright. I will get that to them.¡± ¡°Thank you. Don¡¯t overwork yourself. The Heins Territory has a healthy work environment, alright.¡± ¡°The people of the Yellowstone Tribe are nothing without our strength! Hey, you people! Didn¡¯t you have some blood soup?! Hurry up and move so that we can show them who we are!¡± Yulis chuckled as he watched Goulda walk away while waving his hand with a hearty laugh. Yulis commented, ¡°Amazing. It feels like a tornado has hit me.¡± ¡®Dwarves do speak in amazing volumes.¡¯ A person who had never seen a dwarf before could be tired out by Goulda as he spoke at a much higher volume than most dwarves. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Davey nodded toward the trio. After watching the workers running around and working, he visited the finished first floor and walked to the staircase leading to the basement. ¡°It¡¯s huge¡­ It¡¯s not going to collapse, right?¡± Illyna asked like she was nervous, but¡­ ¡°Heh, they are dwarves. Do you think this building made by dwarves would be faulty?¡± Winley raised an eyebrow. ¡°Th¡ªThat¡¯s true.¡± Princess Illyna forcibly nodded in agreement. The group went down to the basement, and they saw a large corridor, which shone brightly from the magic stones embedded in the wall. -A huge amount of money went into making this. People usually call this ¡®spending money like water¡¯¡­ ¡®A huge personal workshop is any craftsman¡¯s dream; don¡¯t insult it like that.¡¯ Davey did spend a lot of money on the workshop, but he had no regrets. The inside, which was brightly lit with magic stones, was over ten meters tall and was quite large as well. ¡°But how is it possible to build something like this?¡± Princess Illyna murmured anxiously. It was true that something this extreme would collapse if it were built with normal skills. ¡°Nothing is impossible if there is alchemy, magic, and the crafting ability of dwarves.¡± There was an automatically reproducing magic circle and an automatically restoring magic circle. The intensity was brought up, the impact lessened, and it was earthquake-resistant. On top of that, it was pretty deep down as well; so, it was a natural bunker¡­ Davey felt flattered as his confidence shot up through the roof. -Tsk. Drrr!! As Davey activated the switch for the firmly shut door, a green marble slowly appeared with the smooth sound of gear wheels turning. -Opening Decepticon Fleet, Containment Workshop. Davey felt people flinch as an even-toned voice came out from the marble as if someone had recorded it. It was originally a magic recording device, but it was good enough to be used for making announcements and such. ¡°Man, a futuristic workshop. It excites me no matter how many times I hear it.¡± Davey grinned. -Don¡¯t people call that putting on airs? There was no rule that a craftsman couldn¡¯t work hard as well as put his entire soul into it; everything was possible. * * * Whrr!! It was an automatic workshop that took up the entire enormous space. It was as big as a hall. There were various bottles and papers on the several tables that were pushed up against the wall, and there were unorganized tools that were being used on one side of the shop. Drrr!! Drr! Perhaps there were things to improve on after the door had fully opened to reveal what was within. Winley, Yulis, and Illyna couldn¡¯t pick their jaws up from the floor at the parts that were moving busily. ¡®Well, it¡¯s difficult to see a space this bewildering even if they were a mage or the princess of an empire.¡¯ Davey had put quite some thought into this place, and it was created with his desires in mind. There wasn¡¯t really anything that astonishing in terms of efficiency, but this blueprint and creation was a very good try. -Whoosh¡­ -The workshop is now open. Another voice recording was heard. It was a simple system that Davey had created so that a magic recording device was activated every time the doors opened and closed, but it was quite nice. Of course, it was spending money like water because a magic recording device wasn¡¯t cheap, but¡­ ¡®Who¡¯s going to stop me when I¡¯m spending money on my hobbies?¡¯ This was Davey¡¯s thought. ¡°Oh my¡­ I¡¯ve seen all kinds of workshops, but¡­¡± ¡°This is amazing¡­¡± The three people were truly astonished by the workshop. They looked around in intrigue and fascination. ¡°Oh! Wise Teacher! You¡¯re here.¡± ¡°We were waiting for you!¡± As the door fully opened and closed, a couple of dwarves who were working greeted Davey and waddled towards them. Goulda was originally responsible for managing this place, but he was busy with other tasks as well. ¡°Yes, I heard that the materials have arrived,¡± Davey said to the dwarves. ¡°Ahem! Yes, we were just about to start working on making the coat. Do you want to have a look?¡± One of the dwarf craftsmen proudly pointed to the large object that was covered with a cloth. ¡°Sir Davey, what¡­is that?¡± Yulis asked. ¡°A guardian.¡± ¡°A guardian¡­golem?¡± Yulis murmured to himself as he tried to figure out what Davey meant. Upon realization, his eyed widened in surprise. Golems were giant warriors made from hardened clay or iron, and were exceptional weapons created by a magic circle from a mage and the skills of an alchemist. They were so outstanding that some countries even utilized small armies of golems during wars. ¡°Those are class-1 golems! The fee to maintain them is about half a territory¡¯s profit¡­¡± ¡°Is it that expensive?¡± They didn¡¯t cost a lot of money since Davey had left out all the unnecessary labor and had recycled them. Where did he get the materials to recycle? The enchanted golems that were guarding the carrier of the curse had become parts of this golem. All he did was a little remodeling, reinforcing, and adjusting. The dwarf took the cloth away to reveal a huge figure. At first glance, it seemed more like a statue made of a special metal rather than a golem. ¡°Hm? Isn¡¯t that just a statue?¡± Yulis asked. ¡°I agree. Big Brother?¡± Winley asked. ¡°We haven¡¯t painted it or named it. You should be the one to name it, Wise Teacher.¡± ¡°Right. Let¡¯s call it ¡®Megatron Prototype¡¯.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a terrifying name! You are quite good at naming things, too!¡± The dwarf giggled and used a ladder to climb on top of the statue. He then added, ¡°We have put some layers of armor on it, but we¡¯ve just left it for now as we haven¡¯t been able to test it yet.¡± Davey quietly climbed toward the top of the statue. Placing his hand on the golem¡¯s head, he released his mana. It began to change as his mana connected with the statue. Whirr!! Clunk! Clunk! ¡°Oh my¡­¡± A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled. ¡°That thing¡­is a golem?¡± Davey could hear the bewildered voices of Yulis and Illyna. The statue¡¯s transformation¡ªa bunch of cracks spreading across its surface¡ªwas going to be difficult to forget. Clunk!! Clunk!! At last, each of the metal pieces that had been covering the parts moved, and it transformed into the form of a human. CH 96 The golem looked very human-like, but its skeleton and body were made of unknown stones and metals. Whirr!! Pshh!! Letting out steam as it transformed, the golem slowly began moving and fully stood up. It was much larger than when Davey first saw it, like it had initially been squished up or something. Furthermore, it didn¡¯t have a monolithic structure that was specialized for defending and attacking; it really moved like a human. To be honest, Davey wouldn¡¯t have been able to make this golem if he didn¡¯t have the base of the golem to work with; it was impossible to create a movement this fluid and agile with the current existing knowledge. He didn¡¯t understand how the hell the structure of the golems that protected the ancient ruins were created, but their movements were very strong, agile, and fluid. Davey struggled to understand this fact better as well. This Megatron prototype was the OP model that had overcome most of the disadvantages about golems that existed. It wasn¡¯t unusual that there was only one as of right now. Davey quietly mumbled at the golem that silently stood with glowing blue eyes. ¡°Attention.¡± Clunk!! There was no answer, but the golem with glowing blue eyes stood straight up with a fluid movement. ¡°At ease.¡± Clunk!! ¡°Turn around.¡± Thud! ¡°Shout for five seconds.¡± Clunk! ¡°Roar!!!¡± Davey felt satisfaction as the golem perfectly obeyed him and did exactly as he ordered. ¡°It is the recording magic stone that you gave us. It should be perfect for fear or a morale boost,¡± one of the dwarves said. ¡°Is the other thing I asked for also ready?¡± Davey asked. ¡°Oh, that? It¡¯s not yet complete, but it shouldn¡¯t have a problem as it progresses further.¡± Davey slowly nodded. Then, he ordered, ¡°Interception mode.¡± Clunk! Clunk!! The golem put its gigantic hands on the ground and slightly bent down. At the same time, some strange-looking things popped out from its back and began lining up. ¡°Th¡ªThat¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°I asked you for a simple interception system, but you made me an ultimate weapon?¡± ¡°Hahaha! All we do is smelt and hammer according to the blueprint we¡¯re given. As you wished, there are two magic stone batteries for single shots. There are four continuous energy batteries, although they are less powerful!¡± the dwarf proudly shouted. ¡°How is it? I have equipped it with everything you said so that it can proceed.¡± ¡°Most aerial monsters will turn to ashes even before they can approach us.¡± Davey heard gasps from all over. ¡°Oh my¡­ A golem that can execute other complex orders other than the first order¡­ And its fluid movement and a rechargeable magic battery¡­ Sir Davey, what on earth did you make?!¡± This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°Right. Are you thinking of going to war?!¡± Davey slowly nodded at the bewildering questions. This golem was something that lots of mages and alchemists would go wild over if it was revealed to the public. Although there were still improvements to be made, it was still quite a good prototype considering the basic abilities and the fact it could follow orders. Davey smiled at the two people who were staring at him in shock. ¡°War? What are you talking about when we live in peace? It is only a guardian to protect the territory.¡± ¡®It¡¯s a little violent, but¡­¡¯ Davey had no intention of cutting back money and resources on protecting his home. Winley, Yulis, and Illyna just chuckled hollowly. It was like they had given up on Davey¡¯s easygoing attitude. * * * It would be rude not to test out something once it was completed. ¡°I will grant you one wish if you battle with it just once. I¡¯ll do it if it¡¯s not something like teaching you the swordsmanship of the Sword Lord,¡± Davey said to Illyna. ¡°A¡ªAlright. But that might break.¡± Illyna spoke confidently while she dragged her large sword on the ground. ¡°If it breaks, it was only just that good. Swing as much as you¡¯d like.¡± Davey wasn¡¯t lying; if the golem was to break without being able to do anything against Illyna, it was a failure for it to be that mediocre. ¡®Why was I saying this?¡¯ It was natural for Davey to have such a perspective, especially when considering the enchanted golem¡¯s basic skeleton or its destructive force. The Megatron prototype was an early model that had seven of the magic stones that were responsible for operating the enchanted golems. Although he acted like this, he had very high expectations for it. -It¡¯s still going to be difficult to beat a Swordmaster. ¡®Little drops make the mighty ocean, if there is room for improvement, of course.¡¯ A Master at a transcendent level wasn¡¯t common. Clunk!! Illyna pulled out her large sword as she watched the Megatron, which got into position after transforming into battle form. It looked like the machine parts were spinning together. It seemed like Caldeiras was desperately trying to get Illyna to use her, but Davey wouldn¡¯t be able to judge the golem properly if the divine sword helped out. ¡°Hm¡­ It looks quite expensive¡­¡± Illyna commented. ¡°It¡¯s not going to be easy.¡± Illyna¡¯s eyes glistened as Davey answered without a doubt. She said, ¡°Don¡¯t regret it.¡± Boom!! Illyna, who showed a strong obsession over battling, struck first. A blue mana surrounded her sword and body as she crushed the ground in an instant. At the same time, the Megatron prototype¡¯s blue eyes shone and a sword came out from its wrist to point toward the ground. * * * The battle ended with Illyna¡¯s complete defeat. ¡°This is unbelievable!!¡± Although one of the Megatron¡¯s arms was on the ground and half its body was crushed, Davey smiled in satisfaction as he watched Illyna scream while pinned down onto the ground. She was rendered immobile. In the end, the prototype had destroyed her defense with its berserker-like charges and overpowered her. ¡°What kind of golem is this strong?!¡± Illyna, who was screaming, clenched her jaw as Davey grinned. The golem was so strong that Illyna, who was the greatest swordsman of the next generation to use the Sword Lord¡¯s swordsmanship, would¡¯ve been knocked out if she had let her guard down even for just a second. ¡°Huff¡­ Puff¡­ It shoots if I get away from it¡­ It strikes back if I get near it¡­ Ugh¡­¡± -But its efficiency is lacking despite you putting seven of those extraordinary magic stones. Davey agreed silently at Perserque¡¯s detailed observation. He commented quietly, ¡°Ancient humans wouldn¡¯t have just used one magic stone if simply having more was better.¡± Having a big fuel tank didn¡¯t mean that a car would be faster; the important thing was the engine¡¯s power. Davey knew very well that it would just become more burdensome if the fuel tank got bigger for no good reason. ¡°There¡¯s a lot I have to work on,¡± Davey declared. Watching the dwarves quickly run over and load the parts into their wagons, Davey slowly walked toward Illyna, who was wheezing on the ground. ¡®Well, I never expected her to look like a beautiful painting even in this situation. How selfish.¡¯ ¡°Good work,¡± Davey said to Illyna. ¡°Huff¡­ Puff¡­ An automatic barrier¡­ Huff¡­ What kind of golem¡­¡± ¡°[Hard Shield], the 3rd circle magic spell is just the basics, isn¡¯t it?¡± When Davey spoke so matter-of-factly, Illyna pounded on her chest with her fist in frustration. ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s unbelievable! What kind of golem can use magic that¡¯s above the 3rd circle?! Are you trying to make a weapon to destroy the entire continent?¡± ¡°Hey, that¡¯s the least it should do, considering it has a magic stone embedded in it.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no use in talking to you¡­¡± Yulis¡¯ eyes shone brightly as he cast a wind magic spell on Illyna, who murmured like she was tired of Davey. He called out, ¡°Sir Davey.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°¡­Bummer.¡± ¡®How dare you desire a magic stone.¡¯ Davey remembered the way Yulis was staring at the magic stone, the nucleus of the golem, from a little while ago. He was slightly worried that Yulis, who was still staring at it while holding back his greed, was going to run away with the magic stone if he didn¡¯t keep an eye on it. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that I would lose to a lump of metal¡­¡± Illyna muttered. The victory would¡¯ve been hers if she had used the divine sword, which was basically her other half, but this battle was just a conditional one. Davey had gathered useful data; he did want to do it himself, but he wouldn¡¯t have been able to properly gather data like that. What he needed was combat data regarding different methods and skill levels. However, it was quite bothersome to go and look for someone as talented as Illyna, so the battle between her and the Megatron was a huge gain for him. ¡°Phew¡­ I feel like it was a little unfair. So, you¡¯re granting me one wish as you promised, right?¡± Illyna asked Davey cautiously, as if she was speaking to a fraud. ¡°If it¡¯s not about teaching you swordsmanship.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll think about it for a little bit.¡± Illyna sighed. ¡°And¡­ That thing¡­ Are you going to make more of them?¡± ¡°I¡¯m thinking of making about five more as the prototype is now complete.¡± Illyna pointed at Megatron, the fighting enchanted golem that was shut down and motionless, while slurring the end of her words. ¡°Can you give me one in the future?¡± She asked Davey. ¡°Do you know how much those cost?¡± It was difficult to put a value to the labor, magic stone, and the ancient magic circles that were put into creating the golems. ¡°I didn¡¯t say that I wanted them for free.¡± ¡°So, are you saying that you¡¯re going to buy them¡­? Or something like that?¡± When Davey asked in bewilderment, Illyna tilted her head. Her cold gaze turned innocent and pierced right through Davey. She stated, ¡°I have a lot of money.¡± It was weird because it was true. Then, Davey put on a big smile and answered Illyna without hesitation. ¡°You probably can¡¯t buy it even with your wealth, Princess Illyna. And they¡¯re not for sale.¡± ¡®She¡¯s filled with greed.¡¯ 40. The Way That Seigneur Shows His Generosity The creation of the Megatrons, the early models of the Decepticon Fleet, the golem army that was going to be the guardians of the territory, was the result of Davey¡¯s work during the spare time he had in between developing the territory. The golems became extraordinary beings as he put all of his desires into them. Its power was similar to an enchanted golem, but its ability to last a long time, variety, and its ability to use magic however it wanted, were definitely advantageous. It was when Davey was analyzing the intricate magic circle, which looked to be created by an ancient mage, with [Re-fix Curse], the magic spell he used before to trace the curse in the territory when Perserque and him began speaking. ¡®Nothing else is wrong¡­but it lacks combat data.¡¯ -But it¡¯s even crazier to bring this unbelievable thing out into the world. ¡®What should I do¡­¡¯ ¡°You¡¯re here.¡± ¡°Did you jump over the wall again?¡± Davey asked Illyna. ¡°We decided to be friends, right? I came here because the royal attendant said that you would be here.¡± ¡°I can see right through your offer to be friends. Do I have to accept?¡± ¡°¡­You can¡¯t say yes to me?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like I can¡¯t, but¡­¡± Illyna wasn¡¯t someone who would cause problems for Davey if they were to become friends. He had a better understanding of her personality from seeing her for the past few days. ¡°And¡­ It looks like Caldeiras wants to meet her friend, too¡­¡± After seeing Illyna trail off and show him Caldeiras, who was wrapped up in a cloth, Davey could see Perserque, who was asleep on the crafting table, rubbing her eyes with a tired expression. CH 97 ¡°Anyways, what brings you here this late at night?¡± Davey asked Illyna. ¡°Just¡­to talk.¡± -She¡¯s lying. She can¡¯t hide her anxiety. Perserque quietly muttered while staring at Illyna with sleepy eyes. Since even her status window in front of Davey showed that she was here because of something else, it seemed like Illyna was consumed with that thought. Bleep. -Name: Illyna de Pallan. -Age: 17. -Title: Master of the Divine Sword; First Flower of the Five Beauties. -Notes: Contracted to the Divine Sword; apple of the Pallan Empire¡¯s eye; member of the Last Wisp. -Current Emotion: Confusion; in thought. It was a perfectly normal status window, but there was one thing that caught Davey¡¯s eye. ¡®The Last Wisp¡­¡¯ He thought that Illyna had brought an interesting story. ¡°Well, talking isn¡¯t something difficult to do. Sit and wait for a little bit, and I¡¯ll bring out some tea.¡± After he spoke, only the sound of Davey¡¯s footsteps resonated through the empty and quiet workshop. * * * ¡°That golem¡­ The world is going to be flipped upside down if it is revealed,¡± Illyna said. Only be flipped upside down? It would be a relief if it wasn¡¯t viewed as a dangerous weapon. A golem that was able to carry out complex orders and execute high-level combat was no different from a bomb. Illyna smiled bitterly while staring at the Megatron prototype, which was independently moving part of its body on one side of the quiet workshop. She muttered, ¡°I tried so hard¡­ Yet I couldn¡¯t beat one golem.¡± ¡°You are not weak. That thing is just monstrously strong,¡± Davey replied. Davey wasn¡¯t lying; the Megatron¡¯s nucleus was made of several magic stones, which were on another level compared to mana stones. Furthermore, the main skeleton was made of a unique stone that was seemingly created from an ancient mage. If positioned the right way, enchanted golems could potentially be more powerful than a Master; it was amazing that a swordswoman only at the Expert level was able to hold out against it. However, Illyna seemed to be quite humiliated by the loss. Unlike humans, who wouldn¡¯t be able to fight properly from the pain if their arm was cut off, the Megatron was a golem that couldn¡¯t feel pain. It was natural that she couldn¡¯t beat it. The Megatron also needed a lot of data, but it seemed like this woman also needed it. ¡°Experience is what matters. Let¡¯s go out,¡± Davey said to Illyna. ¡°To¡­where?¡± Davey wanted to be nosy just this one time, since he saw how Illyna was feeling very down. ¡°The weather is perfect for a night stroll.¡± Illyna stood up and followed Davey with a blank expression. * * * ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you weren¡¯t going to teach me swordsmanship?¡± Illyna asked Davey. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll lose something important if I just leave it like this. I also feel like I should at least maintain it, since I need to be able to face him without shame,¡± Davey replied. Illyna was the one who was known to use the Sword Lord¡¯s swordsmanship, and although the world didn¡¯t know, Davey knew that fact well. As someone who had learned [Longsword] from the Sword Lord, for it to gradually be lost and be regarded as a worthless piece of junk¡­ It didn¡¯t make him happy. Then, it might be a good idea to find someone to take the hit. ¡°That is¡­¡± Illyna mumbled. ¡°Perhaps you don¡¯t want to?¡± Davey asked. ¡°N¡ªNo! I want to!¡± Surprised, Illyna quickly shook her head and looked down at her sword with excitement. Her heart fluttered. Her sword, Divine Sword Caldeiras, was subtly shining in a white silver light. Compared to Illyna, who was holding a divine sword, Davey had nothing but a wooden sword. It was a significant enough penalty that it wouldn¡¯t be strange if others yelled at him to stop being ridiculous, but it didn¡¯t matter in this case. ¡°Even if I told you to hold a real sword instead of a wooden one¡­ It would probably just be an absurd amount of arrogance.¡± Illyna realized the difference between herself and Davey. -You are unexpectedly friendly. You help her while you pretend not to. ¡®I¡¯m just drawing the line before it gets troublesome.¡¯ Since Illyna had helped him once before¡ªalthough it wasn¡¯t necessary¡ªDavey was just repaying her. Davey chuckled and lightly criticized Perserque. This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV. Then, Davey pointed his wooden sword and quietly said, ¡°I will give you the advantage of having the first attack. Come.¡± ¡°Okay. Then¡­ Thank you.¡± Illyna¡¯s expression turned serious as soon as she stopped talking. Shshshsh¡­ At the same time, Illyna exuded a blue energy. An ordinary person at the Expert level wouldn¡¯t have been able to breathe as the heavy flow of mana filled the air. Boom!!! Then, she charged toward Davey like a cannonball. Like flowing water, Davey swiftly moved and rushed straight toward Illyna¡¯s powerful dive. Illyna quickly judged that there was a clear difference between Davey¡¯s extremely weighted strike and his swift, fluid strike, so she channeled an even stronger energy into her sword. Still, Davey did not dodge the attack; instead, he suddenly accelerated his sword like he had flipped a switch while shooting up from the ground. Clang!!! A loud clashing sound resonated through the surroundings. Illyna bounced off the sword like a ball as she reflexively turned her body and blocked the attack with Caldeiras. ¡°Your strength¡­¡± Then, Illyna flinched slightly and ran her hand down her waist. Although she did have unbelievably fast reflexes, since she was very gifted, she wasn¡¯t able to completely block the additional hit. ¡°Your [Longsword] is much lighter than I expected,¡± Davey taunted Illyna, who had a solemn expression. Illyna¡¯s forceful attacks began as the energy from her body quivered intensely. Like an avalanche, her threatening mana came over Davey every time she swung her sword. Davey could clearly see that if he was going to dodge every attack, Illyna was going to block his path so that he couldn¡¯t avoid them. Crash!! Boom!! With a series of explosions, which could not be thought to have come from a wooden and a divine sword, the nearby ground was crushed into fragments. Even though it was a collision between an [Aura] that was the most advanced in the Expert level and another of a similar level, the power that came from the collision surpassed any regular battle. Boom!! Boom!! Davey could feel a great force in each of Illyna¡¯s attacks, which she bombarded him with. Illyna was freely utilizing the weight shift of the Sword Lord¡¯s [Longsword], which meant each slash had great strength. Boom!! The ground Davey stood on was crushed to pieces with one strike from her sword. There was a clear difference between her strength with the divine sword and without. ¡®The Megatron wouldn¡¯t have been able to last very long.¡¯ The Megatron had only won because Illyna had used a regular sword. If she had Caldeiras, the golem would¡¯ve already been cut up into pieces. Davey only showed Illyna one thing from beginning to end; if she was going to attack using [Longsword], the Sword Lord¡¯s sword technique, he had no choice but to counter her with the same move. [Transcendental Longsword, Rock Split] Davey swiftly moved his wooden sword and accelerated it with a sudden surge of power just as it was about to touch Illyna¡¯s sword. One of his talents was to evade his opponent¡¯s sword; although she was gifted, it would be difficult for Illyna to react to it since she hadn¡¯t even reached ¡®Master¡¯ yet. At the same time, Davey¡¯s sword hit Caldeiras away, then rotated 360 degrees like it was slashing the ground, and hit Illyna¡¯s waist once again. As he swung, the path of his sword made an imprint on the grass. ¡°Agh!!¡± Illyna groaned. ¡°Give up?¡± Davey asked. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have even come to you if I was going to give up after this much!!¡± Illyna began attacking again, even harder than before. She was persistent even though the earlier hit would''ve been pretty painful¡­ The force of her attacks broke everything around her, but she seemed to become more depressed as the sparring continued. A fluid and swift sword motion would block Illyna¡¯s sword and counterattack her just when she thought she was going to land a hit. Her straightforward and destructive sword technique was constantly blocked by Davey¡¯s flowy sword technique. She grew more anxious as the battle went on to defy her expectations, and it felt like Davey was just teasing her. Clang!! As Davey tried to put distance between Illyna and himself after hitting away her sword, Illyna bolted like a cannonball and blocked his path. At the same time, she grabbed Caldeiras in the opposite way as it was rotating from the impact of Davey hitting it away. She then charged in without hesitation before attacking with a surprising move. [Trascendental Longsword, Mountain Split] ¡®Wow.¡¯ Davey couldn¡¯t help but be astonished by Illyna¡¯s choice. The attack she used when Davey slightly let down his guard was the same technique he had used when he had slashed Shari, the vampire lady-in-waiting, at the Duchy of Felicity¡ªalthough Illyna¡¯s attack was much weaker than his. Illyna breathed hard with Caldeiras planted in the ground. She had caused an explosion that was incomparably larger than the ones before. ¡°This must have¡­done something¡­¡± Illyna wheezed. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s good.¡± However, Illyna¡¯s hopes were completely destroyed as Davey stood behind her while poking her waist with his wooden sword. She frowned terribly as he grinned widely. -That [Landing Technique of a Thousand Weights]¡­ It was definitely the one you used. Did she learn it by watching it once? ¡°She¡¯s crazy talented. Unbelievable.¡± -Are you one to say that¡­ ¡®I am just able to learn a wide variety of things; I can¡¯t just watch a move and use it in a real battle like that,¡¯ Davey thought. It had taken him ten years just to be able to imitate the original form of that sword technique. Illyna clenched her jaw while crying in fury; perhaps it was because the ultimate attack that she had used her greatest might to execute had been blocked so easily. ¡°I gave my everything for this opportunity¡­ It can¡¯t end with nothing!¡± Davey realized the concern and worry Illyna had as she shouted in a fit. Then, he immediately charged toward her as soon as he reached that conclusion. The moment Illyna opened her eyes wide, unable to react in any way, Davey mumbled quietly as he suddenly accelerated his wooden sword, which was moving fluidly like water, in seconds and slashed right above her head. ¡°Watch carefully, and don¡¯t miss it.¡± ¡°What? Kyak!¡± [Divine Union] [Transcendental Sword, Giant Tree Slashing] Crack!! The destructive force of the instantly accelerated sword was beyond imagination. Unlike the impact of other moves, which only destroyed little parts at a time, one strike of this blew away everything and left giant claw marks dozens of meters away. ¡°Now, what did you learn?¡± Davey asked Illyna. ¡°A fluid sword technique¡­ I couldn¡¯t defend against it at all, even when it was the same thing¡­¡± Illyna seemed confused because the weaknesses of the swordsmanship she was learning had been explicitly revealed. Although she was feeling that way as well, she was probably denying it because of the title the [Longsword] had. ¡°Were you¡­trying to tell me that the [Longsword] was a sword technique full of weak spots?¡± Illyna¡¯s confused shouting rang throughout the surroundings. Her voice was teary and filled with sorrow and shame. ¡°Were you telling me that the [Longsword] was an old and useless sword technique¡­¡± To others, it could look like Davey had teased Illyna by using a sword technique that was highly effective against the [Longsword] technique she used since she was able to make zero valid hits with her sword. ¡°Picked the least effective sword technique¡­¡± Tears rolled down Illyna¡¯s face in fury as Davey, who couldn¡¯t help but sigh, approached her. He said, ¡°I told you to watch carefully.¡± Thump!! ¡°Kyak?!¡± Illyna opened her eyes wide and screamed as Davey suddenly thumped her on the forehead. ¡°There¡¯s no such thing as a sword technique that fits everyone.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°That also includes the Sword Lord¡¯s swordsmanship.¡± How could a sword technique that fit everyone perfectly exist when people, even twins, were so different from each other? CH 98 ¡°First, I¡¯ll show you what you missed one more time. I¡¯ll do it slowly,¡± Davey told Illyna. Then, he picked up an extra wooden sword and swung forcefully toward the ground without hesitation. It was a strike that had amazing strength and precision. Boom!! The weighted swing disappeared after crushing the ground. It was the basic slash of [Longsword], the destruction-oriented sword technique of the Sword Lord that Illyna was using. Then, Davey swung his sword one more time. The move was more fluid and light than the one before, which had been heavily focused on destruction. The difference in destructive power was apparent even from the flow of the air. Of course, Davey wouldn¡¯t have gone out of his way to show Illyna examples if this was just it¡­ The moment the swift sword swing reached a certain position, an extreme amount of weight was instantly put on the sword tip as Davey¡¯s wrist trembled slightly. Booom!!! Like before, an enormous crater was left on the ground as a powerful shock accompanied a huge explosion. The first and second slashes both showed the same level of destruction. ¡°See the difference between the two slashes?¡± Davey asked. He and Illyna were now speaking informally, since they no longer cared about formalities. He was also sincerely giving her advice. Illyna was completely shocked. She asked, ¡°How¡­could the destructive force be the same?¡± The [Longsword] she knew was a weight-oriented sword technique that emphasized destructive power and range, like the light [Landing Technique of a Thousand Weights], [Horizontal Slash], [Upward Slash], etcetera. ¡°No way! Even if the technique of the Sword Lord was lost, I know that [Longsword] is a technique that increases the destructive power by putting an immense weight on the sword! It¡¯s impossible for the path of the sword to be that fluid!¡± Just as Illyna said, the [Longsword] of the Sword Lord was structured in a way that made it impossible for it to be as fluid as the technique Davey had just shown. She then added, ¡°Isn¡¯t the [Longsword] a technique that excludes any artistry and focuses solely on destructive power?! But for a technique that slow and fluid to have the same level of power¡­!¡± This level of power couldn¡¯t normally be used, since it was a destructive force that could only be brought out by abandoning all artistry. Since it was a power that required a sacrifice, it would be greedy for a sword technique with artistry to expect the same level of power as the [Longsword]. ¡°Hm, should I call it ¡®zero-to-one hundred¡¯? It¡¯s the time it takes for the speed to get to the fastest speed possible.¡± ¡°Zero¡­to one hundred?¡± ¡°Simply put, it¡¯s the time it takes for a carriage to reach its fastest speed. Do you at least have an idea of what that means?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Illyna nodded like she had realized something from what Davey had said. ¡®Zero-to-one hundred¡¯ usually referred to the time it took for a car to reach a speed of one hundred kilometers per hour from zero, although Davey referred to it as the speed of a carriage since cars didn¡¯t exist here. Support us at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°You probably know that a weight-based impact requires you to swing a sword for a certain distance, right?¡± Davey asked Illyna. ¡°That¡¯s how the [Longsword] works.¡± It brought out an incredible strength by exerting an overwhelming amount of weight on a simple slash. ¡°Then, have you tried altering the speed at which the weight reaches its highest limit?¡± ¡°What does¡­¡± ¡°The weight that is used in [Longsword] is similar to gravity, but it is actually just extremely concentrated mana imitating it. It¡¯s not gravity.¡± Labeling it as mana was just for imagination purposes. The weight that brought the destructive power to [Longsword] wasn¡¯t gravity, but a temporary strength made of mana; the ¡®zero-to-one hundred¡¯ delay that it had was completely unrelated to the laws of physics, meaning that the speed of ¡®zero-to-one hundred¡¯ could change at any time depending on the mastery level. Illyna¡¯s eyes opened wide as Davey spoke; she had understood what he was saying like the clever girl she was. Without hesitation, Davey threw the wooden sword he was holding on the ground. ¡°The advantage to [Longsword] is its destructive and annihilative power, but it definitely has its disadvantages like that it becomes an extremely unstable sword that is only focused on destruction if one hasn¡¯t mastered it completely. Now, I¡¯ll give you a hint.¡± Illyna looked at Davey in surprise. Davey then went on to say, ¡°Setting Sword Lord Ares aside since he was dumb enough to change directions while exerting an extreme amount of gravity, why do you think this technique had just disappeared and become lost?¡± ¡®Of course. It would¡¯ve gone to the next generation without them understanding the full mechanism of it since they would¡¯ve been just merely imitating it.¡¯ It would¡¯ve been passed on as the greatest sword technique since its destructive power was the best out of any other. It seemed like Illyna, who was sitting while staring into space, hadn¡¯t fully understood what Davey was saying. She would probably be able to overcome the barrier of Master if she were to understand it and be enlightened by even just a part of it. ¡°The groundwork¡­ I think I got it. Thank you¡­¡± With her head down and tears in her eyes, Illyna slowly spoke like she had organized some of her thoughts. Although it was just one piece of advice, it seemed like she had instinctively felt how huge the help was. -You are thoughtful in unexpected ways. ¡®Eh¡­ I didn¡¯t do anything.¡¯ Illyna slowly turned her gaze to Davey, who stayed silent. Then, she faintly smiled as she gripped onto Caldeiras. ¡°Anyways, you look like you have urgent business,¡± Davey pointed out. ¡°Oh¡­¡± ¡°From what I see, you look like you¡¯re being chased by something.¡± ¡°Th¡ªThere¡¯s nothing like that!¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like everything is going to be ruined because I heard it. I think it¡¯s wise to speak up when you have the chance.¡± Illyna¡¯s gaze shook in confusion. However, she carefully opened her mouth like she had come to a decision. ¡°You¡­are a very kind person¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like my ears only have a certain number of things I can listen to. All I am doing is listening.¡± ¡°Then¡­ Could you become my partner by chance?¡± It was a comment that could bring about a very big misunderstanding, depending on how it was understood by the other party. * * * ¡°I need your help.¡± Illyna approached Davey while quietly speaking. ¡°It doesn¡¯t make sense that the princess of the strongest empire in the continent needs help. Aren¡¯t there a few Swordmasters that will move with just one word of yours?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t borrow their power¡­ It would be against the rules, since only people under the age of twenty can participate.¡± After, Illyna slowly began telling Davey the secret she had been hiding. Illyna, the princess of the Pallan Empire, was preparing for a test of a certain organization. In the test, several teams of two would try to reach a goal while competing. The problem was that two people including her had to take the test together, but her partner had gone missing for some unknown reason. ¡°So, you need someone to help you because your test partner is missing?¡± Davey asked Illyna. ¡°I searched for them desperately, but they vanished. It¡¯s like they evaporated into thin air. I need someone who could help me if I can¡¯t get stronger.¡± ¡°Hm¡­ Get help from the others taking the test¡­ Ah, no. I can see them conspire all the way from here.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know the details, but I definitely need a partner to take the test.¡± Davey thought hard about what Illyna said. She had hidden the organization she was a part of; it was definitely an organization that the royalty of an ordinary kingdom or even the royalty of an empire wouldn¡¯t know, but he could analyze what kind of organization it was with ¡®Check Information¡¯. The Last Wisp: the final piece. It had several names, but the name that showed up on the status window was familiar to him as well. The name might¡¯ve stuck with him for longer because he had heard it from Bow Lord Apollo who usually never told stories about his past. It was when Daphne had called Davey over to have drinks because she had gotten her hands on some good liquor. Apollo had came to see Daphne, and the latter was passed out like usual, so he happened to tell the story after becoming needlessly sentimental. [What? Stories about the past? Well, alright. It¡¯s nice to tell them once in a while. Let me ask you one thing: who do you think protects the people?] ¡®The militia? Royal guard? Or knights¡­¡¯ [That¡¯s right, since intelligent beings naturally form a group, and a country is inevitably created. That¡¯s the same for any being, whether it be humans or elves or dwarves. Then, who do you think protects the continent from unknown threats?] Davey thought that it was nonsense when he first heard it; however, he was able to quickly understand it. Catastrophes or threats that would bring chaos to the world just with its existence would have had to be dealt with secretly. [That¡¯s when the Last Wisp was founded. They are an alliance of knights called the Final Piece. Well, there aren¡¯t many that use swords although they are a knight order.] At that time, Davey had listened to him, forgetting about his usual aversion toward him as Apollo told the story more calmly than expected. [They all have different names, but they¡¯ve connected amongst each other in the great bond of the Last Wisp and have secretly taken care of the things that were a threat to the continent. You know that the continent was oddly peaceful after that Sword Lord slashed the Demon Lord, right? They¡¯re the reason why.] ¡®What are you talking about?¡¯ [Simply put¡­ What should I say? I guess it could be said that they are heroes that foster the talented, or a knight order that cultivates warriors.] Davey wasn¡¯t confused for long since the answer to his question was revealed as the pieces of the story gradually began fitting together. The strong beings who had some recognition couldn¡¯t recklessly become involved with them, and their main targets were the young generation that would be responsible for the future. Illyna was learning and growing her power as a member of the secret knight order. There was no way of knowing why she was part of an organization that was dangerous and had no prestige, but it was true that it was quite intriguing. ¡°It¡¯s funny, right? You can forget about what I said today. I learned something huge today because of you.¡± A little timidly, Illyna got up and brushed off her short skirt. ¡°Let¡¯s go back inside. I won¡¯t forget your help.¡± ¡°Wait.¡± To be honest, Illyna¡¯s request wasn¡¯t worth considering since the work of the secret knight order would still be dangerous even though one wasn¡¯t officially a member. Of course, Davey could help if she was someone he was very fond of, but he had only gotten to know her for a few days. It seemed like she had just put it out there because she also knew that. However, he felt like there was a different possibility other than the ordinary thoughts that popped into his head. -If the organization is really like you said, they will definitely go against unknown dangers. The level of danger would increase drastically. This is unbelievab¡­ ¡®Wait¡­ Wow, this is nice.¡¯ Perserque¡¯s eyes opened wide as she heard Davey. -D¡ªDavey? ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°That test. I''ll do it. I¡¯ll give you all the help you need.¡± It was actually Illyna who was surprised by Davey¡¯s breezy answer. She stared at him in confusion and looked like she couldn¡¯t understand him. CH 99 ¡°Why?¡± Illyna asked Davey. ¡°You said you needed help. You don¡¯t want it?¡± ¡°W¡­ Well, no, I still want it.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s talk about it first though. The main work of the organization that you¡¯re part of is hunting down rare and dangerous evil beasts, right?¡± ¡°How¡­¡± ¡°It should be connected to the Zone of Evil that normally can¡¯t be entered, and there are probably various types of people if it is so secretive that you can¡¯t even tell me the name of it. Is that right?¡± ¡°Y¡ªYes!¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough for me.¡± Since Davey couldn¡¯t input the data himself, he needed people who were at about the same skill level as Illyna. And various data would also be collected if it was against unusual and rare evil beasts. ¡®It¡¯s a chance to gather a large amount of data! I can¡¯t miss it.¡¯ -¡­Your head is filled with thoughts about nothing but the development of your territory¡­ The golem would be strengthened, and therefore, the territory¡¯s defense would be enhanced. Davey¡¯s position in the palace would then become more powerful and so would his right to speak. The chance that there would be forceful intervention even if he did whatever he wanted would decrease¡­ This was only a golden opportunity to be able to gather various data about the gifted at once. And if the Last Wisp was what he thought it was, he needed ties to it. ¡°I will help you in the way I want. Doesn¡¯t matter, right?¡± Davey asked. Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original. * * * ¡°What a catch.¡± Davey couldn¡¯t help but laugh. -Davey, you know that Last Wisp is the name of a secret organization. If you get involved with them, there will inevitably be limitations¡­ ¡°That¡¯s why this is the better choice.¡± Davey stood up with confidence and answered while tweaking the magic circle that formed the Megatron. -The better? ¡°Yeah. Unfortunately, this guy¡­¡± Clang clang!! The golem¡¯s metal plates rang loudly as if showing off their presence. ¡°He can¡¯t come out into the world yet. Neither can the magic stone, the magic circle that forms it, nor the arrangement.¡± A golem like the Megatron was completely different from the harvest of moon grass or a stigmata; it would be a weapon for war at the Master level if it were to be made exactly how it was reformed right now. There would be problems, big and small, regarding this unique enchanted golem like the Megatron in this continent if it were to be made¡­ It wasn¡¯t for no reason that nuclear weapons were a problem on Earth. A golem with amazing power, which could be used however one wanted and almost work forever if the exterior plates were maintained well, was that much more dangerous. Either Davey had to become powerful enough so that he would at least be fine even if someone interfered with him, or he had to have some foundation first. ¡°Should I go around in public to find people so that I can gather data? I can never do that, so I¡¯m going to use them.¡± Although most of the members of the Last Wisp, the organization Illyna was part of, were all over the debutante age, they were mostly still kids. However, their talent was no different from the kids Davey had seen at the Duchy of Felicity before; the Last Wisp didn¡¯t discriminate between slaves and royalty if they had talent. And since there were a variety of people there, if Davey could collect data from them¡­ -The combat data should almost be complete. What Davey wanted was not a complete set of data, but one that had variety. It was different from the situation at the Hall of Heroes, where the heroes who had lots of experience would create a temporary opponent to combat. Not only that¡­ ¡°There¡¯s at least a possibility that it might encounter a rare evil beast.¡± And even if they were to be shocked by the existence of the Megatron, the organization would be the ones in trouble if they spoke about it without being careful. ¡®Killing two birds with one stone. It¡¯s the icing on the cake.¡¯ -Sigh¡­ Davey, it might be good for you, but you are not considering your safety¡­ ¡°Is there a problem?¡± Perserque flinched at Davey¡¯s question. ¡°Hm¡­ Dada¡­¡± Davey picked up Red Ribbon, who was reaching her arms toward him while rubbing her sleepy eyes, and lightly pinched her cheeks. ¡°Of course, you don¡¯t.¡± An unknown danger? Whatever it was, it was something that Davey had met at least once. This was unless they were talking about a transcendental summoned beast or a demonic beast. * * * Perhaps Illyna was actually bewildered by Davey saying yes so easily, or she felt empty in spirit, because she left the territory with all of her strength drained. She simply told Davey that she was going to leave in two weeks. Depending on how one saw it, two weeks could be considered a short or long period of time. But it was long enough for someone as capable as Davey to get other things done in the meantime. ¡°Apparently, A was the first to hit. Then, the accident became much larger when B pulled out a weapon in the heat of the moment. It seems like the cause¡­was just a simple teasing¡­¡± ¡°A case of assault right now? Lock them both up. Next.¡± ¡°Two women have requested a verdict regarding one child¡­ They are both stating that they are the child¡¯s biological mother.¡± ¡°Tell them that we¡¯ll split the child into two and give it to them. The person who gives up should be their biological mother. Next.¡± ¡°¡­Should I really tell them that?¡± ¡°Of course, I¡¯m lying. Ask the Academy of Alchemy since they said to contact them if there was anything they could help with.¡± ¡°The Petroad Merchant Company has sent a gift. They say that they want to buy a large amount of undeveloped land¡­¡± ¡°Property speculation in times like this? Cut them out. Next.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a report from Captain Monmider. He says that they have found a goblin village¡­¡± ¡°I selected a few royal guards yesterday and they¡¯ve dealt with it, so pass. Next.¡± Perhaps Davey making immediate decisions without taking his eyes off the papers in his hand was funny, because the girl who was preparing some tea in the corner let out a giggle. ¡°Ahem!!¡± Of course, the girl lowered her head in surprise when Royal Attendant Bernile cleared his throat uncomfortably. The blue-haired girl wearing a maid uniform became flustered, realizing her insolence. She looked like an ordinary girl, but for some reason, she had a freshness similar to the mask-wearing girl Davey had seen in the forest. ¡®Hm, this is the scent of an advanced elementalist!¡¯ Even an elementalist¡¯s scent of mana was different from other beings. ¡®Maids nowadays even bond with high-level spirits; they are so talented. And they¡¯re not even human.¡¯ ¡°I¡ªI¡¯m sorry, Your Highness!¡± The girl shouted. ¡°I haven¡¯t trained her well. What are you all doing?! Get her out of here immediately!¡± Bernile shouted. ¡°No, people need to laugh once in a while. Don¡¯t be so strict about this kind of thing,¡± Davey said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Bernile apologized to Davey. Although the girl looked like she was quite flustered, to Davey, she was seemingly enjoying this situation. Her personality leaned towards a more laid-back vibe. ¡°It¡¯s fine, Royal Attendant Bernile. Speaking of which, let¡¯s get some snacks. You need to eat to do anything. Efficiency should increase once we get some sugar into our system. Find some places that sell desserts in the city.¡± ¡°Your wish is my command.¡± The existing residents were adapting well, but it was pretty hectic right now because of the needless complaints and demands from the new residents. Davey was treating them quite well, but of course, haters would emerge as the population grew. Davey immediately dealt with potential problems and managed the territory. Soon, the two weeks he had promised Illyna passed by quicker than he had expected. * * * Baron Gorneo was headed to the Lyndis Empire for business regarding the Coalition for Disease Control. The content of the message from him was very unexpected. -It seems they were lucky. Apparently, there were assassins who attacked the carriage of the Lyndis Empire¡¯s royalty. ¡°Hm¡­¡± -The problem is that it was in the Ordem Territory. I don¡¯t know what happened there, but it seems that the investigation sort of fell through. All the assassins were burnt without leaving a trace from the large thunderstorms that fell on the entire forest. ¡°An investigation¡­¡± ¡®Sorry. I was the one who actually did that.¡¯ Davey was expecting the person in the carriage to be royalty, but he didn¡¯t expect them to be the royalty of the Lyndis Empire. It seemed like Baron Gorneo was saying that a big war could¡¯ve happened. It was just a completely coincidental and unexpected gain. -Actually, I came here to treat Princess Aeria El Lyndis, the youngest princess of the Lyndis Empire. And I will do my best to spread news about your accomplishments throughout the continent after the treatment. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about it.¡± -No, your accomplishments must be recognized. Your Highness, you don¡¯t know how significant your accomplishment was. ¡®I¡¯m telling you that all it¡¯s going to incite is wariness and won¡¯t be a gain at all¡­¡¯ There was no good in forcing it since just keeping quiet for now would be more beneficial in the future. However, it didn¡¯t seem that Gorneo was determined to let the world know about his accomplishments. As Gorneo held pride in medicine, he probably couldn¡¯t budge about this. When Davey sighed after ending his call with Gorneo, the silent window burst open. A blond girl familiarly busted in through the window and smiled playfully. She called out, ¡°Davey!¡± ¡°¡­Royal guard!!¡± ¡°N¡ªNo!¡± Illyna, who was sitting on the window as usual, turned pale as Davey called for a guard without hesitation. Then, she hurried inside and covered Davey¡¯s mouth like that was the only thing she thought to do. ¡°What if a rumor spreads?! Are you trying to make me live alone forever?¡± A rumor could definitely spread about this. Princess Illyna, the precious treasure of the Pallan Empire, was secretly coming to the office of Davey, the seigneur of the Heins Territory. An official visit wouldn¡¯t matter, but a secret one was an entirely different situation. That alone was enough for the big mouths to talk and spread lies. Illyna¡¯s actions were still a little reckless even if the rights of women weren¡¯t too bad in this world. ¡°And yet, you still jump the fence in the light of day and come through the office window?¡± Davey asked Illyna. ¡°But I told you several times that I cannot openly come here.¡± ¡°What if I blabber out?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°It would be a real shame, right?¡± Grind. ¡®It¡¯s such a struggle to control your temper, right?¡¯ It only took a short period of time for Davey to realize that Illyna had a nasty personality unlike the elegant and wise image that was known to the public. He even saw her lady-in-waiting try to stop her with a terrified expression almost reflexively whenever she would criticize something. ¡®It was Lily. Or was it Linda?¡¯ Davey felt horrified that the connection between talent and a nasty personality was being validated. Two weeks after accepting her request, Illyna had persistently asked Davey if there was anything he needed. She seemingly thought that she was indebted to him. To be honest, Davey¡¯s decision was more for himself than her, but she didn¡¯t seem to care; she was just showing her gratitude for Davey granting her request. ¡°This is the last time I¡¯m asking. You can decline, even right now.¡± Illyna told Davey. ¡°Let¡¯s check one thing beforehand.¡± When Illyna looked puzzled at his statement, Davey continued, ¡°That secret knight order. The fact that it¡¯s not known to the public means that it can conceal information very well; is it possible for you to just take anyone you want to the test?¡± Illyna pulled out a small artifact and slowly nodded. ¡°That won¡¯t be a problem. I¡¯m thinking of using the chance I have.¡± ¡°Chance?¡± Davey asked. Illyna simply nodded. CH 100 ¡°The Last Wisp must be kept confidential, but the organization must be maintained as well. And so, if one becomes a member, whether as an official unit or trainee, they are allowed to bring one person in as a student. Of course, one would have to become a member first... But the problem goes away if you just falsely report their death later on.¡± Illyna went on to say that she was going to use the one and only chance she had on Davey. Even an idiot would know how important this particular opportunity was. Of course, that wasn¡¯t any of Davey¡¯s business. Also, there was nothing stopping Davey now as his questions had all been answered. He took his magic pouch, which was filled with only the necessary tools, and grabbed a fist-sized cube from his office desk. ¡°That is?¡± Illyna asked. ¡°Megatron MK2.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the guardian golem you fought.¡± Illyna stared at the cube in Davey¡¯s hand in bewilderment, but soon nodded in understanding. Artifacts that had expansion or shrinking spells were commonly seen, after all. ¡°We have a lot to do. Let¡¯s go right away since we have nothing else to prepare,¡± Davey said. Illyna put her magic artifact on the ground and hesitantly put out her hand. ¡°We¡¯re going to use a transportation artifact, but we have to have at least some physical contact so that we don¡¯t go to some random place.¡± ¡°Hm¡­¡± Illyna coughed awkwardly as she grabbed Davey¡¯s fingers. She was a little embarrassed. Then, she murmured the activation phrase, ¡°Then¡­ Crystal Warp, activate.¡± Whoosh!!! The artifact Illyna used was a little different from a small mala gate; it was an artifact that transported the activator to a certain place regardless of the distance, but there was no way to know the exact details. -It¡¯s a system that can¡¯t be tracked. It¡¯s quite good. They wouldn¡¯t have to worry about someone following them if they used something like this. As a wave of mana quickly spread and enveloped both Davey and Illyna, the surroundings changed completely with a bright light. * * * The first thing Davey saw after the bright light disappeared was an enormous forest. He commented, ¡°Is the grass not able to grow because the trees are so tall?¡± It wasn¡¯t a disastrous forest that was as dense as a jungle, so he could still see what was ahead. However, the bushes and trees weren¡¯t growing properly because of the giant trees over hundreds of meters tall that covered the sky. ¡°This is?¡± Davey asked Illyna. ¡°The Pandora Region, which is located in the northern part of the central continent. And this is the large northern forest in the central continent right underneath it.¡± ¡®We flew quite a long distance at once, didn¡¯t we?¡¯ The Rowane Kingdom was a small kingdom between the Valchas and Lyndis Empire, two large countries that were near the Lahtma Mountains, which was the largest mountain range in the east. Davey could tell how effective Illyna¡¯s magic artifact was from how they were able to teleport a distance that was much larger than the size of the Rowane Kingdom at once. ¡°It would take a month to get here on foot. It would take weeks by carriage, and it wouldn¡¯t have been easy to get here by land since the area has a boundary around it,¡± Illyna explained. Davey silently looked around the forest. The forest was quite dark because of the trees covering the sky, but there was still a faint blue light surrounding the place. It was perhaps because of the fluorescent grass. ¡°The Last Wisp that I am part of¡­ So, the name of the secret knight order is Alpha Reinforcements. We usually detect and take care of dangers that come from the Pandora Region,¡± Illyna explained. ¡°Is the thing that you are looking for in the Pandora Region?¡± Davey asked. Illyna bitterly smiled. ¡°No. It¡¯s that I will be able to go to different regions if I become an official knight of Alpha Reinforcements¡­ I need that authority. There are places that even royalty cannot enter.¡± Davey had no need to think about why Illyna was so desperately going after the authority and power to freely enter secret regions however she wanted. -That child lost her mother to a vampire, Davey. She is probably desperate to find traces of them. ¡®So is that why she would lose her cool as soon as she sees a vampire?¡¯ The position of the queen was vacant in the Pallan Empire. ¡°I have to pass this test,¡± Illyna quietly mumbled as if she was motivating herself. ¡°I think we have to get rid of those first,¡± Davey said. However, it seemed like the enemies had no intention of waiting for Illyna to stop worrying. When Davey had felt their presence, the enemies began appearing one by one from the other side of the forest. Davey let out a light gasp after realizing what the enemies were. ¡°Mutant wolves.¡± Evil beasts could commonly be seen in other regions, but it was still difficult to see ones like that. Mutant wolves, which had strange tentacles on their bare, hairless bodies, were quite small, but had lethal poison on their teeth and claws. On top of that, they were also fast and agile. They weren¡¯t an easy opponent for ordinary people, since they always inflicted fatal injuries. ¡°I¡¯ll get rid¡­¡± Illyna spoke but was interrupted by Davey. ¡°Wait.¡± ¡®How dare you try to take this experience away from me?¡¯ Davey stopped Illyna, who put her hand on her brooch to activate Caldeiras, and put on a mask that covered half of his face. Then, he threw the cube on the ground. The reason why he was here and why he had accepted Illyna¡¯s ridiculous request was right here: to collect combat data about rare opponents. So¡­ ¡°The golem must be the focus in every battle!¡± Illyna kept her silence while glancing at Davey with mixed emotions. ¡°Now, it¡¯s your first battle.¡± As soon as the cube fell onto the ground, it began growing larger with a bright light. Its shape was different from before, looking more like a weird-looking carriage. However, there was no sign of a device that would secure it to horses, and the shape itself was different from an ordinary carriage. ¡°What is that?¡± Illyna asked. ¡°What do you mean? It¡¯s the dream of any craftsman. I¡¯m thinking of adding the ability to fly in the future.¡± ¡°Seriously, I feel like all the knowledge I know is being overturned¡­¡± As Davey lightly snapped his fingers, the large carriage slowly began transforming. Starting with the surface¡¯s deformation, numerous parts started to activate. Clunk!! Clunk!! Then, with elaborate movements, an enormous metal giant began boasting its presence. -The efficiency of the magic stone became much higher. The newly created magic circle definitely helped. Thanks to finding its flaws after the battle with Illyna and fixing them, the current version of Megatron was much stronger than before. Davey couldn¡¯t deny the fact that he had put a lot of effort into Megatron, since it was the first piece of work he and Perserque had collaborated on. After its silver plates surrounded it, Megatron fully turned into a human-like form as soon as it twisted its waist. With shining blue eyes, it stood upright as if trying to overpower the mutant wolves. It was natural for beasts, normal or evil, to be wary about beings bigger than them. -Grr¡­ Surprised by the metal giant¡¯s sudden appearance, the mutant wolves backed away a little with a low growl. ¡°Let¡¯s clean up, Megatron.¡± [Waiting for a command]. ¡°Activate annihilation mode. We move as we erase all the evil beasts in the attack range.¡± [Command accepted. Target confirmed. Starting activation...] A recorded deep voice came out from Megatron¡¯s head once Davey gave it a command. Clunk!!! At the same time, the armor on both its arms began moving simultaneously and fixed its position. It held a large shield that was enchanted with a 3rd circle [Hard Shield] in one hand and a horrifying object popped out of its other hand. Buzz! Whirrr!!!! The life drained out of Illyna¡¯s face as the terrifying gears began spinning fast. She stammered, ¡°W¡ªWhat¡¯s that¡­¡± Clunk!! Boom!!!! With its heavy weight, Megatron began stomping around the surroundings. Like a large tin can, it roamed around. * * * Vrrrr!!! [Activation of main weapon complete. Quickly annihilating the enemy.] Megatron was cutting up the mutant wolves in a frenzy. No, to be more accurate, it was ripping them apart. The armor, which was enchanted with a shield spell, was blocking the wolves¡¯ attacks, and the chainsaw on its other hand was shredding every one of them into pieces. Flustered by Megatron¡¯s destructive attacks, the mutant wolves were backing away. Unfortunately for them, their retreat was meaningless, because a staff embedded with a mini magic stone would pop out from Megatron¡¯s wrist armor and shoot a light purple ray of energy to burn them to a crisp as soon as they tried to get away. Megatron wasn¡¯t very strong, but it was very efficient in guarding and ranged attacks because the lethality was quite high. ¡°What¡­did you do in the two weeks that¡­¡± Illyna muttered ¡°Hm, the electric chainsaw lives up to its name. It¡¯s a great method of communication.¡± Davey called it an electric chainsaw even though it was actually mana. ¡°Do you intend to communicate in the first place?!¡± ¡°Look at them whining and begging for mercy!¡± Davey shouted sternly. Illyna looked horrified. She mumbled as she was at a loss for words. ¡°You¡¯re crazy¡­¡± Most mana stones could not handle Megatron¡¯s output since it required a large amount of mana; however, considering the limit of its fuel tank¡ªthe biggest advantage of Megatron¡ªwas immensely high, this couldn¡¯t really be thought of as a waste. Illyna could really feel that the golem¡¯s combat power had become about twenty to thirty percent more threatening than when it had battled with her. If the wolves rushed toward Megatron and blocked its shield, it would unhesitantly throw away its shield and pull out another electric chainsaw. It would drop and roll onto the floor, then shake away any mutant wolves that were on its body and rip those that were within its reach¡­ Megatron was just a reckless berserker as it attacked the mutant wolves. Furthermore, the mutant wolves were at a huge disadvantage against the golem, which was immune to poison. The mutant wolf¡¯s strongest advantage was its deadly poison, which was responsible for the damage of its attacks. However, the outcome was so predictable since their opponent was a lifeless tin can. Preoccupied with Megatron, Illyna couldn¡¯t take her eyes off it. She watched it violently swing its electric saw; because of that, she didn¡¯t notice a mutant wolf cautiously approaching her. As such, it charged toward her daringly¡­ But it was smashed to the ground by Davey¡¯s hand. Crack!! The mutant wolf fell to the ground in silence. Its skull was crushed by a strong force. When you''re just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°Oh¡­¡± Illyna said. ¡°Don¡¯t space out and follow me. Someone¡¯s going to have to lead the way.¡± A look of shock began surfacing on Illyna¡¯s face. Davey didn¡¯t read her thoughts, but he could guess her thoughts just from her expression alone. ¡°Is it going to be okay to just leave it¡­ No, to just leave that destruction weapon to evolve¡­¡± ¡°I told you, it¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± CH 101 41. Alpha Reinforcements, the Secret Knight Order ¡°It¡¯s not enough,¡± Davey murmured seriously as he followed Megatron, which was marching forward while ripping up whatever came at it. ¡°What do you mean it¡¯s not enough?!¡± Illyna screamed. Perserque also looked fed up with the aftermath of the golem she had helped create. -I think so, too. It¡¯s too plain! ¡°Is it the appearance? Or should we add some music?¡± A picture came into mind as Davey gave it a little bit of thought. ¡®A guardian swinging an electric chainsaw, an exceptional method of communication, while blasting rock music.¡¯ ¡°Man! It¡¯s invigorating!¡± Although it was actually a magic-made enchanted golem rather than a robot, its appearance was no different from a transformer robot that was made with greed. ¡°What nonsense are you talking about?¡± Illyna asked in bewilderment when she spotted Davey¡¯s wild, hungry gaze. Davey didn¡¯t hear her question, though. The evil beasts hiding in the surroundings were charging toward them, rumbling the ground and roaring fiercely. However, they were all going to be victims of the electric chainsaw. -Whine! Screams rang out from all over the place when the evil beasts were being ripped to shreds. Megatron stomped on a retreating mutant wolf¡¯s head before storing its weapon away. Then, it looked around with its shining blue eyes. [Extermination of all evil beasts in the current terrain confirmed.] The addition of an enchanted mithril alloy metal sheet was clearly effective. Although the mithril alloy sheet wasn¡¯t attached to the golem during its battle with Illyna, the sheet¡¯s effect during its latest alteration was clear. ¡°Are there any other monsters around here that are stronger than the mutant wolf?¡± Davey asked. ¡°¡­At least not around here. There are a lot of them because the mutant wolves have a high reproductive rate. The knight order is getting rid of them regularly, but they sometimes show up like that.¡± Like Illyna said, this area was the region of the Alpha Reinforcements, the secret knight order she was part of. They wouldn¡¯t have let evil beasts run wild like this unless they had lost their sense of responsibility. ¡°I heard that evil beasts that aren¡¯t transcendental but are incomparably stronger than mutant wolves exist in the Pandora Region located above this place,¡± Illyna explained. ¡°Transcendental?¡± ¡°Yeah. I haven¡¯t seen one in person, but they are said to be the strongest and most superior beings among the evil beasts in the Pandora Region. Apparently, they are strong enough to easily rip a Swordmaster apart,¡± Illyna said bitterly. ¡°Of course, we won¡¯t have to go up against them. That¡¯s not the job of the trainees, but the job of the official knight order¡¯s extraordinary members.¡± Davey just nodded as Illyna spoke calmly. Then, he addressed the golem, ¡°Megatron, resting mode.¡± [Command accepted. Entering resting mode.] Clunk!! Drr! Clunk!! As Megatron, which was walking in front of them while still on guard, turned into a large carriage, Davey opened the door without hesitation and glanced at Illyna. ¡°Wh¡ªWhat?¡± ¡°Get on. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anyone around, and it¡¯s going to take forever to walk there.¡± Although she looked confused, Illyna couldn¡¯t hide her fascination as she got on the carrier. ¡°Oh my¡­ Expansion¡­magic? The cost to expand a space for a normal living thing to get in is astronomical¡­¡± She stared at Davey with suspicion while murmuring in shock. It was natural, since the inside of the carriage felt much bigger than how it looked from the outside. ¡°Isn¡¯t it the end of this golem if it gets destroyed? How much money did you spend on it?¡± Illyna asked. ¡°It¡¯s not a true hobby if you are stingy with spending money on it.¡± Illyna squinted at Davey. -Davey, I think I know what she is thinking. ¡®What is it?¡¯ -Chuckle¡­ This lunatic is going all out now that he¡¯s getting his hands on some money! ¡®¡­¡¯ Davey wanted to deny it, but he could clearly see what Illyna would think if she actually showed her true personality. Expansion magic was an advanced magic spell¡­ But it was just a tedious job if one had practical and theoretical knowledge. There was no way he would¡¯ve given the wizard tower a lot of money and asked them to work on it; it would¡¯ve been so inefficient. Davey was feeling quite frustrated. * * * Davey and Illyna did not meet any other evil beasts, including mutant wolves, after the first time. Perhaps it was because they had cleared the forest that once. It was a shame for Davey, since he had to collect more data, but it seemed like it was a good thing for Illyna, who didn¡¯t want to run into any more problems. ¡®The forest¡¯s arrangement of mana is a mess.¡¯ -It¡¯s not becoming organized at all. Davey frowned when he looked outside the carriage, which was moving silently. As if something was interfering, he wasn¡¯t able to control the mana he usually spread around his body. There seemed to be some sort of static¡­ Furthermore, he only felt static in his mana when he was using it to explore the surroundings. This was difficult even for Davey, who was usually able to detect things pretty easily, to deal with. -This is like¡­ ¡®A large-scale barrier.¡¯ It was safe to assume that Davey¡¯s prediction was right. ¡°This forest has a large-scale barrier that interferes with detection to hide the base of Alpha Reinforcements. So, it¡¯s difficult for people to feel presences with their mana even if they are right beside each other, unless it¡¯s a specific person.¡± Davey turned his head as Illyna explained. She chuckled as she glanced out the carriage window. ¡°I was very bewildered when I first came here. It¡¯s instinctual to spread mana and be wary of your surroundings, but there was static for some reason. So, I was wondering if the flow of mana was different in this forest!¡± There was a faint smile on Illyna¡¯s face as if she found this conversation quite delightful. ¡°I learned that most of the Last Wisp, including Alpha Reinforcements, cast a barrier like this near their base after I became a member. I think the detection-interfering barrier is surrounding most of this forest.¡± ¡°Then, the opposite case?¡± ¡°That¡­is fixed with this.¡± Illyna showed Davey her hand with a big smile. There were two rings on her pale, beautiful hands. One ring had an emblem that showed that she was the royalty of the Pallan Empire, and the other was a unique, amber-colored ring. She went on to explain, ¡°It¡¯s an artifact that makes me immune to the barrier¡¯s effects. I don¡¯t know a lot about magic since I only studied swords, but I heard that the person who is wearing it remains unaffected because it interferes with some special wave.¡± Davey was quite intrigued by her explanation, as it was quite a fresh idea. He hadn¡¯t tried it himself, but it seemed with a try. ¡°Hm, a ring¡­¡± ¡°The teachers provide it if one becomes a member.¡± ¡°Teachers?¡± ¡°Well, seniors, to be exact. It¡¯s the same for any organization, but a secret knight order has to be maintained in a special way; however, I guess it¡¯s impossible to always bring in perfect individuals. So, they recruit gifted children and teach them. I joined a little lat¡­¡± Boom!!! ¡°Kyah!!¡± That was when the carriage shook with a sudden sound, and Illyna fell toward Davey. She frowned and groaned in pain, forgetting the fact that she was in Davey¡¯s arms from the sudden shaking. ¡°Ouch¡­ What is¡­¡± Click! The carriage door opened wide, then a blue-haired boy barged in with a cold expression. ¡°Sio?!¡± We are bit.ly/3iBfjkV, find us on google. ¡°Illyna¡­¡± ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing?!¡± Surprised by the situation, Illyna shouted in anger. She completely forgot that she had fallen into Davey¡¯s arms after losing her balance. ¡°We exclude intruders. Illyna, what are you doing by letting in an outsider?¡± Sio asked in a frosty, cold voice. Along with his cold expression, small bullets of ice, which had already been cast, quivered as they pointed toward Davey and Illyna. The icy bullets were ready to strike at any moment. ¡°Even if he is an outsider, you don¡¯t have the authority to do this.¡± ¡°You have no right to question me right now. Currently, you clearly violated the rules, and as such, you are subject to punishment.¡± As soon as Sio stopped speaking, a black-haired boy of a similar age slowly began walking toward the carriage. ¡°There¡¯s no one else around, Sio,¡± Illyna said. ¡°¡­I guess you weren¡¯t that stupid. You would¡¯ve been executed right here if you brought others.¡± ¡°Stop kidding yourself. Who do you think you are to punish another member?¡± Illyna stood up while guarding Davey with one hand and opened her other hand. At the same time, her brooch began floating toward her hand with a bright light. The brooch started transforming into a large, white silver-colored sword. ¡°Everything is for Alpha Reinforcements,¡± Sio simply stated. ¡°Stop kidding yourself. Your actions are clearly an overreach of power. I will make you pay if you don¡¯t get rid of your magic and retreat right now.¡± ¡°This is no place for a human other than a member.¡± ¡°I brought him here.¡± Illyna looked furious, growling. Peeeeeep~ That was when a bird¡¯s unique chirping was heard. ¡°It¡¯s a command to return, Sio. It¡¯s telling us to bring Illyna and the civilian,¡± the black-haired boy said. ¡°¡­¡± Sio clicked his tongue in irritation and glared at Davey. ¡°Consider yourself lucky.¡± Davey was at a loss, surprised by the situation. Illyna held his hand tightly when he tried to do something once Sio backed away after threatening him. Then, she smiled bitterly and said, ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m baffled at the situation, too.¡± Davey didn¡¯t expect Illyna to explain this situation properly. It was clear that this had been out of her expectations. ¡°Killing aura,¡± Davey commented with a smile. He stared at Sio, who was leaving the carriage without hesitation. ¡°What?¡± Sio said. ¡°Be careful of your killing aura. There are no second chances.¡± ¡°You¡­¡± The moment Sio tried to talk back as Davey smiled¡­ ¡°Sio, we protect mankind; we didn¡¯t become members to point swords at them.¡± ¡°¡­¡± The black-haired boy stopped Sio, and their conflict came to an end. * * * After about thirty minutes of following the two boys who were accompanying them like they were criminals, Illyna and Davey stopped upon reaching a High Palace. -Wow¡­ I wanted this kind of thing! Davey didn¡¯t know why Perserque was excited, but seeing her look around in delight made him quite elated as well. ¡®It looks like a pretty old design.¡¯ -That¡¯s right! This is an architectural design that existed in my time period! Excitement was unusual for her, but Perserque flew all over the place. Normally, Davey would¡¯ve said something about how she had lost her usual calmness and was making a fuss, but she looked so delighted that he couldn¡¯t say anything. It was a relief that he was the only person who could see her. Technically, Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon could see Perserque as well, but they were asleep in their sheaths on Davey¡¯s waist. CH 102 ¡®Anyway, I didn¡¯t know that Caldeiras wouldn¡¯t notice the twin swords,¡¯ Davey thought, but he didn¡¯t show it on his face. ¡°It looks like a pretty old design; is it being maintained by magic?¡± Illyna smiled bitterly when Davey asked her while looking around with light footsteps. She called out, ¡°Davey¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s managed quite well.¡± Unlike Davey, who had already shaken it off, Illyna was feeling both shocked and sorry. She mumbled, ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ I didn¡¯t expect such an extreme response¡­¡± Creakk!!! The thick door made of black wood slowly opened as Sio Howl, who was leading Davey and Illyna, pushed it. Soon, they could see the large hall of the faintly shining palace. ¡°I¡¯m going to take Davey with me to the dorm. I¡¯ll report it myself,¡± Illyna said. ¡°No, you follow me. And Treve.¡± Sio, walking in front of Davey, looked at him with cold eyes. ¡°Lead the civilian to the outside lodging. An order was given to not let him out until a verdict is reached about this situation.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Treve silently looked up at Davey like he wasn¡¯t going to compromise one bit. Unlike Sio, who was similar in height to Davey, the boy named Treve was on the shorter side. He then warned, ¡°I really don¡¯t want to use force.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t want to use force?¡± A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled. ¡°I can kill someone with a word. But don¡¯t worry; I don¡¯t often use it on humans.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡± Treve looked a little confused as Davey¡¯s smile widened. * * * [The Special Ones? They are like people with superpowers from what you know from your past life. To be honest, it¡¯s difficult to see them as human¡­ if you analyze them. They are not born from humans.] [How do you fight against one if you meet them as an opponent? Well, a manifestation-type Special One wouldn¡¯t matter.] [A mental-type? Do you think you have something like that, you lunatic? Have you seen that crazy God of Mages come under a mental magic spell?] ¡°Here.¡± Treve led Davey to a small room along the High Palace¡¯s perimeters, then lightly knocked on the door with his staff. The door opened smoothly like a ripple of water. ¡°Illusionists are hard to come by.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Can I ask where you are from?¡± Treve¡¯s expression slightly stiffened when he heard Davey¡¯s question. However, he left the room immediately as if he had shaken it off. ¡®The opportunity to solve the mystery of the century has disappeared!¡¯ Davey didn¡¯t know who brought it here or when, but he could see a tray with delicious-smelling bread and milk. Although the boys were both very cold, if the boy named Sio Howl was hostile to everyone and everything, this boy named Treve seemed like he didn¡¯t care about anything that was going on around him. Davey wolfed down a piece of bread and laid down on his bed while closing his eyes. He automatically smiled as he felt the soft and cozy feeling of the bed. ¡®Hm. Ergonomics.¡¯ It seemed like Davey had fallen asleep as drowsiness took over him, relaxing on the bed with his eyes closed. He could see two boys silently staring at him when he opened his eyes after feeling a faint presence. He asked, ¡°Is it time?¡± ¡°¡­Follow me. The teachers are calling.¡± As Sio spoke, Illusionist Treve¡¯s hand blinked in the air. With a weak power, a sturdy rope appeared from thin air and tied Davey up. It was clearly different from magic. ¡°That rope is an illusion, but it will feel real to you. Don¡¯t try to get out of it too hard since you might get hurt.¡± Davey looked at his arms in intrigue when Treve explained emotionlessly. He began wondering if the power of an illusionist, which affected one¡¯s senses by showing them an illusion with a unique power, would work on a nonliving golem. Unlike talismans, the power of illusionists was completely unknown. And even Davey couldn¡¯t judge whether it would work on a golem that had no will. * * * Davey arrived at a room on the palace¡¯s top floors that seemed like a reception room as he followed Sio and Treve. However, the inside looked more like a hearing hall than a reception room or office. ¡°I have brought him here,¡± Sio reported while bowing his head as the large doors opened. Davey could see a lot of eyes as he looked around. There were various looks, such as curiosity, intrigue, wariness, and surprise, but he didn¡¯t really care about them. There were three people sitting at the large table in front of him: a woman in a robe, a large man, and a regular-sized man with two swords on his back. And there was Illyna, who was standing alone in the middle as if being interrogated, and a few who were watching. ¡°I will check once again, Trainee Illyna de Pallan.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The large man opened his mouth to speak after Illyna answered calmly. ¡°You violated your oath and brought an outsider to the base of Alpha Reinforcements. Do you agree?¡± ¡°That''s because!¡± ¡°Only answer the question.¡± Illyna clicked her tongue at the stern voice. ¡°Yes.¡± The boys and girls who were watching Illyna looked surprised. Then, the woman beside the large man spoke up. ¡°No matter the rank a member of the knight order holds in the continent, we cannot allow the violation of the oath. Do you agree?¡± ¡°¡­Yes.¡± ¡°There¡¯s nothing more to see. Punishment for Trainee Illyna, and we will erase the memory of that boy at a certain time. We will consider execution for the maintenance of confidentiality if he fights back,¡± the regular-sized man spoke up after the woman to try to wrap up the situation. ¡°Before that, I will say something.¡± Illyna still looked confident as she continued, ¡°The rules clearly stated that outsiders couldn¡¯t be brought in.¡± Everyone went silent, listening to Illyna speak. Davey sat back and watched the situation as it was quite amusing. Whether he liked it or not, Illyna was now his friend. It would actually be wise for him to step up when she was really in a predicament. Then, at least, she wouldn¡¯t needlessly be put on the spot. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°What if they aren¡¯t an outsider?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯m saying that I am going to use my right.¡± The three people in front of Illyna buzzed as she spoke boldly. ¡°What you are saying is that you will bring in a student, a right that is only given to you once in your lifetime?¡± ¡°Yes, that is the reason why I brought Davey here. Teachers, you tried to take away my right to take the test, but I am determined to take it.¡± ¡°The whereabouts of your partner, Sharan Selim, are still being investigated. It is reckless¡­¡± ¡°I have given it a lot of thought. And about the incident with Sharan Selim.¡± Someone frowned at Illyna¡¯s cold words. ¡°But you are still a trainee. Who are you going to teach? How could you do something this reckless? And you can only bring in a student once. Can you really trust him? And are you confident that you can teach him?¡± The woman asked. Unlike how cold she was before, her tone now seemed to be more worried. Staring directly at the woman, Illyna answered firmly. The assumed premise that Illyna was going to be the teacher was already wrong. ¡°That is not important, Teacher Sylia. The important thing is that I used my right, and Davey fits the criteria. Although, I don¡¯t know why you are being overly wary about him.¡± Illyna slurred the end of her words. ¡°The policy of Alpha Reinforcements is to protect mankind. This isn¡¯t right.¡± ¡°Illyna! Watch your words! Are you saying we have to accept that unknown person with your sophistry!!¡± That was when Sio Howl, the blue-haired boy who was standing, shouted toward Illyna with great anger. ¡°That¡¯s not for you to decide. Don¡¯t overstep, Sio Howl.¡± ¡°Honorable Teacher! This is nonsense. Her logic seems to be right, but it contains two pieces of error!¡± ¡°I never allowed you to speak, Sio Howl.¡± The large man spoke sternly, but Sio still shouted without thinking to stop. ¡°We do not even know if he has a sense of mission! Furthermore, we do not know if he has talent or some worthwhile thing to see!¡± ¡°Sio Howl!¡± Sio ignored Illyna¡¯s shouting. He went on, ¡°Mana can¡¯t even be felt from him. According to the rules of Alpha Reinforcements, only those who can prove their talent in front of more than two teachers can enter as a trainee! However, he is nothing but an ordinary being.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be strange to think this was her plan to leak information from Alpha Reinf¡­¡± Clang!! Illyna came down from the podium and put her sword to Sio¡¯s neck. ¡°Not everything can be done with words, Sio Howl. Shut your mouth because I don¡¯t want to see you, a fellow trainee, die no matter how nasty your personality is.¡± ¡°You think someone like you can slash me?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be arrogant. You think you¡¯re all that because you received the blessing of mana? And your premise is wrong since I never said I would slash you.¡± ¡°Ha! Then, are you saying that person, who I can¡¯t even feel an ounce of mana from, is going to run wild?!¡± Davey thought he was watching a soap opera, observing Illyna and Sio''s fight. -The blessing of mana¡­ It must be a huge honor for a mage. As Davey turned his glance over from the two, he saw the three people staring at him from the table. Those who were called Teachers were all extraordinary people. It seemed like extremely skilled people were selected as they had to teach others. ¡®One elementalist and two swordsmen.¡¯ -They are all above Master in terms of their skills. I guess I understand since it is a secret knight order, but¡­ Not everyone could be a Master. These people who were called Teachers were probably outstanding knights among the members as well. ¡°Order!! This is a trial! Trainee Illyna! Trainee Sio! I will order you to leave if you disturb this court one more time!¡± Illyna clicked her tongue after the woman shouted at her. Then, Sio glanced at Davey with a cold expression and walked away with a look of despise. -You are quite good at holding yourself back. ¡®It can be solved when the opportunity presents itself.¡¯ ¡°However, it seems like Sio is right.¡± Then, the normal-sized man spoke quietly. ¡°It is unknown where that boy is from, but his mana is quite ordinary.¡± It seemed like even they could only feel an extremely small part of Davey¡¯s mana; although, it was better than those who couldn¡¯t feel it at all. ¡°Illyna de Pallan. Do you have anything to say about this?¡± ¡°I can vouch for his power¡­!¡± Illyna shouted. ¡°Isn¡¯t that to your standards?¡± ¡°Teacher!¡± ¡°Like Sio said, we cannot feel any sense of a gift from that person. And it doesn¡¯t seem like he has a sense of mission either. As such, your request is denied.¡± CH 103 Grit¡­ Illyna¡¯s expression turned menacing. Without being able to hide her frustration, her eyes were red like she was going to cry at any minute. ¡°The verdict¡­¡± ¡°Wait! He is definitely an alchem¡­!¡± Illyna shouted. ¡°Wait.¡± The woman was about to give the verdict when Davey slowly raised his hand and stepped up to interfere. A dramatic skit was bound to become boring if it continued for a long time. He said, ¡°First, let¡¯s set the premise.¡± ¡°Be careful of your words, outsider!¡± Sio shouted. The young man was more hot-tempered than he looked. ¡°Stop! Alright, outsider. I¡¯ll allow you to speak.¡± Of course, one of the Teachers interrupted Sio. ¡°I don¡¯t know the situation here, nor do I really understand that sense of mission that you guys talk about.¡± Everyone started buzzing as Davey spoke. ¡°Then¡­¡± ¡°But isn¡¯t it inevitable?¡± Everyone went silent. ¡°You hid yourselves in the basement and your activities are all done in secret; it¡¯s wrong to expect someone new to know about the sense of mission of such an organization in the first place. Or¡­¡± Illyna sighed. It was like she was thinking, ¡®There he goes again.¡¯ ¡°Did you secretly wish for people to know about your sacrifice?¡± ¡°You dare insult the knight order?!¡± ¡°Sio Howl! Watch your words!¡± Davey knew this was not at all how Illyna had intended for the situation to go, but it looked like they were going to discuss armchair theories all day long if he left the situation alone. He pointed out, ¡°Then, what you should be doing is finding seedlings that have potential, not ones that have already been refined. Am I wrong?¡± ¡°So, are you saying that you are a seedling that has the potential to succeed?¡± ¡°The Alpha Reinforcements¡¯s sense of mission will naturally be absorbed if the knight order truly maintains their noble will.¡± ¡°Hahahahahaha!!¡± Perhaps Davey¡¯s words had triggered the large man, who was keeping his silence. The man began laughing loudly, and he drew everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°That¡¯s right. Right. You are right!¡± ¡°Teacher Boris!!¡± ¡°Sio, stop!! Did you not hear my warning?¡± ¡°T¡­ That is¡­¡± ¡°Alright. What is your name?¡± Boris asked. ¡°Davey. Davey O¡¯Rowane¡­¡± ¡°Do you think you have the talent to become part of the secret knight order of Alpha Reinforcements?¡± Davey chuckled at his question as soon as he heard it. ¡°What use would it be to repeat it a hundred times over? However, I would like to believe that Alpha Reinforcements isn¡¯t a narrow-minded organization that comforts themselves based on the amount of mana.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°I sort of had a fantasy about this place; it would be a little disappointing if it were to be false.¡± It was true that Davey had quite a good impression about this secret knight order thanks to the stories he had heard about the Last Wisp from Bow Lord Apollo. ¡°¡­I concede. However, can you show us that talent right now?¡± Boris asked. A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled. ¡°If you¡¯re talking about talent like that mage who completely lacks any EQ¡­¡± ¡°You¡­¡± The expression of Sio Howl, the blue-haired boy, grew extremely cold. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you know if you compared us side by side?¡± Davey didn¡¯t care about causality or the relationship between people of this organization; he was only interested in helping Illyna take the test and gathering data at the secret knight order. That was enough for him. The three Teachers exchanged glances like they understood what Davey had meant, and they decided to grant Illyna¡¯s request. The questioning was over. * * * What was the standard for judging talent? This wasn¡¯t a place where there were only sword-wielding knights or mages; as it was a place for similarly aged children who all had unique talents to gather, the standard for judging talent wasn¡¯t that great. ¡°The Teachers told me to go easy on you, but expect no mercy from me, outsider,¡± Sio spoke coldly while raising his staff. Davey did not reply. He recalled that Sio dared to attack Megatron as well as released his killing aura. Killing aura was part of the energy of emotion that came out when one desired to kill someone. He thought that he needed to let Sio know that he should also expect to die if he desired to kill someone as well. Of course, Davey had to control his level of power since his plan would go to waste if he killed Sio. ¡°Illyna! That person''s mana is weak like an ordinary person.¡± ¡°Yeah. Even if he has a plan¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, Shayir, Fendyr. Thank you for your concern, but¡­¡± With a sigh, Illyna mumbled to herself so quietly that no one else could hear her. She watched the enormous empty lot in front of her. ¡°I¡¯m actually scared about how that lunatic will crush Sio.¡± Holding a cube that contained a compressed version of Megatron in one hand, and a normal wooden sword in the other, Davey stared at the blue-haired Sio calmly. Sio was a so-called genius who had unique abilities that were rare for a mage who had received the blessing of mana. He was extremely hostile to Davey like his pride had been hurt. Then, he smiled coldly as Davey lightly tossed the cube in his hand as a crowd of people watched. ¡°I¡¯ll let you have the first move. I don¡¯t know what kind of trick you are going to play when you barely have any mana but try your best.¡± Davey threw the cube into the air without hesitation and uttered a simple order. ¡°Megatron, an order.¡± [Command accepted. Waiting.] ¡°Pull out electric chainsaw.¡± [Command confirmed. Activating.] Clang!! Clunk! Vroom!! Whirr!! The atmosphere froze when the Megatron turned into a giant warrior and pulled out an enormous electric chainsaw. ¡°Let¡¯s calm down a bit and have a talk.¡± ¡®With the amazing method of communication in the Megatron¡¯s hand.¡¯ 42. You Are in the Palm of My Hand The golem¡¯s metal parts began twisting and turning once again. It soon transformed into a form of a giant warrior. Whir!! Whirrr!! Then, the electric sword, which had an amazing appearance and sound, overwhelmed everyone with its great roar. ¡°Davey! Don¡¯t kill him no matter how angry you are!¡± Illyna shouted in horror. She knew about the abnormal destructive power the Megatron¡¯s electric chainsaw possessed, but Davey ignored her and just stared at Sio Howl, the boy in front of him. ¡°A go¡­lem? You¡­ You were a golem controller?¡± Sio asked. A cold, terrifying aura surrounded the space as the gigantic Megatron roared loudly, boasting its greatness. Mana began flowing into its body. ¡°No wonder I could only feel a weak mana from you. You¡¯re trying to play a worthless trick and only rely on that lump of metal¡­¡± Sio began releasing his mana at once. He quietly expressed his anger toward Megatron as if he had some weird sense of pride. Crack!! [Release] At the same time, several sharp ice crystals appeared in the air and flew toward Davey and Megatron without mercy. It was a rapid attack that normal people wouldn¡¯t have been able to react to as each crystal was like an arrow from a bow gun. The merit of the ones who had received the blessing of mana was quite significant; ordinary people had to recite quite a long spell in order to cast magic unless they were as gifted as Yulis. However, those with the blessing of mana were able to overrule that notion; it meant that they could minimize the reciting without even trying. Not only that, but their bodies also absorbed a certain amount of mana, and the same amount of mana showed an unbelievable level of efficiency if used by them. It was a little similar to the level of Absorption where one was able to feel the will of their mana and resonate with it in that sense. Clang clang clang clang!! Clang!! Maybe it was because the shards were coming at not only Megatron but at Davey as well that the golem, which was showing its great presence with its enormous size, stepped in front of Davey and prevented the attacks from reaching him. It seemed he didn¡¯t have to worry about killing Sio since he had lowered its output of power to the minimum. ¡®He is going to bleed a little though.¡¯ ¡°Hm, the reaction speed of the automatic protection system has become a little slower due to the low temperature.¡± Davey noted. Clang!! Clang! Sio was attacking with the intent to seriously injure Davey, but the latter was more interested in testing the power of Megatron or data collection. Relaxed, Davey pulled out a small chart and began checking things off as he watched the Megatron deflect all of Sio¡¯s attacks. ¡°I think there¡¯s a need to reinforce the chest armor. The reaction speed is going to get slower if I don¡¯t minimize the plates on the shoulders.¡± -You¡¯re going to have to look at the efficiency as well. It has such great output, but the division of power is all off. Like Davey, Perserque was also just analyzing the output of Megatron with no regard for the fact that he was being attacked. ¡°Ughh!!¡± Perhaps Sio couldn¡¯t hold in his anger; his eyes glistened eerily when he created a big, long spear of glass while continuing to fly ice shards toward them. [Freeze] Megatron, which was boasting its great presence with its enormous size, stepped in front of Davey and prevented the attacks from reaching him. Crack!! At the same time, the Megatron began freezing as its feet started becoming frosty. [Ice Spear, Smash] Sio¡¯s large ice spear flew toward the Megatron as it began freezing up. ¡°Alright, we¡¯ve done enough to experiment with the defense. Do it up to here and start attacking back moderately.¡± [Command accepted.] As if it had just stood around and watched until now, Megatron shook off the ice by releasing a blue-colored mana from his entire body. He grabbed the ice spear with his free hand and threw it far away. ¡°What?!¡± The crowd exclaimed in shock, but Davey didn¡¯t take his eyes off Megatron. Boom!! Boom!! With a speed unfitting for its gigantic size, Megatron rapidly charged toward Sio with his electric chainsaw like it was going to cut him into pieces. Sio created a wall of ice by quickly uttering a spell and flew back. Whirrr!! Cruck!! ¡°Huh?! Th¡­ This crazy golem!! Are you trying to kill someone?¡± Sio shouted. ¡°Are you going to fight against an enemy like that? With your life on the line?¡± ¡°Damn you!¡± Even though he was cursing, Sio looked extremely pale because the psychopath Megatron had charged at him like it was going to shred him up while ignoring his attacks. A giant metal golem attacking with unbelievable movements was an attack that Sio had never imagined. Boom!! Boom!! ¡°Shriek! W¡­ What is that terrifying weapon?!¡± Some of the people who were watching the battle from afar screamed with pale faces while shaking Illyna¡¯s arm. The chainsaw definitely had power, but it had a way of inciting fear instinctively. However, it seemed like Sio had some talent contrasting to his personality. Even while desperately jumping all over the place and dodging attacks, he didn¡¯t stop striking back at the Megatron and attacking Davey. Megatron had to stop momentarily and step in front of Davey to protect him because of that, but this was all part of his experiment: the reflex test. Sio created an opportunity to escape by attacking Davey if he was in danger, and he struck back after figuring out the delay time that occurred between its large movements. It couldn¡¯t be said that Sio was exceptional, but his battle experience was definitely more advanced than the mages of wizard towers who stayed in their towers all day. -Still, he is lacking compared to that kid, Yulis. ¡®Wouldn¡¯t it also be a problem if he was better than Yulis?¡¯ Yulis was still one of the greatest genius mages of this continent, and it was just that his capabilities had just been undervalued a little; there was no way someone as gifted as he would be common, even if the kids here were all talented. ¡°Ahh!!¡± Sio¡¯s blood ran cold as his one mistake almost cost him an arm. He could probably recover from it, but he didn¡¯t want to experience getting his arm chopped off by that strange and terrifying weapon. Even while Sio was running all over the place and dodging attacks, he still showed hostility toward Davey; he was quite an unwavering person. Davey wondered if his method of communication was too rough. ¡®Frost?¡¯ Davey chuckled as he felt something unexpected in the air. He organized his data while observing Sio and Megatron. CH 104 ¡°T¡ªTeacher! Shouldn¡¯t we stop them?!¡± With a terrified expression, a girl made a big fuss while holding onto the arm of the Teacher who was watching the battle between Sio and Davey. ¡°That¡­ That golem is abnormally strong!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! I¡¯ve never heard of a golem move that fluidly and intelligently! On top of that, that strange weapon!¡­¡± As the twin girls with light pink hair conversed with each other, a boy with an enormous physique and holding a huge ax on his back stroked his chin. He muttered, ¡°He looks really strong. Amazing. Illyna, your friend over there. Is he a famous golem controller?¡± ¡°No¡­¡± ¡®Golem controller my butt. He¡¯s just a monster playing with a puppet when he can wipe out an entire land.¡¯ The problem was that Davey¡¯s puppet was also beyond common knowledge. Hegg, a large boy, had asked Illyna with curious eyes. He found the situation rather fascinating. However, Illyna denied his question. Davey was more of an unknown being rather than a golem controller. While being a swordsman with a power above the Master level, he also had a stigmata that contained holy power. On top of that, he leisurely created golems that would make alchemists drool all over if they saw them. It was difficult even for her to decide what to call Davey, who was an unfairly talented lunatic. ¡°Teacher! One wrong move, and Sio!¡± ¡°No, Trainee Shayir. Sio is completely logical right now.¡± ¡°But!¡± ¡°Sio is unbelievably stubborn, but you know that his intellect in battle is one of the greatest, don¡¯t you?¡± Teacher Sylia explained with a soft smile in place of Teacher Boris. ¡°But still, that¡¯s exceptional. That golem¡¯s movement is most definitely different from other ordinary ones.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. I could barely feel any mana inside him, but golem controllers can utilize golems even with just a little bit of mana.¡± The advantages golem controllers had were the ability to move a large number of golems at once and to maintain their safety; this meant that getting rid of golems was pointless unless one was able to take out the controller themselves. ¡°However, his own defense is too weak since he¡¯s only relying on the golem. He seems inexperienced,¡± Sylia mumbled. Boris nodded in agreement. ¡°It¡¯s difficult to gain experience in times like this since the only evil beasts out there are unintelligent monsters.¡± ¡°He does pass the criteria based on his talent in creating and utilizing golems, but¡­: ¡°If he doesn¡¯t know what¡¯s happening to him¡­¡± ¡°I think that should be alright if we just teach him right. Can you see that? He has no difficulty in using golems; he¡¯s probably trying to minimize movement to be as efficient as possible. Boris and Sylia were still in a misunderstanding. ¡°He will show talent in patrol, support, and other aspects if trained right. And that¡­ The fact that its terrifying chainsaw can be applied like that¡­ It scares me to death just by watching it.¡± ¡°It is a golem that clearly has both exceptional attack and defense power. You know, it might be difficult to slash it, even with the [Aura Blade].¡± The trainees looked more and more anxious as Boris and Sylia spoke as if they were judging the golem. On the other hand, Illyna was already out of it. ¡°I think the battle is coming to an end.¡± ¡°Yes. It is a huge mistake for a golem controller to not realize the state of their golem, which is like their hands and feet. Megatron struck down toward Sio Howl with his large chainsaw as soon as the Teachers concluded their conversation. ¡°Kyahh!¡± Some of the trainees kept watching even while some were screaming because Sio could be injured. ¡°It really is an exceptional golem, but you found an answer, Sio,¡± Boris spoke with confidence, as Megatron¡¯s movement was gradually becoming slower as if it was freezing up. ¡°Sio froze the golem little by little, starting with its joints. Even a golem with joints that flexible won¡¯t be able to do anything if they freeze from the inside.¡± ¡°That is one of the most important things to be careful of when dealing with an ice mage. And it wasn¡¯t like Sio tried to freeze him in random places first, but he took caution to hide his intent.¡± Many a little made a mickle; although it was weak, Sio¡¯s frost gradually accumulated to freeze up the giant. Boris and Sylia thought the golem was amazing, but they were more impressed with Sio¡¯s quick thinking; it seemed like they were blind to their own causes. Then, Sio took a step forward toward Davey, who was staring at Megatron squeak like it had completely stiffened up. ¡°A close-range battle isn¡¯t something for mages to do, but a member of Alpha Reinforcements should be able to do that much,¡± Boris mumbled quietly. ¡°This marks the end¡­¡± Crack!! Sio created a large, sharp ice sword in his hand and rushed toward Davey rapidly. At the same time, Davey put up his wooden sword after seeing his attack. ¡°It seems like you were overconfident in the golem¡¯s powers and grabbed a wooden sword thinking that you wouldn¡¯t be affected¡­ But the wooden sword won¡¯t be able to withstand even one swing.¡± ¡°Oh no!¡± At the same time, Davey slipped and lost his balance on the frictionless ice when he stepped back to defend. To others, that slight window of opportunity seemed fatal. It was difficult for Davey to fight back, let alone regain his balance, since the ground was frozen like an ice rink. The moment Davey flew into the air while his wooden sword just slashed the air, Sio Howl¡¯s ice sword struck as if it was going to slash him. ¡°Wheeze¡­ Gasp! You damn vicious guy! This is the end!!¡± ¡°Kyahh!¡± Some couldn¡¯t bear to watch the situation and closed their eyes, and some criticized Illyna, who was standing while maintaining a fed-up expression. ¡°I¡ªIllyna! You have to stop¡­!¡± ¡°Stop who?¡± Illyna answered like she was tired of it. ¡°Stop Davey?¡± As soon as everyone heard Illyna¡¯s confusing answer¡­ Thump!!! A loud and clear sound of something being hit resonated through the training field. There was silence. Then, without being able to do or say anything, everyone¡¯s jaws dropped at the ridiculous situation in front of their eyes. The wooden sword left Davey¡¯s hand and rotated with seemingly random movements and hit Sio right on the top of his head as it aimed for an opening. It was a fast attack, but the wooden sword struck down while aiming for one perfect opening. Everyone was silent for a moment at the unbelievable coincidence. Then, Megatron stomped on Sio, who had been struck by the wooden sword, with no mercy and overpowered him. ¡°He¡¯s playing tricks again¡­¡± Illyna muttered to herself. It was as if the appearance of Megatron freezing up before was just an illusion. ¡°Keugh?!¡± Sio exclaimed. ¡°Hm¡­ Did I win? You spoke like you were so good.¡± -D¨¦j¨¤ vu¡­ Listening to Davey¡¯s calm response, Illyna felt like she had heard that detestable phrase somewhere. * * * ¡°Caldeiras,¡± Illyna called. [Yawn¡­ Huh?] ¡°That guy. I think he has a really bad personality, but he¡¯s pretending to be calm.¡± [I know that he has a bad personality, 100%. I knew it from the moment he ripped your clothes and took me!] ¡°That¡¯s also true¡­¡± Illyna wondered what that nasty swordsmanship was. She didn¡¯t notice it at first, and it was still hard to believe even though she had seen it now. She had felt a discrepancy only because she knew Davey¡¯s true powers; otherwise, she would¡¯ve wondered again if it was a coincidence. ¡°Uh¡­¡± Someone let out a foolish gasp. ¡®That guy, he intended for that!¡¯ For a split second, Illyna saw a hint of an eerie smirk on Davey¡¯s face. Now, she could see it all; Davey was screwing with the enemy without attracting everyone¡¯s wariness by unnecessarily revealing his power. [I know it! I saw it, okay?! That asshole is a Sword¡­ No, what should I say? Anyway, I saw that asshole achieve Divine Union!] Support us at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. Illyna didn¡¯t need to hear it from Caldeiras herself to know; what kind of an insane Swordmaster could overpower a divine sword with a wooden one? There was no significant difference between basic physical abilities between her and Davey; however, his way of responding was so different than any other Swordmaster she had faced. It was like a max-level warrior had become weak due to a curse. ¡°They say there is no right or wrong to swordsmanship, but¡­ That is truly an evil sword technique¡­¡± Davey wasn¡¯t a wicked person, but his actions were devilish. Illyna, who was fed up with Davey, thought it was unfortunate that the people staring at the battlefield in bewilderment weren¡¯t able to notice Davey¡¯s little trick. * * * Everyone was left dumbfounded by the unexpectedly flat result of the battle. The crowd who was watching the battle began to respond only after Davey retrieved Megatron and lightly clapped his hands as no one was saying anything, ¡°A¡ªAmazing!¡± Boris, the Teacher with a giant physique, spoke in astonishment. ¡°A coincidence? It strangely looked too targeted to be a coincidence¡­¡± ¡°¡­Sio Howl. You haven¡¯t trained enough!¡± It seemed that the three Teachers, who couldn¡¯t easily come to a conclusion and were murmuring amongst themselves to discuss this outcome, were thinking that they should first put an end to this situation. ¡°Everyone is dismissed for now! And it was Davey, right?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Davey answered. ¡°Hahahaha! Although it was a coincidence, outstanding! Well, let¡¯s say that luck is also a skill. We will acknowledge your gift as promised.¡± ¡°I¡¯m flattered.¡± It was only right to accept a genuine compliment with a good heart. On the other hand, Sio Howl was criticized for the fact that he had been struck by an attack so ridiculous. ¡°Sio Howl! You were lazy with your training! You were hit with a directionless sword the minute you let down your guard after becoming confident that you had won!¡± ¡°This makes no sense!¡± Riled up, Sio Howl, who was clenching his jaw, stood up and shouted. ¡°It¡¯s the golem that was strong, not him. Teacher! You saw his swordsmanship, did you not!¡± The swordsmanship Davey showed was definitely that of someone who looked like they had never even held a sword before. ¡°Stop being a sore loser, Sio Howl. Golem controllers are for the back line. You¡¯re saying that it¡¯s unfair when you dueled with someone like that in the middle of a battlefield?¡± Of course, Illyna didn¡¯t just stand around. She still stood up for Davey, her friend, even though she looked fed up with Davey¡¯s sword technique. ¡°Illyna!!¡± ¡°Wake up. Davey made that golem, and that¡¯s a clear fact. Originally, you should have just fought that golem alone.¡± Illyna didn¡¯t stop her hurtful criticism. She was honest and ruthless, because she wasn¡¯t hiding her personality. ¡°And yet, you put Davey in the middle and attacked him to buy time whenever you were in danger. Why, are you going to say that was also a tactic? Did you even check that golem you froze in the first place?¡± Just as Illyna had said, Sio wasn¡¯t even able to defeat the golem. CH 105 Grit¡­ ¡°And what? Did you say that it¡¯s the golem that was strong, not Davey? Then is a golem controller supposed to abandon his golem and have a physical fight with you? Are you stupid? Even an idiot goblin would know better than that. Don¡¯t kid yourself. You think you¡¯re better than everyone else, right?¡± Sio¡¯s expression grew even more menacing as Illyna criticized him without stopping. ¡°Stop!! Trainee Illyna is partly right. Sio Howl! Rule 8 of Alpha Reinforcements!¡± ¡°¡­It is ¡®The knight order must always try their best and must know how to accept and reflect on victories and losses¡¯.¡± ¡°Now go if you¡¯ve understood!¡± Teacher Fridos, the man who had two swords on his waist, bellowed at Sio. Sio frowned coldly, then addressed Davey, ¡°Consider yourself lucky. You would¡¯ve almost been dead if your attack didn¡¯t coincidentally succeed.¡± ¡°Sio Howl!!¡± Illyna was extremely angered by Sio¡¯s taunting and shouted. She was about to continue when Davey spoke uncaringly as he picked his nose. ¡°You would¡¯ve already been dead if it was a real battle.¡± ¡°What?¡± Sio responded. ¡°Your head isn¡¯t hard enough to withstand a hit from a sword, right? Are you going to say that in front of Goddess Freyja after you die?¡± ¡®And I would¡¯ve already popped your head off from the start if it wasn¡¯t for Illyna.¡¯ Davey didn¡¯t bother saying more, but what he said was already enough to irritate Sio. ¡°Don¡¯t mock me, outsider.¡± As Sio stomped off after staring at Davey with a deadly glare, the Teachers consoled the members who were watching the battle and led them back to their dormitories. Then, they also disappeared, saying that they had to discuss whether they had to accept Davey as part of the knight order. It was a sudden and unexpected visit from an outsider; it could¡¯ve been a chaotic situation, but it seemed like this wasn¡¯t a rare occurrence. Then, Boris called upon Davey after quite a long time. ¡°I¡¯ll get straight to the point: it is foolish to expect mana or physical talent from a golem controller. I heard from Trainee Illyna that you made that golem yourself.¡± ¡°Well, yes,¡± Davey replied. ¡°Amazing, truly. I saw my fair share of battle alchemists, but I¡¯ve never seen anyone craft and wield a golem that powerful.¡± Boris was quite gallant and was very open-minded. ¡°It was seven to three, and I approved, of course. We congratulate you on your entrance to the knight order.¡± Boris laughed heartily and handed Davey a small glass. ¡°I assume it¡¯s not just regular alcohol.¡± ¡®Taboo.¡¯ ¡°Alchemists are so smart. They are quite quick, aren¡¯t they? Or did you hear from Trainee Illyna?¡± ¡°Well, it was just a hunch. ¡° Davey could tell because there was a weak but clear after-scent of mana inside the glass. ¡°Hm¡­ Trainee Illyna has brought us someone very useful. Well, it does say ¡®student¡¯, but it¡¯s not a problem if they bring someone that is similar to or even more advanced than them. The important thing is¡­¡± Boris stopped speaking and stared at Davey with a blank expression as he gulped down the alcohol in the glass even before Boris finished his sentence. ¡°Is there a problem?¡± ¡°You¡­ Did you drink it without even hearing about what it is?¡± ¡°I am pretty quick.¡± -There¡¯s no way the Oath of Abstinence was going to work on a mage who has already been enlightened up to the level of Absorption¡­ Davey felt sorry for Boris but drinking this had no effect on him whatsoever. Perserque sighed as she already knew the truth, but Boris couldn¡¯t hear her. ¡°Then, I will check. Do you swear to keep your secret about Alpha Reinforcements and the Last Wisp in public?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that why I drank it?¡± ¡°That is true.¡± ¡°Then, that should be enough. I did come here to help my friend out, but I have somewhat of an interest in the work of the Last Wisp.¡± ¡®Interested in the various Zones of Evil and evil beasts, to be exact.¡¯ ¡°Hm, it feels like you already knew about Alpha Reinforcements pretty well.¡± ¡®That¡¯s probably not just a hunch.¡¯ However, Davey didn¡¯t bother telling him. ¡°Alright, there¡¯s no lies.¡± Boris stood up with satisfaction after he pulled out a small jewel from inside his chest pocket. ¡°It¡¯s an artifact that detects lies. I won¡¯t worry about your identity anymore since you were honest and truthful.¡± Boris spoke. ¡°Aren¡¯t you believing me a little easily?¡± Davey asked. ¡°I did speak to you a little harsher than necessary when we first met, but the enemies of Alpha Reinforcements aren¡¯t humans in the first place.¡± There was a lot of meaning behind Boris¡¯ words. The purpose of the founding and existence of the Last Wisp was to protect the continent from unknown enemies, like evil beasts in danger zones to extremely dangerous beings that threatened the continent; this meant that humans were not their enemy. ¡°The fight between humans in the public sphere isn¡¯t any of our concerns. Well, go and rest for today since it¡¯s already late.¡± As Boris spoke calmly and walked away, his footsteps seemed quite light. * * * ¡°Here, take this. Please don¡¯t break it or crack it open since it has to be returned.¡± Davey could feel a strange flow of mana as he stared at the wooden ring Illyna handed him. ¡°Is it the same ring you have?¡± ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s an inferior model. We need the headquarters'' approval for you to become a member, but well¡­ There shouldn¡¯t really be a problem if what Teacher Boris said was true.¡± ¡°The effect?¡± Davey asked. ¡°Immunity to the barrier on this forest, and the freedom of movement. Originally, we should¡¯ve arrived right at the High Palace and not in the middle of the forest when we used the artifact, but you didn¡¯t have the ring.¡± Illyna spoke. The maintenance of secrecy would be in danger if there were an artifact that could allow anyone in. ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be any big issues when you move between here and the Heins Territory if you have that ring.¡± Illyna smiled cheerfully. ¡°Now I have gotten myself an OP partner.¡± ¡°What are you going to do if I don¡¯t do it?¡± Davey asked. ¡°After all this?¡± Illyna¡¯s bright smile disappeared for a moment. ¡°You¡¯re not really going to do that, right?¡± ¡°There are some aspects that pique my interest more than I thought.¡± ¡°Phew¡­¡± Illyna showed her relief as Davey spoke. ¡°Let¡¯s go. The Teachers said that the faster you train, the better, even though you¡¯re still a trainee member.¡± Illyna spoke to Davey. ¡°Training?¡± ¡°Yeah. Trainees start integrated training according to the curriculum organized by the Teachers after a certain period. And that¡¯s also one of the reasons I returned.¡± ¡®Illyna had undergone training here while fulfilling her work in public¡­ She¡¯s quite a hardworking princess.¡¯ ¡°The content of the training is taught directly by the Teachers. The Teachers step up to increase one¡¯s individual skills, but you could say that integrated training is more like a realistic battle and improves overall cooperation and thinking on the spot.¡± Illyna seemed quite delighted as she explained. ¡°You seem to enjoy life as a member,¡± Davey remarked. ¡°There isn¡¯t anything that is bothersome, and it¡¯s something I must do in order to achieve my goal. And since everyone is so kind, I can put down my role as royalty here and be comfortable here. Ah¡­ Kind except for a few of them.¡± Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. It seemed like there were people who she couldn¡¯t didn¡¯t really want to become friends with as she suddenly frowned. As Davey and Illyna were about to join the other trainees to participate in the training¡­ ¡°Go first without me.¡± Davey stopped in his step and quietly told Illyna to go. ¡°W¡ªWhat?¡± Illyna asked. ¡°Go in. I¡¯ll join you in a bit.¡± Illyna looked confused by Davey, but soon silently nodded her head. She was a hot-tempered girl who always called him insane, but she was pretty quick. Davey became enveloped in black smoke as he watched Illyna quietly walk away from him. Then, he slowly began to hear the faint sound of a conversation grow clearer as he moved while erasing any hint of his presence. It was Boris, the large man, and Elementalist Sylia, who had both watched him from the questioning to the combat test. -Davey. ¡®Shh.¡¯ As Davey approached them while hiding his presence, Boris and Sylia looked full of thought as they spoke warily without noticing him. ¡®Hm¡­¡¯ Then, Davey scoffed as he got an idea of what was going on as he heard their conversation. Although Davey had completely damaged the pride of Sio Howl, that blue-haired mage trainee, with his sloppy movements intended to mess with the latter, it seemed like it didn¡¯t give the Teachers assurance. * * * ¡°Where did you go?¡± Illyna asked with an anxious expression. She was wearing light clothing suitable for movement while stretching in front of the entrance to the large forest. ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± Davey replied. ¡°Then why does your face look like that?¡± Illyna flinched awkwardly as she frowned. ¡°What about my face?¡± -I want to give you a mirror. As Perserque spoke, Caldeiras¡¯s thoughts flowed into Davey¡¯s head as the broch on Illyna¡¯s chest faintly glowed. [You look like a villain smirking while plotting an evil scheme.] Davey was disappointed that not one, but all three of them were thinking the same thing. He called out, ¡°Illyna.¡± ¡°Y¡­ Yeah?¡± Illyna had an anxious expression on her face. Davey asked in a dead serious tone, ¡°You want to take the test, right?¡± ¡°Why are you asking me such an obvious question?¡± ¡°Alright. It¡¯s fine.¡± The topic of discussion between Boris and Sylia was simple: they said that the future of the golem Davey had made was bright in many aspects, such as efficiency, but it was iffy. They were saying that he and the golem might get into serious trouble if they were just to be put into real battle since they had no proper training or knowledge about how to deal with evil beasts. ¡®You can¡¯t trust my capabilities because they¡¯re iffy?¡¯ Since it was clear that the Teachers didn¡¯t know the kind of effect a golem controller trained in alchemy could have in a large-scale battle, Davey had no choice but to show them again. He had to put some thought into it so that no one would be able to question him again. * * * The size of the forest was objectively quite large. The large forest that was right under the Pandora Region, the Zone of Evil in the northern region of the central continent that people couldn¡¯t reach, was a dangerous place that not even mercenaries came to because it wasn¡¯t worth the risk. As a result, it was safe to say that the entire forest was a training ground that all the trainee members of the Alpha Reinforcements could use. -This training exercise works similarly to hopscotch, something that should be familiar! However, I¡¯ll explain it since there are people new to training! ¡°Hm¡­¡± Illyna moaned mildly like she had done this training before. -The range is from the first forest to the fifth! -We have marked the territory of each team by casting a turf magic in each region. -As always, we permit attacks against each other! Remember that the team that gains the most territory in the time limit receives the highest performance points! Also, don¡¯t forget that there are bonus points other than that! It basically meant that they could do whatever they wanted to mess with them. ¡°They¡¯re saying that it doesn¡¯t matter if it hurts like crap and it¡¯s agonizing?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ What? Seriously, why is he like that?!¡± [I¡¯m already worried what kinds of things he will do¡­] Davey heard complaints from a human and a divine sword as he had a history, but he just ignored them. -It will start in ten minutes! I will randomly give the signal to start! Now, get ready! Boris went silent after he made the announcements. CH 106 ¡°When the start signal rings, just run however I tell you to,¡± Dave said to Illyna. ¡°Just run?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t waste your time on people who are going to interfere. Just start running, and focus on widening our territory.¡± Of course, Illyna objected to Davey¡¯s opinion. She offered a logical explanation. ¡°Even if I do that, there isn¡¯t much territory I can get on my own. It¡¯s no use if the others start taking our territory once I leave, right? And if I get caught up with something¡­¡± Davey chuckled hollowly. ¡°Are you actually able to sleep when you¡¯re in that situation?¡± ¡°What, man?¡± Illyna frowned quite aggressively. ¡°I heard on the way here. I¡¯m nothing but an iffy newbie to the people of this place,¡± Davey explained. ¡°That¡¯s true. It¡¯s because you used Drunken Sword or Drunk Sword or whatever it¡¯s called.¡± ¡°And do you think the Teachers will put me into the real-battle test?¡± Illyna widened her eyes. ¡°Then¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s right; if I don¡¯t make them see that I can¡ªof course¡ªtake care of myself and that I possess something extraordinary, you¡¯re just wasting your time and energy.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Davey could hear Illyna gritting her teeth. Fortunately, she had a pretty strong determination to reach her goals; even though she was a model student who always worked extremely hard, there was no way she would want to be eliminated without being able to use what she had been studying. ¡°There should be a way, right? Why don¡¯t you pick up a sword if there¡¯s nothing else?¡± Illyna asked Davey. ¡°I came here to collect data, not show off my power. And I forgot to tell you one thing.¡± ¡®The golem is strong enough for this place, and technology is all dependent on how you use it.¡¯ Davey activated Megatron, ignored Illyna¡¯s complaints, and pulled out something from his expansion pouch as he climbed up onto a large rock. He grabbed a few small bags, a pair of binoculars, and a strange-looking mask. He said to Illyna, ¡°I¡¯ll take the binoculars and you take the rest. Make sure to wear the mask right now. Don¡¯t forget that alchemy is an OP-type branch that produces the best possible level of efficiency, especially in this kind of situation.¡± -Let the training begin! At the same time, Boris suddenly announced the signal to start as soon as Davey finished conversing with Illyna. Crash!! Then, explosive sounds were heard from all over the forest, as if everyone had been ready for this very moment. There were eight teams of two; these teams were going to brawl to widen their territory inside this forest. They would have to think on the spot, consider interference in the form of surprise attacks from behind or direct attacks¡­ It seemed like this training, which was executed while keeping various aspects in mind, was quite effective in enhancing a small number of elites. ¡°Ah whatever! I can just trust you, right?!¡± Whoosh! Then, Illyna bolted off in the direction Davey pointed towards like she couldn¡¯t just watch anymore. Davey couldn¡¯t expect a lot of power from her, since she was prohibited from using Divine Sword Caldeiras, during training. It was true that she was talented, but so were all the other trainees here. ¡°Can you hear me well?¡± Davey asked. [Yeah!] Illyna¡¯s answer buzzed through Davey¡¯s mind as he transferred his will by activating the mana he had attached on her body in advance. He raised his binoculars as soon as he checked that the magic sensitivity of transferring his will was good. He then said, ¡°There should be marbles inside the red pouch I handed you. Scatter them around a bit.¡± [What is this?] ¡°Eyeballs.¡± [Kyak!!] Davey could hear Illyna¡¯s scream, but he didn¡¯t really care. He had to do this since he couldn¡¯t observe the entire forest with just his binoculars alone. [You! I¡¯ll get you when I get back.] Davey, who nodded like he didn¡¯t care upon hearing Illyna¡¯s angry voice, gave Megatron its first order once the forest came into view. ¡°Megatron, long-range projectile mode.¡± [Command accepted.] ¡®Have you ever heard of such a thing? It¡¯s called ¡®siege mode¡¯!¡¯ Clunk!! Clank!! The most important thing in war, the very essence of expanding territory, was firepower. And right now, Davey was thinking of supporting Illyna with Megatron¡¯s firepower. He was determined to show how alchemists, who had been working hard to prepare for battle, fight unlike the usual way where people had to charge recklessly. Whing!!! The back part of Megatron began transforming as it planted its fists into the ground and positioned itself like a huge turret. However, the magic stones, which were responsible for the output of power, were gathered in one place and positioned like one long cannon. This was unlike the interception mode before. Clunk! Then, Davey immediately removed the magic stone attached to the opening and put in another one he had prepared in advance. He ordered, ¡°Enter coordinates: 643.312.889. Output level 3.¡± [Command accepted.] [Davey! Don¡¯t forget it¡¯s no killing!] ¡°Don¡¯t worry; I already changed the bullets. The most it will do is make them foam at the mouth.¡± [Ugh¡­ Seriously!] The golem was too unstable to be called complete since it had yet to be fully adjusted, but Davey had added functions onto it based on his own desires. It might not be useful for those in the Master level, but to little trainee seedlings¡ªno, to these guys who had probably never fought with an alchemist before¡­ ¡°Level 5 CS Nausea Bullets. Fire all.¡± Davey was certain this was going to be catastrophic for them. The goal was to show the Teachers, who all had their own doubts, Davey¡¯s potential. The power of science wasn¡¯t flashy, but realistic and persistent. Zzing¡­ Brrrt!! Davey was going to keep the enemies in check while also creating traps. And Illyna, who had exceptional physical abilities, had the job of widening their territory and setting up the traps he had given her like a dog! She would¡¯ve immediately choked him if she heard, but he did it anyway and she wasn¡¯t around. Boom!! Pshhh!!! Purple bullets of light filled the sky and began spreading white vapor once they hit the other side of the forest. The gas had elements of tear gas and nausea-inducing components. ¡°I can see all of you.¡± Davey couldn¡¯t hold back his giggles as he watched the trainees run away in fear of the sudden bombing. Illyna and Megatron were pieces in a chess game, but the enemy trainees were also just chess pieces of the opponent. They would be¡­the rook and the queen if they had to be specific pieces. Davey was going to ingrain in them that a true battle alchemist watched from afar. ¡®Now, let the games begin.¡¯ * * * ¡°Kyah!! What is this?¡± A girl screamed and flailed around. She was stuck onto an unknown sticky substance that clung to the ground. ¡°Fendyr!! Damn it, what is this?!¡± ¡°L¡ªLincy, help!¡± ¡°Wait! This is too sticky to¡­!¡± Boom!! Pshh!! The girl who was desperately trying to remove the sticky substance tumbled to the ground, since she was being hit by the purple magic bombs falling from the sky. ¡°L¡­ Lin¡­ Gag¡­ Hurk¡­ Kyahh!! My eyes! My eyesss!!¡± Fendyr collapsed onto the floor and rolled around. She was exposed to the vapor, which induced massive headaches. She was dripping with tears and snot. It was a vapor that induced extreme nausea, suffocated them, and made people drip with tears and snot! It felt like senses such as smell, sight, hearing, and direction became all twisted and useless! They would¡¯ve been able to get rid of the sticky substance and escape this nasty vapor if they could have used their mana a little better¡­ But all they could do was panic, since most of their senses were taken away. Then, they were completely destroyed by Illyna, who was prepared to attack them when they were in a panic. Most of their territory was taken in seconds, and they rolled around on the floor, shedding tears and snot. They had no regard for their ruined feminine appearances. There was a nasty vapor, strange traps that completely blocked escape routes, and a highly explosive magic bomb would be launched if one used spirits or released their mana to stop the vapor. Fendyr felt like she had become a toy being played in somebody¡¯s game. ¡°The only person who would do something like this¡­¡± As far as Fendyr knew, there was no one among her trainee colleagues that would do something so cheap. It wasn¡¯t exactly cheap, but this overwhelmingly effective and efficient tool was thoroughly defeating them. Reaching this conclusion, Fendyr could only think of one person who could be responsible for this. ¡°Illyna!!!¡± It was Illyna de Pallan and the new trainee she brought. Gritting her teeth, Fendyr stood up and frowned terribly when she saw Lincy force herself into the vapor. She grabbed Lincy. ¡°Cough! Cough! Lincy¡­ Gag¡­ My head hurts like¡­¡± ¡°That magic bomb. It seems like a special type of attac¡­ Kyahh!! It¡¯s coming again!¡± Search bit.ly/3iBfjkV for the original. Although it seemed like the two had caught on quickly since they were pretty gifted girls, it was quite sad that they remained in the palm of Davey¡¯s hand. Even if they tried, he would just block their escape route and bomb them with another CS Nausea Bullet. Whoosh whoosh whoosh!! Completely fed up with it, Lincy collapsed onto her knees and gasped at the purple bombs that were approaching them from the sky with a blank face. ¡°This¡­is OP¡­¡± That was truly all she could say. * * * [You really have a terrible personality. How could you do something like this to children?] Illyna spoke without a hint of insincerity. Davey responded as he usually did. ¡°There is no cheap and dirty in real training. Get stronger if you feel that it¡¯s wrong.¡± [Wow~ You are so amazing.] Illyna spoke like she couldn¡¯t even be bewildered anymore. [I thought about it, and I decided; I¡¯m going to have to destroy that golem after this training or whatever. It¡¯s a danger that mustn¡¯t see the light of day.] ¡°Then our contract will be over.¡± Davey calmly hung up on Illyna. He put on his monocle and began writing on the chart that he pulled out from his chest pocket, checking off boxes and making notes. All the other teams were running around like their lives were on the line, but they were still trapped in the palm of the Almighty Davey. The children who were desperately running to escape the bullets would be infuriated if they knew that this was all Davey was doing. -32 bombs missed. 45 bombs landed. It¡¯s quite a slow speed for continuous shooting for a whole fifteen minutes. ¡°Aside from the speed, the precision is worse than I thought.¡± -The consumption of the stored mana becomes too great as the range increases. It was quite ingenious of you to induce a status effect on them since the firepower is too weak to expect a good hit¡­ But you won¡¯t even be able to distinguish between your allies and enemies like this. ¡°It would be overdoing it, even if a magic stone is a tank full of mana. Maybe I should rip off more of the armor and put less stress on movement¡­ Coordinates 443.382.721; make range of error less than four meters. Launch.¡± [Command accepted. Launching.] Davey had seven extremely rare magic stones; although only three were being used as a battery and one as a mount, it wasn¡¯t like the rest were just idly doing nothing¡­ This was the pinnacle of spending money and using technology like water! The scientific advancement of Davey was the greatest in the world! Although 60% of the foundation wasn''t created by him and was just ancient remnants¡­ -Magic stones also have a limit, Davey. Maybe you should just charge idle power¡­ When Perserque offered her ideas while pointing out what he was missing, Davey said, ¡°Let¡¯s think about it. Region 323.142.506; make range of error less than three meters. Two CS Nausea Bullets and one Shock Bullet. Launch.¡± [Launching.] Zzing crash!! Davey continuously kept the others in check, even while discussing matters with Perserque, through his binoculars and the surveillance equipment Illyna had placed throughout the forest. The territory that he could see already seemed much bigger than everyone else¡¯s. The others were probably tremendously frustrated since he didn¡¯t give them an opportunity to strike back. ¡°Idiots. Even if it¡¯s a competition, you guys should know how to cooperate and team up with each other if the opponent is too strong. All of them are just so full of pride.¡± Davey was relaxed as he clicked his tongue while holding his hands behind his back. He remained in such a state until the moment Boris urgently shouted that the training was over. CH 107 43. Exploring the Ancient Ruins Relying on his talent, Davey continually kept the opponents in check by effectively placing long-range bombs and using alchemy tools. He also kept his location hidden with constant interruptions and scattered decoys everywhere. The children who happened to be tricked fell into a trap and became incapacitated, and Davey made the ones who happened to find him after a desperate search either collide with others or he lost them like he had been prepared for that scenario. Even while doing that, he was giving orders to his partner without forgetting her situation. If those traps and those distinct purple bombs had been made with fatal substances, this would have undoubtedly resulted in a one-sided massacre. Davey had ensured that the teams had no contact with one another so that they could not join forces, and he widened his territory in the meantime. After taking their territories, he also reminded them of the fact and made them lose even more of their cool. By then, it was inevitable for problems to arise since they could no longer think logically. Not knowing what to do in the unfamiliar situation they found themselves in, the trainees began overplaying their hand. They then lost even more after being overpowered once again. Gripped by a sense of urgency, they overplayed their hand again and were overpowered once more¡­ Their course of action could only be described as a vicious cycle. ¡°What is¡­¡± Sylia and Boris could not pick their jaws up from the ground as they monitored the training that took place in the forest. It looked like someone was toying with them; fourteen people were all wrapped around the finger of one single person. That one person directly aimed at only about six of the trainees, but they could clearly see that the person was using those six trainees to affect the others in hard-to-reach regions. ¡°This is a surprising situation,¡± Sylia said exasperatedly. Boris hummed. He thought that Davey lacked real battle experience, though the latter''s ability to create and control golems was exceptional. What he was seeing simply told a totally different story. ¡°Did you see the route Trainee Illyna is moving on?¡± Sylia asked Boris. ¡°Hm? Oh¡­ I am watching¡­¡± ¡°Just by looking at the children¡¯s movements, she can pretty much predict their next moves. It means that her partner is keeping in check those that he can¡¯t take care of with his golem or traps by moving Trainee Illyna along the shortest route. So, this¡­¡± Struggling to find her words, Sylia trailed off, then sighed. ¡°That boy¡­ In terms of large-scale battles, that boy is completely¡­¡± ¡°Much more advanced than an expert warrior¡­ No, even they couldn¡¯t overwhelm the children like this. The children had been caught up in this and don¡¯t know why they are being overpowered to such a degree¡­¡± Boris and Sylia were left speechless at Davey''s bold strategy while keeping the opponent¡¯s skill levels in mind. They knew that Davey was being realistic. The firepower wasn¡¯t strong, nor did it weigh them down for long. It wouldn¡¯t even be considered a distraction if Boris and Sylia set out- on the battlefield; however, Davey''s quick thinking, method of keeping his opponents in check, and his high efficiency when working with his team¡­ It was unbelievable. Boris and Sylia felt that it was wrong of them to judge a book only by its cover. Davey¡¯s sloppy skills in swordsmanship were abysmal, but his skills in everything else were completely different. The most surprising aspect was that Davey, who was doing all this, was a young boy who had just become an adult. ¡°This is unbelievable if it¡¯s not a coincidence¡­¡± ¡°I knew that Trainee Illyna had complete faith, but¡­ Ha!¡± A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled. The boy was almost catastrophically talented. ¡°Their territory expanded to three times its original size in just fifteen minutes. Trainee Illyna, who is the one physically expanding the territory, is very fast as well, but¡­¡± The duration of the training was almost over; the teams all started with the same territory size, but now, there were three teams who had most of their territory taken by Davey after being helplessly trapped. For this training, Boris and Sylia had planned for the children to seize each other¡¯s territories and gain experience while doing so since large-scale territorial battles with dozens of team members would be common once they were put in for real battle in the Pandora Region. In terms of that kind of battle¡­Davey had something that was even far superior to Boris and Sylia, in a way. ¡°Teacher Sylia.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I¡¯m only saying this after seeing this now, but¡­ Do you really think a boy that quick and wise would have left his golem to freeze up in his battle with Trainee Sio because he didn¡¯t know?¡± ¡°Maybe that golem didn¡¯t even freeze in the first place. Perhaps¡­ he played Sio¡­¡± -Stop! Training is over! Everyone is to return! The injured: stay in your place and wait for a Teacher! The explosions completely subsided once Boris¡¯ shouts spread throughout the entire forest by magic. ¡°Seriously¡­ What did he do before coming here¡­?¡± In this day and age, Sylia knew that it wouldn¡¯t have been easy for Davey to gain enough experience to act without hesitation. She squinted at Davey, the black-haired boy calmly examining his deactivated golem, through a crystal. * * * To the existing members, Davey was probably a thorn in their side. His presence felt closer to a stab in the gut, but he had to endure this so that he could participate as Illyna¡¯s test partner, as well as to collect a bunch of data that would be helpful to developing Megatron¡¯s strategic movements. Nothing other than Davey¡¯s promise to Illyna mattered much, even if it had brought about the jealousy of the other trainees. However, not everyone was as hostile toward him as Davey had thought. With just one training session, it seemed as though they had judged him to be a golem controller with outstanding abilities for evaluating the battlefield and controlling his golem even if his physical abilities were sloppy. He did correct them and tell them that he was actually an alchemist, but it seemed that Megatron had made quite a huge impression on them. ¡°Illyna! Over here!¡± The people who were greeting Illyna and waving their hands toward her as soon as Illyna entered the cafeteria didn¡¯t seem to feel any discomfort or difficulty because of her rank; perhaps it was because she was just their colleague here, even if she was the princess of a huge empire in public. ¡°Lincy!¡± ¡°It¡¯s been so long! When was the last time we saw each other? Is the outside world exciting?¡± As the brown-haired girl chattered nonstop, Davey could see a girl with light pink hair who looked to be her twin and a large boy with short red hair who couldn¡¯t be missed. Lincy hugged Illyna tightly, as if she was so happy to reunite with the latter and tugged Illyna into the empty seat next to her. They were on one side of the long table. ¡°Over here. Sit! And¡­¡± ¡°Davey O¡¯Rowane.¡± ¡°Ah right! Sir Davey! My name is Lincy Peila! And these two twins are Shayir and Fendyr Renda. And that red-haired dummy is Heg! Oh¡­ Um¡­ Is it okay if I speak informally to you since we are the same age?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine with anything.¡± ¡°Okay! Sit here!¡± Lincy, who seemed to be very outgoing, also offered Davey a seat at the table. It was like she didn¡¯t care that he had shot Megatron¡¯s bombs at her. She then addressed Illyna. ¡°Anyway, you were almost late again!¡± ¡°I have some things to do on the outside, too.¡± ¡°True. You¡¯re part of the Roaming Knights, right?¡± Lincy giggled adorably and turned her glance over to Davey. ¡°Then, Davey, are you also going to be a Roaming Knight since Illyna brought you?¡± ¡°Roaming Knight?¡± When Davey asked with intrigue at the unfamiliar term, Heg chuckled. ¡°They are knight members that have ties with the outside world. The ones that travel between this place and the outside world are the Roaming Knights, and the ones that live here with no ties to the outside world are called Anchor Knights.¡± Of course, the Alpha Reinforcements was already on top of things, and money was essential to get supplies and other things. It seemed like there were two types of knights in the Alpha Reinforcements according to Heg¡¯s follow-up explanation; the first were the Roaming Knights, who usually delivered funds, got supplies, and collected information, and the second were the Anchor Knights, who protected this place and the monitored regions with no connections to the outside world. Most stayed based on their own preferences, since everyone here had their own situations. ¡°Then I must be part of the Roaming Knights,¡± Davey said. ¡°Davey, what do you do outside? Are you nobility since you have your own palace? Or¡­ Royalty?¡± Lincy asked. ¡°Actually, he¡¯s a prince even though he doesn¡¯t seem that way. He¡¯s the First Prince of a kingdom, and also a seigneur.¡± ¡°Wow¡­ To see a prince in person¡­¡± Illyna pointed at Davey with her fork like she was sick of him. He wondered how the nobility and royalty of the Pallan Empire would react if they saw her act so freely and without the manners of royalty. ¡°Anyways, it was amazing! I heard you made that golem yourself.¡± ¡°Yeah, I was so surprised at the sudden bombarding of magic bombs during training. I got flustered for one second, and the next thing I knew, my territory was all taken.¡± The twins chattered and asked Davey questions. It wouldn¡¯t be strange if they had tried to choke him right now, since Davey knew how much he had screwed them over. However, they thought that Davey''s actions had been normal because it was training, and that it was natural for strong people to keep them in check. ¡®These kids are all in la-la land.¡¯ [Do you have to think of them in such a twisted way?] Illyna replied when Davey spoke to her through the will-delivering magic spell he had cast on her during training. [I am also worried, to be honest.] But it seemed like Illyna was also worried about them as well. It was difficult to tell if her worry was because of the unbelievable things Davey had shown or because they were furious at him. To Davey, he could see that some of the trainees were definitely looking at him with wariness. He could also see Sio Howl, who was blatantly expressing his hostility, and Treve, who was so emotionless that it seemed like nothing would be able to phase him. Sio Howl and Treve had been based right opposite where Davey and Illyna had been during training, so they hadn¡¯t really been affected by his attacks. However, it seemed like Sio Howl was annoyed that Davey had performed the best during training. [Sio Howl is an Anchor Knight through and through, so he doesn¡¯t like the Roaming Knights. What should I say¡­ There¡¯s some friction between the Roaming and Anchor Knights, too.] ¡®Dumbass.¡¯ Davey couldn¡¯t help but think Sio Howl was stupid. The Alpha Reinforcements, a pillar of the Last Wisp, would have been split a long time ago if the two types of knights didn¡¯t cooperate and join forces. He wondered if Sio knew this. -Well, it¡¯s not like racists have some sort of great knowledge and logic for being that way. Davey nodded at Perserque¡¯s strange yet fitting analogy. ¡°But I never knew that golems could be that strong. And I was continually taken down by the traps Illyna put¡­¡± ¡°Since it was definitely the first time we¡¯ve seen someone fight with a tool¡­¡± CH 108 The Alpha Reinforcements had a Special One, who were extremely rare, but didn¡¯t have a battle alchemist. There were a lot of obstacles that battle alchemists had to face; if Davey didn¡¯t have the original version of a golem made with the integration of ancient technology, he wouldn¡¯t have thought to make the Megatron. There was no way of knowing what complicated incidents had led alchemy to become that advanced in the very ancient civilizations, but alchemy now was still moving along the stages of progression. To be frank, the level of development was probably far superior in the past when they were desperate to survive than now. -Every kind of development stems from the development of weapons. It was ironic. Davey and the others were sitting around and happily chattering amongst themselves like recess during school. ¡°Anyways, is there anything between you two?¡± ¡°True. There¡¯s a rumor that Illyna¡­is in an arranged engagement with the youngest elder of the Red Tower, right? They¡¯re not in a relationship, then.¡± It seemed like Illyna had at least some feelings for Yulis since she wasn¡¯t really denying it. ¡®Winley¡¯s love rival seems to be quite qualified, though her personality is a little off.¡¯ -Tsk tsk. Lincy and the others were debating amongst themselves out of curiosity, but unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t really a point of interest for children who liked fairy tales. ¡®What should I say¡­?¡¯ Davey had become acquainted with Illyna when she had come to punish him after he had run away and screwed her over at the Duchy of Felicity. ¡®Hm, it¡¯s pretty convincing.¡¯ ¡°We are friends who have shared a secret.¡± Illyna, however, answered with a calm face. She had no intention of giving some useless explanation, but Davey also felt that she was emphasizing the word, ¡®friend¡¯. -For royalty like her, she would have to be careful even in finding friends. Davey understood Illyna¡¯s situation. That was when a girl in an elaborate but neat white uniform approached Illyna with a bright smile. ¡°Oh! Lady Illyna, there is no such thing as a platonic friendship between a man and a woman.¡± ¡°Lucia?¡± Illyna flinched upon figuring out who she was. Lucia giggled happily. ¡°I waited for a really long time. How long has it been?¡± ¡°Oh. Um¡­¡± ¡°All of this is a blessing from Lady Daphne, the first saintess.¡± Lucia was wearing a uniform that clearly looked like that of a Holy Empire¡¯s priest, who should be serving Goddess Freyja, but she was speaking of that wicked (in Davey¡¯s eyes) Saintess Daphne rather than Goddess Freyja. Lincy who was sitting opposite Davey and chuckled at his shocked expression. She explained, ¡°Lucia Shelman is a total fanatic of the first saintess. So, she memorizes the first saintess¡¯ accomplishments and goes around spreading them. The problem is that she overdoes it a little¡­¡± Davey stared at Lucia in bewilderment. ¡°Nice to meet you. My name is Lucia Shelman. You are Illyna¡¯s partner, Sir Davey, right?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Yes.¡± ¡°Welcome. No time for this; You should also hear of the great achievements of Daphne, the first saintess¡­!¡± Already getting started and chattering on, Lucia seemed full of respect for Saintess Daphne. Lucia would never know what Saintess Daphne, the saintess she adored and respected so much, actually did in the Hall. Lucia grabbed her partner, who looked fed up with it and was trying to run away. She then went on and on about Saintess Daphne¡¯s achievements with no regard for Davey¡¯s thoughts. ¡°To describe her in one word, Lady Daphne is noble, good, and sacred enough to be called the reincarnation of God¡­¡± ¡®That woman has a potty mouth and is a hot-tempered drunkard.¡¯ * * * Lucia Shelman was much more of a stalker than Davey had thought. He knew that all kinds of people existed, but it was the first time he had heard about Daphne no matter what he was doing. He thought, ¡®I did see Illyna show an obsession over the traces of the Sword Lord, but this¡­¡¯ -This isn¡¯t just an obsession¡­ ¡®She¡¯s an insane fanatic of the saintess!¡¯ ¡°According to the description left in the holy scriptures, Lady Daphne, the first saintess, was said to be brilliant from a young age. Boys and girls of the same age all followed her with their hearts, because they fell for her and her noble character.¡± Davey wondered if Lucia knew that Daphne, the person she respected with all her heart, was actually the greatest bully of the block who had all the children under her command. She was said to have beat the guys she didn¡¯t like with her little fists. ¡°Lady Daphne¡¯s character is also well-known in the Holy Empire. It was said that even the most wicked of criminals would repent their sins after speaking with her. She wouldn¡¯t be wrong if [Fxxk], [Shxt], [A shxxxx fxxking dumbaxx] were included in her benevolent way of speech.¡± ¡®Daphne actually made criminals repent their sins with her fists rather than with benevolence and embrace.¡¯ -Davey, no! She¡¯s going to choke you if you tell her that! Davey was itching to say what was on his mind as Lucia went on to say, ¡°That¡¯s not all! In serving Goddess Freyja, First Saintess Daphne never took a day off¡­¡± Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original. ¡°She said that she would get caught hiding in the corner because she was too lazy to partake in the regularly scheduled worship.¡± Davey looked a little guilty as he blurted out that fact. ¡°What?!¡± Lucia looked surprised and tilted her head in confusion. -Oh no¡­ Your mouth is the problem¡­ ¡®Well, it¡¯s true! What do you want me to do about it? She said that she didn¡¯t get in trouble because she gave some sort of excuse.¡¯ Davey smiled awkwardly at Lucia and quickly added, ¡°Ah, I meant someone else. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°Right? There¡¯s no way the first saintess would hide during worship!¡± Davey thought that Lucia had her head in the sand, but he said nothing. -You are often quite impulsive when it comes to matters about the heroes of the Hall. ¡®Hm, I don¡¯t know.¡¯ Davey had given it some thought, but he had no reason to hold onto it if Lucia was going to let it go with a misunderstanding. Fed up with Lucia, who seemed like she was going to continue worshiping Saintess Daphne, Lucia¡¯s partner quickly pulled her arm. He said apologetically, ¡°Ahaha, sorry. You can¡¯t stop her once she gets started. We¡¯re going somewhere else. Come with me!¡± ¡°Kyah!! You should act with more elegance as a Holy Knight of the same religious order as the first saintess¡­¡± ¡°It is Goddess Freyja that I serve, not Saintess Daphne.¡± Seeing Davey and the others go pale, Lucia¡¯s partner grabbed her by the back of her neck. It was done with such familiarity that it looked like a common occurrence. ¡°Lucia¡¯s partner always has a hard time just from being her partner alone.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡®They say that there are no friends between opposite genders¡­ Is this what double standards are?¡¯ It probably didn¡¯t mean that there were literally two standards¡­ -Double standards? ¡®It means that [It¡¯s romantic when I do it, but it¡¯s an affair if others do the same].¡¯ It probably meant that it was a common occurrence, since they were talking about it familiarly. ¡°Um, Lincy? The atmosphere of the knight order is a little disorderly¡­¡± Illyna, who looked like she was deep in thought, asked quietly. ¡°Ah, you¡¯re talking about when you first came here with Davey, right? Well, it¡¯s true that it¡¯s rare for the Teachers to be that tense because of an outsider. Both Sio and the Teachers were acting over the top. You know that guy likes to take the lead.¡± ¡°Um¡­ I don¡¯t know if I should explain this¡­¡± The twin sisters were hesitating about what to say and couldn¡¯t speak their minds easily. That was when¡­ ¡°It seems that someone disturbed Shandra, the transcendental being.¡± A pretty girl with red-orange-hair, who had only been watching from afar, slowly approached them and answered with a charming smile. ¡°Alyssa Patrick¡­¡± Illyna seemed like she was a little tired upon realizing who it was. ¡°Long time no see, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t call me that here.¡± Alyssa giggled elegantly like she was satisfied, then opened her mouth again. ¡°The headquarters are thinking that there is a spy in the knight order creating conflict. Thanks to that, the atmosphere is in the gutters. Moreover, many knight members either died or were injured from an evil beast attack.¡± ¡°Alyssa! That should be kept a secret from trainees!¡± ¡°Oh, is it?¡± Alyssa smiled without being flustered and glanced at Davey. ¡°But isn¡¯t it funny that Lady Illyna and Sir Davey are the only ones who don¡¯t know about this when you know about it as well? Isn¡¯t that right, Prince Davey?¡± Davey smiled. ¡°Is that right?¡± ¡°Hehehe, I didn¡¯t know that even Prince Davey would come here.¡± ¡°You know of me?¡± ¡°Oh, of course, since I am part of the Roaming Knights as well. Almost everyone in the east continent has heard of your name.¡± Alyssa spoke softly as she put on a pretty smile and walked toward Davey. She paled in comparison to Illyna¡¯s beauty, but she was still stunning; it was just that the person she was being compared to was unbelievably beautiful. However, Davey felt a slight familiarity from her. It wasn¡¯t a negative one, but it was difficult to describe in words. ¡°Well, is there something you want to tell me?¡± Davey asked Alyssa. Alyssa then took a deep breath while staring at Davey silently, then confidently gave something to him from her chest pocket. ¡°Please write something for me! It would be nice if it was my name¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± Although it was for a moment, Davey was dumbfounded by Alyssa, who shouted with a flushed face, ¡°I¡¯m a fan! You are my idol, Prince Davey!¡± * * * It seemed that Alyssa Patrick was from a small noble family from the Pallan Empire, which was Illyna¡¯s kingdom. ¡°The Patrick family, where Alyssa is from, is a part of the conservatives. So, she said that she grew up learning the etiquette of a woman and hearing that she had to act like a woman,¡± Illyna explained. ¡°What does that have to do with me being her idol?¡± Davey asked. ¡°Well, most people know that you used to be a weak and powerless prince in the Rowane Kingdom who would just be swept up in the kingdom¡¯s events. But you are hugely successful in your business after becoming independent, and you are now developing the territory at a fast rate,¡± Illyna explained. With a smile, she added, ¡°Your name is quite well-known in the central continent, too.¡± Davey nodded uninterestedly at Illyna¡¯s explanation while sitting at the table and shaking his leg. He muttered, ¡°Maybe I should add a new function.¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to add something again?¡± ¡°It¡¯s greed, really. It would be nice if it¡¯s detachable like custom parts.¡± -If your dream is an electric chainsaw, I¡¯m leaning toward a drill. Davey¡¯s eyes sparkled as he thought hard about the Megatron after hearing Perserque¡¯s ideas. ¡°A drill¡­ Oh, that¡¯s nice.¡± ¡°A drill? What is that?¡± Illyna asked with worry, feeling anxious after hearing Davey¡¯s words. However, Davey just told Illyna to watch without saying more. CH 109 The branch of alchemy required more memorization and understanding rather than practice. As such, Davey had only memorized information about it and had never really made something. He was regretful that all he did was stuff his head with information without actually using it. Whirrr!! Whirrr!!!! Illyna looked like she had now given up on Davey. She just watched the sharp, cone-shaped metal spin mercilessly. She muttered, ¡°Every time I see it, I feel that you have a talent for creating terrifying things. I feel like I¡¯m going to wet myself in fear just from looking at it.¡± Elder Goulda had also said something similar when Davey had given him the blueprint to the golem. ¡®The idea is really fresh and new, Wise Teacher, but this is also quite terrifying.¡¯ It was a drill that rotated a huge piece of metal with a large amount of mana. ¡°All I did was make a few feasible modifications with the data I¡¯ve accumulated so far, but I still have to test the durability and sustainability more,¡± Davey said. He didn¡¯t have high expectations but the materials weren¡¯t going to waste either. -It¡¯s inevitable, since you just made it with whatever ideas popped into your head. Since Davey had just spontaneously made the drill with no proper data, he had to consider it breaking or its power output suddenly decreasing. It took about three days for the drill, the first custom part prototype, to be completed. Davey felt proud now that he had an initial finished product after working for three days straight in the Decepticon Fleet Workshop, which was the basement of the seigneur¡¯s newly renovated palace in the Heins Territory. Buzz!! Buzzz!!! Davey inserted the drill into the metal sheet that was made for experimentation and fixed the parts that needed improvement. He also checked the power of Megatron, which was drilling away mercilessly. ¡°The black metal is coated with mithril for now, but it should be somewhat durable.¡± Similar to how parts like a scope, laser, flashlight, or handles could be attached to a gun, one advantage of a golem was that custom parts could be attached to it. In that sense, the drill was the start of detachable armory. The rate of growth from actually building something was very different from just theoretical study itself. ¡°But where are you going to test that?¡± Illyna asked cautiously. Davey shrugged like it was obvious. ¡°They¡¯re everywhere in the High Palace of the headquarters of the knight order. The overeager saplings full of motivation and determination who will test the performance of the new product.¡± Illyna began looking at Davey like he was trash. ¡°¡­You are really an ass.¡± Davey was aware of that. * * * ¡°Kyahh!!¡± ¡°Sob!¡± Two girls ran around the battle stadium, screaming or crying out for help. Grind!! Grind!!! Vrrr!! With an electric chainsaw in one hand and a drill in the other, Megatron was going after the two girls without stopping. ¡®Hm, other than the fact that it gets overheated too quickly, I like the performance.¡¯ Davey observed. He had wanted to fight some evil beasts, but he wasn¡¯t yet given access to the entrance area of the Pandora Region where evil beasts ran wild. ¡°S¡ªStop!¡± ¡°We lost! We surrender! Surrender!¡± The two people, Fendyr Renda, the younger sister of the twins, and her partner, Lincy Peila, screamed and collapsed onto the floor with pale faces. It was a tremendous result that the golem had them instinctively feel fear even when they knew that the golem wasn¡¯t really going to hurt them. ¡°Stop moving,¡± Davey commanded. [Command accepted.] Megatron, which was charging toward the pair without hesitation, stopped as soon as it heard Davey. Stopping the two horrifying things in its hand, it slowly bent down. Fendyr Renda, an intermediate wind elementalist, and Expert Hunter Lincy Peila--- were a pair specialized for long-range attacks. They would use the wind spirits to elevate their mobility and utilize a hit-and-run method by tag-teaming. They weren¡¯t a bad combination, but they both didn¡¯t have enough firepower to blow away Megatron¡¯s big and heavy body. There was nothing to protect them, since the spirit they urgently summoned to be their defensive wall was shredded up by the electric chainsaw and punctured by the drill. ¡°I told you to go a little easy on us¡­¡± ¡°Hm¡­ You¡¯re so mean!¡± Fendyr still took the candy Davey handed her despite grumbling with a frown. There was nothing better than sugar to comfort children. ¡°Davey! Let us try, too!¡± Then, Shayir Renda, Fendyr¡¯s older twin sister, and Heg Pair, who wielded a warrior giant, came up onto the battle stadium. In the two weeks that he had become a trainee and commuted between Alpha Reinforcements and the Heins Territory, Davey had earned the reputation of someone who was quite powerful and had a good eye. Perhaps the children had rubbed off on Davey; it seemed like he took a liking to those guys who were treating him as a fellow trainee with basic kindness and civility. In fact, he had never experienced anything like this in his past or current life, or even his life in the Hall. He couldn¡¯t deny the fact that the children had grown on him in just less than a month. It was only secondary that the Teachers¡¯ evaluation about Davey¡¯s competency had improved. ¡°Would this be what being in school feels like?¡± Davey wondered. Even considering his past life, he had no memory of going to school beyond elementary school. He remembered some things, but since he had never left the hospital after finishing elementary school, the only memory he had was spending time in a jail-like aseptic room until he died. Davey became a little annoyed as that recollection popped into his head. Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°I prepared a lot for this day! I won¡¯t go easy on the golem since I want to learn how to beat the golem.¡± Davey revealed a genuine smile after patting the armored arms of Megatron, which was silently waiting for its command. He commanded, ¡°I look forward to it. Let¡¯s go with Tactic type DDD.¡± [Command accepted.] It was ¡®D¡¯ for ¡®Dark¡¯! ¡®D¡¯ for ¡®Death¡¯! ¡®D¡¯ for ¡®Destroy¡¯! Clang!! Whirrr!! At the same time, the metal monster with shining blue eyes began moving. Its drill and electric chainsaw began moving ferociously too. The combat practice came to an end when a few shouted about the news that a new ancient ruins had been discovered, and all the trainees were going to go to the ruins for a field trip. 44. Falling! The ruins were an undiscovered site near the Pandora Region¡¯s entrance. It seemed that the three Teachers who were responsible for the knight order¡¯s education had decided to send the trainees to the ancient ruins, which was difficult to discern how old it was. ¡°The new residents and the existing ones are harmonizing much better than expected, thanks to the policies you implemented,¡± Royal Attendant Bernile updated Davey. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s a relief,¡± Davey commented. ¡°And¡­I received a message from Royal Attendant Bespard of the Royal Palace that Sir Ramdas, the doctor of the royal palace, is visiting His Majesty more and more often¡­¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°Your Highness, he is still your father. How about you go see him once?¡± ¡°No.¡± Royal Attendant Bernile smiled bitterly and said nothing more. Davey believed that King Krianes wouldn¡¯t want him to visit, and Davey also didn¡¯t really want to meet him. Apparently, Second Prince Carlus, the person Davey had given circular bald spots to, was acting with more disrespect as the days went by. Carlus had been affected with a nasty case of circular baldness and strange animal sounds that followed his words. Although the curse of animal sounds had been broken, Carlus was probably being quite hysterical since the shiny spot on his head hadn¡¯t been treated yet. ¡®I hope he brings destruction onto himself after suffering as much pain as possible,¡¯ Davey thought, since there was only one possible outcome from the start. ¡°Anyway, you look much better recently. Has something happened?¡± Bernile asked. ¡°Do I seem that way? I met a few amusing people recently,¡± Davey replied. ¡°Yes. It is disrespectful, but¡­you used to look like a grandpa who had experienced all that life has to offer, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Your sense of humor seems to have improved yet again. I assume you mean to say that it¡¯s nice to see me this way.¡± When Davey agreed contentedly, a pleasant smile appeared on Royal Attendant Bernile¡¯s face. When Davey returned to the High Palace as the Heins Territory¡¯s residents waved their goodbyes, he could see the overeager and highly motivated little saplings standing in front of him. They were all prepared and excited. ¡°Ah! Davey! Illyna! You¡¯re here!¡± Excited for their practical class, the trainees were showing off their backpacks like the overeager saplings they were. ¡°Quiet!¡± Then, the three Teachers came out. They had been waiting for all the trainees to gather at the auditorium. ¡°As everyone knows, we are going for a practical class to the labyrinth found near the Pandora Region¡¯s entrance!¡± ¡°The place you guys are going is the real deal! Don¡¯t forget that dangers will be lurking in your surroundings at any given time! And they can cause you your life!¡± ¡°Do not let your guard down at all times. Being off-guard is death for a knight order.¡± The trainees listened to the Teachers with sparkling eyes, but it didn¡¯t seem like they were taking the advice to heart. Then, they stepped onto the carriage, following the lead of the Teachers and chattered like they were children going on a picnic. Since there were some who completely abandoned the outside world and only lived in the base of Alpha Reinforcements, the field trip might¡¯ve been a fresh stimulus for them. ¡°Uh¡­¡± Davey let out a dumbfounded moan when he saw the ancient ruins after traveling for about five hours. -This is¡­ The Pandora Region was in the north of the central continent, and the Heins Territory was in the eastern continent, but the discovered ancient ruins were so similar despite the relative distance between both places. -It¡¯s slightly different¡­ But it¡¯s mostly the same. The trainees only thought of it as just a fascinating site, but Davey was thinking of something else altogether. Although it was just a prediction, Davey thought that since there was something huge hidden in the Heins Territory¡¯s ancient ruins, there should definitely be something similar in a ruins like this if it hadn¡¯t been discovered yet. ¡®Should I take it?¡¯ It was worth a shot whether it was possible or not. -What if there¡¯s a golem again? ¡®If there is, let¡¯s just take the part that has the magic stones and magic circles arranged on it. It¡¯s a problem that we only have one Megatron in our Decepticon Fleet.¡¯ Since there was only one more being built, Davey would be able to arrange a perfect army of guardians that would be able to take care of the problems that arise in the territory. ¡°Everyone quiet! Everything is unknown from here on! Remember that the only person you can count on is your partner! Rescue them if you can! However, retreat if you think it¡¯s dangerous!¡± Boris cautiously announced a few things to keep in mind and pulled out his sword after nagging a few more times. ¡°From now on, you will explore the ancient ruins!¡± The eyes of the trainees sparkled with excitement as Boris shouted firmly. * * * As Davey expected, the inside of the ancient ruins was very similar to the Heins Territory''s ancient ruins: the inside wall built of unknown stone blocks that were difficult to break even with [Aura Blade], and the blue light seeping out from the cracks. However, one difference was that golems were nowhere to be seen. It was quite a shame, but there was a high chance that the trainees wouldn¡¯t have been able to come here if something like that were to appear here. The golems would still have firepower similar to the power of an extremely advanced Expert even if they didn¡¯t have the output of the Megatron. ¡°It is said that this place has three levels.¡± Alyssa Patrick said. ¡°Three levels?¡± Davey asked. He was walking behind Illyna, while the former remained silent. ¡°Yes, but it seems like it¡¯s fine for trainees to explore the first and second floors as only low-level evil beasts show up there.¡± Alyssa was friendly enough to give out information to Davey even though he didn¡¯t even ask. He felt even more pressured after she said something about him being her role model or something. CH 110 Eavesdropping on Davey and Alyssa¡¯s conversation, Illyna slowed down and asked while holding Caldeiras in her arms. ¡°Then, does that mean that we¡¯re not going to the third floor?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, Your Highness. We are exploring the first and second floors. I heard that we are exploring for four days,¡± Alyssa explained. ¡°I guess there are a lot of dangerous evil beasts on the third floor?¡± ¡°That is¡­ It¡¯s something that I¡¯ve only heard, but¡­¡± Alyssa looked around cautiously before whispering to Davey and Illyna, ¡°Apparently, there are no evil beasts on the third floor.¡± ¡°There aren¡¯t?¡± ¡°Instead¡­ There are other very dangerous things there.¡± ¡°Dangerous things¡­¡± Illyna¡¯s expression slightly tensed up as she became lost in thought. ¡°They aren¡¯t living things. They might be golems, from what I hear.¡± Davey wondered how Alyssa had obtained this kind of information, and it would only be polite for him to ask and express his curiosity. ¡°Where are you getting this kind of information from?¡± Support us at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°To be honest¡­ I¡¯m a light sleeper.¡± Alyssa winked cutely as she whispered in Davey¡¯s ear. Then, she said earnestly, ¡°Hehe. But is it of help? I thought that you would be interested in this piece of information since you are a golem controller.¡± ¡°It is. Thank you.¡± ¡°Hehe!¡± It seemed like Illyna was a little displeased by Alyssa¡¯s delightful giggling, but Davey didn¡¯t bother pointing it out. Just like Alyssa Patrick had said, the first floor of the ancient ruins had nothing other than basic and unfamiliar evil beasts. However, the new evil beasts wouldn¡¯t be difficult to get rid of if they all paired up and took action with careful consideration. ¡°Manifest by my will! Wundinae!¡± ¡°Huyyah!!¡± With Shayir Renda¡¯s shouts, Heg charged in with his warrior giant like a truck and split the strange-looking evil beasts in half. The evil beast was named ¡®Large Stump¡¯. It looked like a giant tree stump with a large eye in the middle and weird twigs or tentacles on its head. ¡°There are three more stumps ahead! Don¡¯t let down your guard!¡± The stumps were strong, but their lack of speed made them less of a threat. Still, their strength was threatening enough. Going up against them, the children couldn¡¯t let down their guard. There were enchanted golems on the third floor, and there were some on the second as well. The Pandora Region was covered with permafrost. As such, Davey thought that the climate of was cursed like hwo it was in the Heins Territory. ¡°Davey.¡± Whirr!! Crack!! -Kahhh! ¡®Or perhaps there¡¯s something that much valuable hidden away.¡¯ Whirr!! -Kyahh!! ¡°Davey!¡± Davey, who was watching the stumps while lost in thought, looked over with wide eyes. He heard someone urgently calling upon him. ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°You¡­¡± When Davey turned to see what was going on¡­ -Kahhh!! Davey saw the Megatron viciously crushing the stumps. The other pairs of trainees were taking one aside and attacking it with caution, but the Megatron was grabbing four or five stumps at a time and beating them to a pulp even without Davey¡¯s command. The Megatron grabbed a stump, which was trying to run away while letting out a strange scream, by its tentacles and ripping it apart or shredding it up with the electric chainsaw. It also made a stump skewer by puncturing the monster in the eye and swinging it at the other stumps. It was difficult to tell which one was the malicious monster in this situation¡­ ¡°Davey¡¯s golem is really¡­¡± ¡°Too strong¡­ We have to be careful even when going against one of them¡­¡± ¡°Are golem controllers usually that strong?¡± Davey shook his head firmly when the trainees asked him in bewilderment. He was sure that no other golem in this continent was more powerful than the Megatron. It wasn¡¯t just his wishful thinking, because this was a fact. ¡°Ahem! Trainee Davey. I like that you are driven, but you have to cooperate with your partner.¡± Davey had to manage the Megatron¡¯s power level, but he failed to see that it was running wild because he was engrossed in the ancient ruins. Thanks to that, Illyna was staring into space with nothing to do. ¡°Ah¡­ Sorry. I was thinking of something else. May I rest for a bit?¡± ¡°Ahem! Alright, you can.¡± The battlefield, which was being overwhelmingly dominated by Davey, started to become head-to-head as soon as he left. -Davey. ¡°Hm.¡± -You don¡¯t really want this situation to end, right? Davey didn¡¯t deny Perserque¡¯s speculation. -Although it cannot recreate a real school-life experience, it must be new to you since you are experiencing something similar. That¡¯s why you are intentionally lowering your skill level to match their¡¯s and helping them in different ways. ¡°To be honest¡­¡± It was dangerous for Davey to spend time in the knight order, since danger could arise at any time. However, the little peaceful life he had found here was quite shocking. It was refreshing because he hadn¡¯t experienced it before, and it was true that he wanted to enjoy it a little longer. -However, Davey, you have to remember that with great power comes great responsibility. Don¡¯t do anything that you will regret at least. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry that much.¡± Perhaps it was childish for Davey to say this. -Didn¡¯t you always say that it was foolish to boast one¡¯s power when it wasn¡¯t necessary? ¡®That is true.¡¯ -However, if some sort of danger threatens them¡­ ¡°I have to make sure that kind of situation doesn¡¯t happen.¡± If a sword would allow Davey to only take one step when alchemy would help him take two, he would swing his sword without hesitation. -Everything is fine if you don¡¯t regret it. The currently incomplete Megatron would reach its limitations if something much more dangerous appeared. Davey would have no choice to show what he was hiding if that time actually came¡­ Even if they were going to regard Davey as a completely strange being at that point, he had no intention of foolishly playing around when it was important. They probably didn¡¯t intend it, but he was grateful for being able to enjoy himself among them. ¡°¡­¡± That was when Davey¡¯s gaze, which was trained onto the battlefield, became focused on one part of the dark ancient ruin. -Davey? ¡°I¡¯m probably just imagining it.¡± Davey focused on what was past the empty hallway for a while. * * * Pitter¡­ Patter¡­ Someone¡¯s footsteps were heard on the lowest floor of the ancient ruins. ¡°Pace.¡± ¡°My, I wondered where you were hiding out, but you were here?¡± The surroundings were quiet and only the man¡¯s calm question could be heard. The man was Pace, a vampire who had recently joined forces with Carlus, the Second Prince of the Rowane Kingdom. ¡°Recently, I heard you found something new to play with.¡± ¡°A toy? Oh, you are talking about that greenhorn human.¡± ¡°I heard he won against Shari.¡± ¡°How could you compare me to that useless bitch?¡± Pace smiled coldly. ¡°Well, it seems like he is just doing business in his territory, but I am waiting.¡± ¡°What are you going to do?¡± ¡°Well, doesn¡¯t it exhilarate you just thinking about how one would feel if they saw everything they had worked so hard for burn down in one day?¡± ¡°You have a nasty hobby,¡± the woman quietly mumbled and glanced at Pace. For a while, she stared at Pace, who looked cold yet relaxed, like she was examining the details on his face. ¡°Why are you staring at me?¡± Pace asked the woman. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. However, you never know what¡¯s going to happen when you¡¯re so confident.¡± ¡°He¡¯s nothing but a human. Well, he seems to be a little talented, but he¡¯s still a human.¡± ¡°I heard that your subordinate whom you gave the power of immortality to died.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a replica. It is a weak power that will disappear if he were killed a few times.¡± Pace shrugged and murmured in intrigue. ¡°Although, I honestly didn¡¯t expect the human to corner him and kill him¡­¡± Pace¡¯s relaxed gaze suddenly turned cold. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be useless against me, who is truly an immortal being? It¡¯s boring if a toy breaks too easily. That¡¯s why I¡¯m waiting.¡± ¡°Our power is also destroyed with continued deaths; it is just a matter of how many times.¡± Pace remained at ease even as the woman criticized him while clicking her tongue. He then asked, ¡°Anyways, what did you discover that brought you to this cold place? Do you know about the monster living on top of us?¡± ¡°Shandra, was it? It looked a little sensitive because someone had bothered it, but there aren¡¯t any problems here,¡± the woman replied. Pace remained silent at her calm answer. ¡°Go away, since I have to take out the things locked in here.¡± ¡°Are these the treasures that are hidden in the lowest floor of the ancient ruins?¡± ¡°Well, for now¡­ I¡¯ll know for sure after I take it out, but¡­ It¡¯s no use with my strength.¡± There were hundreds of test tubes glowing a light green color in front of Pace and the woman, and there were two tubes that were filled. One of them contained a small heart made of machinery. ¡°Now, what¡¯s this? Did you make it?¡± ¡°Deus Ex Machina?¡± ¡°What is that? ¡°It is a created ego. It¡¯s hard to believe, but it¡¯s the heart of a golem that develops on its own. The study of golems has this when the study of homunculus has the Stone of the Sage.¡± Unlike Ego, where the soul was absorbed, the heart was a living thing created. ¡°Hm.¡± The woman nodded. ¡°It will self-develop past its normal limitations even if it is put into a golem made of wood.¡± Pace glanced at the one in intrigue. ¡°And the other¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure. It¡¯s not awakened yet.¡± There was a small girl beside the mechanical heart. However, the big, white-feathered wings on the girl¡¯s back were showing off its presence. She was clearly distinct from humans. ¡°Isn¡¯t it already dead?¡± Pace asked the woman. ¡°Even if it is, it will be valuable to study the body of a new species.¡± ¡°Do whatever you want since it¡¯s time for me to have some fun like you said. The stupid prince I signed with was nagging incessantly about when would I resolve this.¡± ¡°That human. Are you going to kill him?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m thinking I¡¯ll just see how it goes.¡± The woman, who looked completely emotionless, quietly let out a sigh when she saw Pace disappear into thin air. Then, she turned over to the test tube that was emitting a faint light. ¡°The ruins will move if I wait a little...¡± Fine pieces of crumbled dark blue stones were scattered messily on the floor. CH 111 Davey and the other trainees were able to get past the second floor after successfully passing through the first floor. Since the really dangerous beasts were on the third basement level and the elite exploration team was already clearing it out, it was safe to say that there wasn¡¯t really any real danger to Davey and the others. However, Davey had no choice but to stay back after killing a certain number of monsters because he would dominate the battlefield if he stood on the front lines again. ¡°It¡¯s because Trainee Davey¡¯s golem is too powerful. It has become much more agile and stronger since the time it battled with Trainee Sio.¡± Boris¡¯ judgment was true, because the Megatron¡¯s power output had increased. ¡°Well, alchemists fight with knowledge, not training,¡± Davey replied. Boris laughed heartily and patted Davey on the back, liking Davey¡¯s response. Strangely, Boris¡¯ pats felt similar to how Hercules had used to pat him on the back while complimenting him when he had first arrived at the Hall. ¡°Hahaha!! That¡¯s right! It is important to find one¡¯s own way to improve and get stronger. However, it is also necessary to train your physical body as well,¡± Boris said to Davey. ¡°Is that so?¡± Davey replied. ¡°What would happen if that golem were to be destroyed? What would happen to you if you were present in the battlefield when that happens? You would have no choice but to fight yourself!¡± Boris spoke like a true soldier. ¡°I will have to make sure that doesn¡¯t happen.¡± ¡°Chuckle, I don¡¯t worry much about that since you are on the clever side, Trainee Davey. You will bring our knight order into our prime! Pahahaha!¡± Not everyone was able to become a Master even if they were official members. Only about two or three people would reach Master in a group of twenty members. In that sense, it was safe to assume that Davey was more talented than the other trainees in terms of combat ability and battle support. -But you have no intention of actually becoming an official member. ¡®That¡¯s right.¡¯ According to his plan, Davey¡¯s enjoyment here would end at the trainee level; after this, he would rather support them with funds if he was going to support them in some way, but he was never going to return to the battlefield with them and run wild. ¡°You look happy?¡± Exhausted, Illyna approached Davey and put down her big, white sword. Throwing Illyna a water bottle from his backpack, Davey then asked, ¡°What about Caldeiras?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t train if I rely on Caldeiras,¡± Illyna replied. It would be difficult for her to train if she became three or four times stronger with a single sword. Drenched with sweat, Illyna gulped down the water and handed the water bottle back to Davey. Her appearance was still truly beautiful despite being covered in sweat, but the reason he wasn¡¯t drooling at her beauty was because his standard had been raised; it was also partly because of this selfishly beautiful Demon Lord who resided with him. ¡°You acted only to help me before, but now you¡¯re doing it all on your own.¡± ¡°It¡¯s pretty fun.¡± ¡°Hm¡­ Sometimes, you sound like a grandpa who is hundreds of years old.¡± Davey smiled bitterly at Illyna¡¯s criticism. Although he didn¡¯t think that he was as wise and considerate as an elderly person who had hundreds of years of actual experience, he thought that Illyna was right in some ways. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you like this. I know I forced you to come, but I¡¯m proud of myself for bringing you here.¡± Illyna smiled cutely. Davey couldn¡¯t help but smile at Illyna¡¯s confident words. Then, he thumped her on the head without hesitation. ¡°Kyah!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t kid yourself.¡± ¡°You!¡± Illyna was about to shout at Davey angrily when something strange caught Davey¡¯s eye. He called out, ¡°Teacher Boris.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°The ground over there. Don¡¯t you think it has changed a little?¡± Boris looked a little baffled when he turned over to where Davey was looking. ¡°Now that you have pointed it out¡­¡± Rumble!!! Roar!!! Davey¡¯s premonition of something terrible¡­was right. It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°Kyah!!¡± ¡°What is this?!¡± The trainees screamed in horror when the entire ancient ruin began to shake. ¡°Everyone stay here! Be wary of your surroundings and don¡¯t split up!¡± Like the Heins Territory, the ancient ruin was made up of hundreds of enormous square stones that fit together. If one were to mess around with something the wrong way, like the situation right now¡­ ¡°Huh! The wall!¡± The structure of the entire ruin could change. ¡°Teacher Sylia! The trainees!¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Surprised at the sudden turn of events, Boris pulled out his sword with a nervous expression. The trainees also stopped panicking and looked around in caution and unease. Grind!!! However, the ancient ruin didn¡¯t care about whether they were anxious or not, continuing to change its structure as if it was alive; the wall that used to be blocked suddenly opened up, and the open path began closing up. ¡°T¡ªTeacher¡­ This is¡­¡± The moment the pale-faced Fendyr was about to say something about the ancient ruin, which had finished its transformation¡­ Creak!! The floor that was under the two trainees, who were standing on the very outside of the group, suddenly disappeared. ¡°Ah?¡± ¡°Huh?!¡± Sio Howl and Lucia Shelman, who was the insane fanatic of Daphne, the first saintess, disappeared into the ground. There was no one among the trainees who had seen them quickly enough to try saving them. The Teachers, who were the only people capable of actually reacting fast enough, were far away. Sio and Lucia vanished too quickly for the trainees to react. ¡°Ahhh!!¡± ¡°Kyahh!!!¡± It felt like time momentarily stopped as they fell down. They screamed fearfully. However, Davey already knew what he had to do even though it did feel like time had stopped. He launched up from the ground and threw himself into the hole, which was closing up after unhesitantly swallowing the two trainees. ¡°Davey?!¡± ¡°Megatron!! Release output limit and protect everyone!¡± Davey disappeared into the hole only after he shouted one command to the terrifying Megatron, which was silently standing and boasting its presence. [Command¡­ Acce¡­] Davey heard the echo of Megatron¡¯s emotionless voice as he fell deeper into the hole. * * * [Light]! The very first thing Davey did as soon as he reached the ground was [Light], an illumination magic spell. The surroundings lit up once a small amount of mana escaped his body in seconds. Since Lucia and Sio¡¯s fall wasn¡¯t going to be long¡ªjust a split second¡ªit was crucial for him to catch them before they hit the ground and became a meat pancake. Crackk!!! As soon as he reached that conclusion, Davey simultaneously activated all three kinds of mana that were asleep in him. ¡®I¡¯m not going to take responsibility for what¡¯s going to happen next if you don¡¯t listen. Get a move on.¡¯ [Haste] [Agility] [Blood Acceleration] [Gravity] Davey used a speed enhancement magic spell, a reinforcement magic spell, and a dark magic spell that accelerated blood flow. On top of that, he also used a spell to enhance gravity. [Air Tile] The ends of Davey¡¯s feet touched the invisible platforms that were made by lumping air together. There was a big difference in falling speed between Davey and the two people, because he followed them only after they had fallen. Obviously, since he couldn¡¯t catch up to them with his current physical ability, he used every kind of reinforcement magic spell he had when he kicked himself off the platform and bounced around. Then, he repeated that process multiple times and gained enough speed to catch up with them. Davey was able to reach them thanks to the sudden increase in fall speed, but [Fly], a spell that would allow him to fly, was too slow and he couldn¡¯t use [Reverse Gravity], a 6th circle magic spell, with the state he was in right now. As soon as he reached that conclusion, Davey intertwined his fingers and cast hand seals. Usually, he didn¡¯t need to cast spells verbally or with hand seals, but¡­ [7th Circle] [Forced Gear Shift] [Overload] [High Reverse¡­] Davey couldn¡¯t cast the 6th or 7th circle magic spells with his current circle level, which had only recovered to the 5th circle unlike the other types of mana. However, he used to be a mage who had gone past the 8th circle level of Absorption, and it wasn¡¯t like that was going anywhere. Davey used Absorption, which allowed him to feel the will of mana, and forcibly activated the magic. Since it was just going to be cast for a quick moment, he decided to use 7th circle magic instead of the 6th circle, which was very high-risk. [Gravity] Unlike a gravity-inverse spell that reversed gravity entirely, this was the most advanced magic among the gravity-type spells that allowed him to alter the laws of gravity however he wanted. Mana burst out from Davey while completely ignoring the laws of physics. His blood vessels inflated like they were going to pop. 45. The Lowest Floor of the Ancient Ruin, and the Obstructor of the Legacy Davey could say that Lucia Shelman was somewhat cute, but he didn¡¯t really care whether Sio Howl lived or died. ¡®Why did it have to be him who fell?¡¯ Perhaps it was because Davey thought this way, one of Sio Howl¡¯s arms was twisted in a strange way and was completely broken. Meanwhile, Lucia was relatively unharmed. It was as if that one arm had absorbed all of the impact from the fall. Although, this wouldn¡¯t have happened if Davey had cast the magic perfectly. Of course, the person who was most affected by the aftermath was none other than Davey. A rebound effect was inevitable as he had used a level of magic that wasn¡¯t permitted to him; an ordinary mage would¡¯ve coughed up all of their blood and died if they did what he had done. ¡°Cough¡­¡± -My god! What have you done?! Your body hasn¡¯t even recovered the 6th circle! Perserque screamed in horror and released her demonic force when she put her hand on Davey. Demonic force was rooted in destruction, but it could become medicine depending on the mastery of the one administering it. ¡°Stop.¡± However, Davey knew what it meant for Perserque, who was being maintained with demonic force, to use a large amount of it. He was no idiot. As such, he had no choice but to grab Perserque and get her far away; she was trying to use the rest of her life energy to keep him alive. -Shut up and take it! You¡¯re being picky even when you¡¯re half-dead! As Davey wheezed while Perserque screamed, he knelt down and let out a strained mumble with his eyes closed. ¡°Just¡­wait. I humbly ask the Goddess who watches over this young sheep¡­ Have mercy.¡± With a short prayer, Davey¡¯s raspy and thready breath started to stabilize. The enhanced natural recovery magic began untwisting his organs and healing him. It was definitely a strangely fast recovery. He sighed. ¡°Phew¡­¡± -Davey! ¡°Whatever. Stop making a big fuss about it.¡± -Stop talking nonsense¡­. What¡­ How did this happen? Perserque, who was shouting in a teary voice, widened her eyes after noticing the change in Davey¡¯s physical state. ¡°Did I tell you about the personality of mana?¡± Davey asked Perserque. -¡­ The three personalities of Davey¡¯s three powers: devil mana, which desperately wanted to be used, holy power, which was incredibly lazy, and lastly, normal mana, which was irritated extremely easily but was the most helpful when necessary. Among his powers, which all had unique personalities, normal mana was heavily influenced by his life. The attitude that normal mana, which was usually easily irritable, would have when it felt a danger to its owner¡¯s life was surprisingly simple. CH 112 -What¡­ You¡­ When did your mana circles¡­ As if Davey had ripped open a door that didn''t open, two rings¡ªthe 6th and 7th circles¡ªof the circles rotating within his body were moving slightly. ¡°They are temporary circles. They¡¯ll disappear soon, but I won¡¯t die because of this.¡± Although he had to be careful of the aftermath, Davey wasn¡¯t going to die. He had also lost a third of his power that he could use. ¡°Groan¡­¡± Sio Howl, who had been screaming and moaning in pain, was actually in better shape; however, Lucia, who was very traumatized, was in a very bad condition and needed to be looked at right away. ¡°Wheeze¡­ Wheeze¡­ L¡­ Lady¡­ Lady Daphne¡­¡± Lucia wheezed. Even in this situation, she was looking for the Saintess; perhaps it was inevitable as she had more faith in Daphne than Goddess Freyja. ¡®Okay, so the woman you¡¯re looking for doesn¡¯t know who you are.¡¯ When Davey released his holy power and enveloped her with it by hugging her, Lucia¡¯s holy power reacted and also began to move. [Reinforce the Mind] ¡°Ah¡­ Ah¡­¡± Davey had cast [Reinforce the Mind], an advanced holy magic spell, to strengthen Lucia¡¯s mind. This was one of the reinforcement spells he had poured onto the territory¡¯s militia members to get rid of the goblins before. ¡°Ah¡­¡± The holy power initially moved very slowly, but gradually calmed Lucia. She was so pale, struggling to even breathe. ¡°It¡¯s okay. You¡¯re alive,¡± Davey comforted Lucia. ¡°S¡­ Sir Davey?¡± ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­alive?¡± It was a relief that Lucia didn¡¯t die from shock as she had fallen from a height that was easily over a hundred meters. There was no way of knowing how a space like this existed beneath an ancient ruin, but Davey was already familiar with the fact that ancient ruins did not obey common knowledge. ¡°Everything is fine now.¡± This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°Ah¡­ Ah¡­¡± Davey couldn¡¯t do anything but comfort Lucia, who was moaning with tears in her eyes, when she began to cry. * * * ¡°Keugh!!¡± Davey stepped away from Lucia and approached Sio Howl only after some time passed, since he waited for Lucia to calm down on her own. He could tell that Sio also wasn¡¯t in his right mind; perhaps it was because of the pain from his broken arm and the trauma from the fall. Of course, Sio at least endured the trauma better than Lucia, who was surprisingly fragile despite her outgoingness. He was much stronger than her. ¡°Get ready,¡± Davey said to Sio. He grabbed Sio¡¯s twisted arm tightly without even casting a pain relief spell. He could almost see how bad Sio¡¯s internal injuries were just by touching him. Crack!! ¡°Aghh!!!¡± ¡°Bear it.¡± Crack! Crackkk! Davey fixed Sio¡¯s displaced bones by force and cast a simple recovery magic later on. Since a splint had to be placed until the bone fully healed, Davey pulled out a couple of steel plates that could be used as a splint from his expansion pouch and tied it to Sio¡¯s arm with cloth he ripped from his robe. ¡°D¡­ Davey¡­¡± Sio noticed Davey and called his name even while he was drooling all over the place from the panic. ¡°W¡­ Why did you¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± Lucia, who was staring into space while sitting on the ground, turned over to look at Davey. He was walking over to her without answering Sio. ¡°¡­¡± Lucia¡¯s gaze was full of emotion. Davey could have chosen to just pretend like nothing had happened without saying anything, but it would be better for him to clear the air rather than letting them ponder over those questions. ¡°Keugh¡­¡± Sio stared at Davey, waiting for an answer. Davey silently pointed at the ceiling. ¡°I think you fell more than one hundred meters. You would¡¯ve both become meat pancakes if I was even a little late.¡± ¡°H¡­ How¡­¡± It seemed like they themselves didn¡¯t understand how they had survived. While repressing a pain similar to having his organs all twisted up, Davey let out a short, raspy sigh and gave each of them a light magic that appeared beside him. ¡°Follow me. We¡¯re going to find a way out.¡± Then, Lucia shouted from behind, ¡°S¡ªSir Davey! Were you the one who rescued us?!¡± ¡°Well, for now.¡± ¡°How¡­¡± The question Lucia had in her eyes was how Davey had done it when he was an alchemist with barely any mana. Sio was also unable to hide his confusion. ¡°All I did was use reverse gravity magic.¡± ¡°[Reverse Gravity]¡­ It¡¯s a 6th circle gravity-type magic. No way¡­¡± Sio Howl mumbled over and over again in disbelief. Davey did actually use a 7th circle [High Reverse Gravity] spell, which was higher than what he had said, but he didn¡¯t bother explaining. He then urged the two, ¡°Get a move on; the ancient ruin keeps changing. It¡¯s not my responsibility if you get smushed to jerky by the wall.¡± Lucia and Sio stared into space for a while, then slowly lifted themselves up from the ground. * * * The silence went on for a while. Lucia had calmed down, but she looked around with a blank stare like she had yet to fully recover from the trauma. ¡°Hm¡­ I guess we won¡¯t turn into jerky yet,¡± Davey commented while examining the wall. Sio looked at Davey in confusion. He asked, ¡°Why did you save me?¡± ¡°What?¡± Davey replied. ¡°It¡¯s exactly what I asked. Why did you¡­¡± ¡°You just happened to be there, you ass.¡± Davey quickly put a stop to Sio¡¯s questions, which were seemingly never going to end if he did nothing now. ¡°¡­¡± Although Davey spoke to him like that, Sio said nothing more. He knew that Davey was the only reason why he was alive right now. Unlike the other trainees, Davey didn¡¯t really care if Sio lived or died; he just happened to rescue the boy along with Lucia, who had also fallen. ¡°I can barely feel any mana from you. If so, it¡¯s just about the level of an ordinary person. But how¡­ How were you able to use gravity magic, which is a highly advanced type of magic?¡± Sio asked. Davey, who was walking in front of Sio, pulled out Red Ribbon from his waist and he knocked on the walls. He aimed for the other side of the dark hall and slashed his shining red sword. ¡°I use it because I can.¡± Slice!! As Davey spoke, the horrifying sound of something being cut was heard from the other side of the dark hall. Thud!! At the same time, they heard the sound of something heavy falling to the ground after being sliced. ¡°That could never make sense¡­¡± As Red Ribbon left dozens of red marks in the air, dozens of heavy things were cut once again. ¡°Does my mana feel weak to you?¡± Davey asked Sio. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°If so, it only means that is all you are able to see,¡± Davey said. When Sio gasped in surprise, Davey went on, ¡°Life is real experience, you ass. Even if you don¡¯t want to believe it, something is real if you can see it. And¡­¡± ¡®Damn, there are so many guardians,¡¯ Davey thought and boldly took a step forward. ¡°You want to find out the truth in a situation like this? Just follow me with your mouth shut if you can. You speaking alone just frustrates me.¡± Davey said what he had been wanting to for a while now. -I don¡¯t know why you had so many things you wanted to say¡­ ¡®You have to take the opportunity when you have it.¡¯ Reading his mind, Perserque chuckled hollowly. The thing that emerged from the darkness was none other than an enchanted golem. They were the exact same kind that was in the ruins in the Heins Territory. Davey could feel the rebound since he was releasing his mana again, but he didn¡¯t feel as though he was running out; perhaps it was because he had already gone berserk once. ¡°Follow me and stay close. I¡¯ll let you escape without a scratch.¡± Davey wondered why he was training this hard back when he was at the Hall, but he felt that he was being rewarded for his efforts in situations like this. * * * ¡°Davey!!¡± Clang!! Screaming, Illyna ran toward the firmly shut doors, but was soon blocked by the huge guardian golem, the Megatron. ¡°Move!!¡± She shouted angrily, but the golem just silently stood in her way. She yelled again, ¡°Did you not see your master fall?! I said, ¡®Move¡¯!!¡± Illyna shouted at the Megaton as she pulled out Caldeiras instead of her regular longsword, but the Megatron silently stood in front and blocked her. Its eyes continued to shine blue. Of course, she wasn¡¯t nice enough to just retreat. ¡°You damn lump of metal!!¡± As Illyna menaced and was about to charge at it¡­ ¡°Illyna, no!!¡± ¡°Stop!¡± Heg and Shayir Renda ran out reflexively from the crowd and stopped Illyna. ¡°Stop! It''s already closed!¡± ¡°Let me go! I have to go find them!¡± ¡°What are you going to do when you get there?!¡± Illyna shouted wrathfully, but the two were determined to hold on and keep her here. Boom!! Whirr!!! Kahh!! Then, a battle ant that had snuck in during the chaos was violently ripped apart by the Megatron¡¯s electric chainsaw. [Megatron!! Release output limit and protect everyone!] A golem with no consciousness only moved to protect everyone that was left, according to the orders that its master had left behind. * * * The enchanted golem was four meters in height and was huge. It was human-like, but had distinct stones all over its body, along with a jewel on its forehead. -Whirr! Bzzz!! The golem¡¯s eyes turned red and shot extremely hot rays of light toward Davey like they were Superman. The infrastructure held up since the walls withstood even the slashes of [Aura Blade], but he could still tell that the rays were very powerful. Slice!! On the other hand, the sword energy of Red Ribbon ruthlessly cut through their large bodies while slashing the floors even though Davey hadn¡¯t strengthened their precision abilities yet. Red Ribbon had the power to ignore the resistance of anything it touched; seeing it again, he was reminded of how stupidly strong it was although it seemed simple. Of course, there was the disadvantage that more mana was used the more durable the opponent was. The fact that he could ignore defense skills was useful in various ways. Davey was swinging his sword and killing whatever touched his sword like he had gone berserk, but it didn¡¯t seem all too effective in reducing the number of monsters. ¡®But I can¡¯t get rid of them like before¡­¡¯ Davey had survived a huge danger, but that didn¡¯t mean he was in good shape. ¡°Kyahh!!¡± As Davey was completely in the zone and slashing the monsters that were swarming toward them, one of the golems popped out from the wall and slammed down his fist toward Lucia. ¡°[Freeze]! [Ice Wall]!¡± Sio Howl immediately reacted and built a wall by releasing ice, but it seemed like he knew that his wall, which was made quickly, wasn¡¯t going to stand a chance against the golem¡¯s attacks. In a short second, the golem¡¯s fist flew toward her after breaking through Sio Howl¡¯s ice wall. However, its attack was not able to reach the target as Red Ribbon had gone into the air in seconds and cut its arm off. Then, Blue Ribbon soon followed, leaving a blue afterimage, and pierced its body to slam it against the wall. CH 113 [Telekinetic Blade Control] [Twin Fang] Davey didn¡¯t stop. After taking a quick, short breath, he charged toward the enchanted- golem. ¡°Hup!¡± [Blood Demon Attack] [Longsword] [Combined Impact] [Black-and-White Twin Lightning] With the sword technique of [Longsword], which applied an immense amount of weight without any artistry, in one hand, and a dark purple flame in the other, Davey pushed his hands off of each other and punched forward. Rumble!! With a huge wave of energy, an immensely heavy dark purple flame landed on the golem with an extreme power that was strong enough to not only smash its body into powder, but also to disfigure the wall behind it. ¡°Ah, my head¡­¡± -Davey! I¡¯ve told you not to overdo it! ¡®I know. Can you please be quiet because I¡¯m aware of that fact?¡¯ Davey had a headache and felt like his head was ringing. He approached the golem, which had been broken into pieces, and pulled out the core magic stone from its head. He ignored the warning his body was sending him. Groan¡­ Lucia was of no help in this situation, but Davey wasn¡¯t going to blame her for that. This situation was probably catastrophic for her, who only had the experience and skills of a trainee. ¡°Sio Howl.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°If you have your head straight, keep Lucia safe at all times.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t make me repeat myself. I will consider you of no help and kill you if you make me say the same thing again.¡± For now, Davey felt like it was a good thing he had kept Sio Howl alive. He watched Sio release his mana with a tense expression. Sio looked like he had a million questions about how Davey was able to use this unbelievable swordsmanship and was able to use a 6th circle magic spell, which was said to be of the same level as Swordmaster. However, it seemed like he was thinking about what Davey had said earlier. ¡°We have a long way to go. Follow me.¡± Once everything became settled, Davey walked forward and deeper into the ancient ruin. * * * Davey wanted to take everything if he could, but it was unfortunate that he didn¡¯t have enough storage to collect each of those huge objects. So, he decided to only take the magic stones and the small stone plates that had mana arrangements engraved on them. As he put them in his pouch, he couldn¡¯t help but smile as he counted more than thirty perfectly usable magic stones and twenty normal stone plates. ¡®I¡¯m definitely getting rewarded for my efforts.¡¯ Davey would be able to build at least four or five new Megatron-like golems. He was glad that he didn¡¯t crush the ceiling and go up right away. And besides, he was curious as to what was inside. Davey looked around while catching his breath, since no more enchanted golems appeared. ¡°S¡ªSir Davey! Wait!¡± Lucia, who was staring into space, ran toward Davey with wide eyes. Regaining his strength little by little when he heard Lucia, Davey said, ¡°I told you to stay back.¡± ¡°I¡ªI am also a priest! Please let me cast a strength recovery spell or something at the very least!¡± ¡°I also know how to use holy magic.¡± ¡°I was told that there is a difference between one using it on themselves and someone else casting it on them!¡± Lucia was determined to be of help in some kind of way. Staying back and doing nothing would actually be helping Davey, but Lucia quickly released her holy power and used a healing spell on him with teary eyes. However, her holy power dissipated even before it formed the spell. ¡®There¡¯s no way that such a quick casting of a holy magic spell would work.¡¯ Lucia tried to forcibly release her holy power while sobbing, but it was inevitably not going to work. Holy power, regardless of who it belonged to, was extremely lazy. Although, Davey thought it was quite cute how she was struggling to try something. ¡°Relax,¡± Davey said. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Take a deep breath.¡± When Lucia stopped breathing heavily and began breathing slowly, Davey said, ¡°Okay. Good. It gets harder to use holy magic the more impatient you become.¡± ¡°Sir Davey¡­¡± ¡°Slowly. You can take it slow. We have lots of time.¡± A flamboyant and bright white light burst from Lucia¡¯s hands while Davey comforted and reassured her. He trembled slightly less, then softly patted Lucia¡¯s head and showered her with compliments. ¡°Excellent. That¡¯s more than enough. Remember that holy magic has to be used in calmness. You have the responsibility to save everyone, whether it be your partner or your teammates. You know that, right?¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± ¡°There is no one to heal them if you panic.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll¡­keep that in mind.¡± ¡°Okay. Good job.¡± Lucia seemed to have so much faith in Davey that she would believe him even if he had said that he made wine with cherries. The blind faith that was in her eyes was quite familiar. However, Davey couldn¡¯t do anything about the hint of guilt that she felt. Thud!!! After a short rest, Davey took his two silent companions and arrived at the huge hall at the end of the corridor. -Beep! As soon as the three entered the hall, a timer with ten minutes showed up on the stone board on the opposite wall and began counting down. ¡°Do we get recess too?¡± A quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled. As Davey collapsed onto his knees in futility and was catching his breath, Lucia quickly ran over toward him and grabbed his arm tightly. She said softly, ¡°Thank you¡­ I couldn¡¯t even say this just now, and I was just a nuisance¡­¡± As Davey was patting Lucia on the back because she looked like she was going to cry, Sio Howl asked cautiously, ¡°Can¡­I ask one thing?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll answer if I feel up to it.¡± Sio clenched his jaw and asked quietly, ¡°You are extremely talented in swordsmanship that you can make [Aura Blade]. Then why did you do that in the beginning¡­¡± ¡°Beginning?¡± ¡°That sloppy movement¡­¡± Hearing Sio shouting, Davey smirked. ¡°Drunken Sword.¡± ¡°Drunken¡­Sword?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a sword technique that is done seemingly drunk. A comical sword technique that makes it seem like one is getting crushed by a newbie who doesn¡¯t know swordsmanship.¡± ¡°W¡ªWhat?!¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t know? I purposefully did that to mess with you. It seems easy, right? But how could a swordsmanship that tricks other people be easy?¡± ¡°Damn it!¡± Sio Howl clenched his jaw after realizing the truth. ¡°You are not one to judge and critique others.¡± Sio Howl couldn¡¯t say anything. The difference of power and the suspicion he felt from Davey had been long confirmed after Davey had slashed the enchanted golems without mercy. It was an overwhelmingly powerful swordsmanship; since he had shown Sio a swordsmanship that could not be beaten, something not even swordsmanship teachers Boris and Fridos could show, it would be nothing but stupid for Sio to think that Davey¡¯s physical abilities were weak. ¡°T¡­ Then why didn¡¯t you use magic during training or anything?¡± Sio asked. ¡°I would¡¯ve shown you if you had won against the golem.¡± Davey was saying that he had adjusted his skill level to be similar to them when fighting. Realizing this, Sio¡¯s face went pale. ¡°What does¡­ You¡­ Are you really human?¡± ¡°Ah right. Lucia,¡± Davey called out. Ignoring Sio, who was questioning him in bewilderment, Davey called Lucia over to say what he had been wanting to say. He stood up and stared at the opposite wall. As the wall began to open after the ten minutes on the timer had run out, he smiled and mysteriously said, ¡°Even if someone looks perfect on the outside, you never know what¡¯s inside.¡± ¡°Yes¡­ Pardon?¡± Lucia asked again. ¡°One day, it will be very helpful to your mental health if you remember it.¡± ¡®Sigh¡­ I can¡¯t even tell her.¡¯ Boom! Strangely, Davey began to sympathize with how the servant serving the king with donkey ears felt. * * * Another enormous hall came into view as the wall opened up. However, unlike the large hall they had just passed, this one had thousands of test tubes filled with a green, fluorescent liquid. It looked like a big lab. Sio and Lucia looked around with wide eyes, amazed at the hall, which was empty except for the liquid-filled tubes in the hall. ¡°I think we¡¯ve reached the room at the very end,¡± Davey mumbled. Lucia slowly walked over to the tubes. ¡°They¡­are all empty.¡± Davey looked around the empty hall, just like Lucia said, and then stopped and stared at something. He saw two test tubes protruding from the wall that looked unlike the others. -That¡¯s¡­ Perserque, who noticed them almost at the exact same time, murmured in puzzlement. She trailed behind Davey in the air. The thing in the test tubes was a mechanical heart made of metal. It was only the size of a human heart, but it strangely captured the gaze of the observer. He could also see a naked human girl inside a tube filled with solution. She seemed about eighteen years old, but she looked much younger than that because of her small physique. However, unlike humans, she had white wings that were about the length of his arms and a small crack underneath her round bosoms; it was as if that part could be opened and operated. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen this kind. Did they study some kind of homunculus?¡± Davey asked. Homunculus was an extreme field of study in alchemy like the study of golems. If the study of golems was a field that sought to create Deus Ex Machina (The God of Machinery), the perfect heart and core, the study of homunculi was the final wish of those who yearned to create the Stone of the Sage. ¡°Is this¡­¡± A thought popped into Davey¡¯s head as he was silently staring at it. In front of him was a machine heart, and a strange small girl that seemed to be a homunculus. There was no way to know for sure, but considering that both magic and alchemy had been studied to the extreme in very ancient civilizations¡­ ¡®Perhaps that machine heart is¡­¡¯ ¡°The completed Deus Ex Machina.¡± It was Deus Ex Machina, otherwise known as the God of Machinery. It was the pinnacle of the study of golems, and a heart with an ego that couldn¡¯t be made even with Davey¡¯s level of knowledge. It was something that Eva, his alchemy teacher, only made once in her entire lifetime by coincidence. -The God of Machinery? ¡°It¡¯s a heart with an ego that is created with technology. What is this place?¡± Davey couldn¡¯t help but gasp in astonishment. CH 114 46. A Vampire and a Golem There were a lot of unexplainable things in the world. The concept of mana or alchemy in various worlds was different, but very similar. Perserque¡¯s power of the abyss was a part of the divine authority, a power equivalent to an unidentifiable power known as ¡®holy power¡¯, which was also called the ¡®divine will¡¯. And there was also the evolving core of golems, which was known to be the perfectly powered core, although it couldn¡¯t actually be perfect. There were a lot of ways to describe the machine heart. It was the heart that had the life that sought after the extreme in the field of alchemy, but the existence of Deus Ex Machina (The God of Machinery) couldn¡¯t be explained with current knowledge. ¡°I¡¯ve got to take this!¡± Throwing his usual personality out the window, Davey¡¯s voice turned lively as he glued himself onto the glass capsule with wide eyes. The Heins Territory¡¯s gigantic climate control system was bewildering, but Davey knew best how much more valuable this was. However, Sio and Lucia, who didn¡¯t know how valuable it was, just looked around the hall in fascination. -Davey, look here. Perserque, who flew around and examined the hall quietly, called Davey after finding the control panel. The control panel was presenting the condition of the capsule¡¯s contents like a hologram, and it was secured like it was waiting for someone¡¯s hand to be rested upon it. Once Davey did so, the mana he released through his hand enveloped him and began changing the words in the hologram. -Deus Ex Machina. [Ready to link. Adjustment complete.] -White Wings, The Lion of God. [Suspended animation. Ready for heart transplantation.] ¡°White Wings¡­¡± It was unfamiliar to Davey, as expected. ¡°The ¡®Lion of God¡¯¡­ How arrogant. Go and repent.¡± As Davey hollowly chuckled and skimmed the list that showed the status of the capsule¡¯s contents, he began to sort of see the purpose of these capsules. One was the God of Machinery, the heart of a golem that had its own ego, and the other was a unique kind with no heart; if the small girl was really one of the White Wings, a unique kind of species, and the Lion of God, perhaps the owner of this ancient civilization who made this facility had a crazy idea to transplant the God of Machinery to the Lion of God and use it. -Davey. There¡¯s an experimental record journal here. Perserque, who was still silently looking around, brought Davey a small book. To the others, it would look like the book had just hovered over to Davey, but he could see her fine. ¡°It looks like the experiment record journal, but I can¡¯t read it because it¡¯s different from the control panel.¡± It was obvious that Davey couldn¡¯t read it because it was written in a different language. He also didn¡¯t have enough data to decode it. ¡°Let¡¯s just take it for now.¡± Even though he didn¡¯t know what it meant, Davey would be better off with it than without. He took the experiment record journal and pulled out Blue Ribbon. With force, he slashed the glass capsule that held the God of Machinery. Clang!!!! However, the hard glass was totally unaffected by it and endured the hit well. ¡°Look at that?¡± Davey was unable to cut through the glass by slashing it with Blue Ribbon combined with [Aura Blade]. ¡®You¡¯re kidding, right?¡¯ ¡°Wh¡ªWhat are you doing?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to take this. But it¡¯s a little hard.¡± ¡°Oh my¡­ A glass that cannot be cut even with [Aura Blade]¡­¡± The Tionis Continent had pretty good access to glass; it was different from how glass was made on Earth, but an ore that turned hollow and glass-like if it was melted in high temperatures and slowly cooled existed in the continent. ¡°Then we can¡¯t take this out, right?¡± Lucia asked cautiously. Davey nodded, then said, ¡°That is true. Can you back away for a second?¡± Davey chose to slash it with Blue Ribbon as he thought that there might have been a defense-type magic on it, but it seemed like there was nothing like that. This meant that it was just extremely hard, which actually made things a lot easier. Whoosh¡­ Red Ribbon twirled inside Davey¡¯s hand, leaving a red afterimage, and a thin coat of [Aura Blade] began releasing onto its red sword body. As soon as a compact [Aura Blade], which looked faint, was created, Davey immediately slashed the capsule. Slice!! The glass capsule that wasn¡¯t even dented previously was sliced into half and was spilling out a green liquid. It was a relief that it wasn¡¯t able to tolerate the power of Red Ribbon. Davey grabbed the heart that was floating inside the solution as the liquid disappeared. He felt a weak beating in his hand. ¡®It¡¯s beating on its own even when it¡¯s just a machine.¡¯ No one else knew, but at least Davey knew what this meant; the two swords that were in his hand were the exact same. Considering that, Surtr had taken a step into godly territory by creating Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon, and all Davey had done was just polishing it. By this, it was confirmed that Surtr was also just a crazy craftsman. Davey took the heart, which had a metallic smell to it, then slashed the other capsule next to it. Slice!! The capsule, which was slashed in the front and back, was cut cleanly without injuring the girl. Davey caught the girl as she fell out of the capsule as the liquid poured out. She wasn¡¯t human, but she just looked like a human with wings. Davey took a robe out from his pouch and wrapped the girl up. He pushed the mechanical heart inside of his pouch and piggybacked her. ¡°You¡¯re¡­taking her out of here?¡± Lucia asked. ¡°Finders keepers. Why? do you need her?¡± ¡°N¡ªNo! Nothing like that!¡± ¡°I know. I can¡¯t give you something like this even if you asked.¡± Lucia chuckled hollowly after Davey spoke with a smile. Shwing¡­ That was when¡­ ¡°Good job.¡± Something cold and terrifying touched Lucia¡¯s neck as she was approaching Davey. ¡°Now hand both of those over.¡± An emotionless voice of a woman could be heard, and Sio Howl widened his eyes at the woman¡¯s sudden appearance. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to actually slash open the glass capsule. That¡¯s right; I was watching you the whole time,¡± the woman mumbled calmly. Lucia grew paler as she dug her fingernails deeper into Lucia¡¯s neck and requested quietly, ¡°Hand those over if you don¡¯t want this child to die.¡± Davey slowly put the girl he was carrying down on the ground and frowned. ¡°Do vampires nowadays like to piggyback on someone?¡± Perhaps it was a relief that Illyna wasn¡¯t here; considering her personality, she would¡¯ve charged at the woman the second she realized the woman was a vampire. The woman had a threatening odor unlike the other vampires Davey had met, and her power of blood felt incomparably stronger. The difference in power was so large that he could almost see what would¡¯ve happened if Illyna had just charged at her. ¡°I couldn¡¯t have gotten her out. That is very important experimental data. So, hand it over.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°That sword is sharp, but it cannot kill me. I won¡¯t take your life, and I keep my promises.¡± The woman with pink hair requested without a hint of disingenuity. A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled. * * * ¡°You!¡± [De-spell] Sio Howl was dumbfounded by the situation, but soon came to his senses and quickly cast an ice magic spell. However, Davey¡¯s [De-spell] completely destroyed his spell and made him cough up blood. ¡°Shut up and stay down,¡± Davey quietly criticized Sio and stared at the woman. ¡°I¡¯m Milpieu. You?¡± The woman asked. ¡°Davey.¡± The woman seemed to grow curious when she heard Davey¡¯s name. ¡°Davey, um¡­ Davey O¡¯Rowane?¡± ¡°Has my name become famous among vampires too?¡± ¡°No, not really. I heard Pace talking.¡± ¡°Pace?¡± ¡°The guy who¡¯s planning to kill you.¡± ¡®Talking to this woman isn¡¯t easy.¡¯ It would make sense if the demonic beast and vampire that attacked the dwarf village of the Yellowstone Tribe was Pace¡¯s doing. ¡°Why is Davey here when he should be defending his house?¡± Milpieu tilted her head as if she was truly puzzled. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Pace. He said he was going to burn your house down.¡± ¡°Burn it down?¡± As Davey chuckled and reached his hand toward the ground, Red Ribbon, which was planted in the ground, vibrated and gravitated toward his hand. ¡°I don¡¯t know what that vampire does¡­¡± Davey smirked and pointed his sword toward the woman. ¡°But tell him that he¡¯s going to get in trouble if he invades someone else¡¯s house.¡± It had just come to Davey¡¯s mind, but there was someone on the territory right now who would display a monstrous level of power towards vampires in specific right now; from the olden days, High Elves were the natural enemies of vampires. It seemed that they had broken their silence that they had kept for three hundred years and infiltrated the territory because they had some kind of business with Davey. ¡°I don¡¯t care. I need that heart and White Wing,¡± Milpieu demanded. She seemed to not care about anything other than her business. ¡°If I decline?¡± Davey asked. ¡°This child. She dies.¡± ¡°Did you clean up all the golem bits that were nearby?¡± ¡°They were bothersome. I crushed them all.¡± Lucia, who was pale, clenched her jaw. ¡°Sir Davey! Don¡¯t worry about me! I don¡¯t know what that is, but you cannot give it to her!¡± Lucia shouted fiercely and struggled, but it seemed like Milpieu¡¯s strength was beyond imagination despite her slender figure. ¡°I really won¡¯t kill anyone if you hand it over,¡± Milpieu said. ¡°I said I decline.¡± ¡°Then, I can¡¯t do anything about it. I¡¯ll just take it after I kill everyone.¡± The moment Milpieu was about to cut Lucia¡¯s throat with her nails¡­ Slice!! A blue figure came out of nowhere and boldly sliced her nails. ¡°Hup¡­¡± A little taken aback by the unexpected attack, Milpieu backed away and frowned. ¡°You. You¡¯re weird.¡± With no thought to wipe the blood running from her hands, she stared straight at Davey in wariness. She then asked, ¡°A telekinetic blade?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°How? Humans cannot use [Aura Blade] if they do not metamorph.¡± Like Milpieu said, metamorph, the level of Master was a stage of proficiency of controlling mana. It meant that it was impossible for someone who was so proficient in controlling mana that they could use a telekinetic blade to not metamorph. ¡°A telekinetic blade¡­ A transcendental level of blade control. You¡¯re really weird.¡± Milpieu frowned at the unexplainable make-up of Davey and slowly began to release her power of blood. Although she was still extremely pale, Lucia forced herself up and left the battle area after realizing that she would be nothing but bothersome. But she soon felt the thick, cold energy taking over the surroundings. Sio Howl quickly ran over to support her as she stumbled. ¡®I¡¯m letting it go because you can at least take a hint.¡¯ ¡°You. You¡¯re interesting,¡± Milpieu commented. ¡°I still haven¡¯t shown you everything.¡± ¡°Please let me study you.¡± At Milpieu¡¯s unbelievable request, Davey pointed Red Ribbon at her while raising his hand toward the wall to retrieve Blue Ribbon, which was planted right there. Then, he used Perserque¡¯s power with a cold expression. Bleep. -Name: Milpieu. -Age: 223. -Sex: Female. -Species: Half-blood. -Title(s): Alchemist Paracellus (Hohenheim); marquess-level vampire. -Status Effects: Tired. -Notes: A true half-blood; no experience in sucking blood; virgin vampire. -Current Emotion: Curious. Curious. Curious. Curious. Curi¡­ous (?), curious... Milpieu was a half-blood between a human and a vampire; it was quite unexpected. Davey didn¡¯t understand why her virginity had to be listed, but the important thing was that she didn¡¯t seem like she was in her right mind. CH 115 ¡®The guys who are going to live a longer life should at least live with as much knowledge as me.¡¯ -That¡¯s the best nonsensical phrase I¡¯ve heard recently. ¡°Hand it over now when you still have the chance. I don¡¯t like unnecessary killing,¡± Milpieu said calmly. Davey quietly pushed the breast of the naked girl, who was lying on the floor. -What is this pervert do¡­ Just as everyone was staring at Davey in bewilderment¡­ Hiss!! The little girl¡¯s chest opened up and the biomechanical devices inside her began to operate as if they had been waiting for this moment. The space inside was just big enough for a small heart. Without hesitation, Davey looked at the mechanical heart, the God of Machinery, and pushed it in. ¡°Oh no. It¡¯s already been attached!¡± Davey didn¡¯t care about some Milpieu or whatever; his only focus was on this little silver-haired girl. It would be good if it was attached to the Megatron, but he was curious as to what this girl was with the heart attached. The moment Milpieu was going to say something as Davey played around, the beautiful silver-haired girl who had her eyes closed like she was dead¡­suddenly flinched with great force. * * * Everyone went silent at Davey¡¯s unexpected actions. Davey kind of understood that they could¡¯ve been curious about the result of his instinctive actions. Especially, he could see Milpieu, the weird half-blooded vampire who was up against him, look at the little girl with sparkling eyes while pretending to be disinterested. Click! Shirrr!! Then, something inside the little girl began connecting with the mechanical heart as a strange sound resonated from the hatch, the only thing that was open and showing the interior. 90% of her body was biological and natural, but the other 10% was made from an artificial metal. The rusty-looking one was adamantium, and the white metal that had a faint sheen to it was orichalcum. It definitely seemed luxurious, which was fitting for the ancient civilization. Click!! As the mechanical heart, which was slightly vibrating, fully attached itself to the girl, the open hatch automatically closed and started to stitch itself together. The skin stuck to each other without leaving any space and looked just like regular skin when it finished transforming. The girl¡¯s breasts, which had a crack that could be opened like a machine not too long ago, had disappeared, and only pale skin like any other human being was left. After a short silence, the girl¡¯s fingers that had been twitching actually moved. Ching. As she moved her fingers, a golden ring floated up onto her head; it looked like the halo of an angel. ¡°Access code. Activation. Main power input complete,¡± the girl opened her mouth and mumbled quietly with her eyes still closed. Perhaps it was because of her small size but even her voice sounded a little young. Since she was still in her teens, it was inevitable that both her appearance and voice would feel young. Clang¡­ Chime! The girl began standing up while Davey stared at her blankly. As she did, the garments he had covered her with slipped off, exposing her pale body. Davey couldn¡¯t tell if the little girl was a biological golem or a very strange kind, but all the parts needed for reproduction were present on her body. Then, the little girl¡¯s clear blue eyes opened; a million kinds of letters appeared and disappeared multiple times. She stared straight ahead in silence, then turned to glance over at Davey. ¡°Main program booting complete. Rinne starting¡­¡± ¡°Rinne?¡± The girl didn¡¯t even understand what she had said, but she stood up in an adorable manner and stared straight at Davey. Then, she reached one hand out toward him and slowly blinked. She said calmly, ¡°Starting linking. Imprinting DNA of master.¡± Weak sparks popped from the little girl¡¯s fingertips, which touched Davey¡¯s neck. With a prickling sensation, the girl¡¯s blue eyes lit up once. ¡°Imprinting of master complete. Current time¡­ Beep! Data error. Rinne, requiring refreshing of new data.¡± While speaking, the little girl named Rinne approached Davey and touched him with her fingertips again. ¡°Starting connection. Attempting to make contact with the mucus membrane of the nose.¡± Then, Rinne shoved her fingers inside Davey¡¯s nose even before he could react. ¡°Keugh?!¡± However, even the smallest of fingers wouldn¡¯t be able to fit inside one¡¯s nostrils. ¡°Failure to connect. As a second-best option, starting to attempt making contact with the mucus membrane of the mouth.¡± Rinne quickly pulled her fingers out of Davey¡¯s nostrils and shoved her hand into his mouth. ¡°Hup?!¡± Everyone who was there frowned horribly at that sight. Milpieu, who was guarding Davey, stared at the girl with wide eyes. Then, she started breathing heavily. ¡°I¡ªInteresting!¡± Whoosh!!! ¡®What¡¯s with making contact with the mucus membrane?¡¯ The finger that had just entered Davey¡¯s mouth was the one poking around in his nose a moment ago. When Davey reflexively took her hand out, Rinne stared at him with an emotionless face. With a hint of puzzlement, Rinne asked, ¡°Master, refreshing Rinne¡¯s data. Why aren¡¯t you allowing it?¡± ¡°Enough. It¡¯s gross; what are you doing?¡± ¡°Rinne: able to collect necessary basic data from direct contact with the mucous membrane of the owner.¡± ¡°So, you shoved your fingers up my nostrils?¡± Rinne tilted her head in confusion. However, she didn¡¯t look at Davey in that way for long and turned her head when she sighed satisfactorily. ¡°Certain data collection complete. Vampire: Master¡¯s subject of elimination.¡± ¡®How did it take data from me?¡¯ Davey was already full of excitement, since Rinne had spoken as if she was going to fight at any moment. Snapping out of it, Milpieu began releasing her power of blood from the blade of her hand with her fingers spread out. Milpieu, a half-blooded vampire, seemed like she was of powerful rank, but her power was probably on the weaker side of that rank. After all, she was a half-blood. ¡°You are going to fight me?¡± ¡°Enemy of Master. Combat weapon Rinne will eliminate.¡± ¡°Every one of you is interesting. Let me study you.¡± ¡°Result of analysis: it looks like the enemy has an interest in studying Rinne¡¯s body.¡± Davey nodded at Rinne, who looked back at him like she didn¡¯t know what to do. ¡®I should let her try if she wants to.¡¯ ¡°Can you get rid of her?¡± Davey asked Rinne. ¡°Result of search: it looks like Rinne will win.¡± ¡°Alright, then. Try beating her.¡± ¡°Command accepted,¡± Rinne spoke calmly. Then, the halo above her head began to sparkle and spin. At the same time, the halo doubled in size and a million numbers began passing through her blue eyes. ¡°Interesting. Come with me. I can give you a lot more data. You need contact with my mucus membrane? I can help you¡­¡± Milpieu said. ¡°Rinne declines the offer following Master¡¯s command. Vampires are the target of elimination.¡± Rinne spoke calmly and raised her hand toward Milpieu. Whoosh¡­ Something fascinating began happening. Particles began gathering in the air like holograms, creating something large. ¡°What is that?!¡± ¡°I¡­ In the air where there¡¯s nothing¡­¡± Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original. ¡°Wow¡­ This is another thing that is unexplainable with current knowledge.¡± Davey thought that his mumbling probably expressed what everyone else was feeling right now. Perhaps the ancient civilization ten thousand years ago was a civilization that was completely different from now, and one that was extremely developed in a way. Although, there was no way of knowing how a civilization like that had come to an end and simply disappeared. ¡°Light turret. Linking complete. Targeting. 2.1% chance of elimination on hit. Expecting increase in the probability of elimination with continuous hits.¡± As soon as Rinne stopped talking, Milpieu instinctively jumped away after noticing that something was off. Like the Master level vampire she was, her abilities of detecting danger were quite advanced as well. ¡°Launch.¡± Zing! With a very short sound, a blue ray of energy flew into the gigantic hall like it was going to cut the vampire in half. * * * Zing!! Boom!!!! Over a dozen rays of light flew into the hall in seconds. Once Rinne¡¯s attacks began with loud explosions, Milpieu was running around trying to dodge them, unable to even react properly. ¡°Kyahh!!¡± ¡°You lunatic.¡± Lucia and Sio didn¡¯t have the skills to dodge those rays, so Davey had no choice but to block it for them. Boom!! A strange, fuzzy feeling traveled down Davey¡¯s fingertips when he swatted away the rays of energy with Red Ribbon by a close call. Rinne¡¯s output of power was no joke. If this was just one shot¡­ -It¡¯s about 90% of the entire power of the Megatron. Considering the continuous firepower, it is an unbelievable level of performance that is incomparable to the golem. As if she had read Davey¡¯s mind, Perserque provided an exact comparison analysis. ¡°W¡ªWhat is this?!¡± Lucia, who couldn¡¯t understand what was going on, screamed. It was natural that she wasn¡¯t able to comprehend the situation; there was the sudden appearance of a vampire, and a girl named Rinne who was shooting multiple rays of energy at the vampire. ¡°I didn¡¯t know the Deus Ex Machina¡¯s performance would be this unbelievably strong.¡± -It means that not only are the stats of the mechanical heart amazing, but the girl¡¯s are as well. It seemed that it wasn¡¯t called the golem version of the Stone of the Sage for nothing. Davey thought about this in complete objectivity; to be exact, Davey didn¡¯t think that he could make something that powerful with his current knowledge and understanding, like how he couldn¡¯t make Surtr¡¯s divine sword by himself. Perhaps it might¡¯ve been possible for Eva, his alchemy teacher. ¡®I wonder what kind of person the owner of this ancient ruin was.¡¯ ¡°It''s amazing firepower¡­ I want it more and more!¡± However, Davey could see that it had a limit no matter how outstanding it was. The first limitation was that it very much lacked combat data. Another was¡­ ¡°Rinne is weak when she is up against someone strong.¡± The rays that Rinne shot out were strong; they had the strength of the magic that an advanced 4th circle or a 5th circle mage would be able to use. However, she couldn¡¯t affect anyone at the Master level. Of course, she could harm Masters if she hit them, since there was something distinct about the rays¡­ But that was only if her target, Milpieu was hit¡­ Of course, Rinne looked like she had potential to grow and beat someone at the Master level as she gains more data and becomes more united with the mechanical heart since this wasn¡¯t the entirety of her power. Rinne was a complete unit that was completely different from the Megatron, which had a clear limit as its output of power was fixed by magic stones. Davey had hoped for a commanding unit since he couldn¡¯t manage and order golems that had no will; he was glad he was able to get it now. Click. Davey thought that he had seen enough of Rinne¡¯s firepower, and that it was time he set out. Although she was only a half-blooded vampire, Milpieu, that pink-haired girl, was not to be taken lightly. Milpieu was probably testing Rinne, unable to hold back her intrigue, because she had judged Rinne¡¯s attacks to be somewhat threatening. ¡°Sir Davey?¡± Lucia, who opened her eyes wide as soon as Davey got up, called out to him. ¡°Well, I am extremely satisfied right now, but I won¡¯t be able to get rid of the vampire with her.¡± Lucia seemed puzzled at Davey¡¯s words. Milpieu, who thankfully hadn¡¯t heard Davey, was analyzing Rinne while running all over the place and dodging her attacks. The moment Milpieu, who was dodging Rinne¡¯s never-ending rays of energy, came into reach, Davey mumbled as he slightly pulled out Blue Ribbon from her sheath. ¡°It¡¯s fine that you are intrigued, but that¡¯s mine. Don¡¯t try to take it.¡± ¡°Hup?!¡± Milpieu exclaimed. [Transcendental Longsword] [Fast Unsheathing] [Great Moonlight Sword] There was no prohibition on someone intruding on a one-to-one battle. Davey instantly got behind Milpieu and pulled out his sword. ¡®Watch your back.¡¯ In just a split second, a blue flash of light cut through the surroundings and slashed not only her, but Rinne¡¯s attacks that were targeted toward Milpieu. CH 116 From what Davey had gathered, Milpieu was the type of person who cared about nothing else if she became infatuated with one thing. Her physical abilities and reflexes were also quite good, but she was mentally ill. ¡°Cough, that hurt.¡± Davey concluded that it would be best to get rid of Milpieu if it seemed dangerous. Milpieu seemed somewhat unthreatening, but she was a difficult type of enemy to discern. ¡°That blue sword¡­ It was a miscalculation¡­ It is too le¡­thal¡­to us¡­¡± Milpieu had been on guard toward Red Ribbon from the very beginning, but had relaxed when it came to Blue Ribbon, and this was the result. ¡°Everything is so intriguing¡­ I¡­want to study it.¡± Milpieu still desired to study even when she was in this situation. However, the state of her body seemed to protest against that. She coughed up a lot of blood. ¡°Deus Ex Machina¡­ A sword that destroys the power of immortality¡­ I don¡¯t want to give up on it¡­¡± Milpieu looked disappointed, speaking dejectedly. Then, in just a split second¡­ ¡°I still don¡¯t want to die¡­¡± At last, Milpieu chose to run away. She collapsed onto the ground like she was turning into a liquid before disappearing. Life over goal; her decision to run away was much bolder than Davey had expected. ¡°Sir Davey!! A¡ªAre you hurt anywhere?¡± After making sure that Milpieu had retreated, Lucia ran over to Davey in a hurry and examined him. Lucia practically screamed, then bent down to check Davey all over. She found no injuries. ¡°Nothing¡¯s wrong.¡± ¡°Phew¡­ That¡­ That¡¯s a relief. May the blessing of the benevolent Saintess Daphne be with you¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s all an act.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± It seemed like Daphne had made sure to portray herself in a good way, but it was absolutely ridiculous to someone who knew the full truth. ¡®Gah, I can¡¯t even say anything!¡¯ It wasn¡¯t like Davey was keeping his mouth shut because he wanted to; he felt like he was about to die from frustration. Davey quickly rescinded his words and avoided eye contact with Lucia. Lucia was completely normal; Davey wondered why a girl who had a soft face and spoke in an adorable manner like her had to be a crazy believer of Daphne. ¡®I guess God really is fair.¡¯ * * * -Nothing in the world is perfect. That aside, how are you feeling? ¡®Not bad. I¡¯m getting better.¡¯ It was safe to say that there wouldn¡¯t be any more attacks since Milpieu had destroyed all the golems that were around. There wouldn¡¯t be any major issues if they could get out. ¡°Do you think¡­she really ran away?¡± Lucia mumbled anxiously while guarding her surroundings. Then, she let out a short sigh like she thought Milpieu had run away for good. ¡°Anyway¡­ Where do we go to escape?¡± The hall they were in was only filled with tubes; they could not see any paths leading somewhere else. Furthermore, Milpieu had also used teleportation magic to get out and run away from Davey. ¡°¡­¡± ¡®Do I have to make it if there isn¡¯t one?¡¯ The moment Davey was contemplating, he felt someone tug on his clothes. When he looked over, he could see Rinne¡¯s slightly annoyed expression like she didn¡¯t like the fact that he had finished Milpieu, who was fighting her before him. She was definitely emotionless, but there was no way of figuring out how he was able to see some emotions. He called out, ¡°Rinne?¡± ¡°Master. Do you have to go up?¡± Rinne tilted her head and asked with the same awkward pronunciation. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°The ceiling. Should I break it?¡± ¡°Just a clean path, since it¡¯s going to collapse if you break it randomly. Can you do it?¡± Davey wondered if Rinne could do this as well. Considering the power of the energy rays she was shooting earlier, he felt like she could probably destroy the durable ancient ruins entirely. Rinne¡¯s eyes glistened as she stared up at the ceiling. At the same time, the minimized ring on top of her head began expanding to a large size. ¡°Start analysis. Error in information. Failure to analyze components. Starting secondary analysis. Determining strength. Analysis complete,¡± Rinne mumbled calmly and then raised her hand in the air. Click!! At the same time, a small accessory formed as hologram-like things began gathering in her palm. Rinne had just summoned an accessory from thin air; Davey wondered what else this White Wing that was called the Lion of God could do. ¡°Starting link. Linking complete. High heat ray chosen,¡± Rinne spoke calmly and glanced at Davey. ¡°Master, dangerous. Behind Rinne.¡± ¡°Can you get through with that?¡± Davey asked. He knew that it was difficult to cut through even with [Aura Blade]. It could be cut, but it was not effective. The problem was that the equipment on the top of Rinne¡¯s hand was the same weapon she had used before. This meant she didn¡¯t stand a chance with that level of power. Rinne answered cutely with an emotionless expression, ¡°Two failures are unacceptable. Extreme heat rays. 50% power output of Rinne. Significant portion of system down immediately after use. Master, Rinne has to retrieve.¡± ¡°It¡¯s lighter than it looks. It shouldn¡¯t cause too big of a problem.¡± ¡°Then, Rinne is able to investigate extreme heat ray. This is¡­¡± Rinne seemed a little delighted. At the same time, the small, cannon-like equipment attached to the top of her hand began shining. Rinne declared calmly, as if trying to prove that she wasn¡¯t useless like before, ¡°Rinne. Thinks. Highly! Of this!¡± Zzing! A shock wave resonated out with a short but loud sound. Emitting a bright light, the equipment attached to the top of Rinne¡¯s hand began to shoot blue rays of energy toward the ceiling in a different way. Davey could clearly see that the level of power was very different from the rays she was shooting continuously before. Furthermore¡­ ¡®Thinks highly¡­ She¡¯s pretty funny.¡¯ That was Davey¡¯s favorite part about Rinne. * * * It seemed like Rinne was being stubborn. Perhaps it was because she saw that Davey had been a little disappointed by her, but she put a hole into the ceiling more persistently than he had expected. The ceiling had melted off and bits were falling onto the floor thanks to that, but she was completely fine even after being hit with the burning red bits of the ancient ruins. ¡®Seriously, how does her body work?¡¯ Rinne had first burned off the outer circle, then had finished it off by blasting the center out. She deactivated her equipment and glanced at Davey. As if she thought she had done well this time, Rinne¡¯s emotionless but proud face expressed that she wanted praise. -Why can I know what it wants when it¡¯s emotionless? Davey fully agreed with what Perserque was saying. Thud! ¡°Mas¡­ter. Rinne, error¡­ power¡­¡± It seemed like this was what Rinne was talking about when she said that it would be difficult to use the system as she had used up 50% of all the power that was stored inside of her. She looked at Davey like she wanted him to ask if she was okay while sitting on the floor. He stopped using holy magic and covered her naked body with a spare cape. Then, he slowly picked her up from the ground. ¡®Huh?!¡¯ Rinne was extremely heavy, unlike before! Davey was confused because she felt close to two hundred kilograms when she felt very light when he had first taken her out of the tube. ¡®Is she protesting that she is also a golem?¡¯ Holding Rinne was much better than holding the Megatron, who weighed a few tonnes, but a normal person wouldn¡¯t be able to lift her up. ¡°You¡¯re not hurt anywhere, right?¡± Lucia jumped at Davey¡¯s question and nodded, and Sio Howl also nodded in silence. ¡°Anyway, we¡¯re going to have to use a flying magic spell or something to get up.¡± Davey could just shoot up from the floor if he was alone, but he couldn¡¯t expect that from the two. That¡¯s when Sio Howl, who was staying silent, spoke while reaching out to Lucia. ¡°I will do it.¡± ¡°Huh?! Were you not at the 4th circle?¡± ¡°Tut, I hid a circle. Stay quiet and relax.¡± Speaking quietly like he was some sort of martial artist, Sio quickly used [Fly], a 5th circle magic spell, and he and Lucia began floating up. ¡°Master. Thinking the weight of Rinne is too heavy for humans.¡± ¡°You¡­are a lot heavier.¡± ¡°Rinne. Detecting damage to emotion circuit. Additionally detecting that the circuit pathway is becoming heated; judging that this is anger.¡± Rinne was calmly telling Davey that she was offended, but she had on such a bright expression as she said that. He wondered if Rinne¡¯s personality was that way because she was from a unique race called White Wing, or it was because she had become half-golem. All that aside, he didn¡¯t know what or who this girl was. He had heard that a sword obtained an ego by the ego entering an extraordinary sword, but he didn¡¯t know that was also applicable to golems as well. ¡°Aside from that, let¡¯s do something about that weird title first.¡± ¡°Rinne, malfunctioning of judgment circuit. Requesting reason.¡± Davey wasn¡¯t too fond of the title of ¡®Master¡¯ since he didn¡¯t really like the concept of slavery. Becoming the master of those with egos and own will and possessing them would mean that he was oppressing them. Unfortunately, he had no intentions of condoning this since he pursued a healthy work environment. ¡®What should she call me?¡¯ Even if she looked human, Rinne was a golem. Now that she had become Davey¡¯s, he had already decided that it would be best if she would be part of the Decepticon Fleet, the final line of defense for the Heins Territory. However, it was a little problematic since he had never thought of applying what he wanted to be called by to a golem. Watching Rinne tilt her head in puzzlement, Davey looked at Perserque for her help, to which she stroked her chin. -Hm¡­ I can think of a few things considering your thinking, but¡­ ¡°Whatever. Call me Sir Davey for the time being.¡± ¡°Engraving of temporary title into Rinne completed.¡± ¡®And can I not fix that damn manner of speaking in the third person?¡¯ The small girl in front of him was stunning, but Davey couldn¡¯t go past the small feeling of divergence he was feeling. Rinne just tilted her head in confusion. ¡°Rinne replies with her name when called upon. It¡¯s a system to minimize the amount of confusion between the same units.¡± It was kind of like identifying one¡¯s own name and rank in the military. ¡°Didn¡¯t you forget it half-way through?¡± ¡°Rinne. Judging that system of unit is very old.¡± Rinne was referring to herself as an old sergeant. She wasn¡¯t going to throw it all away, but it was safe to assume that she was forgetting a few things just because she had woken up with an ill-tempered ego. Davey wondered if Rinne was talking about how old the White Wing was, or the mechanical heart. He was excited to get to know her. Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°S¡­ Sir Davey! Hurry up!¡± Lucia, who was standing on top of the crack on the melted side of the ceiling, shouted down. Then, Davey slightly nodded and shot up from the ground with the tube as his springboard. CH 117 ¡°Teacher! Please let us go to find them, too!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be na?ve! Teacher Boris and Teacher Fridos have already gone to the third floor to find the three trainees! You guys wait here!¡± ¡°But we cannot just keep waiting here!¡± Fendyr responded adamantly while the other trainees remained solemn. It was natural for Fendyr to act like that because Lucia Shelman was her partner. She was bound to be extremely anxious, especially since she and Lucia had worked together for a long time and were very close. However, both Treve, the illusionist and partner of Sio Howl, and Illyna, Davey¡¯s partner, looked much more composed than before. ¡°Um¡­ Illyna¡­¡± The twin sisters, Shayir and Fendyr, cautiously asked Illyna as they looked around with a worried face. ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Hm? Oh¡­ Yeah. I was a little shocked at first¡­but I don¡¯t really think that there would be any problems.¡± As she spoke, Illyna glanced at the Megatron, which was ruthlessly ripping apart battle ants over on the side. The golem, which was listening to Davey¡¯s orders to keep everyone safe, was nothing but a berserker. It stayed back, piercing through the evil beasts with its drill and shredding them into pieces with its electric chainsaw. Illyna had seen that stupid golem act like that before. ¡®How could I forget?¡¯ She could never forget that scene, because the golem was acting exactly like the time when she, a so-called swordsmanship genius who had reached the most advanced level of Expert at the mere age of seventeen, had brutally lost even when she had her regular sword. The problem was that the Megatron¡¯s movement and aspects of its destructive force had improved. It wouldn¡¯t be all too effective on the Teachers who were at the Master level, but the golem would feel like a catastrophe to the trainees. Currently, Boris and Fridos, the Teachers who were watching over the trainees, had left to find the three people who had fallen below. As such, the only person who would be able to do something in case of a sudden emergency was Sylia, an advanced elementalist. Everyone was anxious and worn out from the endless battle ants showing up. Normally, they would¡¯ve left right away, but they couldn¡¯t even do that since the structure of the ruins had changed for some reason. ¡°I wish the floor would just shake and then the three people would come back safely.¡± The twins mumbled woefully. A quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled. Some of the trainees agreed with them. ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s not worry too much about them. The Teachers have gone to find them.¡± ¡°Sio is there as well. His personality isn¡¯t all that good, but his skills definitely are.¡± ¡°Davey will be there as well¡­¡± ¡°The problem is that the golem is here. Davey is a golem controller, as well as an alchemist.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± The mood, which was beginning to lighten, suddenly became glum again. ¡®They probably know as well.¡¯ The Teachers, who were powerful Masters, were not able to find them although it had been a while since they had gone down. The trainees were thinking that the three people might¡¯ve already been killed as dangerous beings roamed the third floor of the basement and under. ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be a big problem,¡± Illyna mumbled bitterly as she glanced at the trainees. ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Illyna thought about how she should explain it to the puzzled trainees. Was she to say that Davey, who¡¯s pretending to be a genius alchemist, was actually a Swordmaster? When she first had that realization, she herself had been flustered and had caused a fuss. She wondered if anything would change even if she told them that fact about Davey and how she had initially responded. Illyna kicked the ground with her toes as she contemplated. Whoosh¡­ That was when¡­ ¡°Why is the floor¡­ Heg, get out of there!¡± Illyna, who was staring blankly at the ground, shouted at Heg with wide eyes. ¡°Woah!!¡± Widening his eyes, Heg backed away with a scream. His face turned pale as he watched the ground he was just standing on turn red with steam. ¡°Wh¡­ What is this?!¡± ¡°Children, get back!¡± Sylia immediately prepared Merden with a tense expression, since no one knew what would emerge from the melting ground. She expected to greet something that had the ability to melt this stone, a material that wasn¡¯t even easily cut by [Aura Blade]. Sizzle¡­ Then, as the floor turned red and began to melt into a big hole, some of the trainees gulped nervously. ¡°D¡ªDon¡¯t worry, children. I will keep you safe.¡± ¡®What¡¯s going to emerge?¡¯ Unlike what they had expected, no monster came out from the hole. The only thing that could be heard was some light-hearted conversation between humans. ¡°Rinne assessed that efficiency is not good.¡± ¡°What makes the efficiency poor?¡± ¡°Analyzing data. Calculated that Sir Davey can go up faster than this. Called child exploitation. A disappointment to Rinne.¡± ¡°You said that you were old. I think you¡¯re older than me.¡± ¡°Rinne, extreme overheating of the emotional circuit. Assessed as extreme anger.¡± ¡°You?!¡± ¡°Chosen missile drop-kick. Appreciated by Rinne!¡± The conversation was so carefree that they didn¡¯t seem like people who had just taken part in a bloody battle. At the same time, a young man shot out from the big hole in the ground like he was hit by something. Then, a naked girl fiercely shot up in a kicking stance. Everyone stared at the both of them, feeling dumbfounded. 47. 5000 to 8 The exploration of the ancient ruin ended without any casualties. The only casualties were people who had been exploring the third floor before the trainees, so some were relieved by the fact that the trainees, who were the future of the knight order, had survived. After the incident, an analysis had to be done. Of course, Sio Howl, Lucia Shelman, and Davey, the three people who were involved, had been called upon by the knight order¡¯s headquarters. Normally, Davey wouldn¡¯t have a problem with meeting those people in the headquarters¡­ But he had to decline their summoning. ¡®I will come back after exterminating the little rat that has hidden in my territory.¡¯ Davey wasn¡¯t insane; although he was having some fun as a part of Alpha Reinforcements, a knight order part of the Last Wisp, his real job was as the seigneur of a territory. Furthermore, he was aiming to be a Roaming Knight who would support the knight order from behind, even though he was still a trainee. Roaming Knights fulfilled their duties and contributed by delivering various supplies and resources, provided they could maintain their connection with the outside world. This meant that they had a different role from Anchor Knights who pledged to stay in the Zone of Evil. Of course, one would only be able to become a Roaming Knight if they were capable of providing continuous support. Since the headquarters were in charge of thousands of people, they just allowed Davey to go; perhaps they weren¡¯t able to find an excuse for him to stay. Originally, Davey was planning to finish his business at the Heins Territory and return in time for Illyna¡¯s test. He had also received a message that something big was going to happen soon at the royal palace. This was the first and only time he was going to be a good son by staying quiet, and this was going to end soon as well. If what Milpieu, the vampire he had met at the basement of the ancient ruins, had said was true, an ignorant mosquito was now after him. Davey didn¡¯t think she was lying, since vampires did come after and attack him when he had been at the Yellowstone Tribe¡¯s village. Davey¡¯s bad relationship with the vampires had continued on from the Duchy of Felicity, but it was true that Davey didn¡¯t have enough information to exterminate them. It was difficult to get a hold of their activities even with Jack¡ªAina¡ªHelishana gathering information. A trace had to be left behind or picked up for it to become useful information; since they left nothing of that sort, vampires were just like untraceable aliens. Perhaps it was the climate or Davey recognizing his natural enemy at the territory, but Davey felt no relief despite not experiencing an immediate attack. Still keeping a smile on his face, he mumbled from irritation, ¡°I would kill him with a fly swatter if that mosquito would just get out.¡± About a week had passed since Davey had returned to the territory. The five golems, excluding Rinne, were lined up in front of him and were making him feel extremely happy and satisfied. Although the overall formation was made by altering the things he had created in the Hall out of boredom and what he could access right now, he had created something very interesting. This was thanks to the overwhelmingly powerful output of power and delicate magic craftsmanship. There was the Megatron, the close-range berserker and all-rounder golem that was the most senior member; Sniper, the powerful, target-specialized golem responsible for extremely long-range attacks that were kilometers away; and Juggernaut, the mid-range golem that would bombard the enemy with small, sharp metal bullets like a minigun to keep them away. There was also Puma, the golem that could change into the form of a huge cheetah; it was able to attack while moving, but it wasn¡¯t as powerful as the others since it specialized more in mobility and gathering information. Lastly, there was Tanker, the armored golem car that had the same electric potential as Megatron, but had 80% of its combat power put into its defense power, and Rinne, the Elder Brain that would control all the golems.[1] Rinne was filled with mysterious secrets and was the one that Davey had yet to figure out. He couldn¡¯t analyze her since her memories were all mixed up, and she was made from ancient technology that he couldn¡¯t figure out even if he opened her up. It was a little disappointing, but it wasn¡¯t a complete loss as it gave him an idea of making a source of power as intricate and detailed as muscle tissue. ¡®If I keep using ancient technology and improving it like this, maybe one day, I¡¯ll charge at the enemy while wielding a light ray sword.¡¯ Davey couldn¡¯t hold in his smile, feeling proud and ambitious. Furthermore, it seemed like Rinne had a self-recovery function, and she could recover with time. She just had to be provided with the necessary supplies. ¡°Davey¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Davey!!¡± ¡°Die while fighting, all you warri¡­ Hm?¡± ¡°What are you talking about?!¡± Illyna shouted angrily, since she felt that Davey had ignored her for quite a while. When Davey turned around, she shouted while pointing at the golems. ¡°Those things¡­ Are they all the same as that unbelievable golem with the electric saw?¡± ¡°They are a little low-performance, since they are first versions, but yeah.¡± The other golems had to be examined and had lots of room for improvement. ¡°Sigh¡­ You made that horrifying drill with unique parts or something, too¡­ Soon enough, they¡¯re going to fly around.¡± ¡°I am thinking of doing that.¡± ¡®You think I can¡¯t do that?¡¯ Since Davey answered that he would¡¯ve tried right away if he had the materials, Illyna looked dumbfounded. Although the probability of success was low¡­ ¡°Juniors looking competent. Rinne appreciates this!¡± Illyna looked at Rinne in mild disbelief, because the emotionless Rinne was unable to hide her delight at all. 1. A life cycle in the Forgotten Realms in Dungeons & Dragons. It is composed of many brains and uses those as its source of intelligence. It also has the ability of telepathic communication and can sense creatures from far away. ? CH 118 Like when Megatron mercilessly swung its electric sword, lllyna had felt the golem army¡¯s destructive force and knew this was living proof of the golems¡¯ rapid speed of improvement. As such, she could not help but feel anxious. Now, since Davey had obtained a human golem that could think, had its own emotions, and could beat the Master level, she couldn¡¯t help but think that Rinne¡¯s existence was ridiculous. In fact, Illyna had been overpowered by Rinne in just three minutes and was crushed to the ground even though she had fought with Caldeiras. Unlike the other golems, which she could at least beat with Caldeiras and not her regular sword, Rinne, this monstrously powerful biological golem, was something completely different. Illyna¡¯s dumbfounded and foolish expression when she had fought Rinne, pretending it had been just a duel, was unforgettably funny. -Now, it seems like the reason you made the golem fleet was just because you wanted to create a custom-made piece with everything you want above all else. Of course, Perserque knew Davey too well. He wouldn¡¯t be able to beat someone at the Master level by manufacturing multiple golems that weren¡¯t as powerful, but he had still poured his resources and money into making these golems. For what reason? To be exact¡­ It was for his interest. ¡°Sigh¡­ Davey, okay¡­ Let¡¯s put aside the other golems, including Megatron. But did you purposely do that to her?¡± As Davey stared at Illyna in confusion, she sighed. ¡°Seriously, you¡­ Do you get turned on by humiliating people in public?¡± ¡®This princess doesn¡¯t know to watch her mouth in public.¡¯ It was already weird for someone of royalty to speak in that manner since they valued sophistication above all else, but she never put up a fa?ade around Davey as if she was among the knight order. ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡± ¡°Well, her clothes¡­¡± ¡°Rinne. Analyzed that the durability of bothersome metal parts is significantly lower than biological armor and is inefficient. However, thinks that this cloth armor accommodates a wide range of motion. Satisfied.¡± It seemed like Rinne was thinking that the clothes Davey gave her to make her look like a girl her age was armory. Currently, she was wearing a white, sleeveless top and a blue skirt with shorts underneath that came up to her knees. Her top aside, it was true that what Rinne was wearing completely went against the public morals of this world where revealing skin from the thighs to the ankles was strictly prohibited. It was the norm to keep the calves covered even if they wore a backless top. In fact, Illyna also wore a simple and comfortable dress for activity and wore a skirt with pants underneath during battle. Davey couldn¡¯t even speak of how the tailor that was at his territory looked at him when he first thought of Rinne¡¯s uniform and told them about it. ¡°Rinne. Cannot understand and accept Illyna¡¯s words. Requesting reason for Rinne to understand.¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ What do I expect from a golem?¡± It was even more strange and difficult to comprehend as a golem was speaking with emotion like a human would. ¡°Although it may not seem that way, that¡¯s a pretty modest uniform,¡± Davey said. ¡°What part of it?!¡± Illyna shouted. ¡°Rinne. Analyzed that Illyna is weird. Thinks she needs mental help.¡± As Davey tried to really mess with her, Illyna clenched her jaw and glared at him. Then, she clicked her tongue and turned away. She yelled, ¡°Ah okay. You¡¯re the best! Just amazing!¡± ¡°Rinne. Objectively, Sir Davey has a better understanding of this place than current technology permits and is ahead of the time.¡± ¡°Um, Rinne, a criminal does not understand the mind of a genius!¡± ¡°Rinne is a high-functioning biological golem with emotion. Very much appreciates being complimented.¡± Like she was sick of it, Illyna stopped talking; it seemed like she didn¡¯t want to argue with a golem. ¡°Of course¡­ Since when was this guy open to reason, right?¡± Illyna mumbled to herself. Ignoring her, Davey stored the golems in a small cube and put it in his pocket. ¡°Anyways, it would be nice if I could test them out sometime.¡± The new large, strategic weapons Davey had created made him want to test them out at least once. However, no one was reckless enough to infiltrate the territory to loot it since this damn territory had its royal guards, and there were people from wizard towers and temples as well. This, too, was a difficult situation. ¡°Should I take them all to the knight order?¡± Davey asked. ¡°Please think of how the trainees would feel, you dick.¡± The trainees were obliterated by Megatron; it was clear what would happen if four more golems like it were added to the mix. In that sense, necromancers and golem controllers were somewhat similar. Since Davey didn¡¯t have to use mana, the golems would be able to fight infinitely if they were charged with energy. ¡°Big Brother!!¡± However, it only took a few coincidences to win the lottery; Davey was presented with an opportunity quite quickly. He heard news from Amy, who quickly ran over to him while huffing and puffing, and Winley and Yulis, who followed. ¡°A¡­ A herd of monsters was discovered! And it¡¯s a large herd with about five thousand of them!¡± Come to think of it, Davey had never thought about how well they would perform in large-scale battles. ¡®This is a perfect opportunity to test a new product.¡¯ It was irritating how the little mosquito was testing the waters and playing with Davey like a toy, but the mosquito had given Davey a good present at the perfect time. * * * ¡°Rinne. Is talented. Thinks the ability of the body is interference and interpretation.¡± ¡°You¡¯re connected to the golems of the Decepticon Fleet in some way anyways,¡± Davey spoke. ¡°Rinne. Thinks the foreign object is uncomfortable. Does not appreciate this.¡± Rinne was protesting that something that was sub-par had entered her perfect body. It was true that Davey was very knowledgeable in alchemy, but it was just theoretical knowledge; he didn¡¯t have much experience with it. Although, he had so much experience in combat and survival that he was sick of it now. There was no way of knowing what the ancient humans were aiming for when they captured Rinne and made her into a golem since she also basically had no memory before being activated. The only thing she remembered was that she was a species called White Wing, and the fact that White Wings were able to use a variety of unbelievably powerful abilities like the Special Ones. Other than that, Davey had figured out that this White Wing, an extinct species, had a mental network that allowed them to share their consciousnesses through a unique connection to something called the Great God. In Rinne¡¯s case, it seemed like she just had their inherent abilities and could not access the mental network as she had turned into a golem, but there was potential for improvement. By ¡®interpretation¡¯, she was talking about her ability to obtain basic, necessary information about someone by physical contact. It wasn¡¯t as absurd as Perserque¡¯s ability, which allowed her to look into the Abyss, but this was the reason why Rinne pushed her finger into Davey¡¯s nose when they first met. ¡®Although, it doesn¡¯t have to be the nose if it¡¯s about having contact with the mucus membrane.¡¯ As a result, Rinne had already gained basic knowledge about Davey and his name. ¡®Interference¡¯ probably had something to do with the equipment for the back of her hand that she was able to summon. Davey did think that it was something that probably couldn¡¯t easily be explained with alchemy or magic, but he didn¡¯t expect it to be an inherent ability. Davey concluded that the purpose of Rinne¡¯s creation might¡¯ve been to create a weapon. However, he couldn¡¯t shake off the feeling that her two abilities weren¡¯t supposed to be used that way. ¡°Davey, it¡¯s me. I found the herd over here. It looks like they were hiding on the hills to try and ambush the territory.¡± ¡°How many?¡± ¡°Like what Amy, the substitute seigneur lady, said, about five thousand. But there¡¯s no sign of a vampire that you were talking about. We¡¯re going to pass the rift soon.¡± Illyna, who had gone in the opposite direction of Davey, told him about the enemy after finding them. The fact that monsters were acting this strategically and that the predator and predated on had joined forces¡­ ¡®It¡¯s funny.¡¯ Even if they were intelligent, ogres and trolls were archenemies, and goblins were nothing but their food source. However, five thousand of them had joined forces and were going to attack the territory by taking a strategic route. One would have to be a primate to not know that there was something else in the dark that was controlling them. Of course, they were discovered by the hunters who were wandering nearby as being ordered didn¡¯t change the fact that they were still idiots. ¡°Damn vampires.¡± Illyna, who showed extreme anger towards vampires, went insane as soon as Davey said that this incident had something to do with vampires. She participated with no regard to her status or anything. Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°Big Brother. Are we going to be okay? We have no soldiers,¡± Winley pointed out. ¡°We know that you are strong, Sir Davey¡­ But it may be hard to get rid of all of them if there are a lot of them.¡± Even the most exceptional Swordmaster could not catch all five thousand of the monsters scattered around without missing a single one, especially in the terrain of such mountains. After all, five thousand was not a small number at all. ¡°Whatever it is, it¡¯s unusual for monsters to band together and move like that. There will be unnecessary chaos if this gets out,¡± Davey said. Winley nodded and tightly wrapped her hand around her wand. ¡°I will help!¡± ¡°Mages¡¯ power may be on the weaker side, but we in untargeted, wide attacks. I will move quickly with Lady Winley¡­¡± Yulis added. ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to go.¡± The two stared at Davey in confusion. ¡°Big Brother, what do you mean?¡± ¡°No way¡­¡± As Yulis spoke, Davey stared up at the clear, blue sky. He probably couldn¡¯t say something like ¡®Die, you bugs!¡¯ again, but the star of the show this time was somewhere else. He simply said, ¡°Rinne, let¡¯s begin.¡± A bright and emotionless voice came through the communication crystal in Davey¡¯s hand. ¡°Rinne, execute orders: activate entire Decepticon Fleet.¡± Click!! Clang!! As soon as Davey gave the order, the fist-sized cube that was in front of him began shining and enlarging. Since they were fully non-living objects unlike Rinne, it was easy to cast an expansion spell on them. As an enormous statue-like object popped out, Winley mumbled in surprise, ¡°That¡­ The golem¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s slightly different¡­¡± Click!! Clang!! ¡®It¡¯s essential for snipers to be able to conceal themselves well.¡¯ Ignoring Winley and Yulis¡¯ mumbling, the statue-like object began transforming into a gigantic golem. However, unlike Megatron, this one had a huge object on its back. ¡°Code 002. Start sniper mode. Rinne, sending coordinates.¡± As the voice of Rinne, who was the command tower, quietly resonated from the crystal, the golem slowly raised its arm, pulled out a huge object from its back, and unfolded it. It looked similar to a large sniper gun, but there was a magic crystal embedded where the barrel should be. To be exact, there were three crystals attached behind the first one. Davey felt like he had invested a little too much into this golem, since it was responsible for the fleet¡¯s firepower, and the power output of the magic crystal was outrageous. [Command accepted. Elder Brain, coordinates locked.] ¡°Rinne, the other golems?¡± ¡°Placed in appropriate positions. Rinne¡¯s juniors, highly valued.¡± ¡°Alright, then. Go nuts.¡± As Rinne fully entered command mode, Sniper began to slowly move the magic gun¡¯s body. There was nothing but a dark forest in the direction it was pointing at, but the golem didn¡¯t care and pulled out a cable from its body and plugged it into the gun. Then, it began shining fiercely with a bright light. -We¡¯re going to have to stop it from shining like that. ¡°Let¡¯s fix that.¡± Of course, there was bound to be trial and error since it was the first version. Whoosh¡­ As a large amount of mana began gathering to the barrel of the gun, the two mages¡¯ faces grew pale. ¡°Let¡¯s move to the mountains where Rinne is.¡± Now that Davey had seen it start up, it was time to watch the mass slaughter. ¡°Wedge battle tactic chosen. Rinne, command passed on to juniors.¡± With a calm voice, a simple sentence fell on the monsters that were entering the narrow rift. ¡°Launch.¡± Boom!!! The surroundings began deforming, and a large number of energy bullets soared through the forest. CH 119 The weapons were all made of layered magic stones, so enchanting a bunch of magic to increase their firepower was successful. Of course, the attack speed and efficiency had decreased dramatically as a large amount of mana was used to support the firepower¡­ Pahh!!!! Shriek!!!! -Kahh!! But that was enough to bring chaos upon the stupid monsters. -Shriek!! Squeak! Squeak! Ignoring the goblins that were screaming and scattering, Sniper¡¯s ultra-long-range sniping targeted only the big ones. The ones that had broken formation in a panic weren¡¯t important enough to care about. Then, Juggernaut, the mid-range golem, and Tanker, the defense golem, blocked the pathway after recognizing Rinne¡¯s command. Clang! Clang!!! As Tanker held up a thorny shield and blocked the way, Juggernaut''s hand speedily rotated like a minigun and began bombarding the monsters with magic bullets. Whirr!! Boom boom boom!! The magic bullets were bolts of energy that had been treated with weight, speed, and precision magic. Each bullet wasn¡¯t powerful, and the firing speed wasn¡¯t OP like the minigun that Davey knew, which shot out six thousand bullets per minute. Juggernaut was only able to shoot out about five hundred at best, but the advantage was that one bullet wiped out about three or four monsters since he had added penetration to the magic as well. The firing speed had only increased because Davey had formed the numerous barrels by splitting a magic stone that had a very OP level of power output; it was an excellent improvement compared to when it took about a second for each bullet to fire. -Kyahh!! Kaw kaw!! Davey couldn¡¯t help but feel satisfied by even this. ¡°W¡­ What is¡­¡± ¡°Sir Davey¡­ What in the world did you make¡­¡± Winley and Yulis looked absolutely shocked. They watched the new golems, which worked for mass slaughter at a larger scale than Megatron. ¡°What is with the firepower?! Was it not simply just energy bolts?!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that magic was enchanted, but various magic was mixed, to be exact.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not possible¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s a machine. Like how a tool does what a human cannot do, and how a magic circle does things for us.¡± ¡°It¡¯s common knowledge that it is impossible¡­¡± ¡°Man, I keep telling you that common knowledge can be broken at any time.¡± Yulis seemed to keep forgetting the fact that the golem was concentrated with vast magic knowledge. Of course, the extreme overload that came with the firepower was being reduced by rotating it like a minigun¡­ -But the output is decreasing incredibly. It needs to be charged quickly. There was still room for improvement. Boom!! Boom!! The Tanker was blocking the narrow path and Juggernaut was mercilessly bombing them with mana bullets from behind. The monsters, which were scattering in panic, squeezed through somehow and attacked the golems¡­ But they were unfortunately unable to do any major damage to their extremely durable armor. It was partly because the golems had become large as Davey had squeezed in various functions into them, and also because Sniper had blown the head off of all the large monsters, which had strong, single blows, that got close. Eventually, some of the monsters began to squeeze between the two golems and pass them. Of course, Rinne had something planned in case they did that. Whirr!! Whirr!! Squeak!! Slice!! Kaw! Puma, the golem with a large dagger specialized for moving and mobile attacks, and Megatron, a perfect fit for an electric saw, began moving. ¡°Sir Davey, calculations show a large number of monsters escaping. Rinne, thinks that she must participate.¡± ¡°Alright. Run wild.¡± Rinne wouldn¡¯t be taken out by the monsters since she was actually more durable than the five other golems despite her small physique. She dusted off her flowy skirt and summoned strange pieces of equipment onto the back of her hand, saying, ¡°Close-range combat chosen. Type Lightsaber. Highly valued.¡± Click!! Mana began flowing out of the equipment that was on top of the back of each of her hands as if it was made with the [Aura Blade] in mind. At the same time, she began to flap the small wings on her back and flew into the middle of the monster herd to bombard them with bombs. Boom!!!! The situation following the intense explosion was a mass slaughter that was only fit to be described as a total wipe-out. Surprised by Rinne¡¯s sudden intrusion, the monsters naturally tried to fight back, but¡­ Clang!! They backed away as if they instinctively felt fear as they couldn¡¯t even scratch her weak-looking skin, let alone stop her. She excluded the ones that were scattering in fear and continued to blow up the ones that were listening to orders and marching on. ¡°Oh my¡­ What is that¡­¡± ¡°To make a sword by stupidly clumping mana together¡­¡± Winley and Yulis stared down at the battlefield in awe. ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t even understand her.¡± There was a reason they were called the ¡®Stone of the Sage¡¯ and ¡®Deus Ex Machina¡¯. Davey¡¯s honest feelings represented the current situation; even the most powerful golems needed time to charge after using a large amount of energy, and their armory would sometimes be crushed. However, Rinne was unstoppable like she was trying to show off the fact that she was a true, complete golem. When some time had passed since Rinne came into battle as she forcibly broke the monsters¡¯ formation, the monsters began scattering all over the place and running away like they were no longer under command. Davey didn¡¯t bother going after them since they were running in the opposite direction of the territory, but there was a need to set a time to get rid of the remaining ones. Then, Rinne returned with the golems that were all crushed in. Not caring about her tattered-up clothing, she reported to Davey with a bright voice, ¡°Rinne, checking the survival of nearby monsters. No threatening monsters found. Recommends increasing output through Sir Davey¡¯s praise.¡± Davey thought that Rinne was just somewhat useful in battles against someone strong, but she definitely had talent in mass slaughter. He couldn¡¯t help but hollowly chuckle when he saw her expressionless yet strangely delighted face. 49. The Capital of the Lyndis Empire Aeria El Lyndis was the youngest princess of the Lyndis Empire and the only half-blood beastfolk of the royalty members. Unlike other members of royalty, she had never had a meal with anyone else for more than three years. Not only meals, but she hadn¡¯t shown her bare skin to anyone except a few ladies-in-waiting. It was bewildering that a member of royalty, who were people from a divine bloodline, was hiding her bare skin and wearing a mask and gloves to escape everyone¡¯s attention, but it was just common to Aeria for the past several years as she was suffering from a disease with symptoms too horrendous for others to see. The disease she had caught was the Blood of the Demon, otherwise known as the ¡®Melting Acceleration Virus¡¯. The disease wasn¡¯t known to the public, but it was an horrendous disease that couldn¡¯t be cured once it was caught. This disease caused disgusting blue spots to appear on the body and body temperature to randomly go up and down. It would make the patient unable to move and they would have to worry about dying every day. However, she was different from everyone else who had this disease; she was completely fine and could live like a normal except for the fact that she had blue-black spots on her body. Her temperature was normal, as well as her other organs, muscles, and fat. She was a little thin from growing tired of living with the disease, but that was unrelated to the disease and was just a result of her not eating. However, not a single part of her pale and innocent appearance she had that excited her for her future when she was younger was left. On top of that, since ideologies of considering beastfolk to be lowly were still left in the Lyndis Empire, her position in the palace was unspeakable. People even cursed the king in secret, so it was obviously much worse for a princess with a terrible disease. This was why Aeria wore a mask and gloves. She never took off her unsophisticated yet modest dress that covered her entire body, and she spent about two years at the Holy Empire since the Emperor of the Lyndis Empire had ordered her to. ¡°C¡ªCan¡­I really be cured?¡± Aeria asked with a glimpse of hope. It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV. A man with a strict expression nodded. ¡°Yes, a lot of lives were saved with this treatment at the Ordem Territory. Most were treated successfully, and they were able to move on.¡± ¡°Ahh!¡± Aeria¡¯s quavering voice could be heard. Aeria had suffered for so long, and the hardest thing about this disease was about herself. Humans had a desire to look after their body and become beautiful, and this was true for Aeria as well. She was a little girl who, ever since she was younger, had dreamed of meeting someone who loved her and wanted to only show them her beautiful appearance. Recently, she had a small wish to find the man she had briefly encountered on her way back from the Holy Empire. She had tried to find him through a reliable source, but black hair was common in the continent and it was even more common in the western continent. Other than that, all she remembered was that he was a mage and smelled faintly like dogwood¡­ Of course, she couldn¡¯t go to him even if she was able to find him now since her appearance was ugly enough to make most frown in disgust. ¡°You will definitely be cured. Furthermore, it seems like His Majesty is thinking of opening a grand celebration for your birthday since you are becoming an adult.¡± The celebration was to solidify Aeria¡¯s position at the palace even if she was a beastfolk. Aeria began to sound a little excited. ¡°Right. I¡­really want to get better.¡± ¡°Leave it to me. I will make sure that Your Highness will be able to attend the ceremony without a mask.¡± Baron Gorneo, who had a strict expression, smiled faintly. It looked like a nervous smile at a glance, but it had a way of comforting people. Hidden behind her mask, Aeria smiled as she happily dreamed of being cured and meeting the man she was looking for¡­ However, despite the promise of Baron Gorneo, who had come to treat her, she was unable to escape the hell that was suffocating her. * * * After the secret danger to the territory had passed, the secret vampire did not attack again. However, since Davey had to defend now, all he wished for was a hint or something like that. ¡°I need a red magic jewel to make a temporary magic stone.¡± A red magic jewel, otherwise known as a Red Moon. It was a unique jewel that was even more red than a ruby. This was what Davey was stuck on: now that he had created various kinds of golems, he had to make cheaper units that could be mass-produced. With Surtr¡¯s mana crafting method, it was impossible to make something that could perform similarly to the magic stone in a short amount of time. However, Davey had pride as a craftsman; he believed that he couldn¡¯t make a mana stone golem, which was just an ordinary golem and was also limited in the period of use. He had to use a golem with a magic stone that was much higher quality than mana stones and could recover its strength on its own at the very least. It was pretty cheap to train people, but no number of royal guards would be as valuable as a single golem. Davey couldn¡¯t cast buff magic spells on them forever. He came to the conclusion that he needed to make a golem with at least one or two magic stones, but the problem was that it was difficult to obtain them. It meant that he had no choice but to make it himself, but¡­ CH 120 ¡°Hm¡­ Are you talking about the Red Moon?¡± Yulis questioned. ¡°The Red Moon? Big Brother, isn¡¯t that a jewel that noblewomen wear as jewelry?¡± Winley looked at Davey in puzzlement. ¡°I was wondering if I would be able to get it since I need it,¡± Davey replied. The most important material, the Red Moon, was a bright red jewel. Well, it was only known as a beautiful jewel, but it had a hidden function as an essential component for refining magic stones. ¡°Why are you asking Sir Yulis when you¡¯re looking for the Red Moon? Shouldn¡¯t you ask us ladies over here about a jewel used in jewelry?¡± Illyna smirked as she was sitting elegantly on her chair and sipping her tea. Then, with a hint of curiosity, she asked Yulis, ¡°Why? Did you find someone to gift jewelry to?¡± Winley¡¯s face instantly turned pale. ¡°N¡­ No!¡± ¡°Hm?¡± Davey stared at Winley. ¡°I¡­ It¡¯s nothing!¡± Winley shouted urgently as she lowered her head in shock. It was like she had seen a ghost or something. ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal, but I¡¯m thinking of making magic stones.¡± ¡°Making¡­magic stones? That¡­isn¡¯t a big deal?¡± Yulis could not hide his bafflement. Perhaps it was inevitable for him to respond that way, since he was a mage who knew how valuable magic stones were. ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve thought about it long and hard, but nothing else would be able to provide that much energy right now. I had no difficulty gathering the other materials, but¡­¡± ¡°It is said that magic stones are normally made from the merging of hundreds of mana stones by an unknown, natural power. Because they are extremely rare, that is why each one is so valuable.¡± Yulis mumbled in thought, ¡°But you are going to make that yourself?¡± ¡°Crafting it would just be a matter of time if I had the materials.¡± At the same time, Yulis¡¯ eyes sparkled with the desire to learn. ¡°Sir Davey! Please! Show me your crafting!¡± ¡®I don¡¯t care if you watch, but you won¡¯t be able to understand it.¡¯ ¡°The problem is that I don¡¯t have the Red Moon, the most important material. Apparently, there aren¡¯t any available.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Makes sense. It¡¯s a jewel that noblewomen also dream of, because it¡¯s so rare.¡± Illyna explained to Davey with apathy, ¡°It¡¯s going to take you a while to get it, even if you start looking for it now.¡± ¡°Is there a way to get it as far as you know?¡± Illyna thought in silence, then said, ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Perhaps even a princess had difficulty in obtaining the Red Moon if it wasn¡¯t available, Illyna¡¯s silence suggested that the jewel was truly difficult to get. It was also difficult to find any information about the Red Moon even though Davey had gone through the catalog of merchant companies who sold products related to magic or guides for auctions. ¡°You know, the Red Moon¡­ It¡¯s a jewel formed in a very rare environment by mere coincidence. It¡¯s not easy to find even if you have money. Davey, do you know what kind of social standing someone who has that jewel holds amongst the noblewomen?¡± Illyna smirked at Davey. ¡°Man, this is nice. You thought money solved everything, didn¡¯t you? You money worshiper.¡± ¡°So, you don¡¯t want my help?¡± Davey raised an eyebrow. ¡°Hey!¡± Illyna frowned. ¡°How could you go back on your words like that?! So cheap! You call yourself royalty?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it better than someone of royalty going around calling people asses? You know, hiding a personality like yours is deceiving all the men on the continent. It¡¯s fraud.¡± Davey remembered how worthwhile it was to see Winley and Yulis¡¯ expressions when they saw Illyna lose her temper with him. ¡®How dare you provoke me when I¡¯m this worried.¡¯ Like it was something fascinating, Yulis and Winley couldn¡¯t take their eyes off them at Davey and Illyna¡¯s bickering. ¡°Sometimes, it feels like Lady Illyna and Sir Davey are in a long-term relationship with each other. Hm¡­ The two of you are also good-looking. And how you both are honest to each other¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t even say that! Me with a psycho like him¡­¡± Illyna refuted with a pale face. ¡°But doesn¡¯t that personality only come out when you¡¯re with Sir Davey, Lady Illyna?¡± ¡°That¡­¡± ¡°Giggle¡­¡± Winley trying to hold in her laughter was what made Illyna completely give up. Illyna muttered, ¡°I¡¯m¡­royalty¡­ You know, I¡¯m the princess of the Pallan Empire¡­¡± Ignoring Illyna, who was sinking into her chair with a sad face, Davey said with a sigh, ¡°I guess I¡¯m going to have to put this on hold for now.¡± He had to complete it when he could be this focused but there was nothing he could do if the materials weren¡¯t available. ¡°Oh, right. Sir Davey, did you also receive an invitation to the Lyndis Empire¡¯s banquet that is happening?¡± It was the first Davey was hearing of it. ¡°Oh¡­ About that. Only about one or two people attend from a kingdom, and from what I¡¯ve heard, that idiot Carlus is attending from the Rowane Kingdom,¡± Winley explained. ¡®A banquet? That stupid, balding idiot who probably can¡¯t even speak properly?¡¯ ¡°Sigh¡­ I wanted to attend it at least once¡­¡± Winley looked disappointed. ¡°I heard that, for sure. Apparently, the banquet is being held in the Pentagon Hall this time. I have heard that the palace was built by five hundred dwarves for three years, and that its beauty and intricacy of the palace is far superior to any other,¡± Yulis said. Winley frowned even more, then said, ¡°Yes¡­ There are a lot of people who want to attend the banquet at the Lyndis Empire among the social circle as well. Maybe that¡¯s why¡­ I saw a lot of young girls doing anything to be the partner of that nasty guy.¡± Davey silently listened to Winley. ¡°Hm? Isn¡¯t this an invitation?¡± Illyna¡¯s eyes sparkled as she found a neatly wrapped envelope among the pile of documents that had come for Davey. Then, she furrowed her brows. ¡°But..it¡¯s completely crumpled¡­¡± ¡°I can picture it¡­ It was definitely crumpled after he threw it somewhere because he wasn¡¯t interested in it.¡± ¡°I know I do whatever I want, but I¡¯m not crazy enough to ignore an empire¡¯s invitation.¡± ¡°Anyways, the fact that Davey received a separate invitation¡­¡± ¡°Prince Davey is quite famous.¡± Perhaps they sent it to poke around; however, it seemed true that Davey hadn¡¯t noticed the invitation and had covered it with piles of other papers. ¡°Big Brother!¡± Davey was suddenly given something to think about as he stared at Winley¡¯s hopeful, sparkling eyes. To be honest, it was awfully bothersome. But looking at those eager eyes, they made him think about how he could spare Winley this much time as her older brother; Davey was conflicting with himself. ¡°Hm¡­¡± ¡°Ah, right. Speaking of the Lyndis Empire, they are opening an auction for precious jewels at the banquet. I heard that all kinds of rare, hard-to-get jewels are going to¡­¡± ¡°Then I have to go. Winley, you said that you wanted to see the palace?¡± Davey answered without a moment of hesitation, and Illyna looked at him like she didn¡¯t understand him. * * * A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled. It was pretty common for siblings to attend various banquets as partners. As soon as Davey showed his intent to attend the Lyndis Empire¡¯s banquet, Illyna took Winley away. It was as if she had been waiting for it. Illyna quickly said, ¡°I¡¯ll take Lady Winley away for a moment.¡± ¡°Where are you going?¡± ¡°Davey, do you know the number of things a lady who has been invited to a huge party like that has to prepare?¡± Davey sort of understood what Illyna was talking about. He offered, ¡°Take this.¡± ¡°A seal? You¡¯re telling me to use the territory¡¯s funds?¡± Davey had handed Illyna the seal that was necessary for printing a bill under the seigneur¡¯s name. It meant that he had handed Illyna a company black card, speaking in Earthly terms. ¡°Since I don¡¯t know anything about things like that. I don¡¯t care how much you use, but just make sure that Winley isn¡¯t outshined.¡± ¡°Hm¡­ Isn¡¯t that embezzlement?¡± Illyna asked in bewilderment. Davey rose from his seat and shrugged. ¡°Have a problem? I will just earn more money.¡± ¡°Wow¡­ I¡¯m just shocked that a territory can actually be run successfully by someone like him¡­¡± To be honest, running a business was not Davey¡¯s strong point. He was just benefiting off of the technology without really trying. However, there was one thing that Illyna had wrong: so much money had already been invested in the territory that there was nothing left to invest on. He knew that he had nothing to gain even if he poured more funds into the territory. ¡°I can use this seal however I want, right? I¡¯m going to buy things for myself, too.¡± ¡°But make Winley as perfect as the amount you spend.¡± ¡°Hup¡­ Big Brother! You don¡¯t have to do that for me¡­¡± Illyna shot up from her seat and covered the flustered Winley¡¯s mouth. Illyna declared, ¡°Nonsense! It is an insult to the Creator to not do anything when you have a face as cute as this. Follow me, and I will make you into a fairy.¡± Illyna looked like she was determined to spend a lot of money as she pushed Winley, who was bewildered, out the door while gigging; no matter how rich one was, it didn¡¯t change how fun spending money was. ¡°Are you attending as well, Sir Yulis?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Yes, for now. It has been decided that my partner will be Lady Illyna.¡± Davey couldn¡¯t help but sigh when he heard Yulis¡¯ reply. He mumbled, ¡°Winley is going to have a hard time.¡± ¡®Her love rival is too powerful.¡¯ Illyna¡¯s tomboyish personality didn¡¯t change the fact that she looked like a beautiful and elegant woman. ¡°Pardon?¡± Yulis asked. ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± Click! ¡°Davey! I¡¯ll join you after I take Lady Winley to my kingdom. Get there by yourself!¡± Yulis smiled bitterly, watching Illyna leave after shouting boldly. He said, ¡°I have been acquainted with Lady Illyna since I was young. You don¡¯t have to worry about her. She is very innocent and nice even though she seems that way.¡± ¡®Innocent¡­¡¯ Davey couldn¡¯t help but smirk. * * * Yulis joined the party that was taking Winley to the Pallan Empire. It wasn¡¯t that Davey didn¡¯t trust the two, but he couldn¡¯t help but feel worried about Winley since she brought trouble with her wherever she went. Perhaps he wouldn¡¯t feel this way if he wasn¡¯t this strong¡­ but they needed a safety mechanism if they were going to the Lyndis Empire, a highly populated place that he didn¡¯t know much about. ¡°When you arrive at the Lyndis Empire, stay by Winley¡¯s side and keep her safe. You may break the arms of anyone who tries to do anything to her.¡± ¡°Rinne, question: is that an order?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s say that I¡¯m asking for a favor for the little things.¡± ¡°Alright. Rinne, very enthusiastic about carrying out favors. Judging self to be very excellent in escorting and finding enemies.¡± ¡°Okay okay.¡± ¡°And also judging communications to be excellent as well.¡± ¡°Um, I don¡¯t know about that.¡± There was a definite problem with her communication skills; the way she spoke could be regarded as adorable since she was small and cute, but it still felt off. ¡°And get rid of that ring on top of your head if you can.¡± ¡°Activate non-visualization.¡± As soon as Rinne¡¯s eyes shone, the circular ring that was floating on top of her head began fading away. She was a combination of science that even Davey could not understand. Rinne erased all the strange parts of her body and threw her hand onto the tabletop. CH 121 ¡°Rinne, question.¡± Rinne voiced out. ¡°What is it?¡± Davey asked. ¡°Analyzing that Sir Davey has not found the enemy¡¯s leader.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The vampire Davey had encountered before wasn¡¯t dead but had run away. ¡°Rinne, thinking that there is a need to discuss a plan.¡± ¡°Ah, that. I have something in mind.¡± ¡°Rinne, does not understand. Requires detailed explanation.¡± ¡°Come in.¡± Davey ignored Rinne and spoke toward the door. A girl in the maid¡¯s uniform slowly entered through the door. She was an ordinary maid, so she greeted Davey nervously, ¡°I have brought tea, Your Highness.¡± Despite the girl¡¯s nervousness, Davey could see that she was strangely relaxed on the inside. He asked her, ¡°I¡¯ve felt that this tea has a nice and unique aroma to it. Did you brew this black tea yourself?¡± ¡°Pardon? Oh¡­ Yes!¡± Davey nodded, noticing the maid¡¯s slightly delighted expression. He asked, ¡°Thanks. It feels like it¡¯s clearing my head. Your name is?¡± ¡°I¡ªIt is Yuri, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Yuri¡­ Well, you¡¯ve set foot in the territory, so your status or circumstance doesn¡¯t change the fact that you are a resident of Heins.¡± Speaking calmly, Davey stood up and smiled at the girl. ¡°Well then, I¡¯m leaving the territory to you while I¡¯m gone.¡± ¡°Pardon? I¡­am just a mere maid¡­¡± ¡°Just do what you can.¡± ¡°That is¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m just saying this to be polite. I believe that you¡¯ve come here because you want something?¡± The bewildered Yuri lowered her head, feeling some hesitation. ¡°But can I ask what you brewed this tea with? It¡¯s very unique-tasting and nice.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Really? It¡¯s an original, Your Highness. Made with the skin of cockroach wings¡­¡± ¡°Pfff!!¡± Only after a long time did Davey realize that Yuri was someone who tried something very unique with tea. * * * The three empires were kingdoms that had very active movement through mana gates. Most had large mana gates on their land, with skilled mages managing those entrances. Thanks to that, it didn¡¯t take long to reach the Lyndis Empire¡¯s capital from the Heins Territory. The usage of the capital¡¯s mana gate was strictly regulated, but the changed circumstances have made it slightly more lenient now. ¡°Wow¡­¡± -It¡¯s a beautiful city. Feeling as delighted as a child, Perserque gasped in astonishment when she saw the eye-catching capital. She could spot it once she exited the building surrounding the mana gate. There was the beautiful royal palace located right in the middle of the capital, and the lively streets that were paved in white. It was a scene that justified just why the Lyndis Empire was said to be one of the best kingdoms to live in. The scenery was generic but comforting; Davey liked those aspects about this place the most. Perserque had asked Davey to go around and show her lots of places if he could. The scenery was familiar to him, but not to her. -Amazing. The northern kingdoms of the eastern continent have progressed this much. ¡°You¡¯ve never seen it before?¡± -Caldeiras, the sword I was in, had almost never left the Pallan Empire. ¡°Does it look nice to you too?¡± Suddenly curious, Davey turned his head and asked Rinne, who was following him. Rinne stared at Davey without emotion, then said, ¡°Rinne, thinking, has no memory of her time before she¡¯s activated. Rinne, only seen the Heins Territory. ¡°As such, Rinne, requesting explanation of new information.¡± Rinne spoke to Davey and pointed somewhere. ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°Rinne, analyzing that emotion circuit is operating rapidly at the strange smell stimulating senses. Later, this will cause major deficiencies in battle¡­¡± ¡°If you want it, you should just say so.¡± Unlike Perserque, who didn¡¯t eat, Rinne had a function where she could eat and convert that food intake into bioenergy even though she was a golem. ¡®When I saw the organ-like things underneath her skin-like cover, I just knew.¡¯ There was nothing strange about the way Rinne and Davey were acting, since everything inside of Rinne looked just like any other living thing except a certain mechanical part and her skin-like cover. ¡°Oh, welcome! A stroll with your sister?¡± The street vendor selling street food asked with a friendly smile. ¡°Requires correction. Rinne, property of Sir Davey.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Hm¡­ You¡¯re a slave.¡± Now that he was here, Davey did hear that the Lyndis Empire was quite against slavery. ¡°Hm¡­ I guess you¡¯re from another country, brother. I might be overstepping, but it¡¯s probably best to not call her a slave even if she is one. Especially in this kingdom.¡± Thump! ¡°She is my sister. She has a weird personality and is just a strange person. I hope there aren¡¯t any misunderstandings.¡± Davey lightly thumped Rinne on the head and quietly mumbled. The look of wariness disappeared from the man¡¯s face. He said, ¡°Oh, is that so? Sorry. Living in the empire has made me dislike people who own slaves.¡± ¡°Did you hear that? Don¡¯t say anything that will cause any misunderstandings.¡± ¡°Rinne does not understand. The strong¡­ Hup!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say anything weird.¡± Davey covered Rinne¡¯s mouth and gave her a warning. With a slight frown on her emotionless face, Rinne said, ¡°Accepted. Cannot agree but understands.¡± It was something that Rinne couldn¡¯t understand, but she was forcing herself to agree with Davey. ¡°Rinne, question. Sir Davey is royalty. But why do you speak to them with honorifics?¡± ¡°Normally, nobility wear a uniform or a badge that shows their rank, or travel with an entourage. And they normally don¡¯t buy something themselves from a street stall,¡± Davey explained. ¡°Rinne, does not understand why they do not do it themselves when they have hands. Thinks that they will not be able to deal with it properly in urgent circumstances.¡± ¡°Why do you think ranks were invented if people are going to live that realistically?¡± Even while tilting her head in confusion, Rinne still nodded as if she just learned something fascinating. Then, she stated, ¡°Warning. Analysis of ingredients. Predicted to be chicken. Judged to stimulate taste buds strongly. Requires analysis of info with one more.¡± ¡°Here. Have this, too.¡± ¡°Speaking of, maybe I¡¯ll let Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon look around the capital as well.¡± When Davey pulled out two swords in secret, they both turned into their human forms and went into his arms. He asked them, ¡°Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon, do you want to have a playdate with Dad today?¡± ¡°Giggle!¡± ¡°Can Red Ribbon like¡­play a lot?¡± ¡°Just don¡¯t cause any accidents.¡± It was easy for Davey to communicate with Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon, because they both expressed their emotions in simple terms. After all, they were still infants who couldn¡¯t communicate properly yet. The Lyndis Empire¡¯s banquet was two days later, but the capital was already booming with entourages of nobility. That explained why the streets were filled with entertainment and looked livelier than usual; it was clear that the Treasurer of the Lyndis Empire¡¯s royal palace was really making the most of it. It didn¡¯t matter to Davey, who was interested in the auction being held for the banquet¡¯s attendees rather than the banquet itself. Considering that the banquet would commence in two days and that the auction would be held on only the second day, he had a lot of free time on his hands. Hugging Blue Ribbon in his arms and giving Red Ribbon a piggy-back, Davey held onto Rinne¡¯s hand tightly so that they would not be separated. He then said to them all, ¡°Well then. We¡¯ll return to the lodgings in the evening. Let¡¯s have some fun, shall we?¡± The two children giggled in delight and Rinne pulled on Davey¡¯s hand. Rinne even licked her fingers after taking a big bite of Davey¡¯s food. It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°Rinne, requesting further detailed analysis of the taste of the thing predicted to be chicken.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll buy you more.¡± Davey began to suspect that perhaps Rinne was an extremely big eater. Then, he chuckled. It was inevitable that everyone¡¯s attention was drawn to them, since the girls were all cute enough to make people stare. However, it wasn¡¯t long before he realized that some had bad intentions, and that people walking on the streets were considered to be easy targets. * * * Thud! ¡°Ah!¡± Bumping into a lot of people was inevitable in such a crowded place. As they walked along the streets, Davey was using both arms to hold onto the three girls to prevent them from separating. He accidentally bumped into a little boy and knocked him onto the floor. ¡°S¡­ Sorry.¡± The boy on the floor was very small and was quite dirty. He apologized, looking up at Davey with emptiness in his eyes. When Davey gestured that it was fine, the boy silently glanced at Red Ribbon, who was on Davey¡¯s back, and Blue Ribbon, who was in Davey¡¯s arms, then disappeared into the crowd with his head down. It was as if he was trying to hide. ¡°Rinne, question. Does not understand why you did not go after him.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°Seeing that he has taken your belongings. Seems like a gold pouch, from the shape and size.¡± ¡°Leave him.¡± Smirking, Davey glanced at the boy who was disappearing into the crowd. ¡°Does not think that Sir Davey is a charity worker.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I said to leave him.¡± ¡°Um¡­ Does not understand.¡± ¡°You think that a pickpocketer should be caught on the spot, right?¡± ¡°Rinne, agrees very much. Highly values Sir Davey¡¯s ability to catch on quickly.¡± ¡®To just let it go because those children can¡¯t put food on their table? Even though he knows that he¡¯s pickpocketed someone? Nonsense.¡¯ ¡°People have to take responsibility for what they do. Whether they be adults or children.¡± With that answer, Davey couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡®They should¡¯ve been ready to be turned upside down if they chose to mess with me.¡¯ Davey stopped what he was doing and walked in the direction that the boy had gone in with light footsteps. CH 122 49. Foreigners and a Royal Banquet ¡°Huff¡­ Puff¡­¡± ¡°Hey, Malson. You did what you were supposed to?¡± ¡°¡­Yes. I stole the pouch of money, and I left a trace while running away.¡± ¡°But why hasn¡¯t that damn boy followed you?!¡± Thud!! The large man kicked the small boy. ¡°Cough!¡± Of course, the helpless boy collapsed onto the floor and coughed while breathing heavily. ¡°N¡­ No! I made sure he noticed and followed me¡­! Ahh!¡± ¡°How dare you talk back, you damn bony boy!¡± Thump thump! The boy clenched his jaw and groaned slightly from the ruthless beating. ¡°Hey, Bildy. He¡¯s coming. Get ready.¡± ¡°Hm, is that so?¡± ¡°He¡¯s insane for being that easy-going right now. Is he rich or something?¡± ¡°From the looks of his fair skin, maybe he¡¯s from a rich family. It¡¯s clear that he¡¯s a na?ve boy.¡± ¡°I guess he¡¯s daring. But we have to retrieve the three girls without leaving a scratch on them. You know that, right?¡± ¡°All you have to do is support me well from the backline. Anyways, who is that?¡± The man called Bildy asked with a frown. The large man, dragging the limp little boy on the ground, said, ¡°What do you mean? I got unlucky. I assumed he was rich because of his fair and clean appearance, but he¡¯s totally penniless. I¡¯ll keep him for a bit and then sell him off as a slave.¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t care if you sell him off or bury him; do whatever you want. Just make sure to do your part since it¡¯s worth a lot of money.¡± Bildy cackled and nodded. Upon that signal, the rest of the large men hid and disappeared. Afterwards, Bildy also hid and fixed his gaze on the alley with his big, bulging eyes. At the same, a boy arrived at the alley with light footsteps while whistling a tune. * * * ¡°Shriek! All the way here?!¡± The boy who was screaming and trying to run away fell onto the floor as if he had sprained his ankle. As the boy acted like he wanted to get caught, Davey put down Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon and slowly approached him. He commented, ¡°Is this how far you got? I came late on purpose because I wanted you to run far away.¡± ¡°What?!¡± The boy widened his eyes. ¡°These assholes. Always so predictable.¡± As Davey picked up the pouch the boy had stolen, he opened it while clicking his tongue. He could clearly see rocks and stones inside. Then, he asked the boy, ¡°Did you know what was inside before taking it?¡± ¡°Rocks?! No way¡­¡± ¡°What kind of crazy person carries around a pouch of money in public when it¡¯s this crowded?¡± ¡°Ugh¡­¡± The boy clenched his jaw in rage. The boy was so thin that he probably didn¡¯t eat often, but his gaze was determined and focused. He had to be like that, so he could survive on the streets. ¡°Ha! So, you didn¡¯t come after me in a hurry on purpose?¡± ¡°Well, I thought I should just take a look. So, enough with this game of tag¡­¡± At the same time, someone popped out from behind and swung a bat at Davey¡¯s head. Crack!!!! However, the bat just cracked and broke without being able to do its job. ¡°Ha! Dumbass. That¡¯s what happens when you are so reckless¡­¡± The man shouted, thinking that he had gotten Davey. However, he was quickly left speechless by Davey, who was supposedly hit on the back of his head, getting up from the ground as if nothing had happened. The bat was actually broken by a thin shield formed by Davey¡¯s solidified energy even before it could reach him. To the ordinary men, however, it looked like the bat broke apart from coming into contact with Davey¡¯s head. ¡°It¡¯s pretty fresh how people do robbery nowadays. What were you going to do if I didn¡¯t follow you?¡± The boy widened his eyes in surprise. ¡°How¡­are you okay after being hit with a bat¡­¡± The boy wasn¡¯t the only one who was shocked; the man who swung at Davey¡¯s head had the exact same expression. ¡°I don¡¯t discriminate between gender and age, and I believe that everyone should be punished for punishable actions. I¡¯m not nice enough to laugh it off because it was a kid who did it,¡± Davey said. At the same time, a man from behind ran toward Davey. ¡°What are you talking about? Damn you! Die!¡± The man pulled a knife out from his pocket and charged toward Davey. He was unexpectedly fast. Crack! The man would¡¯ve succeeded¡­if it wasn¡¯t for Rinne, who had come to Davey¡¯s side instantly and twisted the man¡¯s arm. Seeing that his arm was bent into an impossible angle, he felt that Rinne was determined to really shatter his arm. ¡°Ah¡­ Gah!!!¡± As he turned over, Davey could see the man who had his arm broken after holding on to Rinne. The man was rolling around the floor, screaming in pain. Then, he spotted a man holding Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon. Rinne came to Davey¡¯s side after immediately crushing the arm of the man who was holding onto her. She asked, ¡°Rinne. Question. Why aren¡¯t you doing anything?¡± ¡°I need to give them some false hope to really drive them crazy.¡± ¡°Rinne. Thinks Sir Davey is very cruel.¡± ¡°You can disable them or do whatever you want, as long as they don¡¯t die. But make sure to crush them for good.¡± ¡°Rinne. Detecting rise in temperature of emotion circuit. Thinking it is anger. More than happy to accept command.¡± As Rinne¡¯s eyes shone and a ring appeared on top of her head, the alley¡¯s atmosphere became quite tense. There was Davey, who was completely fine even though he had been struck with a bat, and a little girl who was able to break a person¡¯s arm like she was snapping a twig¡­ There were quite a number of robbers, but they had unexpectedly froze, unable to step up or run away. ¡°Do not kill them. They are going to come after me recklessly if you do.¡± ¡®Let¡¯s leave it at disabling them. That should teach them that there are some people in this world that they shouldn¡¯t mess with.¡¯ Rinne¡¯s blue eyes shone brighter as she understood what Davey was saying. ¡°Rinne. Instantly understands.¡± ¡°Then, I¡¯ll leave the guys in the back up to you. And you are also in trouble.¡± Davey grinned at the boy, who turned pale. ¡°W¡­ Why didn¡¯t you catch me right away when this was your true strength?!¡± The boy shouted. ¡°Well, usually for pickpockets, there¡¯s someone who is controlling them in the dark. Since it¡¯s hard to get them one by one, I came so that I can get rid of everyone all at once.¡± ¡®Did you think I was a nice and rich man who was na?ve about how the world worked?¡¯ If they thought so, they were dead wrong. As Davey explained, the boy¡¯s face was entirely drained of blood. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s just going to end with a little guidance for kinds. You¡¯re not human garbage like those guys at least, right? So, what I¡¯m saying is, live with a conscience. ¡° ¡°Ah¡­ Ah¡­ Gahh!!!!¡± Then, someone¡¯s desperate scream resonated throughout the alley. * * * ¡°P¡­ Please¡­ Don¡¯t kill us¡­¡± The men, who were on the floor begging Davey, were barely holding onto their consciousness. The speaking man was actually one of the people in better shape¡­ ¡°Gahh!!¡± ¡°Rinne. According to my information, thinking that your gaze is highly inappropriate. There was an order from Sir Davey to crush the testicles of a pedophile.¡± As there was someone else who was getting their testicles crushed. ¡°Ah¡­ Ugh¡­¡± Ignoring the boy who was holding his bottom while lying on the floor, Davey picked up Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon and walked past the men. He warned, ¡°You should watch who you mess with. All I did this time was break a couple of places, but it¡¯s over for you guys if you get caught again.¡± ¡°Groan¡­¡± Well, they could hold a grudge against Davey and try again, but it didn¡¯t matter if they tried to do something. Having found something, Rinne called out to Davey, ¡°Sir Davey. Found a victim.¡± Davey turned and saw a black-haired boy who was tied up, lying on the ground of the alley. The boy looked to be around fourteen or fifteen, and it didn¡¯t seem like he had gone through a lot from how fair his hands and face were. ¡°Rinne. Thinking that we should help the weak.¡± ¡°He¡¯s probably going to be sold off as a slave or used for experimentation if left like that.¡± Feeling somewhat bitter at the fact the boy had black hair, Davey approached him and easily cut the ropes that were binding him by releasing a little bit of [Aura] from his fingertips. Then, he placed his hand on the boy and mumbled quietly. [Highness Heal] Whoosh!! As Davey cast an advanced recovery magic with a faint light appearing on his hand, the men widened their eyes in shock. ¡°A¡­ A mage¡­¡± They turned pale, realizing that they had almost stepped on a mine. Thankfully, they were no longer of interest to Davey, who had already beaten the crap out of them. ¡°Groan¡­ Mom¡­ I miss you¡­ Dad¡­¡± The boy murmured in a cracked voice. ¡°Hey, are you okay?¡± As [Highness Heal] had woken the boy who was about to die, the boy raised his head and stared at Davey with a blank stare. It was odd; a fair bit of people looked Asian in the Tionis Continent, but it was rare to see someone who looked as Asian as the boy in front of Davey. The people in the eastern and central continent usually looked like a mix between Asian and Caucasian, and people from the western continent looked Hispanic. ¡°Woah. A person with completely Asian features is hard to come by. Where are you from?¡± The boy was not able to say anything and just tilted his head. ¡°What? Can you not understand?¡± ¡°Where am¡­¡± ¡°What do you mean? It¡¯s the capital of the Lyndis Empire.¡± The boy tilted his head in confusion once again. ¡®He knows how to speak, but can¡¯t understand? What kind of weird situation is this?¡¯ ¡°Rinne. Question. Do you understand him, Sir Davey?¡± Davey, who was conversing with the boy, stopped for a second. A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled. ¡®Something¡¯s off. What am I miss¡­¡¯ Realizing what that was, Davey grabbed the boy by the throat and glared at him. ¡°What are you?¡± The boy began to cry from fear. He was scared of Davey¡¯s surprised expression. ¡°A¡­ Ahh!! I¡¯m sorry! Don¡¯t kill me!¡± ¡®Why wasn¡¯t I able to pick this up?¡¯ Even Davey couldn¡¯t hide his bewilderment. His memories were so clear that he had understood it reflexively, not thinking that it was weird at all. -This language¡­ As the boy trembled in confusion, Davey asked him a question in a different language. ¡°You. Who are you?¡± Davey asked in a language that was not from the central and eastern continent, but a language from an entirely different world than the Tionis Continent: in Korean, a language from a small country on Earth. CH 123 ¡°Oh! Big Brother!¡± When you''re just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. After hearing from Yulis and Winley, who said that they had gone to prepare their lodgings, Davey arrived at a huge, luxurious place that looked like the lodgings of high-ranking nobles or royalty. The hallways were bright and the temperature was perfect, because the Lyndis Empire had used various magic equipment to increase the quality of life. ¡°Big¡­ Brother?¡± Holding Red Ribbon¡¯s hand with one hand and securing the boy on his shoulder with the other, Davey spoke to the lodging¡¯s manager who was staring at him in surprise. ¡°I need a resting room for one person. You have rooms available, right?¡± ¡°Pardon? Oh¡­ Yes, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Take him and bathe him. Get him some food, too. You won¡¯t be able to communicate with him, but he should understand if you use body language.¡± ¡°Big Brother? Who is that boy¡­?¡± Winley looked confused as she stared at the boy who was around her age. ¡°I¡¯ll explain later.¡± ¡®I¡¯m a little confused as well.¡¯ Yulis and Illyna, who followed Winley outside, also looked confused, but said nothing more. ¡°Sorry. Do you mind if I rest for a bit? I¡¯m just a little tired.¡± Davey put Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon in Winley¡¯s arms. Winley blushed as she stared at the girls; she was automatically infatuated with their adorable faces. She asked, ¡°Hi! Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon! Did you miss your sister?¡± ¡°Babble!¡± ¡°Euu¡­¡± While Winley had met the two girls before, it was different for Illyna and Yulis, who followed Davey out. It was obvious how a sensitive girl around Davey¡¯s age, like Illyna, would react to the twins, who were cute enough to catch the eye of everyone that saw them. ¡°D¨CDavey! Who are these cute children?!¡± ¡°My daughters. This is Red Ribbon, and over here is Blue Ribbon. Say ¡®hi¡¯, girls.¡± ¡°Babble~¡± ¡°Giggle!¡± ¡°What?!¡± ¡°Huh?!¡± Davey realized that it was both Yulis and Illyna¡¯s first time seeing Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon. Since the girls spent most of their time sleeping due to their rapid growth, it would¡¯ve been difficult to see them. As Illyna blankly stared at him, demanding an explanation, Davey just nodded. He wondered if it was the best decision to show her the girls, especially when everything was so complicated right now. * * * Davey didn¡¯t know if the boy was too shocked or if there was something else, but the boy could not wake up even after [Highness Heal]. Thanks to that, Davey was forced to hold back the questions that he so wanted to ask. ¡°Big Brother! How do I look?¡± As Winley twirled in her green dress with twinkling eyes, Davey automatically gave her a thumbs-up. He praised, ¡°My little sister! Amazing!¡± ¡°Hehe!¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ He¡¯s a fool for his sister¡­¡± Even though Illyna sighed like she was sick of Davey, she puffed up her chest and looked satisfied with her work. She said, ¡°What do you think? This is how capable the ladies-in-waiting of continental royalty are.¡± ¡°It¡¯s amazing. I should pay more attention to Winley from now on.¡± ¡°Giggle!¡± ¡°Babble!¡± Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon, who looked delighted because of Winley, went to her and rubbed their cheeks against her skirt. Both of them smiled brightly. ¡°Ahh! So cute!¡± ¡°Oh my¡­ They are completely different from you, Sir Davey.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± ¡°No, well¡­ Haha!¡± Yulis turned away with an awkward smile. ¡®Okay, I guess you know that I have a hot temper and that I¡¯m crazy.¡¯ Of course, Davey didn¡¯t disclose that Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon were the twin swords, the second work of Thousand-day Blacksmith Surtr, but Illyna and Yulis didn¡¯t seem too bothered by the fact that they were his two daughters. No, it was more like they had given up on finding out, since they knew that no one around Davey was ordinary. -It¡¯s probably because every single thing you do is pretty unpredictable. Like Winley, Illyna and Yulis were also dressed in classic and elegant clothing. Since he couldn¡¯t hide his position as a mage, Yulis was wearing a simple uniform of the Wizard Tower, and fitting as a princess, Illyna looked beautiful with her hair in a ponytail. -I wish I could¡¯ve dressed up like that¡­ Davey smiled bitterly when he heard Perserque mumbling somewhat sadly; what she wanted was not being beautifully dressed like Winley and Illyna, but to be dressed up as elegantly by someone. It was probably very disappointing for her, because it was impossible for that to happen since she didn¡¯t have a real body. ¡°Anyway, you look so handsome, Big Brother!¡± Winley, who was admiring her clothes, approached Davey with a gasp. Since it was an empire¡¯s banquet, Davey couldn¡¯t just attend it wearing everyday clothes. He quite liked the clothes for the banquet that Illyna had gotten him, even if she had used his seal without controlling her spending. ¡°Well¡­ I was choosing according to my taste so don¡¯t complain.¡± ¡°It¡¯s nice.¡± As Davey grinned while adjusting the wrist of the black suit, Illyna groaned and turned away. She muttered, ¡°Ugh¡­ Being able to pacify me with just his face¡­¡± ¡°Stop commenting about other people¡¯s appearance.¡± Davey knew that he wasn¡¯t that good looking. ¡°Why are you being like that to Big Brother?! There¡¯s no one like him who can make other feel comfortable around!¡± Of course, Davey¡¯s cute and nice younger sister couldn¡¯t let this go. ¡°Hey! Are you betraying me?!¡± ¡®Since when did Illyna start speaking informally to Winley?¡¯ Leaving a shouting Illyna behind, Davey left the room and headed to the boy, who was still sleeping. Then, he put down a small note on the boy¡¯s bedside table and quickly wrote something down. -Don¡¯t run and stay here. Davey didn¡¯t write in the official language of the continent, but in Korean. Davey¡¯s memories of his past life were kind of a blur, but he wasn¡¯t able to forget what was left no matter what he did. And so, he still remembered the language even though a long time had passed. ¡®This should keep him here.¡¯ Davey didn¡¯t think of the boy as a rare and valuable asset, but there was one thing he wanted to check with him: a nostalgic memory. * * * ¡°Welcome, Princess Illyna de Pallan. And Class-5 Elder Yulis. And Prince Davey O¡¯Rowane and Princess Winley O¡¯Rowane.¡± The young servant who checked their invitations and identification plates respectfully bowed even though they had never met before. ¡°Thank you for attending the banquet.¡± ¡°Thank you for your hard work. Has the banquet already begun?¡± ¡°Yes. However, His Majesty has not entered yet.¡± ¡°Oh, what a relief.¡± ¡®What a vixen.¡¯ Davey thought as he watched Illyna laugh while covering her mouth with her handheld fan. As if she was going to stick to her social appearance in public, she didn¡¯t erase the pretty smile from her face and maintained her elegance. Illyna and Yulis often attended similarly formal events as partners, so it was rumored that they were in an arranged engagement, and they had probably come together because of that reason as well. Davey concluded that it seemed like neither of them really had a problem with it. ¡°Big¡­Brother¡­¡± As Davey held Winley¡¯s hand, he could feel her clear green eyes stare at him and her trembling from nervousness. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m really nervous¡­¡± Although Winley was royalty, it wasn¡¯t a common occurrence to attend a banquet as large as this. It was natural for her to be nervous, since she wasn¡¯t actively engaged in the social situation at the Rowane Kingdom either. ¡°Act confidently. Right now, you are as beautiful as anyone here.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°If there¡¯s anyone who condescends you, your big brother will help you. I¡¯ll even start a war if I have to.¡± ¡®Do I look like I¡¯m lying? I keep my word.¡¯ ¡°Thank you¡­¡± Winley could not stop looking around, as if totally infatuated with the Pentagon Hall¡¯s beauty. Normally, she would¡¯ve seemed like a hillbilly, but it actually made her look adorable; perhaps it was thanks to her cute appearance. As they entered the banquet following the royalty and nobility from various kingdoms, all of whom were dressed beautifully, they began to see the hall¡¯s huge and magnificent interior. There was a grand piano on a large podium on one side of the hall. Besides that, the people who seemed to be part of the orchestra were playing a simple and quiet song in formal clothing. As the size of the banquet was unlike any other kingdom¡¯s, a gigantic chandelier was shining bright and illuminating the entire hall. ¡°Wow¡­¡± Like she couldn¡¯t hide her amazement, Winley covered her mouth and stared at it with wide eyes. ¡°I¡­ It¡¯s so beautiful.¡± ¡°You like things like that?¡± ¡°Pardon? You don¡¯t?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll make it for you if you like such things.¡± ¡®500 dwarves worked on this for three years?¡¯ He knew that the dwarves of not only the Yellowstone Tribe, but the Blackstone Tribe and others were sending their gratitude to him. He could make it, but he just didn¡¯t feel the need to. Winley, who had come back to her senses after staring at the crowd socializing with wine glasses in their hand, cleared her throat and stared at Davey. ¡°Well, then. Shall we, my lady?¡± ¡°Oh, thank you, Big Brother.¡± Winley smiled, showing her dignity as royalty. * * * Some time had passed since the banquet started. A lot of people had attended the banquet, but the people who drew the most attention were, of course, Yulis and Illyna. The two, who had attended as partners, made a good couple and were definitely good-looking enough to make anyone smile. One of them was a genius mage elder and also one of the most eligible bachelors of the continent, and the other was one of the five beauties of the continent and a genius of swordsmanship. She was also known as the ¡®Master of the Divine Sword¡¯ and the apple of the Pallan Empire¡¯s eye. It would be strange if they didn¡¯t attract attention. Of course, Yulis and Illyna looked extremely busy from the vast number of people who were trying to make their acquaintance. And¡­ ¡°Hello, Princess Winley. My name is Temid, the Fourth Prince of the Hartan Kingdom.¡± ¡°You are truly beautiful. I¡¯m the eldest of Duke Pellad, my name is¡­¡± Winley received an unexpected amount of attention. She was all dressed up, and being one of the prettier ones, the dressing up was like giving her golden wings to fly. On the other hand, it was a little different for Davey. There were only a few people who actually recognized him. As such, it was pretty quiet for him except for the few who approached him because of his looks. CH 124 -There are Orcs here, too. ¡®Where? Woah¡­¡¯ When he turned toward the area where Perserque, who sat on his shoulder, gestured toward, Davey saw a human and an Orc in a nice suit clinking glasses and engaging in conversation. Naturally, Orcs had darker skin than humans and were much bigger in size. Due to the difference in race, they had an amazing amount of muscle mass like dwarves. In terms of physical appearance, they had distinctly dark green skin, were taller than normal humans¨Cabout 2 to 2.1 meters tall, had tough, muscular bodies, and had incisors sticking out from their bottom lips. ¡°Orcs and humans are sworn enemies who fight each other to the death in other worlds.¡± Funnily enough, Orcs and humans of this continent had quite a good relationship. Orcs who were called the ¡®Race of Warriors¡¯ emphasized honor and prestige, and they usually formed tribes. They did not like to get involved in political matters, so they usually came into human kingdoms by working as mercenaries. It was also rare for Orcs to come to banquets such as this, because they did not like this either. Davey guessed that the Orc dressed in a suit was a high-ranking one, maybe a tribe leader or great elder. Then, Davey looked for other races among the attendees, but it seemed like the only new faces he could find were the Orcs. Elves had officially been declared to have disappeared three hundred years ago, and dwarves did not leave their villages. There was also no way that beastfolks would be here, since they were quite abhorred in the Lyndis Empire. While looking around in fascination, Davey saw someone approach Winley, who stood away from the men and was taking a deep breath. ¡°Ha, I heard that lowly beings bond together, but now you guys are really out of your mind.¡± Winley turned toward the hostile voice, then said, ¡°Carlus.¡± ¡°Who do you think you are to come here, bitch?¡± ¡°What?¡± Beside Carlus, who was already picking a fight, was a young girl in a red dress. She stood next to him with a haughty expression. ¡°Both you and Davey must be insane. Do you think you have the right to be at a banquet this prestigious?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t kid yourself. The only reason you¡¯re able to attend is because you threw a tantrum, isn¡¯t it?¡± Winley commented. Of course, she wasn¡¯t stupidly nice to just take it. Carlus¡¯ eyebrow twitched at Winley¡¯s criticism. Then, he snapped, ¡°I don¡¯t know how you got here, but you don¡¯t know your place, bitch. I suggest that you scurry back to the kingdom when I¡¯m asking nicel¡­¡± Davey¡¯s actions were quicker than his words. The idiotic Carlus was out of his mind, publicly insulting his younger sibling and forgetting the fact that numerous kingdoms and countries were gathered here. Before, it seemed that he knew how to hold himself back in public, but he was now doing whatever he wanted after Davey had given him a spot that shone like the sun on his head. In secret, Davey roused the qi in his middle finger as he held it in a flicking position. ¡®A crazy hound¡­¡¯ [Silent Energy] [Blast Away] Whoosh! ¡°Keugh?!¡± ¡®Needs a beating.¡¯ ¡°Kyahh?! Prince Carlus!¡± When Carlus was suddenly hit by something and ended up rolling on the floor, the noble girl widened her eyes in shock. At the same time, everyone¡¯s attention was drawn to him. It was inevitable that they were staring, since he was screaming and rolling on the floor in the middle of a quiet, calm banquet. However, no one realized that Carlus had been blasted away by Davey, who had taken action subtly. It was a hidden attack. Furthermore, since the noble girl was the only one near Carlus, people could only think that he was putting on a show by himself. ¡°Acting like this in another kingdom?¡± ¡°Keugh¡­ What is this¡­¡± Gasping, Carlus had felt the empty air just hit him out of nowhere. ¡°Davey¡­ You lowly being¡­¡± Carlus, who was frowning and moaning in pain on the floor, looked up at Davey in hatred and disgust. It was as if he was superior to Davey. Davey wondered what he should say to this idiot, who still couldn¡¯t understand the current situation even after embarrassingly collapsing onto the floor. Of course, sometimes, actions spoke more than words. Davey silently pointed at the top of his head and then pointed at Carlus. Taking note of his gesture, everyone watching the situation started to shift their gaze to look at the top of Carlus¡¯ head. ¡°Giggle¡­¡± ¡°Ahem!¡± Everyone could be heard trying to hold in their laughter. Some even cleared their throats bitterly. Only then did Carlus, who was staring into space while sitting on the floor, realize that something was wrong. Feeling the cool breeze on his head, he realized that the wig that was supposed to hide the bright sun on top of his head had fallen off. It only took moments for people to see the chandelier¡¯s bright light reflecting off his smooth scalp. ¡®Hm, alright. Let there be a sun on his head.¡¯ ¡°Hup?!¡± Carlus turned pale in an instant. He reflexively covered his head with his hands. His pale face began turning purple from sheer anger. He wanted to say something, but everyone had already seen his shiny head. ¡®There¡¯s a sun hidden on the head of a young teenage boy!¡¯ Not knowing what to do, Carlus clenched his jaw, quickly put his wig back on, and ran out of the banquet with a red face. ¡°It seems like the balding curse was a pretty good idea.¡± -The curse you put on him will be a long-lasting trauma. The bright, smooth sun on top of Carlus¡¯ head was not going to disappear until Davey revoked the curse, but Davey had no intentions of breaking the curse until the day he died. ¡®Now that it has come to this, maybe I should cast the same curse on Benedict or Queen Lynesse.¡¯ Davey had the thought, but soon shook his head. Everyone looked bewildered and confused by the unexpected situation, looking on as Carlus ran away. Soon, as if they finally understood, the entire banquet returned to normal. It seemed that this unfortunate happening of a prince from a small kingdom was not that interesting. It was a little baffling, but the people here were experts in managing their appearance; since all Carlus had to boast about was his rank as the Rowane Kingdom¡¯s representative prince, perhaps this was only expected. ¡°Did you do that, Big Brother?¡± Winley asked Davey in bewilderment as Davey approached her. ¡°I thought that he wouldn¡¯t watch his words if I just let him go on.¡± ¡°Hm¡­¡± ¡°Davey held back quite well for himself, did he not?¡± Like she was watching the whole situation, Illyna chuckled and walked toward Davey with Yulis. ¡°You and that prince, Carlus, have a terrible relationship, right? Are you just leaving him be?¡± ¡°No way. A cornered rat will cause a big scene.¡± Realizing what Davey was saying, Illyna muttered with a sigh, ¡°Why did he start a fight with this psycho¡­¡± ¡°Lady Winley, may I ask for a dance if that¡¯s alright with you?¡± Even in the midst of all this, Yulis did not lose his soft smile. He reached his hand out toward Winley and bowed his head slightly. The people who were watching the two, the main stars of this banquet, looked quite shocked by Yulis suddenly asking Winley for a dance. It seemed like they were shocked once again at how unexpectedly beautiful she was. Search bit.ly/3iBfjkV for the original. As Winley stared at Davey, not knowing what to do, he just smiled and nodded. Davey was thinking that she had feelings for Yulis, and that Yulis had come at the perfect time. ¡°Then¡­ Shall we?¡± Winley looked a little suspicious of how Davey was allowing her to dance, but soon brightly smiled and held Yulis¡¯ hand. ¡°You look quite uncomfortable, Prince Davey.¡± ¡°I am not too fond of such events, Princess.¡± Talking pleasantly and upkeeping appearances, Illyna erased her frosty expression and chuckled. ¡°The first day is just a taster. If you really don¡¯t want to overdo yourself, it might be a good idea to go back to your lodging. The auction you want to attend is tomorrow.¡± Davey really wanted to take Illyna¡¯s suggestion, but he also wanted to stay and watch for a little while longer. Looking at Winley dancing with Yulis while holding his hand, Davey finally said, ¡°I¡¯ll stay a little longer.¡± ¡°Then, let me rest for a little bit¡­¡± Illyna sighed, unable to hide her exhaustion. She tipped her wine glass toward Davey and said, ¡°Cheers, Prince Davey?¡± ¡°Please put away your insincere acting because it¡¯s making me sick.¡± ¡°Dick.¡± Cling! A clear sound resonated across the hall as their glasses met. ¡°What about that silver-haired and young golem lady?¡± Illyna was probably talking about Rinne, who probably looked younger than her late teens because of her small physique. ¡°I left her outside because she wanted to look around.¡± Davey did leave Rinne on standby just in case, but it was likely that she was looking around out of curiosity. It would be troublesome if she was discovered, but she was able to conceal herself quite well. ¡°Anyway, I don¡¯t see the star of this banquet,¡± Illyna commented. ¡°Are you interested in her?¡± Davey asked. People were surprised that Davey and Illyna were talking, but no one approached them; perhaps it was because of her distinct aura. ¡°Princess Aeria El Lyndis. She is the Lyndis Empire¡¯s youngest princess, and I heard that she just became an adult this year.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve never met her?¡± ¡°I think I¡¯ve seen her when I was younger, but it seems like she was at the Holy Empire for a few years. As you know, these kinds of banquets are extremely rare for people of the Holy Empire,¡± Illyna explained as Davey said nothing in reply. Creak! Thud! That was when¡­ ¡®Speak of the devil.¡¯ ¡°Princess Aeria El Lyndis is entering.¡± When an old servant¡¯s voice could be heard, the door opened to reveal the star of this banquet. As Davey had heard, this banquet was to celebrate the princess¡¯ coming-of-age and to announce her return from the Holy Empire. She was part beastfolk, so she couldn¡¯t avoid a little mistreatment since the people of the Lyndis Empire still thought of beastfolks as lowly beings. However, the emperor was trying to eliminate such discrimination and abuse by bringing her to the forefront. ¡°That girl¡­¡± Davey stopped what he was doing and squinted at the girl who just appeared. ¡°Do you know each other?¡± Illyna asked like she could no longer be surprised by anything. Davey shook his head. It was true that they didn¡¯t know each other. They had only passed each other during the brief encounter at the forest. The girl was wearing white gloves, a simple yet classic dress that came up to her neck, and a white mask that covered her entire face. If it wasn¡¯t for her bright blue hair and unique beastfolk ears, Davey most likely wouldn¡¯t have recognized her. ¡°Anyway¡­ I heard that she can¡¯t expose her bare skin because she is ill¡­ I guess it¡¯s true.¡± Davey nodded at Illyna¡¯s comment. -Davey. It¡¯s that disease. ¡®Baron Gorneo was talking about that girl. I know that it has been a while, so did she not get treated? The medicine should¡¯ve worked unless the virus had transformed because she was unique. However, it seemed like that wasn¡¯t the case. Everyone was drawn to the girl, who was slightly cowering but forcing herself to walk confidently. Those who had only heard of her seemed curious, since she was the youngest and most treasured daughter of the Lyndis Empire¡¯s emperor. And since she had never been seen in public, Davey could see all the nobility gather toward her in seconds. CH 125 ¡°She can¡¯t even show her bare skin because of her sickness¡­ Davey, didn¡¯t you say that you cured a disease at the Ordem Territory?¡± Illyna asked. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Can you not cure that?¡± At Illyna¡¯s question, Davey reflexively squinted. It wasn¡¯t impossible for him to cure it; he knew the illness the princess was suffering from, and he could practically see the state she was in beneath her mask. The girl flinched, feeling slightly surprised by the sudden influx of attention, but soon regained her composure. She calmed herself down and steadied her shaky hands, then made conversation with those around her. ¡°It¡¯s not impossible,¡± Davey commented. ¡°Then can¡¯t you do it?¡± ¡°You want me to go to her and tell her that I can cure her disease?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s just going to seem like a trick to win her over or something.¡± ¡°But¡­I feel so bad for her. She¡¯s now an adult¡­¡± ¡°Still¡­¡± Davey¡¯s face tensed up a little as he trailed off. ¡°That disease should not be left in the world.¡± Davey was determined; he didn¡¯t care about other diseases, but he intended to erase every trace of that disease off the face of this world. ¡°Chuckle¡­ You don¡¯t seem like a dick when you act like this. Anyway, it¡¯s getting pretty crowded.¡± The large hall was spacious enough for all these people to roam around comfortably; however, only one part of the hall was busy now. All of the nobility had gathered near Aeria to speak with her. It looked like all the attention that Illyna initially had had shifted over to Aeria. ¡®I¡¯m seeing all kinds of things since there¡¯s so many people at the banquet.¡¯ As Davey was observing the chaos caused by the people¡¯s uncontrollable intrigue, a nobleman gulped and began pushing past the crowd to get to Aeria. Then, as if it was a coincidence, he fell in her direction and flailed around, touching the part that was securing her mask to her face. The mask, which was tightly held to Aeria¡¯s face, became loose. It fell to the ground, as if falling in slow motion. Watching this, Davey pulled Illyna into his arms without hesitation. ¡°W¡ªWait?!¡± Illyna gasped, completely surprised by Davey¡¯s sudden action. Her eyes were covered by Davey¡¯s hand before she could feel him releasing his mana firsthand. Her jaw dropped open in surprise. Then, Davey moved the hand that was covering her eyes; what he was going to do was absolutely insane. [Light-type Adapted Spell] [2nd Circle] [Light Absolute Block] Davey used a magic spell that blocked the absorption of light toward some, and¡­ Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. [Light-type Adapted Spell] [4th Circle] [Stun Grenade] Yulis, Winley, and Princess Aeria, who was involved in this incident, were in the unaffected range. Illyna also wasn¡¯t a problem, since Davey had physically covered her eyes. Davey¡¯s mana began to move after instantly forming an arrangement in the air. Soon, a huge flash of blinding light burst in the enormous hall. For a wide-range stun¡­ A sun grenade did just the trick! There were high-ranking individuals of various kingdoms at the banquet hall, and although this could be seen as terror¡­ ¡®Confucius once said, ¡®Let there be light.¡¯¡¯ ¡°Kyah?!¡± ¡°Ahh!!¡± ¡°My eyes!!¡± The banquet hall fell into complete chaos. People began rolling around on the floor with their eyes covered. Some even struggled to walk away. Everyone reacted differently, but they all realized that they couldn¡¯t open their eyes. The light coming from light magic was also structured slightly differently than regular light. It shouldn¡¯t be a problem, since the people¡¯s sense of sight should return in about a minute and the side effects should subside shortly. Davey could see Winley and Yulis looking around in surprise, as well as Princess Aeria¡¯s big eyes of surprise. Her face, now revealed under the bright chandelier with her mask gone, was much worse than Davey had thought. ¡°Hup?!¡± Davey met Princess Aeria¡¯s gaze as Illyna flinched, realizing what Davey had done. Aeria widened her eyes and slowly backed away. Davey couldn¡¯t read the thoughts from her face, but she picked the mask off from the floor and ran out of the banquet hall. ¡°Hey¡­ Hey, you lunatic¡­¡± No one could believe that anybody would do such a thing in a banquet where royalty and high-ranking nobility from all over the world had gathered. Illyna realized what was going on, and she muttered about how ridiculous everything was. Davey immediately let go of Illyna and told her in a soft voice, ¡°Sorry. I¡¯m going to leave for a little while. Can you make sure that there aren¡¯t any problems?¡± The banquet was probably going to be put on hold, and the royal palace was probably going to go crazy over this incident. However, Davey didn¡¯t regret the choices he had made. To those affected with the ¡®Melting Acceleration Virus¡¯, their emotional trauma was unimaginable upon having others discover their ruined appearance. The disease did make people look that horrendous, but Princess Aeria¡¯s face looked far worse than anyone else. The man who took Aeria¡¯s mask off was probably one of the Lyndis Empire¡¯s nobility who despised beastfolks, and this was probably their scheme¡­ Victims of any political fight never met pretty ends. Davey had instinctively taken action once he saw the deep sadness and shock being reflected in Aeria¡¯s innocent eyes. He also couldn¡¯t shake off the feeling that it reminded him of a memory, which was about someone he couldn¡¯t quite recall. And although he knew it was pretentious, he didn¡¯t really object to it. So what if it was an act or a truly good deed? An injury was different from a disease; a doctor was someone who healed everyone, including their enemies. For Davey, he would heal his enemies, even those deserving of death, of their disease before ripping them apart afterward. That was what he had been taught. ¡®Unnecessary brown-nosing? Screw that.¡¯ 50. The Relationship Between Salvation and Hypocrisy Pitter patter!!! Aeria, the Lyndis Empire¡¯s youngest princess who was part fox, quickly ran away. She didn¡¯t even think about putting her mask back on. Although she looked thin and fragile, her distinct agility and flexibility as a beastfolk were incomparably superior to humans. Aeria headed toward the large garden that was behind the banquet hall; it looked more like a forest than a garden. And since it was empty as well, she had clearly chosen her escape route quite well. ¡°Sob¡­ Sob¡­ Kyahh!¡± She ran, exhibiting the distinctly superior agility of beastfolks. Unfortunately, she fell helplessly onto the floor after tripping over the front of her skirt. Perhaps the dress was too bothersome. Normally, she would¡¯ve quickly gotten up, but she just wept miserably like she didn¡¯t even have the strength to get up. ¡°It¡¯s all over¡­¡± Aeria never wanted to show it; as a woman, she desperately wanted to avoid showing the hideous features of her current face. That was also why she kept her mask on even in front of the emperor. The only person who had seen her face was Baron Gorneo, the Coalition for Disease Control¡¯s council member who said that he would cure her. Aeria had a dream of some sort; after she was cured, she was going to thank the person who had saved her and get to know them better. It was kind of funny, but she wanted to befriend the man she had fallen in love with at first sight and wanted to have a serious relationship with him if possible. She didn¡¯t even care that he could possibly be a commoner, since she wasn¡¯t the type of person who cared too much about that. The unique coziness she had felt from him made her want to feel it even more. For a moment, it seemed like her small wish was going to come true; her father, who was against it, softened his cold expression and gave her permission with a sigh. He said that he would follow her will. And soon after, a doctor came to her, saying that he could cure her illness. Everything seemed to be going fine. If this went on smoothly, Aeria thought that she could maybe forget all the hardships she had gone through and get what she wanted. She wanted to be like the small number of royalty or nobility who married out of love. She wanted to show her skin like normal people and laugh. She wanted to be buried in the arms of the one she loved and share an innocent kiss. She wanted to smile as her children grew up¡­ She thought she could take another step toward her small dream, but it all went wrong from the very beginning: unlike what she had expected, her disease was not cured. Aeria wanted to get to know the one who had saved her, or maybe just even thank him, but she didn¡¯t have the courage to approach him with her hideous face right now. The only reason she had attended the banquet was because her father had said that she needed a stronger position in the palace to be able to confidently go and meet him. She couldn¡¯t do anything if she hid in the palace like a ghost princess, so that was why she had mustered up the courage and had gone to the banquet. However, since her mask fell off as soon as she turned up, her desire to live had been brutally diminished. Aeria¡¯s miserable weeping resonated throughout the forest. ¡®It would be nice if I could meet him, talk to him, have a meal with him, and have a lively relationship with him. I wish I could exchange messages of love, and plan for the future, saying that we will be by each other¡¯s sides no matter what. Wouldn¡¯t it be nice if we could say, ¡®Cheers!¡¯ with wine glasses in our hands under a bright night sky while we look at each other with smiles and a loving gaze? But¡­¡¯ ¡°How could that be possible? With this face¡­ With this body!!!!¡± Aeria wept, almost screaming. The man who rescued her hadn¡¯t seen her face, but this incident had driven her confidence down into the gutter. The courage she had tried so hard for was treated like trash and had closed her heart off. If Goddess Freyja was watching, Aeria wanted to grab her and ask why she had given her such hardship. Even this thought itself was out of character for her. ¡°Right¡­ Maybe it would be better if¡­¡± Losing any love she had for herself, Aeria eerily stared at the pin she simply pulled out from her pocket. ¡°If I have to live this miserably, I would rather¡­¡± ¡°Are you going to die?¡± A weak but nostalgic fragrance tickled Aeria¡¯s nose; it was the simple scent of dogwood. Then, hearing a man¡¯s voice, she slowly raised her head with a blank expression. She even forgot that she hadn¡¯t covered her face with a mask. She met the gaze of a pair of warm, red eyes that saw her for who she was. The gaze was completely different from the people who were disgusted by Aeria¡¯s appearance. She saw the black hair and the red eyes that had been clear in her memory ever since their very brief encounter in the forest. CH 126 The boy approached Aeria and said softly, ¡°Are you miserable?¡± Finally meeting him in person, Aeria stared up at him without even thinking of covering her face. When she remembered her horrid appearance, she quickly grabbed her mask. Just before she could place the mask back on her face, however, the boy grabbed her hand and said, ¡°Do you really want to run away like that?¡± ¡°P¡­ Please let go¡­ I¡¯m¡­¡± ¡°Can you keep avoiding it?¡± ¡°You are right here¡­ I found you this easily¡­¡± Aeria said with deep sorrow in her voice. She lowered her head and covered her face with the other hand. ¡°I didn¡¯t¡­ I didn¡¯t want to show this to you!! At least, not to you¡­¡± The boy grinned at Aeria¡¯s desperate pleading. Aeria wanted to show the boy her natural self. She didn¡¯t want to show him this horribly wretched face, but the fair and pure appearance that she had when she was younger; the same appearance that made people excited to see how she would blossom. But God has absolutely ignored Aeria¡¯s wishes. Why was her hideous bare face exposed the moment she met him? Why did God rob her of the small wish that she has been hoping for? The red-eyed boy looked at Aeria with a warm gaze, which Aeria had never seen before. His look was completely free of disgust. He then said, ¡°That living hell of a disease, I¡¯ll help you cure it.¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got nothing to lose. Do you want to trust me, just this once? Looking at the boy¡¯s smile, Aeria was left speechless for a while. * * * ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­for showing you such a hideous face¡­¡± Aeria apologized timidly. Disregarding the apologies, Davey practiced keeping his mana in a particular shape by concentrating his mana on his fingertips and then letting go. He called out, ¡°Princess Aeria.¡± ¡°Yes¡­ Yes?!¡± ¡°I have seen countless others in worse shape than you.¡± As Aeria stayed silent, Davey continued, ¡°It¡¯s nothing to be surprised about, to be honest. Consider yourself lucky. Normally, you would¡¯ve already died from bad symptoms and persistently coughing up blood.¡± It was the doctor¡¯s duty to reassure the patient they were treating. This should have been Baron Gorneo¡¯s duty, since he was the one who had come to the empire to treat Aeria. However, he had failed to do anything with the state she was in right now. With her elementalist energy, unique physical condition, and the variation of the virus that she had been carrying for a long time, Aeria couldn¡¯t be treated with medicine. Davey was aware of this fact. [One person. There was just one person that I wasn¡¯t able to cure with medicine. I loved that person, and I failed to save them. Instead, I learned from their death and saved millions of people.] Hypocria, the Goddess of Medicine who had taught Davey about this disease, had told him this with a bitter smile. We are bit.ly/3iBfjkV, find us on google. [They were already dead, but I still dealt with evil spirits for a while; I was crazily obsessed with finding a way to treat them even after their death.] No one was perfect, and that went for Hypocria as well. Although, it was true that Davey had learned an alternate method of treatment thanks to that lesson. Davey could see Aeria¡¯s wrinkly skin on her face. Then, he gently loosened the clothing that was tightly wrapped around her neck and arms, and took off her gloves. Aeria flinched at how quickly Davey was acting. She tried to do anything she could to cover herself up. Noticing Aeria¡¯s anxiety, Davey patted her on the head and said reassuringly, ¡°It¡¯s probably going to be difficult for you to believe in me, since a treatment attempt has already failed once¡­ This treatment will take about two to three days. In the meantime, do not lose faith that you can get better.¡± ¡°Can you¡­ Can you really cure me?!¡± Aeria shouted desperately. Davey nodded. ¡°You will definitely be cured if you hold out faith until the very end.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡®Why am I assured again?¡¯ Aeria stared at Davey silently, then slowly nodded. ¡°Will you trust me?¡± Davey asked. ¡°I will. I trust you,¡± Aeria replied. ¡°Then, sweet dreams for two days, Your Highness.¡± Noticing Aeria¡¯s determination, Davey smiled and put her to sleep with a quick jab of her acupoint. Then, he silently put his fingers on her neck and began measuring her pulse. Thud!! Just then, an old man ran into the room with the urgent shout, ¡°Aeria!!¡± Pitter patter!! Royal knights followed the old man in and surrounded Davey. Rinne, who had been silently staring up at Davey this whole time, stepped in front of him and threatened the knights, ¡°Rinne. Warning. Don¡¯t get any closer.¡± ¡°Wh¡­ What happened?!¡± The old man had hurried over to look for Aeria after hearing news about the unexpected accident. Davey had never seen the old man in his life, but he could infer the old man¡¯s identity from the emperor¡¯s crown and clothing. He then said calmly, ¡°Rest is absolutely essential for a patient. It is insolent of me to ask, Your Majesty, but please ask your knights to retreat.¡± ¡°Get your hands off Her Highness!¡± One of the older knights stepped out and released his blade energy. He had no intention of listening to Davey. ¡°Tsk, I told you not to scream.¡± ¡®As expected from an empire filled with ¡®Swordmaster¡¯s.¡¯ Ignoring the repressed [Aura Blade], Davey quietly measured Aeria¡¯s pulse with his eyes closed. He then requested again, ¡°Your Majesty.¡± ¡°¡­The royal knights may retreat.¡± ¡°B¡ªBut, Your Majesty!¡± ¡°Aeria is asleep. Do not cause any more noise and go.¡± The words were firm and simple, because the old man didn¡¯t want to hear any objections. The knights stared back and forth between Davey and Deorte, the Lyndis Empire¡¯s emperor, with a worried face. Then, they all bowed in silence and left the room at once. ¡°May the Two-headed Dragon of the Empire have infinite glory. I apologize for greeting you like this. However, I ask for your understanding as a patient¡¯s rest is crucial.¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°My name is Davey O¡¯Rowane.¡± ¡°Davey¡­ Are you the one who cured the ¡®Blood of the Demon¡¯ from the Rowane Kingdom?¡± ¡°Humbly, I am. I had no choice but to step up after observing an accident at the banquet, which I was allowed to attend with your grace.¡± After speaking calmly, Davey took his fingers off Aeria¡¯s neck. Then, he picked up her dress and cut it off with his fingers by releasing [Aura]. ¡°How dare you!!¡± Emperor Deorte shouted angrily. Rinne was quick to intervene. ¡°Rinne, warning. If you get close one more time, Rinne will execute attack mode.¡± ¡°Rinne, stop. Retreat,¡± Davey ordered. He immediately noticed Rinne backing away with a slightly disapproving look. ¡®Seriously, how can I see emotion on an emotionless face?¡¯ ¡°Baron Gorneo probably could not have cured this disease,¡± Davey commented. Emperor Deorte replied, ¡°It is just as you said. Contrary to his confidence that he could fix her, he was not able to cure Aeria¡¯s illness.¡± ¡°It is not his fault, because Her Highness is unique.¡± Emperor Deorte widened his eyes in shock. He quickly asked, ¡°Does that mean that you can cure Aeria¡¯s disease?¡± ¡°But there is one condition.¡± Deorte was the emperor of an empire. By speaking like that to him, a slip of the tongue could potentially cost Davey his head. Davey knew that, but still didn¡¯t change his tone of speech. He requested, ¡°I will cure Her Highness¡¯ illness in two days. However, please grant me one of the items that will be on auction tomorrow.¡± Emperor Deorte looked somewhat confused at Davey¡¯s request. ¡°If I fail¡­ Well, I will give you my head.¡± Speaking with confidence, Davey looked straight at Emperor Deorte. He asked calmly, ¡°What will you do, Your Majesty? Please decide.¡± -Making a deal about the daughter¡¯s life right in front of the emperor¡­ Davey didn¡¯t want to do this either, but he couldn¡¯t be able to participate in the auction now that he had begun to treat Aeria. Having to miss out on the thing he needed to treat the princess was not worth it at all. Not long after, Emperor Deorte made a decision about Davey¡¯s firm offer. ¡°Alright. You must save her. No, please save her. I will become your absolute ally that no one can touch if Aeria will be able to take off her mask.¡± ¡®Man, he is gutsy like the powerful man he is.¡¯ * * * The banquet, which had been paused due to the sudden flash of light, commenced again. The Lyndis Empire was showing its strong determination to carry on. Furthermore, a rumor that a prince from a small kingdom in the eastern continent had stepped up to cure Princess Aeria¡¯s illness began to spread among the nobility. Everyone who was relevant already knew about Aeria¡¯s condition, because it was obvious from her wearing a mask to hide her hideous face. ¡°You Majesty! Aeria has not had a meal in two days and is just undergoing this treatment for whatever reason! You cannot keep allowing this!¡± Alberth, the Lyndis Empire¡¯s crown prince and someone who was as fond of Aeria as the emperor, strongly insisted. Very few people knew about it, but Alberth was one of the people who knew what had happened the night before. He added, ¡°What does he have for you to trust him?! Baron Gorneo also failed! Did you see the way he is treating Aeria?! He is putting thin needles in weird places on her body!¡± ¡°Alberth,¡± Deorte called out. ¡°Your Majesty!¡± Alberth insisted. ¡°I have no intention of changing my decision.¡± Hearing how firm Emperor Deorte was on his decision, Alberth realized that he could no longer convince him. He remained silent. Emperor Deorte was allowing this because the person treating Aeria was the person who had cured that damn disease; if it wasn¡¯t, he definitely would¡¯ve done something about it. ¡°Anyway, did you look into it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have evidence, but¡­it seems that it is connected to the conservatives.¡± Duke Luxack was one of the nobility¡¯s conservative members who strongly supported the discrimination of man-beasts. ¡°How dare he try to use Aeria? Reckless of him.¡± ¡°What should we do?¡± ¡°Do whatever it takes to find the person who caused this insolent and arrogant incident. Make him confess everything. Even the destruction of nine future generations for the crime of disrespecting the emperor of the Lyndis Empire is not enough.¡± ¡°I will make sure of it. And¡­the accident that happened yesterday at the banquet hall¡­¡± ¡°Put out a statement that a magic artifact malfunctioned. You said that although you don¡¯t know what happened, everyone was enveloped in a bright light, right?¡± ¡°Yes. Should we prepare for the possibility of a terror¡­¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s okay.¡± After that cold statement, Emperor Deorte said nothing more. He silently thought about how everything was just as the boy said; he was able to discern the Lyndis Empire¡¯s state from the short accident: the discrimination and mistreatment of man-beasts, and the conflict between the conservatives and liberals. This incident looked like the conservatives¡¯ attempt to undermine the image of man-beasts and narrow down public opinions about Aeria by revealing her appearance during a gathering of representatives from all over. ¡°How funny.¡± Deorte scoffed; Davey was extraordinarily quick. It was like he knew the cause of this incident and the people who were behind it. Although, he had locked himself up in Aeria¡¯s bedroom and was doing strange treatments on her while she was asleep. ¡°Alberth.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± Alberth flinched at Deorte¡¯s sudden calling and glanced at him. ¡°What did you feel when you saw Prince Davey?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you mean¡­¡± ¡°Did you not feel anything?¡± ¡°I am sorry, Your Majesty¡­¡± Davey had just briefly mentioned a guess about the reason behind this incident, but it turned out to be true. However, that kind of strategist was commonly seen in the empire. The reason Deorte had his eye on Davey lied elsewhere. CH 127 ¡®Not even a Swordmaster can fathom such depth¡­ It is a deep and dense level of power that, if anyone tries to discern it, they fall into an inescapable void.¡¯ Emperor Deorte had once experienced such a feeling; it was when he was just beginning to learn swordsmanship and feel mana. It felt exactly like when he, who was very sensitive to mana, had first seen the Empire¡¯s best Swordmaster who was teaching him swordsmanship. Deorte wouldn¡¯t feel that way now if he saw that Swordmaster again, because he was actually much more powerful than most Swordmasters now. However, someone as skilled as Deorte was again feeling the endless depth of power that he had felt from his swordsmanship teacher when he had first started to wield a sword as a young boy. This could only mean one thing. Davey, who was still in his teens, was at a level that even Deorte, one of the best Swordmasters in the continent, could not fathom. If this was true, there was a high chance that the unknown huge burst of light that flashed in the banquet hall the day before had been Davey¡¯s doing. The reason behind his actions were simple: it was probably to prevent Aeria from being put in a predicament. ¡®I quite like that about him.¡¯ ¡°I may have to wait and see about him.¡± Deorte actually began to think that Davey might succeed in curing Aeria. * * * Aeria felt a sudden urge to sleep as soon as Davey touched her. After having slept without even dreaming, she slowly woke up as she felt the warm sunlight through her bandages. She could also hear the birds chirping. ¡®How long has it been?¡¯ Even while she was asleep, Aeria remembered one thing: it was a story about someone. She didn¡¯t know who it was about, but it was about someone who seemed strangely sad yet happy at the same time. Although, she didn¡¯t know how that memory was so vivid while she had been dreaming. She floated through her dreams whenever she heard that story and voice. ¡°Groan¡­¡± Feeling refreshed from a burden having been lifted off of her shoulders, Aeria slowly got up. She could feel that something had changed. She smiled without even realizing it, she lightly touched the bandages that were covering her eyes. ¡°This is¡­¡± ¡°Oh! Your Highness! You¡¯re awake!¡± One of the ladies-in-waiting came in and shouted in surprise. ¡°Hup?!¡± Aeria reflexively covered her face with the hand she was touching the bandages with. She knew that she didn¡¯t want to show this face to anyone, so she reflexively covered her face. A sudden sadness welled up in her heart, because anyone who actually mattered had already seen her hideous face. She cried out, ¡°M¡ªMask!¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright, Your Highness!¡± ¡°Eren¡­da?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me! Your Highness, it¡¯s me, Erenda!¡± ¡°How¡­long was I asleep for?¡± Aeria asked quietly with a hoarse voice. The girl named Erenda replied with a teary face, ¡°You slept for¡­two days straight.¡± ¡°Two days?¡± Having slept for two days, Aerie hadn¡¯t had anything to eat or drink at all. However, she felt so refreshed, as if not lacking any nutrition. She hoped for a second that this feeling wouldn¡¯t go away, even if she was mistaken. ¡°Are you able to get up?¡± Erenda asked Aeria. ¡°Yes¡­ I feel light.¡± ¡°Hehe¡­ I think that prince is really amazing,¡± Erenda said. ¡°Prince?¡± Aeria tilted her head in confusion. ¡°Yes, the person who treated you, Your Highness. Apparently, he is Prince Davey¡­ Davey O¡¯Rowane, the Rowane Kingdom¡¯s First Prince.¡± ¡°Davey¡­ O¡¯Rowane¡­¡± Aeria uttered his name in a bit of shock, then lowered the hand she was covering her face with. ¡°Is that so¡­? His name¡¯s Davey¡­¡± Aeria could not forget Davey; he was the man who had stopped her when she had decided to commit suicide after becoming pessimistic about her pitiful situation; the warm-hearted man who had the faint scent of dogwood. The person who had captured her attention at once and had left a deep impression was the person who had developed the cure for her disease. He had now saved her twice from a difficult situation. ¡®How could such a coincidence happen?¡¯ ¡°Erenda, can you help me get up?¡± Aeria asked. ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± Erenda smiled brightly and helped Aeria up by the hand. As Aeria got up and examined her surroundings, Erenda commented, ¡°Really¡­ I didn¡¯t expect Your Highness to be this beautiful.¡± ¡°Beau¡­tiful? Me?¡± ¡®Beautiful.¡¯ There was no word as unsuitable and awkward as ¡®beautiful¡¯ for Aeria, who had suffered from a horrible disease for years. She was hideous and it wouldn¡¯t have been strange for her to be called monstrous. ¡°Of course! Even the Five Beauties of the continent can¡¯t match up to you! Really, I was dumbfounded when I saw your face as I was changing your bandages,¡± Erenda answered in a bright voice. Aeria smiled bitterly. Erenda was calling her beautiful, but she herself could hardly believe it. ¡®Right, since Erenda is one of the surprisingly nice ladies-in-waiting.¡¯ ¡°Actually, Prince Davey left you a letter,¡± Erenda said. ¡°A letter?¡± ¡°Yes, he told me to pass it to you once you¡¯re awake,¡± Erenda said while fussing over Aeria. ¡®Is that so¡­¡¯ Aeria couldn¡¯t help but smile, thinking about the red-eyed man who had stopped her pessimistic self from committing suicide because of her pitiful situation. The man with the cozy scent of dogwood who had comforted and reassured her many times, and the man who had spoken to her as if reading a fairy tale while she was asleep. Aeria wanted to trust and have faith in him, even if just a little. ¡°Erenda¡­ These bandages¡­ Do you think I can take them off?¡± ¡°Yes! He left saying that I can undo the bandages when you wake up. I will undo them for you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m nervous¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay! You really are beautiful!¡± Aeria felt anxious, wondering if the treatment had worked properly. She worried that she was just hearing what she wanted to hear even though she wasn¡¯t cured. ¡°You will be shocked when you look in the mirror. Hehe!¡± Unlike Erenda, who looked delighted, Aeria immediately quivered without being able to put aside her anxiety. With Erenda¡¯s careful touches, the thick bandages that were covering her eyes slowly became undone. Then, Aeria slowly and carefully opened her eyes. She was worried that she was still hideous, or that there wouldn¡¯t be a big difference, or whether the treatment had actually worked; perhaps it was because of those endless worries that made her take centuries to open her eyes. Aeria frowned as light entered her eyes. She hadn¡¯t seen light in a long time. Then, she began to see her reflection in the mirror. She gasped softly, ¡°Oh¡­¡± ¡°Do you want me to read the letter?¡± Erenda stared at the silent Aeria in confusion. She quietly grabbed the small note and whispered it to Aeria. -I have prepared a gift. Please attend tonight¡¯s banquet. Tears began falling from Aeria¡¯s clear and bright eyes. She read the short message that reminded her of his smile. ¡°Sob¡­ Weep¡­ Sob!!¡± Unlike her weeping, which sounded very sad, Aeria had a wide smile on her face. * * * ¡°Big Brother, what put you in a good mood today?¡± Winley asked with a bright smile Davey stayed silent and chuckled. Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°What have you been doing: Didn¡¯t you come here because of the auction that happened yesterday? Well¡­ The Red Moon didn¡¯t appear though.¡± Illyna didn¡¯t hide the fact that she didn¡¯t understand Davey. She wondered why he didn¡¯t attend the auction, which had been his main reason for coming to the banquet. ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter anymore.¡± Illyna tilted her head in confusion. ¡°You were wondering what I was doing in the meantime?¡± ¡°Yes! Yes! I wonder what put you in such a good mood.¡± It seemed like Yulis, Winley, and Illyna were very curious about Davey¡¯s absence over the last few days. He hadn¡¯t given them a proper explanation yet. -It should be about time. ¡°Hmm. Since it has come to this, I¡¯ll show you something nice.¡± ¡°Something nice?¡± Davey nodded when Winley stared at him in confusion. ¡®I have to keep my promise, since I said I would give her a gift.¡¯ Davey left the crowd with a smile, and headed toward the side of the banquet hall where the grand piano was located. He asked, ¡°Can I borrow the piano for a moment?¡± ¡°Pardon? Oh¡­ Your Highness?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I know how to play a little.¡± The performer, who was playing a never-ending calm song, slowly nodded even though he was taken aback by Davey¡¯s abrupt interruption. They were in no position to say anything even if royalty or a high-ranking member of nobility suddenly did something crazy. Frankly put, they just had to follow orders. Although these performers were invited to make this banquet shine, they had no choice but to stop if someone gave such a straightforward request. Davey could feel everyone in the hall staring in his direction, because the orchestra had stopped playing once the pianist stopped playing. The sudden interruption to the calm music had drawn everyone¡¯s attention. Ignoring their stares, Davey sat right in the middle of the piano bench and swept his fingers over the keys. The piano that decorated the banquet hall was of amazing quality, having been meticulously taken care of. -Do you know how to play music as well? ¡®Except for singing. My singing is like a serenade from hell.¡¯ Davey chuckled quietly and turned to the crowd after pressing on the keys. Nodding at the three people who were staring at him in surprise, he started to play with grace and familiarity. Short tunes with a strong vibrato began resonating throughout the hall. ¡®Music is said to comfort someone. And¡­¡¯ ¡°Princess Aeria El Lyndis is entering!¡± Davey¡¯s present to the girl who was going to come in through the door was a new and somewhat mysterious type of magic spell that did not exist in this world. ¡®The song I will play¡­ Hm, let¡¯s go with a variation on the Canon. In a slightly fast tempo.¡¯ Thud. As Davey slowly pressed on the keys, the door slowly opened, and a girl wearing a beautiful blue dress walked in. She looked very different from what everyone had expected. As if she had broken out of her shell, the mask that used to be on her face was gone, and the dress that used to cover every inch of her skin was no more. As she walked in through the door, Davey could hear people from the crowd gasp. He whispered, ¡°Now, it¡¯s time to wake up from the nightmare, princess.¡± It was a little cringey, but it wasn¡¯t that bad. CH 128 51. A Foreigner and a Sacred Item Most of the banquet guests did not realize that Davey was the one playing the piano. The music quietly came to an end. Noble women or royalty usually learned to play some kind of musical instrument, such as the piano, harp, or violin. It was considered a basic skill. Illyna had definitely learned to play the piano too; she just didn¡¯t learn it in depth, since she had never taken an interest in elegant pastimes. ¡°Wow¡­¡± Winley, who was standing beside Illyna, stared at Davey in awe from the very first note. She couldn¡¯t take her eyes off him, staring unblinkingly alongside Illyna. ¡®The music¡­ It¡¯s beautiful.¡¯ The music was beautiful and mysterious. It made Illyna wonder if the piano had always sounded like this. The song was definitely new and unfamiliar, but everyone in the banquet hall seemed to be hypnotized by its melody. This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV. Illyna was unknowingly staring at Davey, who nodded to the rhythm and pressed the keys like he had become one with the piano. She was in awe. She couldn¡¯t help but tap her fingers to the rhythm every time Davey¡¯s hand moved. Then, Illyna, while tapping on her wine glass, understood everything once the blue-haired girl appeared with the music. She didn¡¯t know the magic spell that Davey was using, but she noticed a weak flow of mana surrounding the girl every time Davey pressed the keys at a fairly brisk tempo. ¡®It¡¯s as if the mana is reacting to the music.¡¯ Illyna had never seen anything like this before. Music had the ability to delight the ears or comfort the mind, and it was very effective in boosting morale on the battlefield as well. However, that was just a psychological effect; she had never seen mana resonate with music to create an effect of some sort. This was something that musicians wouldn¡¯t be able to believe even if they saw it with their own eyes, yet Davey was doing it so casually. ¡®Genius.¡¯ It probably wasn¡¯t just a coincidence that Davey could show talent and effort in an unimaginable number of areas. ¡®How much effort did he put in before he could become like this?¡¯ Davey had once said that Illyna had more talent than him in a certain area; he himself knew that he wasn¡¯t as talented as her, but he had worked extremely hard to get to where he was now. Even Illyna couldn¡¯t fathom that. The fluid mana surrounded the girl, who shone like the aurora, and it kept everyone¡¯s attention on the girl. The scene was beautiful and magnificent. Most of the people in the hall stared at the girl in awe, forgetting the fact that Davey was doing something in the background. Aeria El Lyndis was the Lyndis Empire¡¯s youngest princess. She, who was the only half-beastfolk in the royal family, showed her distinct fox ears and beautiful amber-colored eyes without hiding them. The youngest princess who was said to have gone into hiding as the rumor of her hideous appearance had spread was no longer hideous; her beauty was actually comparable to the Five Beauties of the continent. As the shining mana from Davey¡¯s magic spell made Aeria look especially captivating, Illyna could guess how big of a deal this was from the young members¡¯ astonished faces and the ladies of nobility who were staring in shock with their jaws dropped. Aeria had thrown off her tacky and extremely conservative dress, her mask, and was now displaying her full charm. She was seemingly making up for all the time she had lost. Receiving all the attention, she slowly walked toward Deorte El Lyndis, the Lyndis Empire¡¯s emperor who was watching her silently. Deorte had a cold and stern expression that made it difficult to approach him easily. However, his expression softened once Princess Aeria had appeared. He praised, ¡°You are beautiful.¡± ¡°Your Majesty¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯ve gone through so much.¡± Deorte¡¯s voice was low but warm. Everyone was surprised by his uncharacteristic demeanor, since he was usually hot-tempered enough to be called the ¡®Fire-Breathing Two-Headed Dragon¡¯. With trembling shoulders, Aeria covered her mouth with her hands and lowered her head. Seeing her, Deorte silently pulled her into his arms and patted her on the back. When the calm music gradually came to an end, Illyna approached Davey, who was silently watching the reunion of father and daughter. She watched him slowly get up from his piano seat. ¡°How was it?¡± Davey asked. ¡°¡­Amazing.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Without hesitation, Davey walked past Illyna and left like there was nothing more to see. ¡°You¡¯re just going to leave it like that? You know they¡¯re going to come find you, right?¡± ¡°I meddled enough in their business. All I need is the Red Moon.¡± Illyna couldn¡¯t take her eyes off Davey as he chuckled and walked past her. She murmured, ¡°I¡¯m envious¡­¡± No one could tell who or what Illyna was envious of; just for a moment, she showed emotions of envy that she wasn¡¯t even aware of. * * * When facing Deorte El Lyndis, the Lyndis Empire¡¯s emperor, one would act in one of two ways: they would either be unable to look him the eye because of his overpowering aura or be extremely cautious and careful not to mess up this once-in-a-lifetime chance. ¡°I have no objections with the results. I trusted you, and you kept your promise exceedingly well.¡± Davey bowed with a chuckle. ¡°The Red Moon you requested was definitely an auction item, but it is too cheap a reward for something like that. I have no intention of just giving you that as the only reward.¡± ¡°That jewel is enough for me, but¡­¡± The Red Moon was an extremely rare and beautiful jewel that noble women couldn¡¯t get even if they wanted to. Considering that a thumb-sized Red Moon was as expensive as a mansion, the Red Moon Davey had received was already worth dozens of mansions. ¡®But he called this cheap?¡¯ Davey was amazed at the emperor¡¯s generosity; there was a reason why the Lyndis Empire was called one of the most powerful countries on the continent. ¡°This is?¡± Deorte asked Davey. ¡°It is a prescription that I¡¯ve prepared. Please make sure that she takes one every week for at least a month. The virus was widespread in her body, so there is a chance of relapse.¡± ¡°I will leave it with the royal palace¡¯s doctor,¡± Deorte answered. Davey asked calmly, ¡°Can he be trusted?¡± ¡°What is that supposed to mean?¡± ¡°From what I can see, Her Highness is probably a thorn in the eye of this empire¡¯s conservatives.¡± Deorte smirked at how Davey was bringing up the disgrace of his own empire in front of him. He asked, ¡°Are you saying that they would dare to target Aeria when I am watching them?¡± ¡°I would¡¯ve already done it if I was part of the conservatives,¡± Davey said. ¡°Your Majesty, you have yet to gather all the information about them, isn¡¯t that so?¡± Deorte grew cold, glaring at Davey. He looked ready to wield his sword at any time. Still, Davey went on without any hesitation, ¡°The best way to assassinate royalty is by poison. And since Her Highness hasn¡¯t strengthened and established her position at the palace yet, this will be their best and last chance.¡± Deorte, who momentarily stared at Davey like he was lost in thought, smirked, then began laughing. He seemed very entertained. ¡°Ha¡­ Haha¡­ Hahahahaha!!! You are a young boy who knows nothing and yet you are this fearless.¡± ¡°Am I?¡± ¡°I like it! Alright, I will make sure to take care of that.¡± To be honest, Davey wasn¡¯t interested in the fight for power in the Lyndis Empire. ¡°I will give the Red Moon to you as a reward for curing Aeria. However!¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°You have not received my gratitude yet.¡± As he said so, Deorte removed a ring from his finger and handed it to Davey. ¡°It¡¯s a ring that signifies my authority. Take it.¡± ¡°Is the meaning of this ring what I think it is?¡± ¡°You are not wrong. You have shown Aeria light again; that alone is a great blessing to the child. Also! You have given me the chance to see my daughter¡¯s face again.¡± Deorte got up from his seat, continuing, ¡°What kind of person do you think I am?! The great Lyndis Empire does not neglect those who we are indebted to!¡± Davey could feel the amount of love the emperor had for his daughter. ¡°Prince Davey.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Will you become a member of the Lyndis Empire¡¯s royal palace?¡± ¡°I have to decline,¡± Davey answered without hesitation. Deorte simply chuckled. ¡°You aren¡¯t easily scared, huh?¡± ¡°My life is not really in danger.¡± ¡°Alright. If that is what you want, I will not ask any further. However, receiving my token of gratitude is an entirely different matter! I promise to give you a fitting repayment even if you refuse.¡± Deorte went on to declare confidently, ¡°As promised, from this day on, the great Lyndis Empire is the ally of Davey O¡¯Rowane, the First Prince of the Rowane Kingdom! If what you intend to do is not a threat to the safety of the Lyndis Empire, I will grant you three requests for help!¡± It was quite a great reward for just curing one member of royalty. Davey did think that Deorte¡¯s love for his youngest daughter was great, but this was beyond that; this wasn¡¯t a promise between countries, but between a country and an individual. Davey knew what that meant. ¡°Furthermore! Even after the exhaustion of the three requests, the Lyndis Empire will be the ally of Prince Davey, not the Rowane Kingdom.¡± Davey found this rather unexpected, but he didn¡¯t think it was a bad outcome; there was one thing that was on his mind anyways. He asked, ¡°Then, I will request something right away.¡± ¡°I will allow it!¡± Deorte shouted confidently and seriously. Davey slowly opened his mouth to speak. ¡®I have to look at this in the long run. I have to consider a lot of things.¡¯ This was the emperor of one of the three most powerful empires on the continent. Davey took a moment to organize his thoughts, then stated his request. CH 129 Davey left the reception room after a private meeting with the Lyndis Empire¡¯s emperor. He then walked through the royal palace¡¯s spacious, luxurious hallways as he left. Deorte had gladly granted his request; it was something that could potentially become a continental issue, but the emperor had accepted without a hint of hesitation. That was enough for Davey. ¡°Sir Davey, Rinne is thinking of investigating further.¡± ¡°Investigate?¡± ¡°About stimulating Rinne¡¯s smell and taste sensors¡­¡± ¡°I will let you eat whatever you want after we leave.¡± ¡°Rinne, thinking that Sir Davey¡¯s financial situation is good.¡± Rinne was expressionless, but she sounded slightly excited. She was in a good mood. ¡°But we have to check something first before we go.¡± Support us at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°Rinne. Require a detailed explanation.¡± Davey squinted and stayed silent. He had truly met the rescued boy through a coincidence. Davey had just gone after the gang that had pickpocketed him to show them how the world really worked, without any ulterior motive. What were the chances of him rescuing someone who could be related to him in some way? What was the possibility of meeting a boy who seemed to be from Earth, a completely different world that was from his past life? Saintess Daphne didn¡¯t worship God, but she certainly believed in one thing: nothing in the world happened without a reason, and that there was no such thing as a coincidence. It was funny, but if that boy was really involved with them, it wouldn¡¯t be a light matter; Davey needed to check it out. That was when¡­ ¡°Huh!¡± Davey grabbed Rinne, who was following him with a bright expression, and instantly released his mana. [Invisibility] It was a 5th circle, non-visualization magic spell. As soon as he and Rinne disappeared into thin air, Davey could see a girl urgently running from the other side of the hall. It would be a little burdensome if he encountered her. Davey had already done something cringey, so he didn¡¯t want to get involved with her any further; it would feel as though he was sinning, especially since the girl was a foolishly nice princess. Gesturing at the confused Rinne to stay silent, Davey quietly waited for the princess to walk past them. The girl was Aeria El Lyndis. She ran quickly, huffing and puffing even though she possessed the physical abilities of a beastfolk. ¡°Huff¡­ Puff¡­¡± Hurrying toward the reception room, Aeria looked around with an urgent expression. She stopped only when she was near him. She muttered, ¡°Huff¡­ Puff, his scent¡­ It¡¯s certainly right here.¡± ¡®What the hell.¡¯ -Oh my. I knew that beastfolk had a good sense of smell, but¡­ Beastfolk had a much better sense of smell than humans, although it wasn¡¯t as great as that of cats or dogs. Invisibility magic was just an obstruction of vision; it could hide Davey, but it couldn¡¯t hide his scent. Davey instantly backed away from Aeria, who was covering her nose and mouth. She looked around with tears in her eyes. ¡°Wheeze¡­ Wheeze¡­ Y¡­ Your Highness! You cannot run like this in the palace!¡± ¡°Erenda¡­ He is here¡­ He was here.¡± ¡°He has already gone back to his kingdom.¡± ¡°No¡­ Do you know how difficult it was to meet him?! I can¡¯t just let him go without even saying goodbye!¡± Aeria frowned as tears rolled down her face. She gave up only after Davey had hidden his scent by releasing his mana and stood still. ¡°Let¡¯s go back, Your Highness. It is time for your medicine¡­¡± ¡°I will go meet Father. I am going to ask him to let me meet the First Prince again.¡± Aeria ran to the reception room in determination while her lady-in-waiting, Erenda, hastily followed after her. ¡°Phew¡­¡± ¡°Rinne. Question. Why don¡¯t you meet her?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a gut feeling, but sometimes, my intuition sounds the danger alarm rather accurately.¡± ¡°Thinking that Sir Davey has a bad personality.¡± ¡°Other than that, there¡¯s something I want to check on right away.¡± Holding Rinne in his arms, Davey shot up from the ground. Rinne was a small girl, but she was over 200 kilograms. However, that didn¡¯t hold Davey back since he was strong enough to hold her. * * * ¡°Is he calm?¡± ¡°Yes, it hasn¡¯t been long since he woke up. He had excessive seizures when he first woke up, but Class-5 Yulis has put him back to sleep with magic,¡± the lodging¡¯s maid in charge said. Davey opened the firmly shut door without hesitation. In the dark room, he could see the boy lying on the bed. He heard the boy groan, ¡°Ah¡­ Ah, Mom¡­ Mom¡­¡± ¡®Maybe he¡¯s dreaming about his family.¡¯ Davey lit up a luxurious mana stone lamp and approached the boy, whose eyes soon fluttered open when Davey roughly shook him awake. ¡°Where is¡­ Huh?!¡± The boy widened his eyes and immediately got up. The boy wasn¡¯t the only one who was surprised; Davey was too, since the boy had remained asleep when he had first arrived. ¡°Ah¡­ Ahh!!¡± The boy screamed in surprise when Davey grabbed him by the collar. Davey had to calm the boy down, or risk the boy having seizures again. But right now, he had no reason to consider the boy¡¯s situation. He simply said, ¡°Get it together, man.¡± As Davey glared at him menacingly while holding him by the collar, the boy widened his eyes in shock. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s keep this quiet since everyone is resting right now,¡± Davey said after taking a deep breath. He lightly waved his hand and blue mana traveled down his fingers. His mana spread around. [Silence] The boy looked up at Davey with wide eyes. He didn¡¯t know what Davey had done, even though it was only a very basic sound-trapping spell. ¡°I put a sound barrier magic spell around us. Now, no one can hear our conversation except us.¡± Davey let go of the boy¡¯s collar. He then grabbed a chair and sat down like this was an interrogation. He asked, ¡°Alright. I think I have the right to ask you some questions since I rescued you. Do you have a problem with that?¡± Both the boy and Davey were around the same age group, but Davey, who was over 180 centimeters tall, was much bigger than the boy, who seemed to be closer to 160 centimeters. ¡°N¡ªno¡­¡± ¡°Okay. You¡¯re probably startled. Your name?¡± ¡°It¡¯s Kang Mu-Hyuk¡­¡± ¡°Age.¡± ¡°F¡ªFifteen¡­¡± Startled, Mu-Hyuk, who was staring at Davey anxiously, stared at the floor as he answered. ¡°Alright, Mr. Kang Mu-Hyuk. Let¡¯s have a deep conversation.¡± ¡°Um¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Are¡­you Korean?¡± Mu-Hyuk looked confused, which was understandable. Davey obviously didn¡¯t look like the typical Korean. In the central and eastern parts of the continent, there were a lot of people who looked like a mix between western and eastern ethnicities. This meant that Davey had a mix of western and eastern features as well. As such, people wouldn¡¯t think that he was Korean at first glance. The problem was that Davey spoke a language that the boy hadn¡¯t heard in this world so far: Korean. ¡°No, I¡¯m from here. You?¡± Davey replied. ¡°I am¡­from Korea¡­¡± Davey felt even more bewildered by the boy¡¯s straightforward revelation. ¡®Has his soul moved here after his death, just like what happened to me?¡¯ However, that was impossible, because Mu-Hyuk definitely looked Asian. Then, there was only reason that Davey could think of for his presence here. ¡®Is it like moving through different dimensions or something?¡¯ -That is nonsense. Theoretically, it is impossible for a living thing to travel through different worlds with their physical body fully intact. No, the idea of a living person traveling to a different world is impossible in the first place. Perserque was anxious, despite knowing it was impossible, because of Davey. There were a lot of unknown things in the world, and that was why even Davey couldn¡¯t come to a definite conclusion. To Davey, he was more interested in why the boy had come here instead of how. Nothing happened without a cause. Furthermore, if Mu-Hyuk had actually traveled across dimensions, Davey would have to abandon all the usual hypotheses. -The divine will¡­ There was no way to tell if a godly presence truly existed, but divine will, a higher power, certainly did. And that would be the only power that could do something this unbelievable. This meant that there was a definite reason why the boy had come here. ¡®Coincidence? No way.¡¯ It was already ridiculous that a completely healthy Korean person had come to a different dimension, and that wasn¡¯t even considering the fact that the person in question had gone on to bump into Davey. ¡®How could this be a coincidence? In my case¡­¡¯ Davey was ready to bet his entire fortune and his right hand that it was impossible for this to be mere coincidence. There was a large flow of events that could not be resisted by the will of living people; in religions, they called this damn thing by one name: [Destiny]. ¡°U¡­ Um! You can get me back home?! Right?! I¡­ I was just going home, but I got sleepy¡­ And then¡­ Fxxk¡­ This is¡­¡± Confused, Mu-Hyuk suddenly stood up with a pale face. However, he stumbled as if tripping over his foot or something. He cried out, ¡°Please¡­ Please get me home! Hyung! Please! I don¡¯t need anything like this! I don¡¯t need these kinds of things from movies and books! Please get me home!¡± Mu-Hyuk looked extremely desperate and panicked while grabbing onto Davey¡¯s pants. It seemed like he had wandered alone after falling into this world. Davey didn¡¯t know what he did before coming here, but he was still wearing a normal school uniform. ¡®That means that he was just dragged here while attending school like any normal kid.¡¯ ¡°Can you? Hyung! Please!¡± Mu-Hyuk screamed in desperation, like he was expecting a positive answer. ¡°My mom¡­ My mom will be worried about me! Please, you have to save¡­ Gag!!¡± Mu-Hyuk suddenly covered his mouth and started gagging with a pale face. Davey immediately released his holy power and put his hand on the boy¡¯s back, but even before it could reach him, Mu-Hyuk collapsed and flopped over as if he had lost consciousness. ¡°What is¡­?¡± Perserque frowned at this strange situation. -It might be good to talk to him another time. Davey was speechless at this ridiculous situation: Mu-Hyuk had just fainted after screaming and freaking out by himself. CH 130 The silence went on for a long time. Davey had nothing to say as Mu-Hyuk just screamed and panicked by himself before fainting. Most importantly, he couldn¡¯t feel an ounce of mana from Mu-Hyuk. ¡®He is definitely a normal person¡­¡¯ Feeling fascinated, Davey looked for the boy¡¯s pulse. He soon frowned, feeling the Zzz monster approaching. He was so drowsy that he couldn¡¯t sit upright, and this had never happened before. He hadn¡¯t even metamorphosed yet. It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV. -Davey? Davey! When Perserque shouted his name, Davey¡¯s eyes snapped back open and he stood up. He tried to move, but simply collapsed onto the ground. ¡®The Zzz monster provides such relaxation and warmth¡­¡¯ Then, Davey felt a unique and mysterious kind of holy power surrounding his body. ¡®Oh, this¡­ I think I know what this is. It came to me without any warning.¡¯ There was only one being in the world who could activate a higher level of holy power that was denser than normal. * * * Toot! Toot toot! Toot to todo toot! Trumpets were being played, accompanied by the comforting scene of a beautiful sunset. One could see a staircase leading up to the sky, with a shining white door at the end of it. ¡°It¡¯s so clich¨¦ to have a staircase to heaven,¡± Davey mumbled with a frown. He rubbed his temples. ¡®This is why you should be careful and avoid stepping on mines.¡¯ The appearance of Mu-Hyuk, who was probably a dimension-traveler, had been manipulated by divine will. The beautiful sound of trumpets could charm regular people, but not Davey. It wasn¡¯t completely new to him, since he had come here once when he had first touched on his holy power. Swoosh¡­ ¡°I knew it.¡± Davey raised his head with a cold expression, looking at the five or six mysterious figures who approached him from the great, white light on the staircase¡¯s highest level. They looked like angels, but they did not have a halo like Rinne, who was the Lion of God. They also didn¡¯t have facial features, but still looked like they were approaching Davey with a smile. The mysterious figures moved very slowly; they were the embodiment of holiness. Then, the angel who came near Davey reached out and gently, carefully put its hand on his head. Whoosh¡­ As a warm rush of holy power surrounded Davey, part of his frozen holy power began to vibrate and awaken. He also felt something strange in his hand, a glowing pebble that wasn¡¯t there before. He looked down and saw the small, shining pebble in his grip. Whooosh!!! At the same time, Davey¡¯s thready consciousness became distorted and burst through the calmness. ¡°Huff¡­ Puff¡­¡± Davey¡¯s breathing was rough, like he had held his breath for a long time. He simply stared into space, then his hand, without even thinking about catching his breath. In his hand was a pebble emitting a very mysterious energy that he had never seen before. -Davey! What happened?! You suddenly fainted! Perserque shouted in bewilderment. ¡°It¡¯s come to the point where I¡¯m receiving God,¡± Davey murmured in a daze. He was in a complete trance, one that was entirely different from the one he had achieved with Saintess Daphne¡¯s help. Perhaps that explained his drowsiness. * * * Davey felt heavy, like he had sprinted hundreds of kilometers at maximum speed. Perserque asked again if he was okay, but all he wanted to do right now was go to sleep. -Davey? Davey! ¡®I¡¯m sorry, but give me five more minutes. And then, after those five minutes, give me ten hours.¡¯ Perserque scoffed and sighed; perhaps Davey had accidentally voiced his thoughts out loud. -¡­Alright. Sweet dreams. Perserque could not take her eyes off of Davey even as she was pulling him to his bed. ¡®They say the heaviest thing in the world are your eyelids.¡¯ Davey, who was deep asleep, felt like it had been a long time since he had such a good rest. He only got up when it was sunrise the next day. -Are you finally awake? ¡°How long was I asleep?¡± -About eight hours. Davey thought for a little bit, then nodded. ¡°I lost two hours.¡± ¡®I was going to sleep for exactly ten hours.¡¯ -Stop joking around and tell me about that thing in your hand. Perseque seemingly cared more about the thing in Davey¡¯s hand than the receival of God or the trance Davey had spoken about before falling asleep. ¡°Um¡­ Well, this is¡­¡± Only after Perserque mentioned it was Davey able to notice the pebble in his hand and examine it. All he wanted to do was to abandon everything and sleep when he had woken up from the dream, but he did feel unexpectedly better after a long rest. ¡°It¡¯s not mana, nor is it holy power. It¡¯s not devil mana either.¡± Then, was it the spirits? ¡®It¡¯s not spirits either.¡¯ The small pebble was slightly smaller than Davey¡¯s palm, but its surface had hard edges unlike regular pebbles. It shone, as if burning on the inside. ¡°It¡¯ll make a good lamp¡­ Maybe a night lamp or something.¡± -Nonsense. The power contained within is too great for such a trivial use. It was just as Perserque said. Davey stopped being playful, then silently glared at the pebble. Then, he executed the best solution for this situation: the authority of the Abyss. Bleep! ¡®The best solution for an unknown situation is the Abyss¡¯ Wikipedia.¡¯ [Remaining Spark] [Sacred Item] [One-time revival when activator¡¯s body is destroyed.] [1 time remaining.] [Special condition ¨C only available for use when in battle with being higher than transcendental beings; will automatically be activated.] ¡°Oh, um¡­ Well¡­¡± -A sacred item? ¡°A sacred item is a gift from God that they grant to a human they like¡­¡± ¡®But it¡¯s not something that is easily given away.¡¯ Davey knew this for a fact. The Bible stated that the Life Stone the second saintess had was something of this sort. The Bible also said that the divine will, which looked favorably upon the prayers of thousands of people, had given it to her through her dreams. The gift had power that had been concentrated over one hundred days. A sacred item was something unexplainable with common knowledge, and this amazing object was created by a large whirlpool of power, the divine well. To be honest, even Davey was astonished at the things that this pebble called the Remaining Spark could do. Although its use was only limited to fighting something higher than transcendental beings, it was a great boon to have another life¡­ Then, Davey abruptly stopped everything he was doing. ¡°Kang Mu-Hyuk. Where is this ass?¡± Feeling his blood run cold, Davey instantly got up and ran to the room where Mu-Hyuk should¡¯ve been sleeping. He saw a completely empty room, and slapped his forehead. ¡°Wow, this¡­¡± Davey felt like he had been stabbed in the back big-time. He asked a maid who was close by, ¡°Excuse me.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°What happened to the guy who was in here?¡± One of the maids tilted her head in confusion, ¡°I am sorry, Your Highness. I do not understand¡­¡± ¡°The guy who has been sleeping here for the past few days.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ This room has been empty for the past few days.¡± -Oh my, they don¡¯t remember? ¡®It¡¯s not that they don¡¯t remember, but he probably didn¡¯t exist for them at all.¡¯ It seemed Kang Mu-Hyuk wasn¡¯t some guy who had traveled dimensions and had come from Earth, but a fake person made to bring Davey into a holy dream. Davey had unknowingly gained access to the dream by touching Mu-Hyuk, and there was nothing better to attract Davey¡¯s attention than bringing someone from his past life. ¡°Man, I do serve this God, but she is absolutely unbelievable.¡± -You¡¯re going to be punished by God if you keep acting like that. ¡°I don¡¯t care. This isn¡¯t a joke.¡± Davey was someone who had received God¡¯s curiosity and attention; he could receive God¡¯s love but not God¡¯s sacrifice. As such, he could not expect God¡¯s consideration. This was the one and only weak spot sort of thing that he had engraved in his mind when he was training his holy magic with Daphne, the first saintess. The story that a person who had devoted their entire life to God found a sacred ground when they met and followed the deceased Lion of God was a famous story in the Bible. This was no different from what Davey had experienced. He couldn¡¯t shake off the thought that he was given these occurrences too generously even though these were difficult for devout people of the Holy Empire to even experience once in their lifetime. ¡°Why is she supporting me this much?¡± Davey was a little worried, but it wasn¡¯t a loss considering the outcome. He muttered, ¡°A newly obtained item is always welcome!¡± Davey stared at the bed. ¡®It was only yesterday that a boy in middle school slept here;¡¯ ¡°Except for you.¡± Without hesitation, Davey decided to forget about Kang Mu-Hyuk. He wanted to avoid having another holy dream as it drained him completely. * * * The holy dream¡¯s aftermath felt like a hangover, but it disappeared completely like it had never happened on the next day. Davey couldn¡¯t remember the strange feeling, which was fully gone, even if he wanted to, but it had definitely happened as he had something that was granted to him by God and was the evidence of having a holy dream. As Davey was lightly throwing the Remaining Spark up and down, Winley stared at it in fascination. ¡°It¡¯s like watching a warm fire; small, but warm¡­¡± Winley lost a little focus in her eyes as she trailed off. ¡®They did say that sacred items naturally enchant people..¡¯ Davey immediately pushed the Remaining Spark into his expansion pouch. As he snapped his fingers in front of Winley¡¯s face, she snapped out of it and her eyes began shining again. ¡°Ha?! What was I doing?¡± Davey kind of felt like he should keep this to himself. ¡®What should I do with this white elephant¡­?¡¯ Scouring through his thoughts, Davey remembered something he had overheard from Odin, his magic teacher. ¡°Wait, I can die and then be revived? Without any limitations?¡± This meant that he could alter his body however he wanted. Davey widened his eyes. CH 131 Davey ended up staying in the Lyndis Empire for two more days. He was a little concerned by Princess Aeria, but he thought things would be fine after having told the royal palace that he was going back. Also, he knew that the emperor loved his daughter too much to let her just become involved with him like that. Yulis and Illyna did not accompany Davey on the way back. They were usually with Davey all day and night because time spent was entertaining or because he often showed them cool things, but they still had their respective work to do. Illyna had told Davey that there was something she needed to take care of at her empire, and Yulis had said that he had to attend a meeting at the wizard tower. Davey didn¡¯t hide his joy to be away from them once they revealed that they wouldn¡¯t be able to return for a while. Davey was only bugged by being at the empire with Princess Aeria, but he was sure that they wouldn¡¯t run into each other. This was because Davey had left the palace at an appropriate time, and the nasty emperor was crazy about his daughter and would never leave her alone. Having returned to the Heins Territory for two weeks, Davey spent his time doing absolutely nothing. He was just about to start working again when Elder Goulda, the eighth elder of the Yellowstone Tribe and the one who was helping out at the territory, came to him at the perfect time. ¡°Wise Teacher, your requested things are here. We had a hard time because there were so many things. Chuckle,¡± Goulda said humorously with a chuckle. Davey could see that there were quite a lot of boxes piled up in the large empty field. He asked, ¡°There¡¯s more than I thought. You moved the boxes all by yourselves?¡± ¡°Well, we dwarves are nothing without our strength. Of course, the territory¡¯s substitute manager gave us more manpower because there¡¯s so much to move.¡± Davey¡¯s second business was not a stable source of income even though it yielded some profit, offering some assistance to the territory¡¯s earnings. With this business, it was difficult to expect a huge gain in a short amount of time. ¡°Haha, they were on such a roll that it looks like they overdid themselves.¡± ¡°It really is a lot.¡± ¡°Actually, the Blackstone Tribe also sent some over. They say that they cannot allow themselves to just steal skills and techniques without any sort of repayment,¡± Goulda said. Then, he opened a black box and pulled out a shining silver sword. ¡°It¡¯s blue steel.¡± Blue steel was made with the forgotten alloy method Davey had taught the dwarves. It was made by combining normal steel and Percal Steel, which was a commonly found metal in the Tionis Continent. ¡°Haha¡­ There¡¯s nothing good about this metal, except for the fact that it has an extremely low conductivity for heat. It can withstand high temperatures, but¡­¡± ¡°But the elasticity increases depending on how it is handled.¡± The material was difficult to refine. There were a variety of things in the boxes: swords, spears, arrowheads, daggers, shields, and even armor. It seemed like the dwarves had scraped together any war equipment they could find. Davey could clearly see that they had put their souls into crafting the weaponry; they were seemingly showing him their burning enthusiasm. Although, the alloy itself was a little lacking; perhaps it was because they hadn¡¯t mastered the technique yet. This meant that everything in the boxes were failures. ¡®Well, failures have their own unique feel to them, too, I guess.¡¯ However, anything that was ¡®dwarf-made¡¯ held great value in the continent. Davey was confident that these weapons would sell if he were to put them up for sale at double their market prices. ¡®Dwarf-made¡¯ products were the best in the world, and it was obvious that mercenaries who were insane about their equipment and knights who were eager to climb up the ranks would be doing anything to buy them with their own money. However, those people weren¡¯t Davey¡¯s main target audience. Davey was leeching off the dwarves in a way, but he had given them half of the metal and they needed practice in crafting and refining the new alloy. Both he and the dwarves had no problem with this attractive proposition that would benefit both parties. It seemed like Davey had already offered more than enough, but he still invested more. Even if the dwarves were to become comfortable with blue steel in the future, the free trade of their crafted equipment would be able to expand in the Heins Territory; this was how boldly and greatly the dwarves repaid their debts. ¡°I think you could start a war somewhere with this much equipment, don¡¯t you think?¡± Goulda asked. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Among metal products, weapons were the most lucrative ones. However, Davey didn¡¯t ask for such a large amount only to earn some money. ¡°But humans are oppressing war as far as I¡¯ve heard. Are they going to sell?¡± Goulda asked. ¡®Why wouldn¡¯t they? There is supply because there is demand¡­ The military didn¡¯t disappear because there was no war.¡¯ Davey went on to explain. ¡°They are just avoiding war; it¡¯s not forbidden. Furthermore, other countries do not have the means to intervene recklessly, especially in a civil war.¡± Goulda yawned as if this was too complicated for him. ¡°Well¡­ It doesn¡¯t change the fact that these are still failures. But still, selling failed works¡­¡± ¡°Well, try to think of it in a good way. It¡¯s true that your failed works are far better than ordinary ones.¡± Clang!! Goulda struck down on the sword made with blue steel with another sword made of hard steel. With a dense sound, the steel blade chipped. ¡°Chuckle¡­ I didn¡¯t know that a sword would chip like this when striking it with a failed weapon. Those grandpops are probably elated.¡± The blade made of hard steel had chipped, but the blue steel blade was completely unchanged. Even this casual demonstration alone showed the difference between works made by ordinary people and those made by dwarves. It was clear that the quality was good enough for it to be sold at a fairly high price that no one would be opposed to. ¡®Taking the money and also achieving my goals¡­¡¯ Davey¡¯s attitude toward business was simple: low risk, high return. -You run your business so easily¡­ ¡®I have to get the most out of it when I can.¡¯ It would be helpful in the long run if Davey earned and saved diligently. As he had lived in a materialistic society before, he couldn¡¯t avoid the feeling that he was very focused on money. Now, the only thing left was to actualize the theory using the Remaining Spark: the reorganization of the physical body. It was like chiseling away on solidified elemental and devil mana, and holy power, which meant¡­ ¡°Forced metamorphosis.¡± -But isn¡¯t this theory too dangerous to execute? ¡°That¡¯s why I need a spare life. And it¡¯s my magic teacher who created this theory, not me.¡± The theory could lead to death regardless of success or failure. However, if Davey had a definite way of coming back to life, it would certainly be effective. He also knew of a place that was best equipped for this; a place that was swarming with transcendental beings he could use the Remaining Spark on, and where it would be fine even if he lost control of his powers and did something. ¡®What good timing.¡¯ -Illyna would be absolutely against it if she learns about this. In fact, anyone in their right mind would be against this. However, Davey wasn¡¯t one to give up just because of others¡¯ opinions. ¡°Rinne.¡± Rinne, who was sitting in a tree and looking at the birds, jumped off the branch and landed softly. ¡°Did you call Rinne, Sir Davey?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go to the knight order.¡± ¡°Rinne too?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Right now, Davey was going to overload his body using the remains of a transcendental being, which could instantly kill a few Swordmasters with its mere appearance. Ultimately, metamorphosis was the destruction and rebuilding of the body, and Davey was going to make that happen by his will. * * * The headquarters of the Alpha Reinforcements, the knight order of the Last Wisp responsible for the central continent¡¯s northern region, was usually very quiet. The view of the silent and mystical forest located under the permafrost was absolutely magnificent. ¡°Illyna!¡± ¡°You¡¯re finally back!¡± The trainees, who were sitting together in the auditorium and chattering with snacks, greeted the tired Illyna who walked in. Illyna always made sure she maintained a certain image when she was outside; she never broke her outer persona of the cold and frosty ice princess, but she didn¡¯t use that fake personality in the knight order. She was rather honest, especially in front of her friends. ¡°Ugh¡­ I¡¯m tired,¡± Illyna grumbled. ¡°Oh, Your Highness. Did something happen?¡± Alyssa Patrick, a girl from the Pallan Empire who thought of Davey as her role model, asked. ¡°Something about an arranged marriage came up, so I had to take care of it.¡± Illyna sighed. Illyna found Alyssa a little difficult; she thought she would be less uncomfortable with Alyssa if Alyssa wasn¡¯t the daughter of a noble family of the Pallan Empire, or if she wasn¡¯t a Roaming Knight like herself. Normally, royalty could not escape the shackles of arranged marriages, but Illyna had enough influence to not be forced into it. She could do something about it. It was unfortunate that royalty had to go through this, but she was slowly gaining her own strength bit by bit. ¡°True¡­ Nobility and royalty could never be free from arranged marriages.¡± Heg, who had a large physique, murmured while crunching on a baguette. Shayir, Heg¡¯s partner, patted Illyna on the back and asked, ¡°Are you okay? What about Davey?¡± ¡°Ah, right. Where is Prince Davey, Your Highness?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve trained with you guys for years, but Davey is more important to you than me?¡± ¡°Oh, is it wrong for me to look for my role model?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Illyna thought, ¡®Of course¡¯, and squinted at Alyssa. ¡°That¡¯s right. We have yet to even repay Sir Davey. Saintess Daphne, the first saintess, wouldn¡¯t want this either.¡± Lucia Shelman, the former priest, had eyes that sparkled as much as Alyssa¡¯s. She had managed to stay alive because of Davey¡¯s help during an earlier accident. ¡°Did anything happen? I don¡¯t see Sio Howl.¡± ¡°Sio has a personal assignment with Treve. I heard that they would join us when the test begins.¡± ¡°I hear that he is on a special assignment related to transcendental beings.¡± ¡°Hm¡­¡± ¡°Treve does have unique abilities.¡± The Special Ones were important even as trainees, and among them, illusionists were extremely effective. As such, none of the trainees found it strange for Sio and Treve to travel to places for other assignments. ¡°Sio is amazing, too. He was called to the headquarters time and time again after that day, but he didn''t complain about it one bit.¡± ¡°Unlike Lucia over here.¡± ¡°Hmph¡­ I¨CI can¡¯t help it! I was really tired of it!¡± Lucia Shelman complained. ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± Everyone answered insincerely. ¡°Don¡¯t you know Sio is nothing without his pride?¡± Heg chuckled when the twin sisters criticized Sio. Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°That¡¯s true. Anyways, I wonder if I¡¯ll pass this test¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m so envious of Treve¡­ He becomes an official member if he just doesn¡¯t fail this test, right?¡± ¡°Well, he does have a rare set of abilities.¡± ¡°If I fail again this time¡­ It¡¯s going to be my second time¡­¡± Fildyr, the Holy Knight, grumbled. Lucia declared confidently, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Fildyr. We will certainly get in; I bet on the name of Lady Daphne.¡± ¡°I¡¯m even more worried because of you.¡± ¡°Ow ow ow! It hurts!¡± Everyone laughed as Lucia and Fildyr bickered. ¡°Now that I think of it, Illyna shouldn¡¯t be worried at all.¡± ¡°Yeah, since she has Davey.¡± ¡°Illyna is also outstanding, but¡­¡± Everyone had heard from Sio Howl and Lucia Shelman that Davey¡¯s powers were beyond common sense. His strength put Illyna on the high ground. Illyna had heard about what happened from Davey himself, but the others could only predict the rest of the situation from Sio and Lucia¡¯s testimonies. Although, she didn¡¯t find it odd that the trainees thought that way since the entire incident was too ridiculous to be rationalized with common sense. CH 132 Davey had killed dozens of golems at the most advanced level of Expert with his [Aura Blade]; this alone showed that his power was superior to most Swordmasters. Not only that, but according to Sio, he was also fine after having used magic at the 6th circle and holy magic during his fall. Everyone knew that Davey had the stigmata, but¡­ ¡°Honestly, I had a hard time believing it when I first heard it.¡± ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ve heard of knights using magic before, but¡­ I¡¯ve never seen them have holy power too.¡± Even the famous Holy Knights used holy magic, and strengthened their bodies using holy power, but Davey was able to strengthen himself, use elemental magic, and use holy magic. ¡°Hey, you remember¡­ That guy is an alchemist, right?¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± Everyone went dead silent after that realization. ¡°Then, what¡­ Holy magic and elemental. On top of that, he¡¯s an adept alchemist with the skills of a Swordmaster?¡± ¡°What is that¡­ Unbelievable.¡± ¡°How can someone achieve all that before the age of twenty?! It would take at least forty to fifty years for one subject to even try reaching his level.¡± Thinking about the monster who did not follow common knowledge, the trainees were confused and puzzled. ¡°Do you not know anything, Illyna? You and Davey were friends before coming here.¡± Everyone turned their gaze over to Illyna, who simply replied, ¡°You think that I would know?¡± ¡°Mhm, yeah.¡± ¡°Sigh¡­¡± Letting out a sigh, Illyna slowly closed her eyes. She felt a damn headache coming along. There was a transcendent skill Sio and Lucia didn¡¯t notice Davey use when fighting Milpieu, the vampire, because they were not swordsmen: [Telekinetic Blade], the transcendental level of blade control. This was not any ordinary thing to be taken lightly; it was absurd that Davey was at a level higher than Swordmaster when Swordmaster itself was already extremely difficult to reach. Unfortunately, as Illyna hadn¡¯t seen that sort of level with her own eyes, she didn¡¯t fully understand Davey either. ¡°I don¡¯t know. You don¡¯t know what kind of things he does on the outside, right?¡± Everyone looked curious. Illyna asked, ¡°Outside?¡± ¡°Oh, Your Highness. Isn¡¯t it the Roaming Knight¡¯s code to not speak in detail about each other¡¯s personal activities?¡± ¡°Do you have the right to say that when you mentioned Shandra, the transcendental being, so quickly?¡± ¡°My¡­ You are so mean.¡± ¡°Everyone says it¡¯s the code, but no one actually keeps it,¡± Illyna commented, then flopped over and banged her head onto the table. Her actions weren¡¯t fit for a divine princess, but no one thought it was weird. She added, ¡°He got the eastern continent in the palm of his hands in just a few months.¡± From dwarf-made equipment to a rare herb that various organizations would do anything to obtain¡­ ¡°Let¡¯s not try to understand it. There are just monsters like that.¡± ¡°Is he going to turn out to be a monster wearing a human mask or something? Giggle!¡± ¡°How about the disciple of God instead of a monster? He received a stigmata, right?¡± ¡°That makes sense,¡± Illyna mumbled quietly and went quiet. No one asked any further questions. As the trainees were chattering, Davey, who came into the knight¡¯s order with Rinne, was going somewhere after receiving the summoning of the trainees¡¯ teachers. * * * The High Palace¡¯s highest floor had an inaccessible room that trainees and regular members were restricted from entering. Because of that, the place was filled with rumors among the trainees. Davey was in the room on the highest floor right now. ¡°Rinne. Needs biological energy.¡± ¡®This golem is saying she¡¯s hungry.¡¯ ¡°Wait. I¡¯ll hunt you an animal or something when we get out.¡± ¡°Rinne. Thinks very lowly of Sir Davey¡¯s food.¡± ¡°Want to starve?¡± Davey asked. Rinne quickly shook her head. ¡®All that matters is that it¡¯s edible, right? Being picky about how it tastes¡­ Should it be like a stargazy pie or something?¡¯ ¡°Ahem!¡± Boris, the teacher who was standing near Davey and Rinne, cleared his throat awkwardly. Perhaps he felt uncomfortable with their bickering. ¡°Then, I will take my leave, Captain.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± A man who was inside the room with Davey answered Boris, then left. Now, there were only four people waiting for Davey in the room that looked like a huge conference room. ¡°Hm¡­¡± ¡°Are you Davey, the new trainee?¡± ¡°Yes, Davey O¡¯Rowane.¡± ¡°I heard that you¡¯re not ordinary.¡± The old man¡¯s calm voice could be heard clearly, but Davey couldn¡¯t see his face. It was as if he had altered recognition with a strange wall of mana. ¡°I have heard stories about you. You are extremely talented.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± One of the people who covered themselves up laughed at Davey¡¯s calm answer. There were about two or three of them, and it was difficult to see their faces unless Davey actually tried hard to trace them; it was quite a sturdy recognition-altering field. ¡°I apologize that we cannot speak face-to-face. We cannot stay in the knight order because of our situation.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Hm¡­ Well, alright. Is that little girl beside you the golem you found in the ancient ruins?¡± It was obvious that Rinne was not human. She had distinct silver hair, blue eyes, a shining ring on top of her head, and wings on her back. The people began asking questions, since Davey had hurriedly returned to his territory after the incident and had given no explanation. It was only natural that they were eager to ask. ¡°I¡¯ll be straightforward. What exactly happened there?¡± The people found it important to figure out exactly what had happened. ¡°It was an ancient ruin that this girl was asleep in.¡± Davey pressed on Rinne¡¯s head while speaking calmly, and Rinne poked his waist in dissatisfaction. ¡°I heard that child is a golem.¡± ¡°Yes. It is technology that¡¯s unexplainable with common knowledge.¡± ¡°Anything else to report?¡± ¡°There was a vampire. I think it came to take he who was asleep on the ruins¡¯ lowest floor.¡± ¡°Did you get rid of the vampire?¡± ¡°I slashed the vampire, but it didn¡¯t die.¡± ¡°Hm.¡± Davey exchanged ridiculous tales with them, since they weren¡¯t the type to beat around the bush either. ¡°Give the child to us. Without knowing how dangerous that child is¡­¡± ¡°I refuse. I will not accept any objections.¡± ¡°¡­You.¡± ¡°Think about whose loss it will be.¡± ¡®How dare you try and just take it?¡¯ The people behind the recognition-altering mana field murmured amongst themselves, then nodded at Davey¡¯s firm answer. ¡°Alright. You may go.¡± ¡°May I ask one thing?¡± Davey was a little mad at the fact that they were letting him go this easily. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°What did the knight order know about that ancient ruins?¡± To be honest, their answers didn¡¯t matter. ¡°We knew nothing. Since the third floor was out of limits even within the members of the knight order, checking anything beneath that was far-fetched.¡± Davey was both dissatisfied and uninterested in their answer, which seemed only somewhat truthful. ¡®Liars.¡¯ 52. A Transcendental Being Delivery! To take the test, the trainees had to go into the Pandora Region¡¯s forest where the transcendental being was. However, the trainees looked very nervous because of what had happened at the ancient ruins. They had also heard of the transcendental beings¡¯ suspicious activities. Perhaps, because of that, Alyssa Patrick, who was keeping a relaxed smile in a good mood, provided everyone with new information. [Because of what happened last time and stuff, two or three times more seniors are going to be protecting us for this test. They said it shouldn¡¯t be a problem since it¡¯s not the season for snow blizzards.] Davey didn¡¯t know where Alyssa had gotten the information from, but none of the trainees questioned her. They were used to Alyssa fetching all kinds of weird information and telling them. The only thing to trust after stepping foot into the forest was one¡¯s own experience and partner. Teachers Boris, Sylia, and Frodis guided the trainees to the entrance of the forest and patted them on the back. Then, they said in quiet warning, ¡°Be careful and please don¡¯t get injured. The forest for testing has been cleared to some extent, but it is still a Zone of Evil! You are the future of the knight¡¯s order, and each one of your lives is important.¡± There was an option to cooperate with other pairs, but there were penalties to their scores if one chose to do so. The main point of the test was to see how well a pair could cooperate with each other and use their unique abilities to complete a task. As soon as the trainees entered the forest, Illyna proposed some ideas while unfolding the map that was provided beforehand. ¡°The goal of the first test is getting to the target location quickly and retrieving the supplies. They wouldn¡¯t have hidden the supplies like treasure boxes, since they would have considered that our enemies wouldn¡¯t be human, but we should still think critically.¡± ¡°But there would be a lot of people complicating things.¡± ¡°We will have to take care of it ourselves. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t leave the tedious things to you. I¡¯ll lead the way since it¡¯s my test,¡± Illyna declared before materializing Caldeiras. Then, she took a step forward; she looked quite confident. -What about collecting the data that you always talk about? ¡®I don¡¯t need it for the time being. Besides¡­¡¯ Davey¡¯s eyes shone a light green color as he stared into the forest. -Davey? ¡®It¡¯s nothing. Let¡¯s not think about it.¡¯ There was only one reason why a spirit, who was basically immune to cold temperatures, felt chilly. Permafrost had truly earned its name. ¡®I¡¯m sure that Alyssa Patrick said that it wasn¡¯t even the season for snow blizzards¡­¡¯ ¡°What bad timing. How bothersome¡­¡± Davey mumbled. ¡°Davey. What are you doing?¡± Illyna, who was walking and leading the way, turned around and stared at Davey in puzzlement. To that, Davey threw two fist-sized cubes from his expansion pouch. Click!! At the same time, the small cubes expanded into two different golems. ¡®A battle alchemist will always be one with their golem.¡¯ Ching!! Whirr!! It was Megatron, which wasn¡¯t hiding its ferocious electric saw, and Juggernaut, a Megatron-sized golem with a minigun, which was a concentrated mid-range weapon. ¡°Rinne, let¡¯s move as fast as we can. Find something, even a cave, where we can escape from this cold.¡± Support us at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°Command accepted. Juggernaut, drill the way.¡± [Command of Elder Brain accepted. Starting.] As one of Rinne¡¯s eyes shone bright red, Juggernaut began marching forward with confidence as it started to rotate its six-engine cylinder. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Illyna asked. ¡°I think we should move fast. I¡¯ll listen to your complaints after.¡± ¡°What?!¡± It wasn¡¯t that Davey couldn¡¯t trust Illyna, but if the spirits were in that condition, a snow blizzard would come over them in at least two hours. What about the rest? ¡®They should be able to deal with a little blizzard, right?¡¯ CH 133 From the exact point where Davey and Illyna were headed to, a snow blizzard swept across the entire forest. Unlike Davey, who quickly noticed it and moved, the other trainees, who were a little further away, scrambled to do something when they noticed the blizzard slightly later. ¡®I knew it.¡¯ In a small cave for about four or five people, Illyna shivered despite wearing an insulation coat. ¡°Groan¡­ I¡¯m cold¡­¡± At first, the air was just a little cold. The Pandora region was in the far north of the continent, so it was quite cold to begin with, and it was also true that the weather was pretty cold during this particular time of year. However, that chill turned into a nasty frost that was cold enough to cut skin, and it even became an intense snow blizzard. It meant that the forest had become completely covered in snow. ¡°I¡­ It¡¯s a relief that we were able to retrieve the supplies and find a hiding spot before the blizzard came. We were lucky.¡± Davey couldn¡¯t help but sigh at this idiot. He asked, ¡°Does this look like it happened because of sheer luck?¡± ¡°¡­What, then are you saying that you predicted that this blizzard would happen?¡± Illyna widened her eyes in surprise. If Illyna was asking if Davey had predicted it, it was true. The spirits usually weren¡¯t in occupied territories, but there were quite a lot of them in unmanned land where there wasn¡¯t a lot of human intervention. The spirits were the most sensitive to changes in nature, like how animals and insects moved first before an earthquake could happen. However, spirits were a little more sensitive than them. ¡°Makes sense¡­ No wonder you suddenly pushed ahead with your golem¡­ Wait! Then, you forced your way through knowing that this would happen?!¡± ¡°You had to take your test, and I had to do what I had to do.¡± Davey wasn¡¯t so weak that he was going to give up because of some little blizzard. After sending Rinne to find and hide in a cave, Davey pushed ahead without planning to urgently retrieve the supplies. Of course, they had to deal with a lot of low-level evil beasts since they just barged into the forest. The fact that they all became meat pancakes because of Juggernaut¡¯s merciless firing of magic bullets was already ancient history. ¡°How did you figure it out? Is that also magic?¡± ¡°Spirits are sensitive to the climate. If a spirit that lives in the cold is shivering, it¡¯s obvious what¡¯s going to follow.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know that existed.¡± Elementalists would be in complete shock if they had heard Davey, who basically said that he saw the spirits of nature that even elves, the ones who were said to be the partners of spirits in the ancient books, couldn¡¯t see. However, since Illyna was neither a mage nor elementalist, she didn¡¯t think anything was off. ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s still so cold even though I¡¯m wearing an insulating coat and there¡¯s a fire in here. Seriously, what¡¯s inside that forest?¡± Illyna complained. Davey silently stared at the coat in Illyna¡¯s hand. Although the knight order had guarded this place for a long time, they had only been able to travel into just about half of the Pandora Region. He had heard that the rest was just left as a mystery as there was no way to combat the extreme cold of the rest of the region. He commented, ¡°The coat is cheap.¡± ¡°What? Hey, do you know how much this is? They are really expensive and run for two to three hundred per coat,¡± Illyna replied. Two to three hundred gold was certainly not a small amount. ¡°There is corruption in the defense business everywhere.¡± Illyna widened her eyes in shock. ¡°W¡ªWhat?!¡± ¡°Give me the coat so that I can reinforce the enchantment on it,¡± Davey said irritatedly. Illyna lowered her red face. ¡°W¡­ Well, if it was that, you should¡¯ve told me earlier.¡± Illyna quickly took off her coat and handed it over to Davey. ¡°See, look. I knew it.¡± Davey sighed when he compared the condition of Illyna¡¯s coat and the one he was wearing. The enchantment itself was engraved strongly, but it is insufficient. He muttered, ¡°I have to do all of it again.¡± Davey laid the coat down on the floor. Then, without hesitation, he released his mana through his palms and repeatedly put it into the coat, which floated in the air. Whoosh¡­ At the same time, dozens of magic circles that shone blue began showing up as Davey¡¯s hands moved. There were various enchantments that could make the coat lighter, increase its durability, and help it resist the cold, but they were all insufficient. The biggest thing that bothered Davey was the messiness of the enchantment. Although there was no proper medium, he no longer wanted to do this half-assed since he was going to work on it anyways. ¡®I should try my best if I¡¯m going to do it anyway, right?¡¯ Illyna, who was sitting while hugging her knees, stared at Davey in fascination as his fingertips were releasing light from the work he was doing and lighting up the cave. She then delightedly turned the coat all over to examine if the insulation had been fully activated. She wrapped it around her body and held onto it tightly, as if it was something dear. ¡°Sigh¡­ It¡¯s warm. Amazing.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just simple work.¡± ¡°Do you know that this insulation coat is good enough to be nationally recognized? It¡¯s almost as good as the ones for emperors. I¡¯m like a snow guard of the empire¡¯s treasury.¡± Chuckling, Illyna fixed her coat while thinking about how cool this was. Davey felt that it was a little cozy. They blocked the cold with their coats and lit a small fire in the quiet cave. ¡°It¡¯s a little unexpected, but the snow blizzard should stop around dawn tomorrow. The instructions for the second test will be here tomorrow and we have lots of time today.¡± Illyna chuckled, then went on. ¡°We¡¯re going to pass the test no matter what if you¡¯re here.¡± Illyna¡¯s thought was simple. She believed that they were never going to be eliminated, showing the faith that she had in Davey. * * * Howl!!! The nasty snow blizzard swept across the entire forest. The forest was usually full of white, frosty trees, but right now, an intense blizzard ran rampant within it for some unknown reason. ¡°Captain.¡± Dozens of black-robed men appeared near a man who seemingly floated above the snow. It was like he weighed nothing. The man asked them, ¡°You made sure of everything?¡± ¡°Of course. We placed a wide barrier and have begun to lure in Shandra, the transcendental being. They say that they have succeeded in the first step of taking control of its consciousness.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± The man slowly nodded with an extremely cold gaze. ¡°But¡­ Captain.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Will it be okay? There are still variables like the trainees of the knight order¡­¡± ¡°Are you going to fail because of the unforeseen circumstances those greenhorns will bring?¡± ¡°But they are talented seedlings. And I heard that there¡¯s a strange kid among the trainees this time.¡± One of the men in the black robes said, ¡°Apparently, a teenage trainee has been able to use [Aura Blade].¡± ¡°Hm? Quite an interesting kid¡­¡± ¡°Then¡­¡± ¡°But there¡¯s nothing to worry about. If he interferes, I¡¯ll take care of it myself. And the rest of the trainees are important sacrifices for the control of Shandra, the transcendental being.¡± ¡°¡­¡± All the people in black robes kneeled at once when they heard the man. ¡°You must succeed. I have put the future of the knight order on the line.¡± ¡°¡­Your wish is my command.¡± Watching the black figures disappear at once, the man stared at the raging blizzard with the same cold expression as before. ¡°He¡¯s still a na?ve greenhorn no matter how good he is. I wonder how you will entertain me when you go up against a transcendental being.¡± * * * Crackle¡­ Crackle¡­ The sound of wood, which they had gathered enough of, resonated in the cave. It was fascinating how the smoke from the fire was flowing outside the cave by an artifact that created a distinct air current. As they were not surviving in extreme conditions, there were various tools needed for setting up camp outside in the supplies box. Perhaps Illyna was immersed in the atmosphere of the quiet cave and the faint crackling of the fire; she looked like she was in a good mood as she hummed while holding Caldeiras in her arms. Davey wondered if it was because she was taking the test to become an official member of the knight order that she yearned for, or if it was for some other reason¡­ But there was no need to think about it so deeply. A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled. ¡°It¡¯s nice being like this.¡± Davey couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at how innocent Illyna was. ¡°It¡¯s nice?¡± ¡°I just feel like something like this is nice once in a while. Don¡¯t you think so?¡± Illyna asked, and they both fell silent. ¡®I guess it¡¯s not bad. This kind of vibe.¡¯ Davey just couldn¡¯t resist going crazy at Illyna¡¯s supposed seduction. ¡°Sigh¡­ I can¡¯t stop myself if you¡¯re seducing me this much.¡± ¡°What?¡± The blizzard outside didn¡¯t look like it was going to stop. ¡°D¡ªDavey?¡± ¡°It¡¯s only the two of us here right now, and I¡¯m thinking of releasing what I¡¯ve kept in for so long.¡± Illyna widened her eyes, as if understanding the strange situation. She realized that they were a man and a woman alone in a small cave. ¡°Why¡­ Why are you doing this¡­¡± Illyna laughed awkwardly. She was flustered, and her laughter immediately stopped when she noticed Davey¡¯s serious stare. She yelled, ¡°D¡ªDavey!¡± ¡°How could a princess be this off-guard?¡± ¡®Especially since she¡¯s called one of the Five Beauties of the continent.¡¯ Illyna looked frosty, but her smile was actually surprisingly warm. She was so beautiful that she would make pretty much any man fall for her. She threatened, ¡°St¡ªStop joking around! I¡¯ll cut you if you come close!¡± As Davey got up and walked toward her, Illyna was completely bewildered. With a completely shocked expression, she slowly backed away with her jaw on the floor. ¡°Do¡ªDon¡¯t you know that we¡¯re in the middle of a test?! And if you do something weird right now, the Teachers¡­!¡± ¡°They can¡¯t see us right now.¡± Illyna went pale. She froze from Davey¡¯s serious expression and tone. She cried out, ¡°R¡ªRinne¡­! Where is Rinne?¡± Although Illyna urgently called for Rinne, the silver-haired child, who had been sitting beside Davey and chewing on a meat jerky not too long ago, was already long gone. ¡°Hiccup¡­¡± Illyna even began to hiccup with a pale face. ¡°D¡­ Davey, why are you doing this¡­ All of a sudden¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ve waited for this moment.¡± ¡°D¡ªDon¡¯t do this, we¡¯re friends¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s not important right now.¡± ¡°Please¡­¡± Illyna looked like she was going to cry. Normally, she would pull out Caldeiras and come at Davey. However, she knew very well that she would only be overpowered in seconds even if she tried. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it only hurts for a moment. It¡¯ll feel good soon. Your back, that¡¯s all I need to see.¡± ¡°Kyahh!!¡± Illyna, who was screaming and backing away, widened her eyes even more. She could feel the cold wall behind her. Crack¡­ Crack¡­ Then, the sound of bones cracking could be heard throughout the entire forest. It was from Davey¡¯s hand, which grabbed onto Illyna. ¡°Ah, this feeling.¡± Davey had to be nice to the hot-tempered heroes of the Hall for such a long time¡­so it had basically become an obsessive desire. ¡°Kyahh!!¡± A desperate cry for help was also heard. CH 134 Illyna flailed around and screamed from the unimaginable pain, but it was meaningless since she was already in Davey¡¯s hands. He could feel bouncy but tender skin through his hands, completely different from when he was massaging Baris¡¯ muscles. It was the bitter truth that it felt better to massage a woman, who was soft, than a man, who was hard. ¡°Ack! W¡ªWait¡­ Kyah?!¡± Illyna flailed around in desperation, but her resistance gradually went away. It was as if the massage was relaxing her. She even started to let out hot moans rather than cries of pain. ¡°Sigh¡­ Moan¡­¡± Illyna¡¯s eyes were as void as a virgin who had lost her everything. She breathed heavily while collapsed on the floor with no regard for her status. On the other hand, Davey was elated at how amazing the touch was to his hands. ¡°Rinne. Thinks that this is a very inappropriate situation.¡± At the same time, the empty space near the wall began distorting before Rinne appeared. It was a non-visualization magic spell, different from [Invisibility] which was a 5th circle magic spell. By this, the Deus Ex Machina, the living mechanical heart, was showing its incredible ability: self-improvement. Rinne was continuously becoming stronger from the moment she had awakened, and she was showing Davey new things by awakening the hidden secrets in her body. ¡°Sir Davey, analyzing that trick to be dirty.¡± ¡°Your muscles were so stiff that I couldn¡¯t help myself. Good job enduring it,¡± Davey praised Illyna. ¡°Rinne determines that it is right to do favors depending on the situation. Considering this, Sir Davey lacks consideration. Rinne does not think highly of this.¡± ¡°Is there a way for you to be considerate to me with your candor?¡± Davey asked Rinne. ¡°Sir Davey. Does not need consideration as he does whatever he wants. Is very brazen. Rinne thinks highly of this.¡± Although she was ruthless with her criticism, Rinne, who was chewing on the jerky she got from Davey, did not seem phased at all. Illyna, who was breathing heavily while her face was planted on the floor, looked up and glared at Davey with teary eyes. She was seemingly toeing the line between pain and pleasure. However, she closed her eyes and fell asleep with her back against the wall, because a wave of sleep washed over her entire body. Flap! Davey unfolded the blanket that he had gotten from the box of supplies. He put his hand on it and released mana. Whoosh!! Unlike when Davey was enchanting the insulation coat, hundreds of magic circles appeared, stacking on top of each other. The blanket, which was shining faintly, turned soft and warm as the light subsided, as if it contained human warmth. Davey laid Illyna down and covered her with the blanket. Then, he threw some twigs into the crackling fire. -Are you nervous? Davey was a little anxious, since he was about to secretly provoke a transcendental being once the test came to a certain point. The headquarters of the knight order would freak out if they knew what he was doing, but this was something he had to do. ¡®Anyway, the name is quite similar.¡¯ Perserque, who was staring at a drowsy Rinne lying beside Illyna, quietly asked. She heard Davey murmuring to himself. -Similar? ¡®There were a few of the Special Ones at the Hall as well. Among them, there was a man called Shane Scrift from a different world called Lux.¡¯ One of the Special Ones, Shane Scrift was a commoner-born hero who had set long-lasting achievements with his unique power as a summoner of beasts against numerous enemies that had invaded the continent. ¡°There were three mythical beasts that guy had been bonded to and worked with. Normally, summoners of beasts usually only bond with one beast in their lifetime, but he was weird and bonded with three.¡± -What exactly are the mythical beasts? After contemplating a way to describe these unique beings, Davey came to a conclusion. They could change depending on their background and habits and evolved by killing opponents and absorbing their power; they would evolve to have more eyes if they needed to, and they would kill an enemy with tough claws and evolve to have the same feature by absorbing its power if they needed to. Mythical beasts were one of the most baseless organisms, but also one of the most dangerous. The fact that they made up for their weaknesses¡­ Their ability to survive was even better than cockroaches that passed on immunity to the next generation. -There are mythical beasts in this world? Or is it in the place called the Lux Continent¡­ ¡°No one knows where the mythical beasts are from. Even they themselves don¡¯t know, so how could I know? Anyways, Shane¡¯s power wasn¡¯t something that could be taught, so all he gave me was battle experience. Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original. -Hm¡­ Perserque slowly nodded in intrigue. -Then, were those three mythical beasts powerful? ¡°They were. They were crazy powerful, and they each had their own powers.¡± Megalodria, the Predator of the Skies. Shandra Minea, the Overlord of the Ground. Behemoth, the Tyrant of the Undersea. -Their titles are no joke. ¡°Apparently, they were just worms the size of one¡¯s hand in the beginning. But they transformed into that after killing enemies and evolving. The funny thing is how strong these mythical beasts were¡­¡± Davey trailed off, then said, ¡°Could you believe it if I told you that each of them were as strong as Grandmasters?¡± When Perserque widened her eyes in shock, Davey added, ¡°I guess it¡¯s nothing special, as Grandmasters and levels higher than that are common in the Hall, but Grandmasters are monsters.¡± -That¡¯s true¡­ ¡°But that man believed that there was nothing better for battle experience than real-life training, so he threw me in a forest with all three of those worms.¡± At that time, Davey had wondered what he had done wrong when he had seen the sea splitting into two with one breath of the crazy mythical beasts. -Then¡­ The transcendental being called Shandra that is in this forest¡­ ¡°I think it¡¯s different? If Shandra Minea was here, not only the Pandora Region, but most of the northern continent would¡¯ve become a Zone of Evil.¡± Shandra Minea, the nasty and obstinate earth dragon, would never be satisfied with this small region. ¡°And Shandra Minea is a fire dragon. If it was really the same one, do you think this would be a volcanic region or a snowy region?¡± There was nothing more to think about. -Can I ask¡­one more thing? ¡°What is it?¡± -Who was the strongest human in the Hall? Perserque¡¯s question brought up a memory from the Hall. [So, who¡¯s the strongest?] Davey had naively asked this question when he had just arrived at the Hall. Then, the Armageddon had begun, and so had the hellish apocalypse. Davey did not want to see the glistening eyes of the Heroes who were looking for enemies as he almost died a few times from being caught up in that mess. In the end, there had been two winners of that insane fight: Hercules, the survival expert, and Lo Aias, the Death Lord. Davey calmly told the story to Perserque, as if he was recalling a legend of the past that did not exist in real life. * * * ¡°Shandra, the transcendental being, is heading straight toward where the children are. But there are no ways to contact the children, and no one can reach the members who were sent to protect them.¡± Thud!!! The wooden table was crushed instantly by the heavy and powerful punch. ¡°Do you think that makes sense, Captain?¡± It was none other than Boris Telman, the teacher who had taught the trainees of Alpha Reinforcements for a long time, who was shouting angrily. ¡°Boris, calm down.¡± ¡°Calm down? Does it look like I¡¯m going to calm down?! The children¡­! The children are still in there!! Fxxk! Does the attack of a transcendental being seem like a joke to you?!¡± ¡°The other members are desperately trying to undo the barrier. I know you are furious, but all we can do right now is just to trust them and wait.¡± ¡°How could you say something so irresponsible?!¡± The old man wearing an antique set of armor calmly glanced at Boris. He said, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s say we rescue the children right now like you say.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Do you know how to?¡± ¡°That is¡­¡± ¡°The barrier around the forest is not one from the evil beasts; it was made by a human.¡± ¡°Then, that means¡­¡± ¡°It seems like the ones who want to control the transcendental being have joined forces with an outside power.¡± ¡°Damn it!¡± There were rumors of a spy in the knight order, but no one expected something to happen at an important time like this. ¡°I will tell you again. We don¡¯t know what will happen inside if we mess with the unknown barrier. All we can do right now is stop the transcendental being as best as we can and wait until the members inside find a way to rescue the trainees.¡± It was a realistic plan, and Boris was unable to respond to this right now, but¡­ ¡°I will move separately. If there is someone who has set up the barrier, they are probably watching from not too far away. I will find them and kill them.¡± ¡°Boris.¡± Boris grit his teeth when the captain called upon him quietly. He yelled, ¡°No one will touch my students! I will not fail again. I won¡¯t let anyone get hurt.¡± ¡°Boris!¡± ¡°The First Rule of the knights of Alpha Reinforcements!! The enemy of the knight order is not humanity, but evil beasts that threaten the wellbeing of humanity!!¡± Watching Boris shout and leave, the captain of the knight order sighed and massaged his temples. He murmured, ¡°Being too greedy causes trouble¡­ Why are you trying to control the transcendental being¡­¡± Shandra, the transcendental being, was the last one to show itself among the kings of the Pandora Region. The roars of the earth dragon, which was fairly quiet compared to the others, were unexpectedly loud. 53. Ambush The second test was capturing a number of blue trolls, an intermediate evil beast that lived near the entrance of the Pandora Region. Squeak!! Trolls were usually a dark navy color and were about 2.5-3 meters tall. As one of their distinct features was their nasty regeneration, it was common sense in this continent that trolls would have to be slashed and burned multiple times in order to be killed. The blue trolls¡ªa variant found in the Pandora Region¡ªwere smaller and less physically adept than normal trolls, but had a unique regenerative ability. It seemed like the knight order used their blood to create recovery potions for members, but Davey was interested in them in a slightly different way: why was the regenerative ability of trolls their only distinct feature? ¡®That ugly face seems like it would be valuable to study, too.¡¯ -Stop talking nonsense. ¡°Davey!! All three are heading your way!¡± Hearing the voice from the crystal, Davey just casually raised his hand. At the same time, the trolls were all swinging their wooden bats at him while screaming. Watching their reckless charge at him, he murmured, ¡°Juggernaut, let¡¯s do it beehive-style this time.¡± [Command accepted.] Whirr!!! Drr!!!! There was no explosive sound of gunpowder shooting out bullets or a terrible recoil, but its speed and firepower was enough. As Megatron¡¯s huge body stopped the trolls¡¯ attacks, Juggernaut, which was standing nearby and rotating its six-engine metal cylinder at a high speed, began showering them with purple bullets. -Squeak!!! Each gun was able to shoot out five hundred bullets per minute, and the renovated Juggernaut had a magic bullet minigun in each hand, meaning that it was able to shoot out about sixteen bullets per second. Davey had thought of this, and it was becoming a perfect weapon of war. The two miniguns shone as they showered the trolls with magic bullets, making the pierced trolls look like beehives. -Squeak! -Kyahh!! The blue trolls, which had fallen to the ground at the sudden concentrated attack of magic bullets, were unable to move. They screamed and flailed around, but the purple bullets ripped them apart ruthlessly. CH 135 Drrr!! Whirr! When the continuous fire of magic bullets subsided as if they had run out of energy, Megatron immediately trapped the blue trolls and tied them up with a durable metal rope it had prepared beforehand. The blue trolls were still alive, managing to regenerate their bodies even after being attacked by Juggernaut¡¯s bullets, which each had the firepower of a machine gun; it was clear that they were no ordinary trolls. -I heard that their regenerative abilities are incomparably superior to regular trolls¡­but this is disgusting, maybe even terrifying. The variant evil beasts of the Zone of Evil usually were wild monsters transformed by unbelievably strong transcendental beings¡¯ power. Put another way, it was like a monster undergoing a transformation after being exposed to extremely distorted radiation. Monsters like these were all over the Zone of Evil. It was a relief that the blue trolls¡¯ combat ability had decreased and that their weaknesses could easily be seen in exchange for their enhanced regenerative abilities. Davey spoke into the crystal as he walked on the ground, which barely had any snow despite the strong blizzard from not too long ago. ¡°How many points including this one?¡± ¡°It¡¯s one hundred points per bottle of their blood. Since we got about sixty bottles of blood from the trolls we captured, we should be at around six thousand points.¡± Davey nodded in satisfaction as he heard Illyna¡¯s response from the crystal. He said, ¡°Let¡¯s stop here since the cut-off is five thousand five hundred points.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not getting more? Even though it¡¯s only been half a day since we started? Shouldn¡¯t we keep our scores high? I¡¯m sure there¡¯s going to be a bonus.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no need to overdo ourselves and get points. Just recharge during the time you were going to spend on that.¡± Illyna looked somewhat dissatisfied with Davey¡¯s response, but she said nothing. She then asked, ¡°Then, what do we do? The second test is over now. If you weren¡¯t so ridiculously strong, we would have had a hard time capturing them alive and taking their blood; it¡¯s not an easy task, you know. The other pairs are probably still struggling.¡± Like Illyna had mentioned, it was true that she and Davey had finished the test at an astounding speed. Davey had found the blue trolls and led them out into the open using Sniper. Then, Illyna, who had been carrying Caldeiras, which was smothered with holy power, had lured them to where Davey was. Then, Juggernaut and Davey proceeded to attack and catch the blue trolls. Afterward, they simply strolled over to take the blood. Their plan was slightly peculiar, but it worked out very quickly, especially considering that Davey was only taking this test with his alchemy. ¡°Anyway, your tracking abilities are incredible. Have you hunted like this before? How are you so good?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll also naturally get better if you starve for a month because of your poor tracking abilities.¡± Humans would go insane if they were to starve for a month; Davey did not have his current powers when Hercules, the self-acclaimed ¡®Survival Expert¡¯, had thrown him into a forest without telling him anything. Under those harsh conditions, he had managed to improve small skills like these to survive. ¡®There are scorpions over there. What? They¡¯re poisonous? That¡¯s okay; as long as I don''t die, everything is my protein.¡¯ ¡°What¡­ You starved for a month? What did you do?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s leave it. It¡¯s not something I really want to reminisce about.¡± Illyna stuck out her lips and pouted as she sat on the tree stump nearby. ¡°Be honest. You said you were in a coma for over six years, right? Were you lying about that? Did you actually stay someplace else?¡± ¡®Damn smart kid. This is why I don¡¯t like kids who are quick.¡¯ ¡°It¡¯s true that I was in a coma. I was in a situation of life and death after Carlus shot me with an arrow.¡± Illyna frowned. ¡°Carlus, you say¡­ The second prince of your kingdom?¡± ¡°Yeah, him.¡± ¡°Oh my¡­ You¡¯re saying that he shot an arrow at his older brother?!¡± Davey didn¡¯t understand why Illyna was getting so mad when it wasn¡¯t anything related to herself. He heard her yell, ¡°I knew that he had a bad personality, but it¡¯s worse than I had ever imagined!¡± It wasn¡¯t like royalty did not fight in the dark, but it seemed like shooting an arrow toward one¡¯s own brother felt a little different; although, Davey thought that shooting an arrow was the same thing as putting poison. Illyna widened her eyes as she huffed and puffed. She asked, ¡°But you did nothing? Why didn¡¯t you ask me instead? I¡¯ll help you. I don¡¯t like to use the empire¡¯s power, but they do have that sort of power.¡± ¡°Who says I did nothing?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it; everything is going according to plan.¡± Davey knew that there would be fewer variables the more prepared he was; the world never went his way. ¡°Still¡­¡± ¡°Maybe you can stop the Pallan Empire from intervening unnecessarily.¡± Davey was joking around, but it seemed Illyna took it quite seriously. She said, ¡°Davey, no matter how strong someone is, they should not fight with milit¡­¡± That was when¡­ ¡°Something¡¯s off.¡± Davey abruptly stopped in the middle of his tracks and looked around. ¡°Off? What is?¡± Illyna also came to a stop. ¡°The surrounding air was feeling a little disorganized from a while ago¡­ It¡¯s strangely familiar¡­¡± Davey trailed off and reached out into space. Then, he grabbed Illyna, who was tilting her head in confusion, by the collar. He tugged her into his arms. ¡°Hup?!¡± Then, Davey held Illyna as she flailed around and put his hand over her mouth. He shushed her. ¡°Shh.¡± We are bit.ly/3iBfjkV, find us on google. ¡°Hmm!! Umm?!¡± Davey could distinguish the strangely familiar feeling as he looked around while holding Illyna, who was flailing with a flushed face of bewilderment, tightly. He whispered, ¡°There¡¯s a barrier similar to the one in the knight order¡¯s headquarters covering this forest.¡± It felt like a hallucination. ¡°What?¡± The barrier was so thin that it was nearly undetectable. In fact, a part of Davey¡¯s senses, which were a mess, had come back as soon as he recognized the presence of the barrier. He wondered why there was a barrier like that in this forest when it was inefficient and hard for the administration to cast something like this other than near the knight order. ¡°This way.¡± As Davey suddenly changed directions and moved fast, Illyna held onto Caldeiras and quickly followed even though she was a little flustered. From the light shining on the white silver sword, it seemed like Caldeiras was neutralizing the barrier with its powers as the divine sword. ¡°What¡¯s this smell¡­ Gag!¡± Illyna, who had followed Davey for quite a while, covered her mouth after murmuring about the nasty scent in the air. It was the nasty smell of blood; the odor was so intense that it seemed like dozens of people had spilled blood all at once. It was something that would¡¯ve gone unnoticed if Davey hadn¡¯t recognized the presence of the barrier and the strange familiarity. Davey silently climbed up on a tree and frowned at the horrors happening in an empty field not too far from him. ¡°The knight order? What is this¡­?¡± The dozens of people who were dead all wore the same uniform: the clean and simple uniform of the Alpha Reinforcements. Davey was sure that they were the proctors of the test watching over the trainees. Pitter-patter!! As soon as Illyna saw what had happened, she quickly ran over to the members of the knight order who were lying in their own blood. It seemed like she was trying to save someone who might¡¯ve been alive, but¡­ -They¡¯re all dead. The corpses¡¯ condition was much more horrendous than Davey had thought; some of them were almost buried in the snow. He commented, ¡°It hasn¡¯t been long since they died.¡± Davey wondered how it was possible to gather these many members here and slaughter them all without a sound. There was no way of knowing if there was a Swordmaster among the enemies, but there were so many suspicions surrounding their deaths. ¡°All of them¡­are dead?¡± Trembling, Illyna was trying her best to remain calm, but it seemed like she couldn¡¯t easily come out of her panic. ¡®Makes sense.¡¯ Although they had never met, these people were Illyna¡¯s seniors who had bonded together as family under one mission. There could be some people she knew among these people since there was still some exchange between the official knights and trainees. -She is furious. Davey tried to close the eyes of the cold, lifeless bodies, but they had already frozen. That was when he heard a faint moan from a place not too far away from the atrocity. ¡°Davey! A survivor! Someone is alive!¡± Illyna cried out. There was one person lying in the silence: a woman who was quivering with her head down while leaning on a tree. ¡°Stay there.¡± Davey made sure Illyna stayed where she was so that she wouldn¡¯t cause any trouble. Then, he slowly approached the woman and put two fingers on her neck. Her pulse was¡­ ¡°Hm. Very healthy.¡± Shhhh!! Crackkk!!! That was seemingly the trigger word. The woman, who was moaning like she was about to die, suddenly pulled out a dagger from her chest with a twitch and stabbed it into Davey¡¯s neck; it was a perfect assassination scenario. It was a dangerous attack that would¡¯ve sliced the neck artery in half if it succeeded. However, Davey was much more advanced than the woman in terms of assassination skills; all she was doing was trying to show off her skills to someone who was much better than her. ¡®It would still be hard to get me when I don¡¯t know the attack is coming. How brave of her to try even when I saw it coming.¡¯ ¡°Wh¡ªWhat?!¡± The woman was flustered upon hearing the clean cut of a sharp dagger cutting a human hand. She basically looked dead a moment ago, but she was now staring at Davey in perfect condition. It was as if all her injuries were an act. ¡°Greetings. You¡¯re new to [Unwavering Body], right?¡±[1] As soon as Davey gripped the woman¡¯s dagger like a vise, Rinne came flying at the speed of light and just landed a dropkick to the woman¡¯s waist. She treated everyone fairly and did not go easy on the woman attacker. ¡°Keugh?!¡± Since Rinne weighed over two hundred kilograms, coupled with her kick, the woman felt like she had been hit with a huge dump truck or something similar. Davey knew how stupidly powerful that dropkick, which Rinne used its entire body for, was since he had felt it before as well. -Is it normal to think of an attack that would be lethal to normal human beings as just a child¡¯s tantrum?... The attack was so clean, like it had been planned for a long time! Rinne, who had flown in like a wrecking ball and kicked the woman away, stared at Davey with shining eyes and an expressionless face; it seemed like she was expecting something. She commented, ¡°Missile dropkick. Analyzed that it was a very effective and powerful attack.¡± ¡°S¡ªSure, good job.¡± ¡°Ahem!¡± Rinne liked Davey¡¯s praise a lot. She puffed up her chest while putting her hands on her hips in great satisfaction. Even in a situation as uncertain as this, a non-human being like her was nothing but relaxed. It was rather strange that Rinne had overpowered¡ªno¡ªturned that woman into pulp, so a silence momentarily came over the surroundings. ¡°Man, just come out. It¡¯s getting harder to pretend I don¡¯t know you¡¯re there.¡± There were spills of blood on a pure, white field of snow. As Davey shouted while standing in the middle of the chilling space, Illyna looked around on alert. However, she clenched her jaw as if she was struggling to find the enemy. 1. A reference to a meme of Lee Seung-Chul greeting someone in the audition program, ¡®Superstar K¡¯. It is often used when welcoming someone into something. ? CH 136 Rustle¡­ Rustle. Of course, it didn¡¯t mean that the people here would disappear just because Illyna couldn¡¯t find them. The people hiding probably knew how ridiculous the scene they had just witnessed, but they remained quiet. They were like assassins who had been trained for a long time. Their presence was difficult to detect, and it was hard to make out their characteristics; there was no way to describe the atmosphere other than that it was strange. Shing¡­ Illyna brought out her energy while releasing her mana as the people in hiding pulled out their weapons and slowly began to surround them. ¡°I don¡¯t know who you guys are, but the crime for harming the knight order¡¯s trainees is severe.¡± Although Illyna wasn¡¯t a Master, she was an unprecedented genius; she was so strong that there was no Expert who could beat her one on one. In fact, even the dense energy she was releasing could not be seen by most Experts. Whoever they were, Davey had something else in mind. He said, ¡°Illyna. Take the rest of the golems and go to where the trainees are.¡± ¡°What?!¡± ¡°If the knight order was taken down, no one knows if the trainees will be safe. So, go. I¡¯ll make an opening for you,¡± Davey said urgently. Illyna looked like she had now remembered the rest of the trainees and then nodded. She probably agreed because of the faith that she had in Davey¡¯s strength and power. She then said, ¡°Don¡¯t get hurt. I know that won¡¯t happen, but book it if you think it¡¯s dangerous.¡± ¡®Book it? Is that something that should come out of an imperial princess¡¯ mouth?¡¯ Davey was no longer surprised by Illyna¡¯s true self whenever she was with him. Of course, the men in black robes were definitely not going to sit back and allow Illyna to leave, and they were going to try to stop her; since Davey had already told her that he would make an opening, it would only be right for him to do so. ¡°Rinne,¡± Davey called out. ¡°Requesting the use of a new piece of equipment.¡± ¡°As you wish.¡± ¡®A new piece of equipment¡­¡¯ The only equipment of Rinne¡¯s that Davey knew of was the two strange-looking things on the back of her hand and the large cannon-like weapon. He was intrigued by Rinne¡¯s new equipment that she had developed. Shwing. Davey¡¯s curiosity immediately disappeared when he saw the weapon Rinne was making. ¡°That is¡­ Um¡­¡± -A metal lever? It was a metal rod shaped in a right angle. ¡®A crowbar, was it?¡¯ Davey could feel cold sweat running down his body when he saw Rinne¡¯s terrifying weapon. ¡°Was this bat your weapon?¡± ¡°Rinne. Creation of weapons is based on and made by the most powerful thing in Sir Davey¡¯s shallow knowledge. Rinne highly values the bat among all of it,¡± Rinne commented with confidence and glowing blue eyes as she swung the heavy metal bat around. Whoosh¡­ As the ring floating on top of her head began rotating with speed to emit light, Rinne¡¯s wings shone and her wings¡¯ light particles started flying into the bat. Perhaps the hidden people realized the strangeness of Rinne¡¯s glow; they noticed something was strange and charged at Rinne to attack. However, Rinne, who lifted her left foot up, was a little faster than them. ¡°Rinne, values! This! Very! Much!!¡± Boom!! Boom!! Boom! Rinne tightly held onto the metal bat that had absorbed light, then stomped on the ground with her left foot. As she did, a large crack was carved up on the floor. As Rinne swung the metal bat, a few intense explosions of blue light happened one by one. Crash!! ¡°Amazing.¡± ¡®What kind of theory is Rinne¡¯s weapon based off of?¡¯ Davey couldn¡¯t erase the look of bewilderment off his face. He was certain that the bat was probably an ordinary piece of metal made from some kind of alloy that absorbed mana well. However, from the moment it came into Rinne¡¯s hand and began resonating with Rinne, it had become a nuclear weapon. Davey snatched the knife away from the person who was trying to assassinate him from behind, but his gaze was focused on Rinne and not the person in the black robe. ¡°Oh my¡­¡± Illyna widened her eyes at the large crater that had been left as part of the region that had blown up to bits. ¡°Stupid. Go already,¡± Davey told Illyna. ¡°Hup! You have to be okay!¡± Illyna came back to her senses when Davey criticized her, and she lowered herself to start her escape from the place. The enemies quickly tried to stop Illyna from leaving, but Rinne¡¯s bat that was charged with light particles cut through the air to smash everything into bits again. Booom!!!! With another huge explosion, Illyna left the place. Of course, the enemies tried to go after her since they weren¡¯t stupid, but¡­ ¡°Don¡¯t move. I can¡¯t say anything about this person¡¯s life if you take another step.¡± Davey shouted while pressing on the neck of the enemy who he had captured a little while ago. He yelled, ¡°Do you not care about what happens to this hostage?!¡± A cold silence surrounded them. ¡®This chill, it struck my heart ice c¡­ No, not this.¡¯ [1] When Davey caught a glimpse of the men¡¯s eyes through the black robes, he could see that they were staring at him like he was some sort of lunatic. He thought, ¡®Which means that they¡¯re not emotionless assassins.¡¯ Then, there was nothing better to waste their time than a hostage situation. ¡°Hey, no way,¡± Davey said. ¡°Keugh!¡± Rinne¡¯s eyes sparkled as Davey tightened his grip on the hostage, who tried to escape. She commented, ¡°A new skill to control the crowd. Rinne, analyzing that this is highly effective.¡± ¡°I hope you don¡¯t have to do anything like this.¡± ¡°Does not understand. Requiring an explanation,¡± Rinne asked calmly. Davey said nothing more. It would be a huge mess if Rinne, who did not have moral values, were to cause a hostage situation. He simply said to his hostage, ¡°I¡¯ll let you go after I check a few things with you.¡± Then, Davey uncovered the robed man who he was holding onto and asked, ¡°Are you guys part of Alpha Reinforcements?¡± The enemy of the knight order were evil beasts, not humans. Davey wondered who would come all the way here to attack the knight order when their identity was hidden as well. This meant that they were either the roots of disruption from within Alpha Reinforcements, or they had attacked them knowing that they were the knight order. ¡°Do you think I would tell you?¡± The man shouted with determination. Davey grinned. ¡°Everyone has a plan and a sense of pride...¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Until they get hit.¡±[2] Having Perserque¡¯s ability to see through the man was nice, but there was something so satisfying about hearing it from their mouths. Davey¡¯s eyes twinkled. Sizzle! [Mind Subjugation] [Dark Magic ¡®Curse Mark¡¯] [Spell Merger] [Fire of Interrogation] The torture flames, which had been used once on Pedkhid, the vampire, had appeared in the world one more time. ¡®No, who has called upon this devil?¡¯ Of course, Pedkhid had exploded and died before he could tell Davey everything. However, Davey didn¡¯t think that these people would have a similar curse on them. He thought, ¡®They messed up the entire thing because they underestimated their opponent. -Tsk¡­ The man¡¯s face was frozen with fear. He saw the purple flame burning in Davey¡¯s hand. ¡°Y¡­ You cruel jerk!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You won¡¯t die.¡± Davey patted the man¡¯s shoulder, chuckling, but soon dropped the smile from his face. He said, ¡°You slashed dozens of people, and then if that wasn¡¯t enough, you pointed your sword at me, but what? Cruel? Me?¡± Whoosh! ¡°Keu¡­ Kahhhh?!?¡± The man noticed that this wasn¡¯t an ordinary flame as soon as it touched his skin. It didn¡¯t burn him, but he could feel a nasty, intense pain. This particular magic spell was from a disciple deeply interested in studying about the human body, so it knew where to attack to inflict the worst pain. ¡®If he was trying to kill me, he should¡¯ve known that he could die while trying.¡¯ The black-robed man tried to flail around, but Davey was holding him so tightly that he couldn¡¯t even do that easily. The reason that Davey didn¡¯t use the Touch of Death to stop the man from moving was to maximize the theatricality of it. ¡°You cruel jerk!!¡± Some of the black-robed men charged at Davey, who stepped on the man, like they couldn¡¯t stand to watch the man screaming in pain and foaming at the mouth. However, their attacks were blocked as Rinne kicked them away like a flash of light. ¡°Keugh! Wheeze¡­ Wheeze¡­¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get one thing straight.¡± It seemed like the men were misunderstanding something big-time, so Davey said, ¡°You guys can¡¯t run away now.¡± ¡®Consider yourselves unlucky for running into me. It is a huge crime to stand in my way.¡¯ ¡°I¡¯m doing it one more time. Do anything to endure it. The guy before you couldn¡¯t stand five minutes.¡± The man was engulfed in fear when he saw Davey¡¯s terrifying smile. He cried out, ¡°Gahhh!!! I¡¯ll tell you!! I¡¯ll talk, alright!!¡± Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. Although the man was flailing around desperately and screaming, Davey went on to pierce him with [Fire of Interrogation] all over his body. The man¡¯s mind had probably gone blank, since he couldn¡¯t go mad even if he wanted to. Taking away the flame, Davey smiled with satisfaction at the man who was trembling and wheezing. ¡°You didn¡¯t set a new record.¡± Davey knew from experience that the dam flame was not something that someone could take for a long period of time. He asked again, ¡°Alright. Let me ask again: are you members of the Alpha Reinforcements?¡± This was the most important thing that Davey had to find out: if the men were enemies from the outside or inside. As Davey gestured for him to hurry up, the man clenched his jaw and glared at him. However, he still couldn¡¯t hide his fear and mumbled, ¡°We¡¯re¡­¡± ¡°That can¡¯t happen.¡± Slice! The man¡¯s head fell off with a horrifying sound just as he was about to talk. At the same time, an invisible energy hit Davey, who had no choice but to retreat from the dead man. Then, Davey stared down at his quivering hand. ¡®This body is too weak.¡¯ ¡°Everyone, retreat. Now, carry on with the original plan.¡± The surviving black-robed men bowed their heads quietly and disappeared once the man who barged into the battle commanded. The men headed in the opposite direction of where Illyna and Davey had come from. ¡°This is the first time we¡¯re meeting, yes? Trainee Davey, is it?¡± The man was wearing the Alpha Reinforcements¡¯ classy uniform. Just by looking at him, Davey could feel that his depth of power was something entirely different from any other swordsman. He added, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but you must stop here.¡± Davey couldn¡¯t help but laugh. 1. A reference to the Korean movie, Tazza, said by Go-ni, the main character. Go-ni gambles with A-gwi, one of the top gamblers in the country, and he says this line when he starts to feel that he might lose. However, Go-ni pretends to get caught cheating to throw A-gwi off, then turns the tables in the end and wins against him. ? 2. A reference to Mike Tyson¡¯s pre-game interview. ? CH 137 54. The Return of the Phantom of Martial Arts Although Davey didn¡¯t know the name or face of the man in front of him, he was sure that the man was the Alpha Reinforcements¡¯ captain. ¡°This is still a place where people live.¡± ¡°Warning. Detection of high energy. Rinne will remove it if it approaches any further.¡± ¡°Hm, a very loyal young lady, as expected. I didn¡¯t know that experienced knights from the outside would struggle to face her,¡± the man mumbled. He stared at Rinne, who took back her metal bat and summoned her two lightsabers. Rinne looked nothing but confident as she stood with the two lightsabers that she had summoned from the equipment on the back of her hand. ¡®Prxxoss?¡¯ [1] Although the final appearance was completely different, Rinne instinctively made most of her weapons by using the information she gathered from Davey. It was probably true that her instincts were linked to Davey¡¯s ideas. ¡°Well, don¡¯t be so hostile.¡± ¡°I think we¡¯ve seen each other before.¡± ¡°Hm? I have never seen you before?¡± ¡°You shouldn¡¯t lie so much, you know.¡± Davey grinned, then intensified the sword energy that he was releasing from his fingertips. He added nonchalantly, ¡°Is it really the first time we¡¯re meeting? You¡¯ve already seen me once, and we even talked. Remember when you asked me to hand Rinne over?¡± The man¡¯s smile disappeared from his face. ¡°I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re just quick, or¡­¡± ¡°I am crazy good at detection.¡± Davey smiled before adopting a serious expression. ¡°How could I just accept a compliment without giving anything in return?¡± Boom!!! The counter-attack happened in mere seconds. ¡°Keugh?!¡± The man was knocked back without even being able to react to the sudden, invisible attack. He rolled and flew much further away than Davey had been pushed back. Davey could tell that the man was incredibly powerful; it meant that the man was strong enough to easily beat a new Swordmaster. Of course, he had expected this kind of power from someone who was a captain of the knight order. ¡°Cough¡­ It¡¯s even more amazing than I thought now that I have seen it myself. Of course, you¡¯re fearless; you have this kind of power.¡± Faintly groaning, the man stood up with his jaw still slightly clenched. ¡°Amazing. Would you like to join me?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll hear you out at least,¡± Davey shook his wrists and said casually. The man chuckled. ¡°I will compliment you on sending Trainee Illyna de Pallan away. She has talent, but her personality isn¡¯t really fit for us.¡± ¡°She¡¯s a little brazen, but it¡¯s true that she is nice.¡± Davey wondered how difficult it would be for royalty, who were born divine, to see humans as humans and to stop injustice by analyzing the problem realistically. In that sense, Davey thought quite highly of Illyna. As Davey gestured for him to talk, the man chuckled. He asked, ¡°You. Do you know how far in the Zone of Evil the Alpha Reinforcements have discovered?¡± ¡°I heard it was the beginning of the central forest.¡± Then, the man set down his sword on the ground. ¡°You¡¯re wrong. To be honest, we haven¡¯t even gone near the central region.¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t gone there?¡± ¡°Yes, the evil beasts are stronger when you get deeper into the forest. There were too many huge dangers in the Pandora Region to push through with force alone. As such, the farthest the knight order has gone in history is up to the beginning of the forest¡­ We also couldn¡¯t clear all the monsters.¡± After mumbling quietly, the man continued on, ¡°Not only that, but there are also kings of evil beasts in each part of the Pandora Region. As the trainees know, there is Shandra, the king of the central region, and three more kings behind Shandra.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Now do you understand? The knight order will never be able to overcome the Pandora Region like this.¡± The man was trying to persuade Davey. ¡°Numerous members of the order would die, and more lives would unnecessarily be sacrificed. So, I thought¡­ Why do humans have to die fighting evil beasts?¡± ¡°You¡¯re denying the foundation of the knight order.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t we make evil beasts fight each other?¡± Planting his sword into the ground, the man spread his arms wide as if he was explaining a grand goal. ¡°If it were up to you, what would you do? What would you do if you had the chance to capture and take control of Shandra, the transcendental being and king of evil beasts¡­ If you had the chance to kill the catastrophically powerful monster?!¡± The man was already in euphoria as he shouted loudly. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t we be able to reform all of the Pandora Region without any more knights dying?!¡± ¡°Taking control of transcendental beings... I assume you mentioned it because you have something in mind?¡± ¡®Is this guy serious? He doesn¡¯t know what a transcendental being means to me right now.¡¯ ¡°That¡¯s right. We have already somewhat succeeded in controlling Shandra. However, it is unstable.¡± Davey was a little surprised by the man¡¯s answer, but he wasn¡¯t completely surprised. ¡°That is why I am proposing this! There is no need for any more human sacrifices. We will reform the Pandora Region by using the powers of Shandra and the evil beasts that follow it! We do not know what will be discovered at the end of it! That is why it¡¯s all the more worth trying!¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°There might be something exceptional, or there might be an ancient sacred item from an ancient ruin! Or there could be something new that has yet to be discovered in this world!¡± The man continued to shout in madness, ¡°In the west, they say, ¡®Take care of barbarians by using barbarians.¡¯ The sacrifices now may be painful, but if we succeed in taking complete control of a transcendental being! It will be the greatest accomplishment in the knight order¡¯s history!¡± ¡°Is that a reason to mass slaughter the knights?¡± ¡°The only opportunity was right now when most of the knights who observed the condition of Shandra were all scattered.¡± Davey was wondering why the less effective barrier compared to the one around the headquarters was cast over the forest, and now he knew. It meant that this was a fight for power among the knight order, but the outside. It was best to stay out of something like this since it would just complicate things, but it becomes entirely different if it was about him. ¡°Let¡¯s get one thing straight.¡± The man looked at Davey curiously. ¡°I have a brain, so I¡¯ve read the rules to the knight order.¡± Davey took away his sword energy and pulled out Red Ribbon. ¡®Definite slaughter instead of stopping them.¡¯ The choice was simple. ¡°Wasn¡¯t the overall rule of the Last Wisp not the exploration and acquisition of the Zone of Evil, but the protection of humanity from the dangers from the Zone of Evil? Since when did the ancient promise turn into something like that?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°The cart was put before the horse. You lost focus on what it should actually be about; you slaughtered dozens of completely normal members of the knight order, saying that you don¡¯t want any more people suffering.¡± The man¡¯s expression tensed up as he heard Davey, who added, ¡°I don¡¯t know if you understand double standards. You have different standards for yourself compared to other people.¡± ¡°How unfortunate. I thought someone as realistic as you would understand our great goal.¡± ¡°To be honest, the reason I am declining is not because of the two things mentioned before¡­¡± Davey said calmly. The man widened his eyes slightly. ¡°It¡¯s because you attacked me. You should at least apologize if you pointed your sword at someone. And the transcendental being is mine. It¡¯s not something you should want.¡± ¡®He also shouldn¡¯t think to cooperate if he has no intention of apologizing.¡¯ As Davey spoke while using [Aura Blade], the man smiled bitterly and said, ¡°Yours¡­ Haha, how extremely arrogant. It¡¯s too bad, but what can you do? You have no choice but to die here.¡± ¡°I assure you that you should give it your everything when you attack me.¡± ¡°Seems I should. I thought you were just a strange little kid, but that sword¡­ It¡¯s not just any ordinary sword.¡± The man stared at Red Ribbon with greed, then raised one hand. He added, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you one thing before you die. Aren¡¯t you curious about how we took control of the transcendental being?¡± ¡°I already know.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°He¡¯s not exactly an illusionist, right? You just call him that because there¡¯s no other way to describe his ability to control senses.¡± Davey swung his sword toward a space not too far away from him. [Demon Sword 15th Form] [Destruction of Rifts] Crack! This was a sword technique that split open crevices in space. As Davey¡¯s red blade energy cut through part of the space, the void began distorting to reveal a boy standing there. The boy who was covered in blood looked familiar. ¡°I told you that illusionists were really unique.¡± ¡°How did¡­¡± ¡°If you can¡¯t find them with your five senses, use your sixth sense.¡± For the first time, the boy looked surprised and not emotionless. Davey shrugged when he spoke to Treve, the illusionist. Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°I don¡¯t know how powerful that transcendental being is, but I assure you that this insanity will definitely fail.¡± ¡°How unfortunate.¡± As the man spoke¡­ Boom!!!! As the empty space began distorting, something large swung at Davey and knocked him far away. ¡°It is true that you are strong, but I wonder how you will be against a transcendental being that can take on dozens of Swordmasters at once.¡± The monster revealed from the empty space was so gigantic and powerful that it seemed like a dragon from an ancient legend. * * * The monster was about one hundred fifty meters long, and it had large scales and four tough claws. There was a sharp horn on its long neck and its jaw was like a living battering ram. Its amber-colored eyes were so overwhelming that it could be considered an ancient dragon only if it had wings. Davey could instinctively tell what this dragon, which had blue light shining from between its scales, was. ¡°Ouch¡­¡± It was the new, enormous transcendental being, Shandra, which had rooted itself in the Pandora Region. As the unprecedented monster that took down four Swordmasters without getting a scratch, its presence was so overwhelming that most people would tremble just by looking at its overwhelmingly big size. Considering that Treve had hidden the presence of something this big, it seemed like he was quite talented as well. -Davey! Perserque shouted in surprise; perhaps it was because this was the first time Davey had bled. It wasn¡¯t that Davey had underestimated the transcendental being, but the attack was faster than he could have reacted to. ¡°Ouch¡­ I¡¯m fine.¡± -The transcendental being! ¡°It¡¯s not a transcendental being.¡± At first, Davey thought that it might be. He thought that there was no way, but just as he expected, there was no such thing as 100% in this world. ¡°People call it a transcendental being because it has this kind of power.¡± Speaking up, Davey stood up from in between the cracks of the completely shattered rocks and pulled out Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon. He released all of his energy. ¡®If I¡¯m going up against this guy, I¡¯m going to have to release all the power I have.¡¯ ¡°Shandra Minea. You¡¯ve gone too far.¡± Shandra Minea, the king of the mythical beasts that was once called the Overlord of the Ground, was completely different from the Shandra Davey knew; it was just boasting its enormous presence in front of him as a monster with nothing but instincts. 1. From StarXraft ? CH 138 Originally, Shandra Minea was a hero from the Hall; it was one of the mythical beasts of Shane Scrift. Shane wasn¡¯t from Tionis, so the probability that Shandra Minea existing here should be next to zero. However, it was right in front of Davey¡¯s eyes; he had to believe it. He thought Shandra would just be an evil beast who had gotten stronger from its long lifetime, but it was much more than he had expected. ¡°Hm¡­ Still alive after a hit from a transcendental being. Was that holy magic protecting you?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Davey let out a deep sigh as he glanced at the man speaking nonchalantly from afar. He couldn¡¯t help but scoff. ¡®This would¡¯ve been a pretty deadly hit if it wasn¡¯t for the 7th level holy magic [Holy Blessing] he had cast before entering the forest.¡¯ ¡°I¡¯m telling you; you¡¯ve done something completely insane. Do you know that? Shandra Minea is a mythical beast with unbelievable immunity.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± This wasn¡¯t just crazy, but it was insane. From the looks of it, it seemed like Shandra Minea¡¯s clone that had separated from its real body; if the clone was this powerful, Davey could already imagine what the actual one would be like. -Grrr¡­ The surrounding air began to vibrate with the clone¡¯s low growling. A powerful being affected their surroundings just by leaving a mark of their presence. If the original body had the capability of a Grandmaster, there was a good possibility that its clone, which only had a part of the original power, could also leave a mark of their presence as well. This was also the case in the Duchy of Felicity where Davey used the 9th level ultimate holy magic [Saint Sanctuary]; the aftermath of the holy power hadn¡¯t disappeared yet. ¡°How unfortunate¡­ So unfortunate. What else can I do? Kill him, Treve.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Treve answered the man calmly, then his eyes glistened as he provoked Shandra once more with his abilities. Twisting its body, Shandra began to scream and resist. Then, it glared at Davey. Shandra normally wasn¡¯t weak enough to be tricked by illusions, but it seemed like the reason it was falling under was because it was ruined in a strange way. The captain stared at it with satisfaction and then quickly ran toward the direction where the other men in black robes went as if he had nothing more to do here. It seemed like he didn¡¯t doubt for a second that Davey was going to be defeated by Shandra. ¡®Well, I would think like that, too.¡¯ At the same time, Shandra locked his large eyes onto him as he opened his jaws wide. Shing¡­ Zing!! As Davey was about to shout, a large blue ray of light flashed before his eyes. ¡®An extremely cold breath.¡¯ Shandra¡¯s frosty attacks were incomparably more powerful than the small lasers Rinne shot. Its unbelievable power was evident in the fact that it shot a huge hole in the mountains behind him with one breath. ¡®Still, it¡¯s a lot weaker than when it could split the sea in half.¡¯ The original Shandra had the power of a Grandmaster. It was somewhat of a relief that this clone of Shandra didn¡¯t exhibit the same level of power Davey knew. ¡°Wow¡­¡± -Yo¡ªYour arm¡­¡± It was as if Davey couldn¡¯t react in time not because he didn¡¯t know the attack was coming but because his body was too slow to move. He frowned when he glanced at his left arm that had basically turned into powder from the powerful blast of frost. He had no choice but to drop Blue Ribbon, but it was a relief that the blade seemed unaffected by the breath. ¡®I guess it isn¡¯t a divine sword for no reason.¡¯ -Davey, why Blue Ribbon¡­ ¡°You think the power is almighty?¡± If his opponent was something like Shandra, his actual powers were more important than the actual power of the sword. Strictly speaking, Shandra¡¯s breaths were also energy balls, which were part of the anti-physical realm. Davey would be able to slash Shandra, but if he did, he would become a mummy after all his mana would be drained from his body. This wasn¡¯t right, but he wasn¡¯t one to back down. ¡°This isn¡¯t just any opportunity.¡± He was going to try and find remnants of either Shandra or some other transcendental being, but there was no need for that if there was one standing right in front of him. -I am begging you, Davey, but please be careful! You must be careful of everything! Davey had one chance, and he was as careful and cautious as anyone could be right now. To do this¡­ ¡°First, I am going to eat it.¡± In the end, metamorphing was the complete destruction and rearrangement of the body. Davey could never forget the one thing that the ¡®Survival Expert¡¯ had told him: there was nothing humans couldn¡¯t eat, but it was that the body would not be able to handle everything. For a transcendental being as strong as Shandra, the power in its body would be extremely intense and strong; furthermore, it would be the worst thing for the human body. This meant that it was a perfect bomb for him. * * * -Roar!!!! For the first time, Rinne frowned as Shandra¡¯s loud roar crushed the surrounding atmosphere. Considering that Rinne, who always maintained a straight face no matter what, was clenching her jaw, it seemed like the effect was pretty strong. ¡®It¡¯s not like you¡¯re a transparent dragon or something.¡¯ Of course, Shandra¡¯s roar also affected Treve as well. ¡°Cough!¡± Treve turned pale and coughed up a lot of blood. As his eyes glistened with light once more, a blue energy surrounded Shandra Minea, the terrestrial dragon. ¡°It''s almost done¡­ I will not fail now¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re funny.¡± ¡°What?¡± When you''re just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°It might stumble a little now, but in a few days, your illusion magic won¡¯t work.¡± ¡°My illusions are not weak.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that you¡¯re weak; that guy is just strong.¡± The only reason Davey hadn¡¯t pierced his sword into Treve yet was because Shandra¡¯s movements had become quite awkward since Treve was controlling Shandra, although Treve himself was barely holding on. ¡®I¡¯m letting you go just this once since it makes things a little easier for me.¡¯ Dodging Shandra¡¯s tail, which flung toward him with a sonic boom, Davey charged toward its upper back and struck with his fist loaded with sword energy. The only way a sword could be pierced into tough scales was to first create a crack in it by giving it some kind of shock. It would be easy for Davey to be defeated if he attacked it without knowing this. -Kahhhh!!! Perhaps it could still feel pain even though it had become half-monster. The scales of Shandra, who was screaming and struggling to get Davey off its body, was much more tough than he had imagined. However, Davey was a pro at slashing and cutting things. He released more mana than he could handle and fired up Red Ribbon¡¯s power, then threw the blade right at the part where the scale was slightly dented. Splatter!! With a very small cut, some blood splattered in the air. ¡°I can tell how damn tough you are now that I fight you after being nerfed.¡± Of course, this wasn¡¯t enough. It would be difficult to slash even Shandra¡¯s scales with Davey¡¯s current physical abilities that had been strengthened with buff magic spells and level of power he could use. ¡°Shandra Minea is a monster that has evolved over thousands of years.¡± Even if the being in front of Davey was just a clone, a monster like that would match up to a dragon written in ancient books. Whip! Shing¡­ Bringing Red Ribbon, which was flying in the air, into his only arm, Davey took a short breath and closed his eyes. ¡°Dear Goddess Freyja, who watches over everything in the world¡­¡± The most effective kind of buff magic was holy magic. ¡°I will do more than I can handle, so please, so that your little sheep will not walk in the dark anymore¡­¡± ¡®If I don¡¯t have enough power, I have no choice but to borrow some.¡¯ ¡°Watch over me. What I yearn for is your power.¡± Whoosh¡­ As Davey¡¯s prayer went on, the holy power inside him began reacting like crazy; although it was extremely lazy, it became the most passionate if it received the divine will. ¡°Blue Ribbon, I¡¯m borrowing some of your holy power.¡± It was Red Ribbon before, but now it was Blue Ribbon. The large amount of holy power flowing out from Blue Ribbon¡¯s blade began chemically reacting with the holy power within Davey. ¡°The cost¡­¡± Davey trailed off and opened his eyes while saying his last prayer, ¡°Let¡¯s just call it even with doing good deeds.¡± [9th level Holy Magic] [Replica of Holy Wings] It wasn¡¯t an ultimate holy magic spell, but it was still at the 9th level. ¡®It wasn¡¯t like I¡¯ve done nothing in the meantime.¡¯ Unlike other types of magic, even a newbie priest could create a miracle of God if they had holy power and experience. That was actually the reason how Davey was able to cast the 9th level ultimate holy magic, [Saint Sanctuary], at the Duchy of Felicity. Although this wasn¡¯t nearly as much holy power compared to Caldeiras, Davey had put his life on the line for this; he would actually welcome the rebound to his body! Whoosh!!!! An incomparable amount of holy power flowed out from Davey¡¯s back and created a set of large, white wings made with energy. It looked super cheesy, but the power contained in it and the power linked with Davey was not weak. The color of his sight started to change as the stigmata began resonating and a suffocating amount of holy power surrounded his entire body. Davey¡¯s eyes, which were normally red, had probably turned to white gold, which was called the Eyes of God. Davey didn¡¯t stop with the attack-type 9th level holy magic that allowed him to borrow God¡¯s fake wings, but cast dozens of other spells on it. Whoosh!!! ¡°What is¡­¡± Davey could see Treve¡¯s shocked face as energy gathered toward him while dodging Shandra¡¯s attacks from afar. However, Davey had no time to pay much attention to Treve. ¡®There would be no second chances if I missed this opportunity now.¡¯ As an incomparable amount of power surrounded his body, Davey felt a little satisfied as it had been a long time since he had felt this kind of power. ¡®It¡¯s not exactly enough, but it shouldn¡¯t matter, right?¡¯ Using [Aura Blade] with Red Ribbon, Davey crushed the wings on his back and converted it all into power. At the same time, Shandra¡¯s huge front feet came down with immense weight and power like it was trying to crush him. It wasn¡¯t just any stomping, since he could practically feel the pressure of Shandra¡¯s essence. [Combined Spontaneous Quick Draw] ¡°You don¡¯t even have your original body! Don¡¯t mess with me!¡± Davey charged toward Shandra without dodging its attack, which contained destructive power. He crossed and twisted Red Ribbon, which he was holding with one hand, and Blue Ribbon, which he was holding with [Telekinetic Blade] since he only had one hand, in the sky. [Divine Union] [Telekinetic Blade Control] [Heavenly Double Fangs] Two large fangs that pierced through the sky ripped Shandra¡¯s feet and pierced one side of its shoulder. All the buff magic disappeared from Davey at that moment, but he had already reached his goal. He could see Treve¡¯s wide eyes of shock when he successfully pierced through Shandra¡¯s tough skin. ¡®What I am going to show you right now is going to be much more bewildering and surprising.¡¯ Davey quickly ran up the arm of Shandra, who was shouting and flailing around, and threw Red Ribbon up into the air to hover it in the sky. Then, he dug his fist with sword energy into the cut on its shoulder. Splatter!!! Then, Davey ripped off Shandra¡¯s skin, which was covered in blood. -Kahhh!! Davey, who backed away from the screaming and flailing Shandra, was knocked quite far back. He still did not let go of the piece of skin in his hand. ¡°Hm, what a foul smell.¡± Although Davey was confident he could eat it, it didn¡¯t mean that it didn¡¯t spoil his appetite. Staring at the skin, he pushed it into his mouth and swallowed it without hesitation. Whoosh! Boom!! ¡°Keugh!¡± At the same time, Davey¡¯s strangely rotating mana that had been prepared earlier resonated with Shandra¡¯s skin and began putting intense pressure on him. Like a rock, Davey stiffened and collapsed. The body Davey had prepared beforehand reacted vigorously as soon as it began accepting the chaotic power contained within its skin. Then, it began destroying Davey little by little from the inside. -Davey!!! As Perserque screamed, Davey glanced at Shandra through his hazy vision. As mad as it could ever be, Shandra began building up its breath in its mouth like it was going to destroy him. He didn¡¯t know how Shandra Minea, a fire-type, had come to have extremely cold frost, but he suspected that this attack would be enough to destroy him. ¡®I¡¯ll punish you if you don¡¯t get the last hit right.¡¯ As soon as Davey concluded, an extremely cold, frosty breath enveloped him. However, Shandra didn¡¯t stop there and blew up part of the Zone of Evil without leaving a trace. CH 139 Treve could feel that he was on the verge of collapsing as he watched Davey disappear without a trace. Illusions weren¡¯t ridiculously powerful; Treve had also sacrificed too many things to subdue a giant transcendental being like Shandra. Although, it showed how OP his abilities were just from the fact that he could do that in the first place. ¡°Cough¡­ Cough! Gag!¡± Treve kept coughing up blood, and his body was beyond wrecked, but he couldn¡¯t die now. Treve had a clear goal in life: to receive orders and execute them. For someone like him, who had received orders ever since he could understand them, he never found it worthwhile to consider alternatives. However, he didn¡¯t feel good at all for some reason; he didn¡¯t desperately hold onto this job, even killing his partner along the way, to feel like this. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you doing anything?¡± Treve thought Davey, who was reduced into powder by Shandra¡¯s breath, was dead for sure. He stared at Rinne, who was strangely still. Considering her temper, it wouldn¡¯t be weird for her to run wild this instant. ¡°Sir Davey isn¡¯t dead.¡± Rinne, who was staring into space, stood still. ¡°Your master is dead. He turned to powder from the breath.¡± ¡°Rinne is sure that Sir Davey is not dead.¡± ¡°You are not going to kill me?¡± ¡°That is for Sir Davey to do. Rinne thinks that arrogation is something to be avoided.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡®How is he going to kill me when he¡¯s already dead? Does she simply not want to accept the fact that he is dead?¡¯ A little confused, Treve took control of Shandra, who was trying to go crazy, and moved it around again. ¡®All the obstacles are now taken care of.¡¯ The only thing left for Treve to do was create a strong and durable leash that could control Shandra, even if it killed him; he couldn¡¯t die before accomplishing that. It was difficult to calm down Shandra, who was furious at the unexpected resistance, but Treve successfully subdued it without too much difficulty. Perhaps it was thanks to the repeated brainwashing. Since Shandra was monstrously powerful, its right foot and shoulder that Davey had pierced through were already growing back. ¡°It¡¯s a worthless death after all,¡± Treve mumbled, then walked past Rinne to follow Shandra. Even then, Rinne did not stop him, but just stared at where Davey had disappeared calmly. * * * The breath left traces of white frost everywhere. The chill was so severe that no living thing would survive it, and it made one¡¯s skin sting just from coming too close. However, Rinne waited silently in the trace of the breath like it was nothing. Perhaps it was because she was a biological golem, or it was because she was a White Wing. There were no evil beasts that would be brave enough to come here after a transcendental being had fought here. As a result, this place had become so quiet that one could probably hear an ant crawl. To Rinne, the way to control Shandra or the knight order¡¯s goal was not important; she did nothing but wait. She certainly prioritized her master over some little promise like a test. Whoosh¡­ After ten minutes of silence had passed, Rinne slowly got up. She found a light shining from where Davey had disappeared. ¡°Thinks very highly of Sir Davey¡¯s survival abilities. Furthermore, Rinne is thinking that Sir Davey has changed completely. Is maintaining a large storage of power. At least ten times more than before; unable to detect anything higher than that.¡± Rinne didn¡¯t hear a response, but she had a face of satisfaction. Whoosh!!!! It made sense that Rinne looked satisfied because the empty space, which only had the two swords that Davey had left behind, began to ripple and gather light particles. Those light particles flickered like small flames that had fallen out of a fire pit and created a human. The human was about 180 centimeters tall, and one could tell it was a muscular man. The familiar human slowly materialized into his natural form without any clothing. It was Davey. The left arm he had lost while fighting Shandra Minea had also come back with no problem. It was so quiet even though a whirlwind of incredible power had swept over this place. Rinne just waited for Davey, who was as quiet as the eye of a hurricane, to open his eyes. Only when his body was done forming did she make a comment. ¡°Rinne thinks that Sir Davey¡¯s body is very fit.¡± ¡°That¡¯s sexual harassment,¡± Davey mumbled with a grin as he opened his eyes. ¡°It¡¯s a relief that I metamorphed before I got any older. Don¡¯t you think it would be a problem if I got older and I stayed that way for the rest of my life?¡± More than that, Davey felt quite sad that he was now free from the vigorous bowel activity that he had been forcibly suppressing. ¡°Analyzing that nothing changed even with a different appearance. Unclear. Furthermore, reporting that, in your knowledge, there¡¯s a good image of being a handsome middle-aged man.¡± Rinne then silently pointed toward Davey¡¯s testicles. ¡°Rinne thinks highly of Sir Davey¡¯s confidence, but thinks very lowly of him showing all of it.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Rinne detecting the inflow of a very harmful virus. Requiring an immediate formatting.¡± Not only did Rinne close her eyes tightly, but she also used both hands to shield her vision. Davey, who looked a little baffled by Rinne¡¯s calm complaints, swung his fist in the air. Boom!! At the same time, the empty space shattered and cracked. This magic spell that rearranged space was something that 6th circle mages, who were the equivalent of Swordmasters, couldn¡¯t even mimic: the [Space Pocket], a 7th circle space magic that opened the Pocket Plane. This was a spell that most archmages in the continent couldn¡¯t use; the fact that Davey was able to cast it without difficulty showed that he had achieved most of what he wanted. Then, Davey reached into the pocket and pulled out a set of black everyday clothes. He said, ¡°Huh, the Pocket Plane I made before opens here, too. My expansion pouch vanished into thin air. What would I have done if this didn¡¯t open either?¡± Davey threw on an expensive-looking robe with a playful smile, and pulled out a small vial with a shining substance and drank it. Then, he chuckled and spoke into the air like he was talking to someone else, ¡°Oh, this? The Elixir (The Teardrop of God).¡± * * * Unlike how Davey was returning to perfect condition from drinking the Elixir, which had only a few drops of it left in the vial, his heart was worsening. He thought, ¡®Damn, I went through so much to get that Elixir¡­¡¯ -E¡­ Elixir? What is¡­ ¡°It was a gift.¡± There wasn¡¯t a lot of stuff in Davey¡¯s Pocket Plane, but there were a few good things in there. Even the everyday clothing he pulled out looked ordinary¡­but was an extremely luxurious piece of clothing with hundreds of layers of magic spells on it. ¡°Now, should I test it out?¡± As Davey familiarly ripped the end of his sleeve, part of the clothing that had ripped turned into particles and stuck back onto the sleeve to return to its original state. It was something like shape memory cloth, a regenerating cloth that was extremely rare. When the cloth was ripped, the torn part would disintegrate, return to its original place, and then materialize again. Davey knew how complex this piece of work was, since almost 70% more magic circles had been added for this function. There were many heroes in the Hall, and Davey was able to create something by retracing their memories. However, if it wasn¡¯t a material that had been made by putting in a lot of time, like the ancient dragon bones that he had worked with before, most things would not stay in the Pocket Plane. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s here.¡± ¡°Rinne cannot analyze the metal components of the weapon. Requiring new information.¡± ¡°Longinus, the divine spear. It¡¯s made of helixium steel.¡± Davey giggled and pulled out an object that was wrapped in cloth from the Pocket Plane. Then, he chuckled as he stared at something that he had missed from not seeing it for a long time. This was a gift that Surtr, Davey¡¯s blacksmith teacher, had gifted Emperor Astrea, the conquering king of the Bord continent; it was given to Davey afterwards, and it was one of the only things he could keep in his Pocket Plane. Astrea¡¯s specialty was spearmanship; from long spears to short, he was a Grand Spearmaster who had reached a transcendental level, and this sword was his favorite postpartum weapon. Now, it was Davey¡¯s weapon. Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t have an ego like Caldeiras, Surtr¡¯s divine sword, or Red and Blue Ribbon finished by Davey. Still, the metal making up this spear was no joke. Helixium steel had five times the mana conductivity rate of orichalcum, the material called the ¡®metal of God¡¯, and its elasticity was similar to refined adamantium. Simply put, this was a damn heavy and durable spear that was stupidly good at taking in mana. Of course, this simple spear had undergone some remodeling since Davey got his hands on it. -It looks like a cross. This spear, which had a cross-shaped blade, could be used for spearmanship, but there was nothing better than this for bringing out holy power. ¡°We¡¯ll see the rest later. We have to first finish what we started.¡± Now that Davey had concluded his business here, he had to finish what he had been putting off for so long. Davey put Blue Ribbon, which had fainted from using a large amount of holy power, and stored it in the Pocket Plane. Then, he used his power on Longinus. Bleep! Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. Name: Divine Spear Longinus. State: Awakened. Form: Transformation spear that can remember certain shapes. Length: Two meters and ten centimeters. Weight: Eighty kilograms. Current form: Cross. Material: 100% helixium steel. Notes: A weapon that the God of Blacksmiths had made for five hundred years for his friend; afterwards, Davey, the student of the ¡®Thousand-day Blacksmith¡¯, successfully improved it; no ego; remembers three forms: first, the divine cross, second, the spear form, and the third, blue dragon scimitar. Has the characteristic of ¡®Forever Unbreaking¡¯ (Never breaks); over five times better at conducting energy than orichalcum; each form has unique abilities. This was Davey¡¯s first time looking into it in such detail, but now he could see that Astrea had passed on something incredible to him. -You have another weapon besides that? CH 140 ¡°About three: a handheld fan, a bow, and a staff.¡± The uses of each one didn¡¯t really matter at this point, so Davey just chose to use the spear. ¡®It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve been reunited with my weapon.¡¯ Davey could feel a large amount of mana, which was incomparable to before, running wild in his body as he lightly released the spear. He had holy power at around the 9th level, and his mana and devil mana were at about the 8th circle. As the amount of mana increased, the circles moved to create rings like they were finding their own places. Even though he had lost it once, it seemed like it wasn¡¯t lost forever. As Davey channeled his mana into Longinus, which was in cross-form, and began manifesting his will, the sturdy spear started transforming. When the light disappeared, it had turned into a sharp and straight spear. ¡°The spear form is the best.¡± Davey smiled, then licked his lips. Looking at Davey, Perserque shook her head with a pale face. -You changed once, and now¡­ Davey, your judgment hasn¡¯t been impaired from a headache or something like that, right? Just say it and I¡¯ll treat you. ¡®I know that you can move objects with demonic force, but now you can reform a human?¡¯ Perserque looked a little shocked and backed away from Davey. ¡°Sir Davey, Rinne detects Shandra Minea, the transcendental being, moving quickly to where your juniors are. Destruction of Puma due to accumulated damage.¡± ¡°The trainees? What about the others?¡± ¡°Everyone is alive; however, one suffered a huge injury, and another suffered some as well. Predicted that many will die in a short amount of time.¡± ¡°The trainees are going to spill blood if I just leave them.¡± ¡°Rinne, waiting for command.¡± ¡°Hm¡­ Will this work?¡± Davey could feel the spear¡¯s weight as he tossed it in his hand; of course, it felt heavy from being over eighty kilograms. Normal people who were not reinforced with mana would be crushed under its weight upon getting struck by it. ¡°Good work, Rinne. I¡¯ll take care of the rest, so you go for a vacation. Send this command over to the entire Decepticon Fleet: keep them safe until I get there.¡± Goddess Frejya¡­ Davey had made a promise with the divine will to do some good. What else would saving a bunch of young and innocent kids be if not a good deed? Of course, he was calculating his actions like a child, but he knew that dying wasn¡¯t exactly a pleasant experience; he was going to give back as much as he had received. ¡°Hup¡­¡± Davey slightly lowered himself and released his mana, which moved like crazy inside of him. Then, he shot up into the air with a huge shock wave, leaving a huge crater on the snowy ground. He could feel that the air was different as he got up high in the sky through reinforcing his jumping power and not by flying magic. He looked down at the large Pandora Region, commenting, ¡°Hm, nice. People should breathe in good air, you know?¡± -So brazen¡­ Leaving Perserque, who gave him an incredulous look, on his shoulder, Davey kept himself in the air using flying magic. Then, he secured his footing with air tiles and held up Longinus like he was going to throw it. He muttered, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± [Second unique ability of Divine Spear Longinus] [Nuclear Spear] Davey was about to show them why it was called ¡®nuclear¡¯. Tzz¡­ Tzzzzz!!! Divine Spear Longinus left Davey¡¯s hand and floated higher up in response to his mana. It slowly expanded while being surrounded by a bright light and lightning. The ¡®nuclear¡¯ weapon was only a spear about two meters and ten centimeters long, but it was growing into a large spear at least fifty meters long and ten meters thick. Even though a huge amount of mana had left Davey, who never experienced such a thing before, he did not feel exhausted at all. His mana was actively moving in his body right now due to the metamorph just before, but he would be able to do this again if he had this much power even in the future. As the lightning fully shaped into a spear, Davey aimed the end toward Shandra Minea, the black terrestrial dragon that he could see from his reinforced sense of sight. With a short breath, Davey threw the large lightning at it and yelled, ¡°You get one hit and I get one hit. It¡¯s fair, right!!!!!¡± Crackle!! Like accelerated metal bullets shot out of a railgun, gold flashes of light filled with energy fell onto Shandra Minea from the sky. Surprised by the sudden movement of power, Shandra moved and reflexively created a shield by releasing another power. However, [Nuclear Spear], Longinus¡¯ unique ability, ruthlessly shattered its shield and pierced Shandra like a skewer. In the end, Shandra flew hundreds of meters away. * * * ¡°Huff¡­ Puff¡­¡± Illyna, who left Davey to quickly join the other trainees, had to run for a while before the trainees could find her. They knew that something was wrong; the trainees, who were all standing with tense expressions, all gathered toward her as soon as they saw her. ¡°Illyna! You¡¯re okay!¡± ¡°What about Davey? What about Davey?!¡± Illyna was starting to get a headache at the children¡¯s panicked shouting, but she had to stay calm. She felt that she had a responsibility to explain the situation to the others, because Davey had sent her here with that task. ¡°Everyone calm down!¡± Boom! Illyna shouted sternly after she struck down on the ground with Caldeiras. She yelled, ¡°This is not the time! Let¡¯s move!¡± ¡°Is it¡­ an attack?¡± ¡°It is, isn¡¯t it? Teacher Boris contacted us¡­¡± However, it seemed like the children had an idea of what was going on. Illyna found this unexpected. ¡°I¡¯m relieved that you¡¯re okay, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Alyssa?¡± Alyssa Patrick, a self-acclaimed fanatic of Davey, handed Illyna a small crystal ball. She said, ¡°It¡¯s the¡­communication crystal that Sio Howl had. We got a call from Teacher Boris, although it was very short.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°We got word saying that there was an attack, and that the trainees should stop the test and hide together in one place.¡± Alyssa spoke in a rather calm tone. Shayir, the older sister of the elementalist twin, murmured with a pale face, ¡°The transcendental being! He said that the transcendental being moved! Oh¡­ And¡­ And!¡± ¡°Calm down, Shayir. Still, it is a relief that you have come¡­ but where is Prince Davey?¡± Illyna sighed at Alyssa¡¯s question and answered, ¡°Davey stayed there.¡± ¡°What¡­¡± ¡°Listen to me carefully. There was an attack. The senior knights who were protecting us all died. Do you know what I mean? Right now, we have to either escape from here ourselves or hold out. At least until we understand the situation.¡± Illyna didn¡¯t think that it would be a problem considering Davey¡¯s power, but she wondered if the people who attacked the knight order did something this stupid without knowing that. Most of all, what she was worried about the most was¡­that Shandra, the transcendental being, was active. It wasn¡¯t a transcendental being for no reason; she began to think that even Davey, who was stupidly strong, would not be able to win against the large and undefeatable monster classified as a transcendental being. It was a monster that was able to kill four Swordmasters before they could do anything. Even if Davey was strong, Illyna couldn¡¯t help but worry. ¡°Let¡¯s start moving for now. There¡¯s a hiding place prepared nearby.¡± Fendyr, the Holy Knight who was leading the group, spoke. Heg, the trainee who used the giant warrior, asked, ¡°What about Sio Howl?¡± ¡°That guy¡­¡± Lincy Peila¡¯s eyes began turning red as she spoke. Seeing that, Illyna could already tell what had happened even without an answer. ¡°It¡¯s bad. From what Lucia said, we should get ready¡­¡± ¡°Damn Treve! He had nothing to betray, so he took part in this insane thing and tried to kill his partner?!¡± One infuriated trainee shouted. The others looked somber. ¡°Davey! Where is Davey?! Without that guy, there¡¯s no one to protect¡­!¡± ¡°Damur!! Shut the hell up! Is Davey your guardian?!¡± ¡°Everyone is crazy! Are you out of your mind?! Can no one understand this situation?! The seniors were all slaughtered!! Ah¡­ I don¡¯t want to die. I don¡¯t want to die without being able to do anything!!¡± Watching him scream and fluster around with his gauntlet on the ground, his partner raised a staff and smacked him right on the back of his head. Thwack!! Then, Damur, who was screaming and making a scene, plopped over. ¡°Sorry, everyone. Damur is just a little immature, so I hope you aren¡¯t too upset.¡± Since Damur was extremely materialistic and fearful unlike Sio Howl, who was just full of pride, no one thought it was weird he was acting that way as he hadn¡¯t talked to Davey once and had been wary and jealous of him all the time. ¡®If he heard that, he would¡¯ve twisted his arm.¡¯ When you''re just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. Illyna didn¡¯t like how Damur was acting either. She said, ¡°First, Davey is taking care of the attackers. Even if it¡¯s a transcendental being, it won¡¯t be able to find us easily if we really try to hide. The thing we have to do before the Teachers come is to hold out. We should at least not be a burden.¡± Just as Illyna was about to ask them to lead the way to the hiding spot¡­ ¡°Sorry about that.¡± ¡°Hup?!¡± Boom!! With a sudden voice, something huge flew across the sky and crashed into the ground. Hiss¡­ That object was none other than one of Davey¡¯s golems, the mobile golem. All of Puma¡¯s armor was crushed in almost to the point that it didn¡¯t work anymore; all it did was glisten its blue eyes while on the floor, not able to get up. Puma¡¯s force was a little inferior to Illyna when she had Caldeiras since it was made for unique circumstances, but it wasn¡¯t something that could be taken down this easily. ¡°You said Davey? I really had my eyes on that boy. It¡¯s sad that he had to die like this.¡± As the man spoke, Illyna glared at him with her eyes wide open. He was strong. Absolutely and overwhelmingly strong. Swordmasters were strong, but the man in front of her was known to be someone who could easily take on three or four Swordmasters by himself. And¡­ ¡°C¡­ Captain¡­ What is¡­¡± He was also one of the captains that commanded the Alpha Reinforcements. ¡®Why is the captain that should be protecting us saying that?¡¯ ¡°Hm? Oh, I forgot the beginning. To be honest, you guys are very important aspects of this plan. Well, only a few you have to participate, so don¡¯t worry about it too much.¡± With that, people in black robes appeared from all over the place. ¡°Those¡­ I was sure Davey¡­¡± With her eyes wide open, Illyna murmured in shock. She knew what the appearance of the knights in black robes who were being stopped by Davey and Rinne meant. ¡°Trainee Illyna. I¡¯m sorry, but your partner Davey was killed a few minutes ago by Shandra.¡± ¡®Someone saying something like this is our protector? Don¡¯t joke with me.¡¯ ¡°Liar!!!¡± The old knight chuckled as he stared at Illyna, who was infuriated, with a sinister gaze. ¡°I have already received the report that he has disappeared without a trace from the breath. Can¡¯t you tell? The only solution that you were trusting in is already dead!¡± The captain shouted. Not knowing Davey¡¯s current situation, the trainees all turned pale. CH 141 55. The Return of the Phantom of Martial Arts (2) The world did not move as one person wanted; obviously because numerous people were trying to live their lives in many different ways. In that sense, if it wasn¡¯t for Alyssa Patrick finding Sio Howl, who was dying from being stabbed by a knife, and if it wasn¡¯t for Boris¡¯ continuous effort to contact the trainees, the trainees probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to gather this quickly. This change actually caused a number of problems for Gaor, the knight order¡¯s traitorous captain. ¡°Anyway, I did something stupid out there. Thanks to that, I had some difficulty finding you guys. Well, it¡¯s better that all of you are together.¡± ¡°C¡­ Captain? How could you¡­¡± Some of the trainees seemed more shocked by the fact that the person who had attacked them was none other than Gaor, one of the knight order¡¯s captains. ¡°No¡­ There¡¯s no way the Captain would try to kill¡­¡± ¡°Let me ask you guys one thing.¡± The black-robed people began closing in. ¡°Would you be willing to sacrifice yourselves for humanity and for the glory of the great knight order?¡± ¡°Of course! The knight order is basically my home now!¡± Captain Gaor chuckled when one of the Anchor Knight twins shouted. He replied, ¡°Alright, Miss Shayir. That¡¯s the spirit.¡± ¡°But I can¡¯t understand you killing all our senior knight members, cornering us, and killing Davey as well!¡± Shayir shouted in anger. Gaor looked down before saying, ¡°Everything is for the greater good. Trainee Treve¡­ No, I should say Special Knight Sir Treve, since he will become one after this wraps up. Shandra, the transcendental being, cannot be controlled only by Sir Treve.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°That is why we need your power. Don¡¯t be so sad; your sacrifices will not be forgotten. I swear on my name, Captain Gaor.¡± Gaor pulled out his sword while sharing about a logic that only he understood. He added, ¡°Only five people are needed as sacrifices. If you pick five people, I will let the rest of you live after erasing your memories. It¡¯s not like killing innocent people doesn¡¯t faze me.¡± ¡°Lies!!¡± There was no one stupid enough to give up their lives after listening to Gaor¡¯s ridiculous logic. As the trainees remained standing, the black-robed people slowly moved toward them. ¡°Rule number three of Alpha Reinforcements; you already broke the most basic rule that a knight member should keep,¡± Illyna answered coldly while raising her sword. Gaor chuckled. ¡°How unfortunate. Get everyone.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The black-robed people moved even quicker than before, speaking in scary voices. Most of the knight order¡¯s skill levels were higher than Expert, like the Coalition of Disease Control, and they had much more real battle experience than them. Furthermore, it seemed like the black-robed people had no objections to killing humans, the one thing the knight order members should be strongly against. ¡°Kyahh!!!¡± ¡°No, Lincy!¡± As Lincy Peila drew her bow to stop the black-robed people¡¯s approach, she was crushed to the ground. The black-robed people had charged together and overpowered her. "Keugh!" "Kyahh!! Stop!¡± ¡°Let go!¡± At the same time, the other trainees were also crushed to the ground. They screamed helplessly, unable to fight back. Splatter!! Of course, the trainees did not surrender and still tried to fight back. After all, some of them of the 286th generation were suspiciously powerful. Among them, Illyna de Pallan¡¯s performance was the most notable. ¡°Gurgle¡­ Gurgle¡­¡± The black -robed people collapsed to the ground while spilling blood from horrendous neck wounds. They were human, after all. Looking at the grotesque deaths, Illyna was still furious and did not think about their situation. She addressed Gaor. ¡°You¡­made a mistake.¡± ¡°Mistake?¡± ¡°I never forget revenge. I will make sure to kill you.¡± Illyna glared at Gaor menacingly and amplified her power by calling upon Caldeiras¡¯ holy power. At the same time, she shot out like a bullet and slashed a few of the black-robed people who were attacking her. She didn¡¯t stop there and charged toward Gaor, showing off her smooth and fluid blade motion. ¡°Hm¡­¡± Boom!! With a destructive sound came [Large Mountain]; Illyna had a gift of never forgetting a skill as long as she had seen it once. Her attack, which was an improved imitation of Davey¡¯s, was much sharper and more weighted. This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV. Kagaga!! Gaor gasped with wide eyes. He was truly surprised at the unexpected level of destruction. ¡°Quite good! I heard that you¡¯re one of the most talented, but this is far beyond my expectations.¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± ¡°I think that I just might be sad when I kill you.¡± Illyna¡¯s talent was truly astonishing; in fact, she was so powerful that it was difficult to find a worthy opponent among the Experts. However, if her opponent was a Master who could stand their own ground even while fighting four other ones, the situation would be different. ¡°You are lacking a little experience.¡± Punch!! ¡°Kyahh!¡± As soon as Gaor made an opening with a grin, a black-robed person threw himself over and pinned Illyna down. Splatter!! At the same time, the end of Gaor¡¯s thin sword pierced her. ¡°Illyna!¡± The other trainees who were pinned to the ground screamed in horror. Illyna still glared at Gaor furiously even while gushing with blood. ¡°I will¡­kill you¡­ I will kill you.¡± As blood dripped from the side of her mouth as Illyna repeated her death threat, Gaor moved the tip of his blade and slashed her abdomen without hesitation. After making that huge wound, he commented, ¡°I will let you go if you miss that boy that much. You can go first¡­¡± ¡°Sir Gaor, wait.¡± That was when a man who had just been watching from behind slowly approached Gaor and stopped him. The man said, ¡°Let¡¯s not kill her for a moment.¡± ¡°Hm? Do you need something from her?¡± ¡°She is the descendant of the Sword Lord, who has received the blessing of the spirit. She has the strongest blood out of all the descendants.¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°She may make a good Dark Knight.¡± No one understood what the man was saying except for Gaor, who nodded in understanding. Gaor then said, ¡°Well, then do as you like.¡± Gaor retrieved his sword carelessly. Illyna coughed up more blood as she trembled from her injuries. ¡°Cough¡­ Cough¡­¡± ¡°Are you angry?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°History is entirely written by the victors, Miss Illyna. Wouldn¡¯t you rather stay partially alive and leave great accomplishments than become a remnant of the past?¡± Gaor persuaded. Illyna scoffed and spat out her blood. ¡°Eat shit, you damn murderer. Davey will bury you for sure¡­¡± ¡°You are expecting something from someone who¡¯s already dead? How unfortunate.¡± ¡°Fun¡­ Cough! Sigh¡­ Do you know who he is? He will not die. He¡¯s someone who will ice their cake.¡± Whoosh¡­ At the same time, a black energy flowed out of the man¡¯s body. As it surrounded her, Illyna went completely pale. ¡°Ah¡­ Ah¡­.¡± Illyna soon widened her bloodshot eyes and rolled around on the ground, screaming. ¡°Ahhhhh!!¡± Illyna was feeling the pain of becoming half-dead while still living. Despair came upon the trainees¡¯ faces as they saw her skin gradually rotting. ¡°Make sure you bring the elementalist sisters without a scratch. We absolutely need them. What happened to Shandra?¡± ¡°A large number of golems are blocking movement right now. It¡¯s not enough to stop Shandra, but we are not enough to¡­¡± As a black-robed person gave their report, Gaor clicked his tongue and stared at one of the huge golems on one side. He muttered, ¡°The golems that boy left behind are amazing. I have never seen anything like this.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go back with a sample. Our researchers will go crazy for it.¡± Illyna had lost her original beauty. She was just wheezing with a sore throat, twitching wildly every now and then. Her skin had turned gray-brown, while her eyes were red. She was drooling saliva mixed with blood. Her nails had cracked and grown longer, and her hair had turned dry and dead. Normally, Caldeiras would have stopped the deceasing of a living person, but for some reason, Caldeiras, which had flown far away, was silent¡­ At last, Illyna became fully silent after experiencing a drawn-out seizure. Lincy covered her mouth with her hand and looked at Illyna with teary eyes; how could she not go crazy as she saw her teammate and good friend turn like that in front of her eyes? Everyone was speechless at the unexpected violence. The realization that they were indeed left in a horrendous situation with no one to protect them led to a dramatic decrease in spirits. The trainees, who were gritting their teeth but had lost their fighting spirit, just let themselves be dragged by the black-robed people. That was when¡­ Whee¡­ Everyone heard a faint yet clear sound. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°What is¡­¡± Whee! Boom! And before anyone could realize what that sound was, the sky above turned pitch-black for a moment before returning to its original color. The sky was momentarily blocked by none other than the enormous terrestrial dragon; one could mistake it for a legendary dragon if it had wings. Shandra, the transcendental being, was the symbol of fear of the knight order and the king of evil beasts. It flew through the air and was crushed into the ground after being penetrated with a huge spear of light. * * * Crackk!! The end of Longinus, the huge spear that pierced into Shandra, flew back after the attack and struck the ground like a nail. ¡°Look at mine. What do you think?¡± ¡®Ah, yes. Big and beautiful? You have a good eye.¡¯ Everyone was silent when Shandra, who was a great, big being, suddenly flew through the air and crashed right into the ground. Davey descended from the sky like a cannonball, ignoring the people who looked dumbfounded. He saw a situation that was five seconds away from madness in front of him. He commented, ¡°I was gone for only a bit but look at this mess. Huh? What¡¯s with that?¡± Davey glanced over at Puma, the youngest golem among his fleet, that was on the floor. Even though they weren¡¯t completely perfected yet, the fact that the golems were destroyed meant that they had taken a lot of hits. On the other side, Davey could see Illyna lying on the floor in stillness. She wasn¡¯t dead; her heart was definitely beating, but her skin was as pale as a long-abandoned corpse. ¡°Rinne. What¡¯s the situation of the Decepticon Fleet?¡± ¡°Decepticon Fleet: three out of the five are unable to battle. Analyzing that they need retrieval. Other than that, Megatron and Sniper accumulated major damage, but movement is possible.¡± Even though the five golems could overpower a Master without a problem, Shandra was an overwhelmingly strong opponent; it was amazing that they had held up for this long. ¡®I think they might be able to increase their fighting power if I use some of the data that Rinne has obtained.¡¯ ¡°You can retrieve it, right?¡± Davey asked Rinne. ¡°Megatron and Sniper can be activated by retrieving broken and crushed parts. The rest will be picked up by Rinne.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± The golems were larger than Rinne, but other than Puma, which was completely demolished, they could be retrieved by Rinne. ¡°You¡­¡± Gaor frowned at Davey¡¯s nonchalant attitude. It was like Davey had come to a different world. ¡°Do you know how much that is?¡± CH 142 There were only five of those golems in the entire world; considering their power, value, and focus, they were worth more than most huge territories. Considering their uniqueness and the fact that they were also basically impossible to craft, Davey wouldn¡¯t give them up for even a kingdom. ¡°Sir Davey!¡± ¡°Davey! You! You¡¯re alive!¡± ¡°How¡­are you alive?¡± Unlike the trainees whose faces lit up when they saw Davey, Gaor¡¯s frown only grew deeper. He murmured, ¡°I heard that you disappeared without a trace by Shandra¡¯s breath¡­¡± ¡°I really am thankful for that. Because of that¡­¡± Davey trailed off and charged in with his fist. ¡°I regained a lot of my powers.¡± ¡°Keugh?!¡± ¡®Do you think I went through all this trouble for nothing?¡¯ [Silent Wind Bullet] [Hundred-Step Swift Strike] Boom!!! Watching Gaor instantly get blown away with a strong blast of air, Davey then pulled out Red Ribbon from his Pocket Plane and spread his energy like he was letting loose a bunch of wild, vicious beasts. At the same time, the abandoned weapons all around began vibrating and floating to Davey¡¯s will. ¡®I trained these skills for hundreds of years; I couldn¡¯t have forgotten them in just six months.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t common, but people who wielded a sword had probably heard about the transcendental level of blade control at least once; it was obvious that this was happening right now, which shocked everyone. Whoosh¡­ As a large amount of mana left Davey, energy swords that he had fixed into a certain shape in the air appeared. ¡®I don¡¯t have a choice but to create swords if I don¡¯t have enough.¡¯ The number of swords increased from a few, to dozens, and eventually to hundreds. Gaor, who was coughing up blood, was shocked at how hundreds of swords suddenly appeared and floated up to fill the whole sky. ¡°There is a chance of rainfall today¡­¡± ¡°N¡ªNo way! [Telekinetic Blade]?!¡± ¡®Try your best to dodge them if you want.¡¯ [Telekinetic Blade Control] [Improved Energy Sword: Flower Blades in the Sky] The swords that filled the sky, controlled by the tip of Davey¡¯s finger, weren¡¯t small, hidden weapons, but huge energy swords filled with mana. There were some assassination methods that did not embrace patience, such as the use of metallic weapons and energy swords that blatantly attack out in the open. Attacking opponents and ripping them to shreds was more Davey¡¯s style than quiet assassination. Of course, the people in black robes also shouted in shock, ¡°Unbelievable¡­!¡± ¡°You should believe it. This is happening right in front of you.¡± ¡°N¡ªNo!¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Shwing¡­ With a swift movement of Davey¡¯s hand, the swords in the sky pointed down and began falling like asteroids on the enemies. The rainfall of swords fell like flashes of light. Only a very small number of the weapons were metallic ones, with the rest of them being made out of energy. The energy swords pierced through the sky at an unimaginable speed. ¡°Ke¡­ Ugh¡­¡± ¡°Keugh!¡± ¡°N¡ªNo! I can¡¯t die like?!¡± Slice!! ¡°People have to take responsibility for what they do.¡± The man who fell without even screaming had an expression of distrust and fear of death¡­ Needless to say, the situation turned into chaos within seconds. ¡°D¡ªDon¡¯t move! Your colleague will di¡­ Kuk!¡± ¡°Who uses the exact same thing twice?¡± ¡®A hostage situation? You. You were there when I did that.¡¯ It didn¡¯t take Davey too long to take care of the people who were running away in complete panic. It was nothing but a massacre, spilling scarlet blood with the energy swords¡¯ descent. * * * ¡°Am I dreaming¡­?¡± Fendyr, who was now free, rubbed her eyes with her hands as she watched the hundreds of swords that filled the sky fall onto the black-robed people. The betrayal of the captain, who was supposed to be responsible for the knight order, was shocking enough. The fact that Shandra, who had been provoked by someone and was moving unusually, had intruded the territory, and that this had all been Gaor¡¯s scheme was surprising too. However, no one could formulate any words about the strange situation happening in front of their eyes. Even the trainees who only knew little about swordsmanship felt the same way. The trainees were full of despair ever since Illyna had become horrendous to look at after being overcome by an eerie, black fog. After all, they did learn that Davey, who they thought was their last hope, had disintegrated without leaving a trace from Shandra¡¯s breath too. However, everything afterwards completely defied their expectations. Shandra, who should have appeared while boasting its enormous presence, tumbled hundreds of meters before crashing into the ground by a single strike of a mysterious golden spear. Then, the person who they thought was dead simply reappeared before their eyes. Furthermore, he had telekinetic blades; if becoming a Swordmaster was a dream for people training in swordsmanship, a telekinetic blade was legendary. It was the next step that Masters yearned to reach someday. Even Gaor, who was said to be able to take on three or four Swordmasters at a time, wasn¡¯t able to telekinetically control his blade. Quickly understanding the situation, Lucia Shelman approached her partner, Fendyr, to cast healing magic upon her and murmured to herself, ¡°That sword¡­ It¡¯s fascinating every time I see it¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°He did that when we fell to the ancient ruins¡¯ lowest floor. I saw Sir Davey¡¯s two swords slashing golems in the air like they were alive.¡± ¡°Do¡­you know how unbelievable that is?¡± ¡°I¡ªI don¡¯t know? Is that something really amazing?¡± Lucia didn¡¯t know much about swords, so she didn¡¯t understand how surprising and bewildering this situation was. ¡°Damn it¡­ This has to be a dream. Lucia! Get everyone else! Now that Davey is here, let¡¯s do what we can do! Come on!¡± Lucia glanced at the trainees, who were sitting on the ground and blankly staring at Davey''s fight. Then, she nodded at Fendyr¡¯s quick request. * * * The nasty odor of blood was overwhelming. Most of the black-robed people were lying still, their shocked and fearful expressions still visible beneath their hoods. ¡°A telekinetic blade¡­ What are you¡­?¡± ¡°A trainee. You don¡¯t know that?¡± ¡°Stop talking nonsense!!¡± How could a teenage boy execute a level of power that humans could not dream of even if they devoted their entire lives to swordsmanship? ¡°I can barely breathe.¡± Davey flicked his finger at the sight of Gaor stepping back. Gaor was vomiting blood like he had been fatally wounded. Shwing! Boom!! At the same time, a few of Davey¡¯s energy swords flew toward him to block his path and created an explosion. ¡°As I said before¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°You need to take responsibility for your actions.¡± ¡°It was a mistake letting you into the knight order in the first place,¡± Gaor stated. Davey shook his head. ¡°You should think of this differently. Don¡¯t you think it would have been wiser for you to plow through the Pandora Region with me after buttering me up than with that half-wit transcendental being?¡± There was nothing but silence. Still, Davey had a pleasant expression on his face. Now that the situation had come down to this, it would help him in terms of reputation and stability. For example¡­ ¡®Sir Davey, you¡¯re here. Hehe.¡¯ ¡®Haha, Assistant Gaor! You¡¯re here.¡¯ ¡®Ah, it¡¯s only right for me to go everywhere you go, sir.¡¯ ¡®Hahahaha! I like you, Gaor; you¡¯re like my younger brother.¡¯ ¡®Hehe, then about the project of the reform of the Pandora Region¡­¡¯ ¡®Ah, don¡¯t worry about it. How can I ignore your request, Gaor?¡¯ ¡®¡­¡¯ Davey didn¡¯t think that was really going to happen. If Gaor had known about his power in the first place, this may not have happened at all. That being said, Davey had no intention of offering himself and telling Gaor that they could use him for his power. In between birth and death was choice. And in the end, Gaor had made such a choice. Now, he had to take responsibility for his actions. Regret always came too late. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know what¡¯s the use of such banter anymore.¡± Davey lightly swung Red Ribbon and slashed the air while glancing at Gaor, who was the only enemy still alive. ¡°Was it¡­your power that blew Shandra away just now?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you have a better use for your final breath?¡± ¡°What?¡± Splatter!! Gaor widened his eyes. His body was mercilessly bisected by Davey¡¯s sword. There was bewilderment and confusion on his face as he slowly split into two. ¡®I made up my mind to kill him, so what¡¯s there to further discuss?¡¯ -He probably had his own situation to deal with. Although he made a foolish decision, would he have done this kind of thing if he knew the outcome? ¡°A fool who makes rash decisions will make the same mistake again.¡± Human beings had endless greed, which made them repeat the same mistakes, and this cycle could only end in failure. If, by a very small chance, Shandra had been subdued and if Davey wasn¡¯t here, this might have been the knight order¡¯s chance to get into the Pandora Region¡­ Even if it was the wrong way to do so, it was true that Gaor was trying to take over the Pandora Region with Shandra. ¡°And there¡¯s no such thing as a grave without a story.¡± -Like my grave? Giggle. With whatever intention and motive Gaor had created such a situation, Davey was not going to try and understand it. He looked around at the silent surroundings, then collapsed the rest of the energy blades and walked over to the speechless trainees who were all huddled up. Illyna was lying among the trainees, lying still with a pale and horrendous face. ¡°Weep¡­ Weep¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re alive¡­ It¡¯s such a relief.¡± Some said that it was a relief. ¡°Thank you, Davey¡­ I don¡¯t know what would¡¯ve happened if it wasn¡¯t for you¡­¡± Some showed pure gratitude. However, someone unexpected was unable to regain her consciousness. ¡°Your Highness¡­ Your Highness¡­ Please wake up, please?¡± Alyssa Patrick, whom Illyna was a little uncomfortable with, shook Illyna and tried to wake her up. She sobbed. ¡°You¡¯re not dead, Your Highness, right? Please don¡¯t say that, please¡­¡± Davey quietly walked past the trainees and squinted at Illyna. He asked, ¡°Dark magic?¡± ¡°Hiccup¡­ Dark mage¡­ It was a dark mage! A wicked dark mage made Her Highness like this and disappeared! She is alive¡­ But why¡­¡± ¡°Move back for a second,¡± Davey said calmly and brought two fingers to Illyna¡¯s neck. He felt a weak and strange pulse that was half-corpse and half-human, but Illyna was still hanging on with the pure mana she had. Davey knew one type of magic like this: malicious dark magic, [Dark Knight]. Unlike [Death Knight], which made someone into a knight of the dead, [Dark Knight] was a dark magic spell that took away a living person¡¯s consciousness and decomposed their body. He asked, ¡°Did they try to make someone into a Dark Knight while they were alive?¡± It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡®But she would¡¯ve had Caldeiras, which is the concentration of holy power¡­¡¯ ¡°N¡­ No¡­ She can¡¯t die! I have a duty to keep Her Highness alive!¡± ¡°Illyna! Please wake up!¡± Since Davey wasn¡¯t doing anything, the trainees were screaming and doing whatever they could to keep Illyna alive. However, what could be done about such a situation? In the midst of that disorder, Davey clapped his hands in the air. Slap! ¡°Move aside.¡± Davey urged the trainees to back off before placing two fingers on Illyna¡¯s forehead. Then, he slowly blinked and black fumes began seeping out from his entire body. ¡®Hm, I¡¯m not too late yet.¡¯ CH 143 ¡°What?!¡± ¡°Dark magic!¡± Some of the trainees backed away in fear as devil mana, which was distinct to dark magic and the very thing that had turned Illyna like that, flowed out of Davey. They looked at him in confusion and surprise. Dark magic was almost buried in this world, but it still had its bad image. Davey only said a single thing to the trainees. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid of the power itself, but of the person who uses it. If you don¡¯t, you will regret it someday.¡± ¡®Remember. Just because a person uses holy power doesn¡¯t mean that they are innocent. Remember that there was a Death Lord who sacrificed herself and saved millions of people with dark magic, which people thought was horrendous, but wasn¡¯t even acknowledged for her deed.¡¯ In actual fact, the trainees were mostly surprised that Davey, who had a stigmata, had devil mana and was able to use it without a problem. A quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled. ¡®How can I explain and make them understand the uniqueness of my body? All I can do is just tell them to believe.¡¯ Whoosh¡­ Crack! With a loud rip, Illyna began to shake. ¡°You still have a debt that you owe. How dare you try to run away? Do you know how much your life is worth?¡± Davey said. The dark energy within Illyna began flowing out like they were being forcibly ripped out. She experienced a prolonged seizure, shaking while the dark energy left her body. Davey continued to use his devil mana to ruthlessly rip away the dark energy. He didn¡¯t bother mentioning that it was actually better that Illyna was unconscious for this. If she was conscious¡­ -She would¡¯ve screamed in extreme pain. If Illyna was conscious, she would have felt the pain of her skin being ripped apart. Davey had studied dark magic and devil mana to the extreme, but he specialized in dealing with the magic in such situations rather than actually casting it. As Illyna¡¯s appearance gradually returned to normal, the trainees were surprised and relieved. Of course, the process couldn¡¯t be assumed to be easy just because Davey had done it so easily. People who knew nothing about this had tried to reverse such a situation by giving a whole bunch of holy power, and they all¡­ ¡®Nice to meet you. Is this your first time seeing a biological bomb?¡¯[1] Holy power and devil mana were powers from extreme opposite ends, so the victim would end up becoming a bomb and exploding to death. After all, no one power was stronger than the other. ¡°Okay, take her back,¡± Davey told the trainees. ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°What do you¡­?¡± Illyna still looked horrible, but Davey turned away without hesitation. Looking at his reaction, the trainees were confused. They murmured, ¡°The treatment¡­¡± ¡°She should return to normal with a little rest. It shouldn¡¯t take long, since I¡¯ve boosted her natural recovery speed.¡± ¡°D¡ªDavey, what about you¡­?¡± ¡°I have something I still need to take care of.¡± Even though Shandra was a clone, it had come from the real thing. It was the mythical beast of someone who used to be Davey¡¯s teacher, so it was Davey¡¯s duty and responsibility to take care of it himself. -Roar!! Shandra slowly got back up after Longinus, the large golden spear, had disappeared after losing its effectiveness. Its arm, after being ripped apart by the spear, had disintegrated into black powder, but soon began regenerating. -That¡¯s not regeneration; it¡¯s basically reconstruction. Perserque mumbled like she found its regenerative abilities absurd. ¡°Well, Shandra Minea¡¯s regenerative ability is the strongest among all the mythical beasts.¡± There was a reason Shandra was called a ¡®Zombie Dragon¡¯. Davey lightly cracked his fingers while he stared at Shandra, who was angrily staring at him with its golden eyes. As energy began circulating and crackling throughout Davey¡¯s body, he reached out into the air. Whip!! Boom!! At the same time, Divine Spear Longinus, that had exhausted all its power and had fallen to the ground, quickly came back to his hand. ¡®Just wait a little bit, Shandra number one. I¡¯ll end you as quickly as possible.¡¯ Davey wanted to ask why Shandra was here, what happened to the actual being, and how the clone had turned into this. He also wondered if the actual being was okay. The kings of mythical beasts were spiritually wise beings that were capable of communication. As such, he felt a little complicated about his reunion with Shandra, to be honest. -You¡¯re saying that the real Shandra Minea doesn¡¯t know you. The kings of mythical beasts that Shane Scrift had summoned at the Hall had just been a copy of the powers of the mythical beasts that had been engraved in his soul. As a result, the real Shandra Minea did not know Davey. However, there was still something familiar to him. [Third Form] [Blue Dragon Scimitar] Davey slightly lowered Longinus, which was slowly transforming into the form of a large scimitar. He planted it in the ground. Then, he powerfully stomped on the ground with his left foot to ground himself. As a mysterious feeling filled the air, Fendyr, who was staring with wide eyes among the trainees, was the first to judge the situation. She ran away with Illyna on her back and cried out, ¡°What the heck! I don¡¯t know what it is but run if you don¡¯t want to be caught up in it!!¡± The trainees didn¡¯t know what Davey was going to do, but one¡¯s natural sense of danger could sometimes save them from demise. As Fendyr had already failed the test once, it was expected that she would make such a decision. ¡°W¡­ What?!¡± Everyone else watched Fendyr run away with wide eyes, then began running away with her. ¡°Get as far away as you can. I don¡¯t know how big the aftermath might be because I can¡¯t control the strength of my powers yet.¡± As Davey created an extremely powerful repulsive force by mixing his devil mana and most of his remaining mana, he released it into Longinus, which began to shine with an eerie, dark navy sheen. Shandra, after giving a loud roar and breathing through its open jaw, released an extremely cold breath toward Davey. It was acting insane. Davey dug his left foot into the ground as he faced the destructive ray of power that was heading toward him. The incoming attack froze everything in its way. ¡®I think one blast of that actually disintegrated my body into powder before metamorphing.¡¯ Since he had no reason to die now, Davey had no reason to be hit by the attack either. With a loud sound, the scimitar that was planted in the ground broke through the ground and emerged with a shine. A large weapon could reach far and had a large range of attack, and the attack skill that had the longest range that Davey could use without explosives was in spearmanship. [Union of Energy and Power] [Astrea¡¯s Cosmic Spear] [Mantle Cut] Crack!! The crisp sound was accompanied by significant damage. ¡®Damn, this large and beautiful spear.¡¯ 56. Organization After Death. [Listen carefully! The brave men who learn the spearmanship of Paladia shout this when they charge: ¡°My soul is with Paladia!!!¡±] ¡®I do not want to do that at all.¡¯ Davey was very energetic and extremely talented; the destructive power of his spearmanship was similar to that of Sword Lord Ares. Soon, invisible and sharp claws spread all over the snowy forest and swept over Shandra Minea while turning part of the forest upside down. The aftermath wasn¡¯t small, with the forest sustaining great damage on the ground. Although the real Shandra was as powerful as a Grandmaster, the clone was much weaker since it only had some of the real being¡¯s characteristics. Of course, that didn¡¯t mean that the clone was weak. It possessed an unbelievably powerful regenerative ability, but that meant nothing once the core was destroyed. The core of Shandra Minea¡¯s regeneration was its heart; if that heart was safe, it could regenerate forever. Still, it wasn¡¯t a being that could just endure attacks and sustain damage forever. A destructive power ripped apart the scales near Shandra¡¯s heart and pulled apart the tough skin. Davey knew best that he wouldn¡¯t get another opportunity to kill it. Pahh!! Without missing the window of opportunity, Davey bent his fingers into the shape of a claw and penetrated it into Shandra¡¯s heart. Then, with holiness and sincerity, Davey said a prayer, ¡°Little lamb, very urgent. Values an unbelievable amount of grace.¡± Whoosh!! [8th Level: Holy Magic of Blessing] [Rod of God] Normally, Davey would have struck Shandra with an 8th circle flame spell, which was the most effective spell to hinder its regenerative ability. However, the most effective method to deal with the clone was to severely corrupt it with holy power. ¡®Your body is corrupt? Treat it with the rod given by God; this is a one-time chance! How do you like the taste of extreme purification?!¡¯ Whoosh!!! With a blinding flash of light, a huge pillar of light shot out from Davey¡¯s hand into the sky. The clouds were pierced through by the extreme amount of power. -Roar!!! Even though this Shandra was just a clone, considering the real Shandra Minea¡¯s power, it was a relief that Davey could put a stop to it here before the situation became worse. It was actually a relief that this Shandra wasn¡¯t the real being. ¡°Sigh¡­¡± With a huge flash of light, Davey¡¯s short hair that initially flew in the air from the impact gradually flattened again. At the same time, the ground that shook from an earthquake-like impact returned to stillness. Then, after its heart had been purified, Shandra disintegrated into powder and was blown away by the wind like dust. Davey let go of Longinus and kneeled on the ground to vomit everything that was in his stomach. Stomach acid, blood, and pieces of flesh flowed out along with a viscous liquid. He groaned, ¡°Aw¡­ My stomach¡­¡± -¡­ Using too much power was worse than using none at all. It hadn¡¯t been long since Davey regained his powers, and yet he was already scraping together anything he had despite knowing that he shouldn¡¯t overdo it. He should only be using his full powers after everything returned to its original place. -Stay still. Perserque sighed. She released demonic force into Davey with a worried expression. -You didn¡¯t regain as much power as you expected? ¡®It was half-successful. It was definitely worth a try, though.¡¯ It was only part of the power that Davey had expected, but this was still a huge benefit to him. Whatever it was, Davey should be thankful for the fact that he was alive after trying something extremely stupid and dangerous. Bleep! The status window Davey reflexively activated didn¡¯t show any major changes, but he could see some additions. First of all, he received a new title. [Reckless Experimentation Lunatic] Davey chose to ignore the title, which didn¡¯t suggest anything positive. Then, he glanced at the ¡®Notes¡¯ section and saw a lot more information. [Imbalance due to forced rearrangement of body.] [Successfully evolved body though unstable.] [Circulation of a large amount of mana.] [Continuous exhaustion of life (semi-permanent neutralization from the Elixir)] [One who accepted and used the power of a mythical beast.] [Promised good deeds (2/10)] ¡°¡­¡± ¡®Yes, I know full well how crazy this was. This is a dilemma that all experimenters face.¡¯ Once again, Davey felt the discrepancy between theory and reality. He almost destroyed his body right after reviving himself with the Remaining Spark. Except for one thing, Davey believed that he could explain away the situation to everyone else. Whether it was physical or anti-physical, like Odin who was Davey¡¯s magic teacher, he knew that his explanation depended on how it was interpreted and understood. And the thing he just used was a theory that Odin had created with that very mindset. 1. A reference to a meme from the audition program, ¡®Superstar K¡¯ where Lee Seung-Chul welcomes a contestant into the room. ? CH 144 There was a temporary way to evolve humans. The theoretical explanation was too long to get into, but it was called the ¡®Theory of Metamorphosis by Force¡¯. It wasn¡¯t evolution caused by a synergy between mana or some other power and the person¡¯s spiritual growth, but it was a forced evolution caused by human will. Overall, Odin¡¯s theory turned out to be right and wrong. A combination of a strong unexplainable current of great power from spiritual growth and the strongest flow of mana that was humanly possible would completely destroy the physical body. This gave rise to the differentiation between temporary and normal metamorphosis. Unlike the regular method of metamorphosis, where only the body was restructured while keeping one¡¯s life safe, temporary metamorphosis broke apart everything in its way without regard for one¡¯s safety. As such, if there wasn¡¯t a safety measure to keep one¡¯s life safe while the physical body went through restructuring, it was nothing more than a new way of committing suicide. Furthermore, metamorphosis also required a strong current of immeasurable power; that was why Davey had used Shandra¡¯s flesh, which circulated with great power, its breath, a whirlwind of power, and the Remaining Spark, and his spare life. The Remaining Spark was valuable, but it wasn¡¯t a waste to have it help him recover this much power. Davey was simply bothered by the energy of Shandra Minea, the most adaptable king of mythical beasts, staying inside of him. Like a thorn in his side, the energy was not going away. It stuck to him throughout his metamorphosis. Removing it would cause him problems, but leaving it inside him felt weird as well. Thanks to the huge de-spell purification magic he had cast, Davey could see the barrier¡¯s effects starting to wear off. -My father taught a ridiculous fella. ¡®Do you know that your father hits the sky and divides the ocean when fighting about rank between the heroes?¡¯ * * * ¡°It¡¯s a transcendental being¡¯s trace!¡± Boris and the Alpha Reinforcements¡¯ knights urgently entered the forest. They were infuriated after realizing the nasty scheme that was taking place. They could not forgive Gaor, one of the knight order¡¯s five captains, for his betrayal. They also blamed the outside presence that seemed to be working with him. In fact, they struggled to enter the forest, which was blanketed by a strange power. Because of that, Boris could only pace around anxiously and hope to get in contact with the students by pure luck. Then, for a mere second, a pillar of light with a shockingly clear and strong power shot up and tore the clouds in two. The forest shook like an earthquake had struck, and the barrier shattered to the ground. Boris seized the opportunity, yelling, ¡°Groups 1 and 7, search the perimeters of the forest! Group 2, go find the rest of the trainees and protect them! And the rest, follow me to stop Shandra!¡± They all thought that defeating the enemy would be impossible. Four experienced Swordmasters had been helplessly slaughtered, and the only people going to stop Shandra this time were two Swordmasters and Advanced Experts at best. No matter the amount of experience or people, this wasn¡¯t an opponent they could win against. However, they had to go; it was land they had to protect and trainees they had to save no matter what. Although they had heard that Davey, the strange trainee, had the power of a Master, they were not people who would simply sit around and do nothing. ¡°Everyone! On alert! We charge forth!¡± Boris shouted anxiously while following the traces Shandra had left behind, leading to right after the hill. ¡®Are the trainees still alive?¡¯ The trainees only had a slim chance of survival. Davey was with them, but Boris and the others believed that the children still wouldn¡¯t survive against Captain Gaor, dozens of enemies, and Shandra. ¡°Leader Boris! It¡¯s the children! They haven¡¯t suffered any major injuries, but they are on the ground!¡± Boris widened his eyes. He ran toward them as quickly as possible when he heard the urgent shout. The knight members planned to take Shandra down, but having found the trainees, their priorities had to change for now. ¡°Everyone! Ensure the safety of the children! Gorden! Silve! Find Shandra! Report its movements!¡± ¡°Yes, sir!¡± Watching the two blonde and silver-haired men bow before moving, Boris was quickly able to get to where the children were with the search party¡¯s guidance. And¡­ ¡°What¡­is this?¡± Boris¡¯ jaw dropped wide open as he stared at the horrendous situation in front of him. The children were on the ground, their postures suggesting that they had been running away until having been caught in the middle of a huge altercation. They were unconscious. However, the incredibly large aftermath hadn¡¯t been caused by Shandra, the being that Boris initially suspected; if it was the dragon who did this, he would have seen the dragon. The horrendous scene that Boris could barely believe with his own eyes had been caused by something unbelievably enormous. He wondered if this was the outcome of a claw that was hundreds of meters long tearing through the ground. The vast white forest, initially covered in snow, had been ripped apart and turned inside out. Boris had to make sure the children were safe first, but he couldn¡¯t take his eyes off the scene in front of him. He murmured, ¡°What is this¡­?¡± Not only did Boris feel that way, but the knights beside him also mumbled in shock as well. They all wondered just who had caused this unbelievable situation. With his sharp eyesight, Boris saw someone standing in the middle of a gigantic crater. He knew that someone had to be the reason behind this incident. He wanted to ask if that was even possible, but his instincts were telling him that it was true. The person silently standing among the black dust was a boy. He looked up at the sky with a long spear in his hand, like he was sending his condolences toward some higher place. ¡°Davey¡­¡± Upon realization, Boris called out the boy¡¯s name. Davey, cracking his neck peacefully while standing in the middle of the crater, was nothing but calm. -Zing¡­ Leader Boris! Answer! Report on the situation! Boris could hear the urgent voice of one of the Alpha Reinforcements¡¯ captains through the communication crystal, which began working after the barrier had fallen apart. He replied in a somewhat shocked voice, ¡°Boris Tellman, leader of the first group, reports that¡­the catastrophe is over.¡± -What? What are you talking about?! What about Shandra?! What happened to Gaor, that betrayer? ¡°That is¡­¡± Boris could see neither Shandra, the king of mythical beasts, nor Gaor, so he clearly had his answer. He repeated, ¡°It seems like¡­the catastrophe has already ended¡­¡± Boris could hear confused voices from the crystal after he gave his report. -What? That makes no sense?! Shandra¡¯s not just some regular fella, ya know? And do ya know what kinda person Gaor is?! Did ya check right?! ¡°Yeah, so¡­¡± ¡®Come see this for yourself. Transcendental being or betrayer or whatever, I¡¯m having a hard time believing it too.¡¯ Boris didn¡¯t know how to describe this bewildering situation, and he found himself speechless for a very long time. * * * Simply put, this situation was like a bomb had suddenly exploded. Everyone who saw the situation, including Boris, could only say one thing, ¡°Davey¡­ What¡¯s the issue with that guy?!¡± Everyone¡ªeven the experienced trainees or the trainees who had seen it happen with their own two eyes¡ªthought the same way. They thought that Davey being an Expert was impossible, because that meant that he would have started to use and reinforce mana. Then, what about him being a Swordmaster? Or a 6th circle mage? Although he could be a Master, everyone thought the same thing. ¡®Impossible.¡¯ Davey had, needless to say, created a terribly big situation. This was especially true since he was a prince from a small kingdom who had spent half of his life in a coma. The only things that the knight order had found out about Davey were that he was the First Prince of a small and powerless kingdom, he had been unconscious for a long time, he had received a stigmata, and he had an outstanding knowledge of medicine. Davey¡¯s progress in the Ordem Territory was a bit odd, but there wasn¡¯t anything the knights could find out about that. A stigmata was also just a sign of God and not a measure of the mastery of holy power, so it didn¡¯t make sense that Davey could show this much power just because he had that. The knight order did previously hear that Davey possessed an unbelievable power, but they really couldn¡¯t believe it, not even those who had seen it with their own two eyes. The extent of Davey¡¯s power was much greater than they had imagined. ¡°Trainee Davey¡­ I can¡¯t tell if he¡¯s a timebomb or a gift from God¡­¡± ¡°Let¡¯s look on the bright side. Trainee Davey isn¡¯t all that righteous, but he is clearly amicable toward us. There¡¯s no reason to be hostile toward him, and it¡¯s also true that this situation wouldn¡¯t have ended here if it wasn¡¯t for him.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true, ya know. To be honest, that Davey fella is the least of ma concerns. My head is hurtin¡¯ since I gotta take care of ma own son right naw.¡± ¡°But we should still try to understand the full situation.¡± The captains and high-level members had a quick discussion. They found out that the traitorous Gaor was dead, and Shandra, the transcendental being that had been running wild, was taken care of. This was the achievement of a boy who had just become a trainee and was supposed to take a formal test. Ever since the incident back at the ancient ruins, the captains and high-level members knew this strange trainee named Davey was very powerful. Sio Howl, who didn¡¯t have a big mouth, and Lucia, who had a quirky personality, both didn¡¯t say much about that particular situation. However, they were able to tell that Davey had the power of a Master. However, this incident made all of them intrigued about who he really was and what his limits were. ¡°His powers are similar to the Sword Lord¡¯s powers in the ancient books. Perhaps¡­he is a complete successor of the Sword Lord?¡± ¡°Successor of the Sword Lord? Hahahaha! Why don¡¯t ya just call him a dragon? Chuckle!¡± ¡°Hahaha, you¡¯re right! It was too much of an overestimation.¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t it?¡¯ Davey was indeed the Sword Lord¡¯s student, but the captain and high-level member who were discussing this matter had no way of knowing that. ¡°Besides that, isn¡¯t it more important for us to find the organization that was working with Captain Gaor?¡± ¡°It¡¯s obvious what organization both knew about Alpha Reinforcements and could take them on.¡± ¡°Another Last Wisp¡­¡± Several organizations of Last Wisp were spread out across the continent. Of course, the knight orders all had an idea of what organization might have been working with who. Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original. CH 145 ¡°I will investigate that problem. We have also captured Treve, the illusionist who betrayed us. I will try to find out more from him.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you, then.¡± ¡°We also have to take care of the other problems. It¡¯s about the funeral for the knights who passed away and the trainees who have been hurt.¡± ¡°One trainee did pass away, but the rest seem to be fine. I don¡¯t know if we should be glad or consider the situation unfortunate.¡± ¡°Really¡­ I¡¯m afraid of the damages that would¡¯ve happened if we didn¡¯t have Trainee Davey¡­¡± The knight order had to admit what was true; the power and strength Davey had was beyond the scope of what they could understand. ¡°His achievements are huge. We must consider a medal and title for that, along with a reward. Not only that, but we must all show our gratitude for a trainee who has done such an honorable thing.¡± One of the captains of the knight order asked, ¡°So? So, where is this Trainee Davey who accomplished this great thing?¡± ¡°Well, he said he was going to rest in his dorm¡­¡± Thump!! ¡°My apologies! A report!¡± Everyone¡¯s attention was drawn to the knight who suddenly barged into the meeting room. ¡°T¡­ Trainee Davey has¡­¡± ¡°What happened! Has something happened to him?!¡± As Davey had achieved something huge, they were wondering if he had gotten some sort of rebound effect from it. Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original. ¡°He¡­has left after leaving behind a letter!¡± The knight shouted as he pulled out a note. [I will step back to support the knight order as a Roaming Knight.] With the trainee declaring a long-term vacation from the start, the knights in the entire meeting room fell into silence. * * * Gaor, one of the captains who betrayed the knight order, had died, and all but one of the black-robed people who followed him had died as well. Furthermore, the clone of Shandra Minea they had tried to bring also died in Davey¡¯s hands. In terms of the outcome, Alpha Reinforcements was indebted to Davey. Although he was a trainee, this incident wasn¡¯t something that should¡¯ve been taken care of by a mere trainee. ¡°Ah¡­¡± Illyna let out a painful moan as she slowly opened her eyes. ¡°How are you? You okay?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the worst¡­¡± Illyna looked even colder than usual due to the deep frown on her face. ¡°This is¡­¡± ¡°The knight order¡¯s headquarters.¡± Illyna chuckled as she looked up at Davey with a blank face. ¡°What did I expect? How could they have killed you?¡± ¡°It sounds like you wanted me to die or something.¡± ¡°You would be fine even if I prayed in the temple for a hundred days. And I never wanted something like that.¡± As Illyna spoke, she tried to get up. However, she couldn¡¯t help but frown from the pain that followed. ¡°You¡¯re going to have to rest for a few days. Go back to your kingdom.¡± ¡°¡­I remember this weird energy entering my body¡­¡± Illyna instinctively realized that something had happened to her body as she looked down at her hand, which looked somewhat thinner than usual. ¡°Davey.¡± Then, with a hoarse voice, Illyna called out to Davey and hugged him before he could even answer. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re safe¡­¡± Illyna seemed to disregard the state of her own body. She appeared to be more worried about Davey, and her sincere voice was full of relief. As Davey silently listened to her, Illyna began choking up. ¡°I know you¡¯re strong¡­ But I was really nervous for some reason¡­ I was really nervous this time¡­¡± A transcendental being was no joke; Yulis and Illyna had called Davey crazy and monstrous and such, but even he couldn¡¯t have beaten Shandra Minea with his overwhelming talent. After all, there was a limit to this power engraved in his soul, the circles he had rushed to create after waking up, and the fact that his body couldn''t metamorph. Shandra¡¯s presence alone carried a different weight than Davey. As Davey slightly raised his head while Illyna hugged him in tears, Perserque made an ¡®X¡¯ with her hands to stop him from doing anything weird. He simply wondered to himself, ¡®I wonder if Illyna knows that my dream is to be a rascal.¡¯ Crack! ¡°Kyah?!¡± ¡°It hasn¡¯t even been that long since I massaged your muscles, and yet it¡¯s like this again. You should learn how to use your body properly first. If you use too much mana, not only will it damage your muscles, but your organs as well. Do you want to be disabled?¡± ¡°Youuu!¡± Illyna shouted with teary eyes. Davey flicked Illyna¡¯s forehead. ¡°You have a lot to say for someone who just almost died.¡± ¡°W¡ªWhere are you going?!¡± ¡°Back to the territory.¡± ¡°S¡ªShandra¡­ What about the transcendental being?!¡± ¡®Transcendental being? Oh, the transcendental being¡¯s clone that was so strong it looked like the real thing?¡¯ ¡°I let it go.¡± ¡®Perhaps I would have been able to talk to it if it was the real Shandra.¡¯ Illyna frowned like she couldn¡¯t understand Davey, but sighed after realizing what he meant by saying that and pointing upward to the sky. She was smart, after all. She said, ¡°So¡­ You¡¯re saying that you killed the transcendental being? Did I hear you right? You got the transcendental being?¡± ¡°I got it and I got rid of it completely.¡± ¡°¡­You¡¯re not human, are you? You¡¯re like a dragon or some¡­¡± ¡°And Sio Howl is dead,¡± Davey said and threw a blanket at Illyna to cover her. ¡°Sio, that stupid¡­¡± ¡°He was already dead by the time I got there.¡± There was a state where nothing, not even medicine or holy power, could cure; what was needed was the power of resurrection. Davey did have something similar, and he could have resurrected Sio if he really wanted to. However, there was no reason for him to do that. -What is the price? ¡®A year of my life. And I can only do it once in my life, according to the contract I have with God.¡¯ Resurrection wasn¡¯t just any spell. It was one of the 9th level ultimate holy magic spells; not only was it difficult to use, but the price of it was entirely different. -It was a useless comparison. Sio Howl was extremely talented, but his life still could not even compare to a year of Davey¡¯s life. Davey didn¡¯t exactly like him all that much and he really had no reason to be sad about Sio¡¯s death. However, as a doctor, it didn¡¯t feel very good to watch an injured person die right in front of him. Although, Davey did capture Treve, inhibit his illusion magic and hand him off to the knight order. Even if Davey was called a saint, he was just someone who worshiped God and had made a contract with them. ¡°I¡¯m going back to the territory. Don¡¯t step foot into the Rowane Kingdom for the time being.¡± ¡°What?! Why?!¡± Illyna asked. ¡°Rest in your kingdom. And the Rowane Kingdom is going to be quite disorderly for a while. You¡¯re a princess of an empire; I can¡¯t help you if you barge in and get an earful.¡± Illyna stayed quiet, seemingly in understanding. Although she had a problem with vampires, this was none of her business in the first place. ¡®I¡¯ve waited until now; how much longer do I have to wait?¡¯ This was the last time Davey would be considerate to His Majesty. As Davey turned away with a slightly dark gaze, Illyna urgently grabbed him by his clothes. She said, ¡°Davey.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Thank you¡­¡± Illyna lowered her head timidly, then added, ¡°And don¡¯t get hurt. If you do, my dreams are going to be too scary.¡± Davey no longer frowned, chuckling as he heard Illyna. ¡®I shouldn¡¯t become down just because of some emotions; I¡¯m being needlessly sentimental.¡¯ ¡°Okay.¡± * * * After leaving a short letter behind, Davey returned to the Heins Territory without even waiting for the trainees to wake up. Then, he called upon Monmider, captain of the royal guards, Amy, the estate¡¯s substitute manager who was working in Davey¡¯s place, and Bernile, Amy¡¯s teacher. ¡°Did you call, sir?¡± Monmider looked like a proper knight now. Davey had heard that the territory¡¯s royal guards, who were a complete mess before, had come together quite nicely due to Sir Berman¡¯s training. The three of them looked tense as if they noticed Davey¡¯s stern expression. ¡°Amy. Royal Attendant Bernile.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± Royal Attendant Bernile bowed his head for the both of them. Amy had somewhat of a title, but Bernile had a higher rank since he was from the family of a count.¡± ¡°I¡¯m thinking of ending things at the royal palace.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± Bernile widened his eyes in shock. He muttered, ¡°What do¡­?¡± Bernile was smart, so he knew exactly what Davey meant. He knew that Davey was going to end the feud, whether it was going to be the end of him or the royal palace. ¡°I¡¯ve waited for His Majesty for too long. The Heins Territory will maintain its usual appearance no matter what happens during the process.¡± Bernile stayed silent. ¡°And Monmider.¡± ¡°Yes¡ªYes, Your Highness!¡± Monmider shouted with a tense face. He seemed both worried and excited about Davey¡¯s next plan. He was still distrusting of nobility and royalty, but he was loyal to Davey. ¡°You¡¯re going to go where I tell you and meet someone.¡± Even though he was loyal, Monmider still stared at Davey with a worried gaze. Being cautious was beneficial, and he still couldn¡¯t totally let go of that quality of his. 57. I Will Drag You Out If You Don¡¯t Come Out Yourself. ¡°I found them.¡± ¡°You found them?¡± A figure suddenly began forming in empty space before a masked man appeared. It was Jack. He said, ¡°Yes, there was a report stating people that looked similar to the missing people from each territory were found in the Oltias Territory, one of Duke Bariatta¡¯s lands.¡± ¡°Any more details?¡± ¡°That was all I could find with my abilities. It was clearly something outside my capabilities. However¡­¡± Jack trailed off and mumbled in an eerie voice. He was furious. ¡°There are several reports about some of those people. Their mummified corpses were thrown in the river after all the blood was sucked out of them.¡± ¡°Wow¡­ How typical.¡± The vampires were acting exactly how Davey expected them to. Vampires would secretly kidnap a specific human who met their conditions and suck out their blood until the human became a mummified corpse. Davey had just ordered Jack to investigate the situation just in case, but he really hit the jackpot. Of course, they didn¡¯t deserve to die because they were just vampires, but this was crossing the line. Afterward, Davey drew up an image of the royal palace at the capital and got up from his seat. ¡°Where¡­are you going?¡± ¡°Keep digging for information. I¡¯m heading to the royal palace.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t be able to use the mana gate if you¡¯re heading to the palace at this time.¡± ¡°Who said I was using the mana gate?¡± ¡®Where else can I use my powers?¡¯ Whoosh¡­ Boom!! As soon as Davey spoke, a large purple magic circle appeared on the ground. As it shone, Rinne appeared. She slightly widened her eyes before running over and holding onto Davey¡¯s leg. ¡°Rinne follows where Sir Davey goes.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you just stay here?¡± ¡°Rinne rejects.¡± Rinne was quite firm with her answer. Davey then glanced at Jack who was staring at him with wide eyes. He asked, ¡°Why are you surprised when you know everything?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t teleportation magic a 7th circle spell?¡± ¡®Hm, he knows a lot since he¡¯s a secret spy.¡¯ ¡°This isn¡¯t teleportation.¡± [8th Circle Magic: Space Jump] [Warp] This was a magic spell different from [Teleportation] and it was much more advanced. Tzzzz!! Huge purple sparks vibrated near Davey, and with a strong shake, the scene in front of his eyes changed completely. CH 146 The king¡¯s palace was completely silent. It was as if he had completed his work and had gone to bed. Nothing could be heard in the palace except for Davey¡¯s footsteps and the pitter-patter of Rinne¡¯s bare feet touching the ground. Rinne¡¯s feet were durable, but it was quite weird for her to avoid shoes. Aside from protection, shoes would also keep her feet from getting dirty. However, Rinne didn¡¯t seem to care. Davey did make her wear black tights under her skirt as Illyna had begged him to, but her white feet were still exposed since the tights only came down to her ankles. ¡°Hup! Y¡ªYour Highness!¡± Davey familiarly entered the palace. As he headed toward the king¡¯s bedroom, he quietly spoke to the servant and lady-in-waiting guarding the door. ¡°Open the door.¡± ¡°B¡ªBut, Your Highness! Without any message beforehand at this time¡­¡± ¡°Open.¡± Davey instantly frowned as his voice got colder. ¡°The door.¡± Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. The servant and lady-in-waiting turned pale from Davey¡¯s flowing killing aura, since they were not used to his powers yet. It wasn¡¯t their fault in the first place, but it was difficult for Davey to control his killing aura right now. It was like his soul was used to it, but his body wasn¡¯t. Unlike the time he first woke up and slowly familiarized himself with his powers over the course of a few months, it was faster this time. As Davey was about to sigh while the servant and lady-in-waiting looked at each other in a complete panic¡­ An old man¡¯s voice rang out from inside the bedroom; it was King Krianes. He was still awake although it was quite late. ¡°That¡¯s alright. Let him in.¡± The door hinges quietly moved as the doors opened, and Davey walked into an antique-style room. ¡°Davey, it¡¯s been a while.¡± ¡°May infinite blessing be upon the Sun of the kingdom. Please forgive my insolence.¡± ¡°That¡¯s alright. I do not want to receive such a formal greeting from you here. And it¡¯s also not rude for a son to come visit his father.¡± ¡°Your Majesty, for your subordinate to show respect¡­¡± ¡°That is not needed between a father and son.¡± ¡®Are you still being stubborn?¡¯ King Krianes, who smiled at the kneeling Davey and held his hand tightly, looked more worn out than when they first reunited. He said, ¡°Yes, I heard you went to the Lyndis Empire.¡± ¡°Yes, I was invited to the coming-of-age celebration of Princess Aeria El Lyndis, the empire¡¯s youngest princess.¡± ¡°You probably met Carlus.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t deny it.¡± ¡°Tsk tsk¡­ It would be nice if he came to his senses and grew up.¡± Strangely, there was almost no hint of care or love in King Krianes¡¯ voice. The closest comparison that Davey could make would be love and hate. Noticing that, Davey then said, ¡°Your Majesty, you do know why I came to see you this late in the night.¡± King Krianes¡¯ eyes deepened as Davey spoke. Then, he said, ¡°Can you give it up, Davey?¡± ¡°I am sorry, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°I am not going to live much longer. Can you think of it as your father¡¯s last request?¡± ¡®Last request? Granted by who?¡¯ Davey couldn¡¯t help but scoff. ¡°Your Majesty, may I tell you something?¡± ¡°Speak.¡± ¡°Your Majesty, you have yet to pay for your sins.¡± As King Krianes remained silent, Davey then added, ¡°Do not try to die without my permission. I will revive you even if you die.¡± ¡°Davey.¡± ¡°Your Majesty, you made this kingdom into this mess, made Mother die, abandoned me, and allowed the nobility to run wild. You did that, and you are just going to run away?¡± ¡®You cannot die until you take care of all of that. I will revive you if I have to. And when you have done everything, you will have to leave the crown to Baris. Only then can you die in my hands or live a long life or do whatever you want.¡¯ ¡°I heard about the Lyndis Empire. You grew up so well even when a neglectful father like me couldn¡¯t protect you. You also have outstanding judgment and the bold decisiveness a leader should have.¡± King Krianes stood up and slowly approached Davey. He went on while holding Davey¡¯s hand, like he was appealing to him. ¡°Not only that, but your stigmata has been recognized by the Holy Empire, and you have used your exceptional medical knowledge to cure the Lyndis Empire¡¯s youngest princess; you have achievements great enough for the empire¡¯s acknowledgment and you have made your own ally.¡± King Krianes sighed. ¡°If you want the crown, it is yours. However, as a king, anyone who takes the path of force cannot decide on every little thing. It was like that for me as well.¡± ¡°That is an excuse.¡± ¡°A king¡­¡± King Krianes went on with a painful expression. ¡°Has too many people to protect. Davey, do you know how many people there are in this kingdom? There are five million. Not one, not a dozen, but five million. Do you know what that means? It means that five million people can live or die depending on a king¡¯s decision.¡± ¡®That is why a king cannot decide everything, and there are things he has to ignore even while knowing it.¡¯ Davey erased the cold smile from his face and stared at King Krianes, who went on to say, ¡°Alright¡­ Just let out all of your resentment toward me. I can happily die by your sword with a smile on my face if you can become a successful king.¡± ¡°Your Majesty, I have told you from the beginning¡­¡± ¡°Davey.¡± ¡°Please grant me the title of ¡®Investigator¡¯. I will take care of the nobility.¡± King Krianes widened his eyes in surprise. He exclaimed, ¡°Davey!!¡± ¡°It seems like you don¡¯t know, but¡­the Bariatta family has joined forces with vampires and has been offering this kingdom¡¯s subjects to them as a sacrifice for a long time. Did you know that?¡± King Krianes widened his eyes even more. ¡°That is¡­¡± ¡°At first, it was Her Majesty the Queen. Her Majesty didn¡¯t know the truth, but it is true that she was their support. And¡­¡± Davey emphasized every word that he said. ¡°That damn Carlus is doing it even while knowing what is going on. But you just let them be? Is that the path of a king? Does being a king meant ignoring the deaths of hundreds and thousands of people to save five million?¡± King Krianes couldn¡¯t say a word as Davey bombarded him with criticism. Davey went on. ¡°I cannot let such senseless people run wild in the kingdom that Baris, my brother, will inherit. Please send word if you decide on it. Your Majesty, you do not have to interfere in this anymore. No matter what they do, I will crush them.¡± Davey¡¯s language became rougher as he became more emotional. ¡°Are you thinking of something else? Are you thinking of trying to use the allied Lyndis Empire to crush the nobility and force an end to this situation?¡± ¡®If that happens, they will lay low and hide while looking for another opportunity.¡¯ ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Do you think I would stand by and let that happen? If you want, I will cause a rebellion.¡± ¡°Davey!¡± ¡°Do you think I won¡¯t? I will do it. That is the kind of guy I, Davey O¡¯Rowane, Your Majesty¡¯s son, am.¡± The enemies¡¯ last hit wouldn¡¯t be King Krianes or Marquis Peiltris who had been handicapping the nobility¡¯s power; it would be Davey, which was why he had rushed to regain his power. * * * Perhaps King Krianes thought that he couldn¡¯t subdue his son¡¯s stubbornness, because he did give the title of ¡®General Investigator¡¯ to Davey. No matter what the past relationship between Davey¡¯s mother, King Krianes, and Queen Lynesse, was, King Krianes probably had no choice since he had become aware of the fact that the nobility had crossed a line and that Davey may do something extreme. However, if what Davey had told him was true, this was a heavy crime that the nobility couldn¡¯t glaze over with any kind of excuse. Of course, there was pushback about giving Davey the title of ¡®Investigator¡¯, but there weren¡¯t any problems in the end. The nobility didn¡¯t possess the amount of power they had before, and King Krianes, who was furious, had pushed this through. The very first thing Davey did after receiving the royal order that formally named him as General Investigator was to use his newly given right to gather the palace knights. Although they were just Experts, they would be enough helping hands. The second thing he did as the General Investigator was spread a rumor and command the fifty knights who had been selected to serve him. ¡°We will start to break down the house of a harmful insect. Don¡¯t worry. Even if the insect is dangerous, you have me. All you have to do is break the house down.¡± ¡°Your wish is my command!¡± ¡°Remember, you are valuable knights of the Rowane Kingdom. I won¡¯t let you die.¡± A flame flared up from Davey¡¯s hand, then disappeared. His mana reacted with his emotions and showed up as a hot flame, since he wasn¡¯t used to it yet; it was worse than he thought. Although¡­ ¡®Fire is the best at getting rid of insects.¡¯ * * * ¡°It¡¯s Davey O¡¯Rowane.¡± ¡°Hup! I¡­ I greet His Highness the Prince!¡± Davey glanced at the empty storage space behind the man who was lowering his head nervously. He asked, ¡°Is this an abandoned storage?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Yes, it is. It was originally a storage space to store supplies for the duke¡¯s family¡­ But the supplies were cut off for some reason, so¡­¡± ¡®A spider has set up its web, but it¡¯s totally empty.¡¯ The five knights who followed Davey here looked confused. The facility did just look like an abandoned storage space from the outside. ¡°Really? Is that so?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ Of course¡­ But what brings you to this small territory¡­?¡± Asking that question, the man slightly raised his head from the floor. Davey chuckled. ¡°Why do you think I¡¯m here?¡± Hup. Davey took a short breath and wielded Blue Ribbon. He could use his hands to undo the barrier, but why bother when¡­ Crack¡­ Crack! ¡°Sh¡­ Shriek?!¡± The barrier would break with a slash from Blue Ribbon? As the space distorted and the barrier broke, the storage¡¯s interior completely changed. The empty ground sunk down to reveal a path. ¡°It seems like you gave the barrier some thought, but you should¡¯ve remembered who you¡¯re up against.¡± As he spoke, Davey nonchalantly released his holy power. [Holy Coating] [Defensive Armor] [Divine Shield] It was an adequate level of holy magic that should be effective. The knights, who looked down in surprise at the instantly engraved holy magic, soon remembered that Davey had a stigmata and began to quickly charge into the abandoned storage space¡¯s basement. Soon, they widened their eyes in shock. ¡°What should we do with you?¡± Davey asked the man who was managing the storage calmly, and the man turned pale. ¡®He would¡¯ve kept it secret even though he knew what was going on.¡¯ ¡°P¡ªPlease kill me!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do that then.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± Splatter! ¡®You asked me to kill you, so what else can I do?¡¯ If the man kept quiet despite knowing such atrocities were happening, not even a decapitation would be enough for his crimes. The man collapsed onto the ground without a single scream. His eyes remained wide open. Davey walked over the man¡¯s corpse, and slowly walked into the basement as he coated Red Ribbon with holy power. CH 147 ¡°Keugh¡­¡± ¡°Kagh¡­¡± The two men, who were crushed into immobility by Davey¡¯s feet, glared at him with a deadly gaze. ¡°Your Highness! We found the survivors.¡± ¡°There are thirty people!¡± ¡°Transport all of them to the temple and have them receive advanced purification magic spells. I will cover all of the costs incurred.¡± ¡°Yes, sir! What are you all doing?! Move!¡± As the knights were impartial, neither part of the nobility nor royalists, they clearly seemed infuriated by this situation. Humans were kidnapping fellow humans to sacrifice them to monsters; such incidents were common in the criminal underworld, but this situation was of a large enough scale to be entirely different. ¡°Gurgle¡­ Kagh¡­ L¡­ Lord Pace will kill you!¡± All Davey found in the basement were two low-rank vampires. There weren¡¯t many high-rank vampires here. Perhaps they were not stationed here, or they had gone somewhere else. Davey clicked his tongue as he watched the victims, ranging from little girls to older women, being transported by the knights with blankets wrapped around them. ¡®Asking them won¡¯t do anything, since they also have failsafes¡­¡¯ Crackle. [Sir Davey, Rinne reports that the problem is resolved.] ¡°The damage?¡± [Rinne is an excellent combat weapon. Reporting that there is no damage. Furthermore, Rinne has found many human females and is transporting them to the temple.] ¡°Good work. We just went through the last storage, so you can withdraw.¡± [Rinne understands.] Davey turned off the short-range communication crystal and stared down at the vampires who stared back menacingly. He was their archnemesis. The vampires looked similar to humans, but they were strange because of their pale skin, long incisors, and the red eyes that appear whenever they release their powers. -Those qualities already make them pretty different, right? ¡®You¡¯re right?¡¯ Davey silently stared at the vampires under his feet with benevolence. ¡°You damn human! Lord Pace will rip you up into shreds!¡± A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled. ¡°How dare a lowly human!¡± Davey nodded as they bombarded him with violent comments. He commented, ¡°Sure, it¡¯s natural for you predators to feed on humans, who are the predated. So, I will forgive you.¡± When Davey spoke to them as benevolent as an angel descending down from the sky, the two vampires looked confused. However, they put on a twisted smile and smirked like they were transformed by his kind smile. ¡°Then untie thi¡­¡± ¡°But will she forgive you?!¡± Splatter!! The vampires¡¯ heads flew up into the air as Davey instantly erased his smile and cut their tough necks with Red Ribbon like slicing tofu. ¡®Um, Red Ribbon says she can¡¯t.¡¯ [Red Ribbon did it! Did it! Did I do a good job?] ¡®Aw, I don¡¯t know whose daughter you are, but you are so good.¡¯ Red Ribbon wasn¡¯t in her human form, but Davey could hear her voice ringing in his head with a faint vibration. ¡®Even if they are vampires, low-ranking ones will be finished if beheaded by a blade with holy power.¡¯ Davey let go of his insane expression and nodded at the knights staring at him in confusion and awe. He ordered, ¡°Collect all the bodies; they will be displayed in the capital''s square. Write their crimes on their bodies and hang them naked.¡± ¡®Since they live such prideful lives, this will drive the hidden ones crazy and force them out.¡¯ As prideful as vampires were, they would be infuriated by the attack of someone they considered inferior. This rule applied even to their own kind. Since vampires had more pride than any other kind, this was bound to work. ¡°Sir, the rumors are spreading and spreading. And their next hiding place¡­¡± ¡°Lead the way to the next place. We are getting to all the places by the end of the day.¡± The knights, who were surprised by Jack¡¯s sudden appearance, hesitated before quickly getting into position. They followed Davey. * * * ¡°Damn it!!!¡± Crash!!! Public opinions were a scary thing. ¡°How dare these lowly beings do this to me!¡± Carlus clenched his jaw and made a big scene, even forgetting the fact that his wig had fallen off his head. Carlus couldn¡¯t hide his anger. He was of great blood ever since birth. His talent, appearance, and bloodline; he had lived his entire life thinking that everything about him was the best in this kingdom. Anything that bothered him was gotten rid of with one word, and he had always been told that he was extremely gifted; he would be the next king; he was a great and noble being. For someone who had grown up hearing those things, this public and widespread hostility toward him brought unbearable anger. His ears were practically hurting from the loud screams of people demanding his execution. ¡°It is your fault. If you did this more secretly, this situation wouldn¡¯t have happened!!¡± Carlus shouted, shaking from anger. The man slowly opened his eyes and stared at Carlus with a frighteningly cold gaze. He smirked, no longer deep in thought. ¡°It seems like that greenhorn, Davey, knows what makes the nobility angry,¡± Pace commented. ¡°I think ripping his limbs off and sucking the blood out of everyone he cares about will make me feel better.¡± Listening to Pace quietly mumbling from his seat, Carlus trembled slightly. He could feel the vampire¡¯s frightening killing aura and red energy flowing out, so he soon stepped back. ¡°You¡­¡± ¡°We are being bothered just as we¡¯re close to the finish line. Well, alright. We can start after getting rid of the insect bothering us. You do what you can, Your Highness.¡± ¡°What¡¯s your plan?¡± ¡°I have to crush the insect that has attacked us without knowing his place. I am done playing.¡± Carlus couldn¡¯t help but wipe the cold sweat dripping down his face as Pace disappeared into space. Although they had a contract, there was something more eerie about Pace than the cold gaze of Shari, Carlus¡¯ mother¡¯s lady-in-waiting. * * * ¡°This can¡¯t be!¡± ¡°Vampires?? Have you been doing something this insane without telling us?! Your Excellency?!¡± Duke Bariatta was silently listening to the nobility¡¯s protests. He knew that this would get out some time, but it came out much worse than he had expected. Duke Bariatta wasn¡¯t blind; he knew that Carlus was accompanying some unknown presence and that it was some strange being that didn¡¯t hide his weird aura, unlike the lady-in-waiting whom his daughter was with. The quick ones already noticed the eerie difference that Pace had. Later, Duke Bariatta found out that Pace was a vampire, and he accepted the fact that they were going to help Carlus. Of course, there was a little problem where Duke Bariatta himself had to kidnap some people and offer them, but he thought there was no way a few deaths would interfere with his path. It was a good idea to disguise the storage space so well that even exceptional priests and mages couldn¡¯t recognize it. It was an investment, considering the absurd amount of power Duke Bariatta had. He believed that everything would be fine if he won the internal war with the vampire¡¯s help, even if the crown prince position was given to Davey instead of Carlus. That was because, by that point, the royalists and nobility would already be past the point of no return. ¡°Everyone, calm down.¡± ¡°Calm down?! Do you think we can calm¡­¡± ¡°Are you suddenly afraid?¡± The nobility went quiet as Duke Bariatta spoke nonchalantly. The duke continued, ¡°Everyone here has already taken part in the act. Do you think they will back off even if you stop now?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Then, let¡¯s think. We are going to do what we can. If this war is going to happen anyways, we¡¯re better off having something we can win with up our sleeve.¡± The nobility murmured amongst themselves and then quietened down. ¡°Count Vons.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Excellency.¡± ¡°What happened to the delivery of military supplies?¡± ¡°We have successfully received a large number of weapons, and they are new dwarf-made ones as well. It was like they were scraping together as much money as they could. We bought a good amount at a cheap price through different routes.¡± ¡°Hm, dwarf-mades¡­ Where did you buy them?¡± ¡°The Heins Territory. Hehe, Prince Davey was stupid. The weapons he sold will come back to choke him. In fact, the new weapons¡¯ durability and sharpness that we tested with steel swords was clearly outstanding. Thanks to that, we were able to¡­¡± Duke Bariatta flinched. ¡°What?¡± ¡°The weapons are outstand¡­¡± ¡°Before that.¡± ¡°Oh, we bought them from the Heins Territory.¡± Duke Bariatta rubbed his forehead as he heard Count Vons¡¯ report. ¡®Something is off.¡¯ From what Duke Bariatta knew, Prince Davey wasn¡¯t stupid enough to openly do something like that. To think that the prince rushed to do this out of hostility and anger toward them¡­ It seemed too much like a well-thought-out game. It was like he had helped them behind the scenes to cause an uprising¡­ ¡®Oh¡­ It¡¯s a trap.¡¯ Duke Bariatta clenched his jaw. He was certain that it was a trap, but he couldn¡¯t back out or do anything in this situation. It didn¡¯t matter what vampires were like or what kind of person Carlus was; everything would be decided by the result of this internal war, and with his plan, he would be able to withstand the pressure from other kingdoms as they had no right to interfere in internal conflicts of this kingdom. If Marquis Peiltris hadn¡¯t taken the ledger with their corrupt deeds, and if the First Prince wasn¡¯t here, there wouldn¡¯t have been any problems, but it was too late to think that now. 58. If the Palace Gates Are Too Strong, Destroy the Palace Walls. This was a rebellion caused by a few high-rank nobles with Duke Bariatta as its leader. As the spark was lit on the internal conflict, the atmosphere of the palace was at its worst. The nobility and Duke Bariatta, the cause of this rebellion, had an army of thirty thousand and had one Swordmaster, along with a few vampires. As he held half the military power, he had gathered an astonishing number of people considering the population of this kingdom. Even a Swordmaster, who each had the power of an entire army, would definitely lose if they fought against ten thousand people. However, the army that the royalists had scraped together were ten thousand people and Marquis Peiltris. To be exact, they also had Davey, who was thought to have just started using holy magic from his stigmata. Everyone knew that the royalists were at a huge disadvantage for this flight. Even the ten thousand was filled by young men of the kingdom who volunteered in fury after hearing they had colluded with vampires and took royal subjects as sacrifices. ¡°We are ready, Your Highness.¡± CH 148 Rolling a pebble in his hand, Davey nodded once he heard Monmider, the royal guards¡¯ captain and Berman, the knight responsible for training. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go,¡± Davey said calmly, then began walking as he locked the latches on his armor. Only five hundred people from the Heins Territory were selected. It definitely wasn¡¯t a large number of people; what difference would five hundred people make when the war involved tens of thousands of people? Of course, this very much depended on their activities, but Davey had no intentions of executing a secret plan with these people. ¡°Thank you all for gathering.¡± The knights¡¯ equipment was in great condition, since Davey had poured a lot of money into it. They had shiny chainmail, and their spears were carved and sharpened. The knights who knew how to ride a horse were in full-body armor and showed their pride as cavalry, although there were only about ten of them. ¡°Some of you are upset that I haven¡¯t been paying as much attention to the territory as I should have.¡± Everyone was quiet. There were a lot of guards who had served Davey as militia members, but there were also quite a few people who had become royal guards after moving here as the territory developed. The new guards looked confused and doubtful about what a young prince with a stigmata could bring to the table, since the young prince had barely been in the territory. ¡°Let¡¯s stop beating around the bush. The kingdom¡¯s situation is that the rotten nobility who has been leeching off of this kingdom has started an uprising.¡± There was nothing but silence among them. Looking around, Davey continued, ¡°Their military power consists of thirty thousand. There¡¯s one Swordmaster, and a strange being¡­ No, whatever. There are a few mosquito-like insects among them.¡± The guards who heard about the opponent¡¯s army tensed up in fear and nervousness, since a war this great hadn¡¯t happened for decades. ¡°Right now, those people are even using their power to conscript innocent subjects to use them as defense when they enter the kingdom.¡± Taking a short breath, Davey glanced at everyone calmly and went on, ¡°Some of you may wonder why you have to put your life on the line to protect the royal palace that has done nothing for us. You may ask, why should you go with weapons and fight for the people who leeched off of us? You may think that. Am I wrong?¡± However, the ones who had followed Davey from the time they were militia¡­ ¡°What does that matter?! We have received your grace, and that is why we¡¯re following you, sir!¡± Gordon shouted. Freeman chimed in, ¡°That¡¯s right! If you tell me to die, sir, I¡¯ll jump into a fire pit!¡± ¡°Use me as you want!¡± ¡°My life is in your hands, sir!¡± ¡®Who¡¯s the last one? Those freakin¡¯ lunatics¡­¡¯ It was true that Davey had received the title of ¡®Saint¡¯, but the situation was a little iffy since he hadn¡¯t officially gone through baptism yet. ¡°Ahem. The rest don¡¯t feel that way, right?¡± Davey then picked on the first guard that caught his eye. The guard flinched, straightened his back, and shouted, ¡°O¡­ Of course, not! We believe in you, sir!¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡®Just say that you are, you people¡­ Just can¡¯t help out with my speech, can you?¡¯ ¡°Well, alright. I¡¯m not going to force you to believe or not believe, but I¡¯ll make one thing clear.¡± When everyone silently turned to glance at him, Davey continued, ¡°We¡¯re not going to save the royal palace. To be vulgar, I fucking hate the current royal palace now, too. I¡¯m someone who thinks that we need to get rid of all of them. So, what we are doing is for us as well. And!¡± ¡®Control my pitch¡­ A lower pitch for this next line.¡¯ ¡°Furthermore, this is a fight to keep your family and mine safe.¡± For Davey, his brother, Baris, would be the next king. He was thinking about Baris and the royal subjects when he said that. He could also put an end to this long-lasting bad relationship this way. For the rest of the crowd, it would be to take revenge on the ones who have lived as the privileged at their expense. Thud! At the same time, Monmider, who was standing at the forefront, raised his huge halberd and slammed it on the ground. Some of the guards began to follow what Monmider did, as if they had planned this entire spectacle. Soon, everyone began following along like the action was contagious. ¡®This thing called mob mentality¡­ These guys are probably pro at going with the flow.¡¯ ¡°Most of the rebels currently have weapons made from a new kind of dwarf-made metal. It can easily cut through and quickly dent normal steel.¡± As Davey spoke, the ones who transported the weapons nodded slowly. In fact, it wasn¡¯t normal for a person who sold modern weapons to the enemy to use old weapons, but this was only the case if the fight was just between soldiers. ¡°But who is with you guys?!¡± ¡°You are, Your Highness!!¡± ¡°So, follow me! Just like before, I promise you; no matter when you¡¯ve come to the Heins Territory, you have all become family. As a seigneur, I will not lose any one of my family.¡± Davey added, ¡°Do not die. Don¡¯t you dare die without my permission. The only thing for you to do is charge in, and the only thing for me to do is to protect you and your family.¡± Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. With that, Davey pulled out a large ornamental sword from the ground and shouted, ¡°Let¡¯s turn the tables on the people who have bullied you for so long!¡± A fight specialized for a short amount of time against thirty thousand enemies, one Swordmaster, and an unknown vampire; they knew what this meant. The decision to sacrifice all these people when he was trying to protect the people wasn¡¯t an option for Davey; this was just for show. ¡°All! Gather your weapons! We¡¯re beginning a mass clean-up!¡± ¡®If the clearing of goblins of the territory was just clean up, these mosquitoes need a mass clean-up.¡¯ * * * The Verbooth Mountain Fortress was an intermediate fortress on Duke Bariatta¡¯s largest road, which was connected to the Rowane Kingdom¡¯s capital. It was a huge fortress that had never allowed a foreign invasion before. The fortress walls were over thirty meters tall and ten meters wide; it was a gigantic, indomitable fortress that had existed before the founding of the Rowane Kingdom. The people guarding the gate with tense faces were wearing red armor that was engraved with the emblem of the Bariatta family, the ones representing the nobility who had turned into rebels. ¡°Damn it¡­ How did this happen¡­¡± There were only five soldiers protecting this gate. It was too small a number, but the reason was simple: the nobility who had turned into rebels were the ones invading. As such, most of the army was focused on invasion and didn¡¯t care much about defending their fortress; if the royalists were thinking of fighting back, they would have the time to prepare anyway. Furthermore, the commander didn¡¯t think anyone was brave enough to invade the Verbooth Fortress, which had over five thousand soldiers in residence. ¡°Hey, where are you from?¡± ¡°I¡¯m from the damn Leuce Territory.¡± ¡°Where did those lunatics start conscription from?¡± Soldier Haven, who heard that the other soldier was selected and dragged here from a faraway territory, was in the same boat. He said, ¡°I was dragged here from the Allos Territory.¡± ¡°Huh, you also were real unlucky, huh?¡± ¡°Man, the fact that I¡¯m keeping this fortress to protect those inhumane people¡­¡± They could not reject as the only punishment they would receive was death if they refused; they would die a horrendous death in front of a crowd and become their laughing stock, or they might be taken to a scary place and become the meal of some unknown monster like the rumors. ¡°Damn it¡­ I have to be the minion of the nobility that my damn seigneur follows when all he has done is leech off me my entire life.¡± They didn¡¯t like that they had to be protecting the people they despised because they had no power. It wasn¡¯t just a couple of people who died after going against them. ¡°Anyway¡­ The royalty must have fled in such a hurry.¡± ¡°Probably. Apparently, the rebellion¡¯s army is three times the size. I saw some lunatic already celebrating victory down there.¡± Listening to the soldier, Haven said with a sigh, ¡°It¡¯s crazy; who would get through the wall? It¡¯s too tall and thick to get through even with ten thousand people.¡± The giant fortress gate was the only entrance the royalist army could push through, but it hadn¡¯t been invaded in a hundred years. After all, it was protected by the many layers of magic barriers. From what the soldiers had heard, they needed at least fifty mages over the 3rd Circle to stop the barrier magic before hammering it with a huge battering ram for hours to even make it possible. The problem was that, without passing through this, the royalist army couldn¡¯t fight back at all. ¡°Ah, damn this world! Ptooey!¡± Haven spat on the ground, then glanced at the sun-lit ridge from under his helmet. ¡°Hm?¡± That was when Haven saw a distant figure for a split second. ¡°Ha, fuck. My eyes are playing tricks on me¡­¡± Haven, who leaned his halberd on his chest and rubbed his eyes, sighed in futility. Nothing was there when he looked again. He muttered, ¡°Of course. Damn it, I wish something big just went right through this damn fortress gate.¡± ¡®So that I can run away or something.¡¯ The others nodded along with a frown; Haven wasn¡¯t the only one thinking that. ¡°Then run away.¡± That was when they heard the unfamiliar voice of a young boy from above the quiet fortress wall. ¡°Heh?¡± The sudden voice resonated through Haven¡¯s head, but he wasn¡¯t the only one to have heard the voice. The other soldiers on duty all turned over to the source of the voice in surprise. Where they looked, there was¡­ ¡°Working so hard.¡± There was a boy walking past them, entering the fortress with a nonchalant smile. ¡®The walls are over thirty meters tall¡­ And since this was built on a mountain, there was a drop about twenty to thirty meters below the wall itself. But someone was able to instantly climb up without making a sound when¡ªalthough they didn¡¯t want to¡ªwere on the lookout?¡¯ Haven stared at the boy in utter surprise; soon, he felt his body floating up into the air and being slammed against the inner wall of the fortress. ¡°Cough! Ouch!¡± It would be normal for him to have become a meat pancake after falling from a thirty-meter wall, but his body was completely fine like he had only dropped thirty centimeters. ¡°What is¡­¡± Haven looked around with wide eyes, trying to fathom the impossible that had happened to a commoner like him. He soon realized that the other soldiers protecting the gates with him were also on the floor groaning. Whoosh!! Then, Haven watched the boy who threw him to the wall easily jump up onto the wall. ¡°T¡­ Thirty meters¡­¡± Haven¡¯s jaw dropped when the boy hopped down from the huge thirty-meter-tall wall and walked past him. ¡°It¡¯s me. Charge in.¡± With that¡­ ¡°A real man doesn¡¯t look back at an explosion.¡± After mumbling a cheesy line, the boy pulled out a thin, blue sword from his sheath and walked into the fortress. And then, after a short period of time¡­ Booom!!!!!! Part of the fortress wall just exploded and began falling apart. And hundreds of knights charged through those cracks at once. ¡°Everyone listen to me.¡± Despite the roar of screams and shouting, the boy calmly walked into the fortress and his voice clearly rang out to reach everyone. It was as if his voice came from another dimension. He walked into the fortress with red energy flowing out of his blade without hesitation. CH 149 ¡°The targets are the commanding personnel and the nobility. I will not forgive anyone for stealing from the people or mocking the ones who have surrendered. However, show the people who dare to fight back whatever you¡¯ve got!¡± [8th Level Holy Magic] [God¡¯s Blessing] This was a two-fold buff amplification magic with an incredibly wide range; it would strengthen the buff magic spells much more than what Davey had done before. ¡°Follow the Saint¡¯s lead with blood and iron!¡± ¡°I am full of strength!¡± ¡°I feel a whole lot younger!¡± A huge number of buffs had just been cast on all five hundred guards; Haven couldn¡¯t help but think that he was dreaming. He watched the people who seemed to have superhuman powers charge toward them while shining with white light. It was only when he saw the charging and shouting guards enter the fortress did he realize that this was an invasion. The formerly unbreakable fortress walls had been broken. The fightback from the royalist army was unexpectedly fast, precise, and destructive. * * * It seemed like Duke Bariatta only left the minimum number of soldiers behind, since he thought the fortress would never be invaded. There were about five thousand of them, but most had been forced to conscript. Furthermore, the sudden barging of guards with superhuman strength, speed, and new armory put the fortress in chaos. ¡°P¡­ Please don¡¯t kill me!¡± Count Colson, a former member of the nobility, the master of the fortress, and Duke Bariatta¡¯s entourage who never thought that anyone would attack this place, bowed in front of Davey and begged for his life. ¡°Count Colson.¡± ¡°Y¡­ Yes! Your Highness!¡± Count Colson answered, trembling. He wanted to try and survive in any way that he could. Davey said, ¡°Dozens of corruption cases regarding profits through illegal slavery. There are even countless cases of you acting violently with the duke¡¯s support.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± Splatter!!! As soon as Count Colson stopped talking, a part of his body was sliced off by Blue Ribbon, which was surrounded by blue energy. ¡°Keugh! Kuk¡­¡± ¡°No one help him. He can slowly experience death until he completely bleeds to death.¡± Then, Davey glanced at the five hundred guards who were lined up in a straight line. The gigantic fortress, the largest one in the Rowane Kingdom protected by five thousand soldiers, was taken over in less than two hours. About eighty percent of the five thousand men had been forced to fight. As soon as they got the chance to live, they did not let it pass and threw off their armor and abandoned their weapons to surrender immediately; the fight was over in an instant without the need for a huge army or modern weapons. As long as their leader was someone with monstrous powers who had become a human grenade and blew up the fortress wall, the guards weren¡¯t scared. In fact, they were in awe of Davey¡¯s holy magic that made them as strong as knights who had trained with mana. The moment Davey kept his promise of safety and strength, he was no longer just a little boy whom they had to follow; to them, he truly felt like a Lion of God who descended from heaven. ¡°Hurrah!! The Saint!!!¡± Gordon, a group leader shouted without missing a beat. ¡°Hurrah!!!¡± At the same time, Freeman, who always followed what Gordon did, put his hands up in the air and shouted as well. ¡°Hurrah!!!¡± An uncontrollable wave of emotion spread through the crowd. Davey frowned slightly at the loud shouts that made his ears ring. He then stared at Count Colson who was trembling on the ground. Count Colson looked like he couldn¡¯t believe what had happened to him. He looked upset. ¡®You dare look like that when you have taken everything and done inhumane things?¡¯ ¡°Quiet, you guys! Since I intend to keep my promise, we¡¯re moving forward to the next fortress! Any complaints?!¡± ¡°No, sir!¡± ¡°I will follow you forever!!¡± Davey felt a little satisfied by the guard¡¯s loud answers. He minimized the number of problems that would occur at the territory after he left, then pulled out his crystal and said, ¡°Marquis Peiltris, it¡¯s me. March on.¡± ¡®You and the royalist army just have to sit back and watch.¡¯ This was what Davey had started, so he was going to be the one to protect the innocent and punish the guilty. Starting with the Verbooth Fortress, his army marched on with incredible speed. * * * ¡°Shriek! P¡­ Please, Your Highness!¡± ¡°Count Latos.¡± Count Latos was one of Duke Bariatta¡¯s entourage. He had fattened his own pockets by selling the kingdom¡¯s military supplies overseas, covered it up using Duke Bariatta¡¯s power, and then made his residents pay for the missing supplies. ¡°I¡­ I have committed a sin worthy of dying!¡± ¡°Then, you should die.¡± ¡°Keugh!¡± With a terrifyingly loud slice, a large man fell to the ground with a whimper. Like Count Colson, none of their punishments were to cut them up into a thousand pieces. They were to experience death very slowly. A quick death was like an escape in some ways, but it was too complicated to make them all into slaves, so this was the next best solution. ¡°Viscount Clitohith.¡± ¡°I¡­ I admit to my crime! I surrender! Your Highness! The right of a captive¡­!¡± ¡°Bullshit.¡± Splatter!! Viscount Clitohith was part of Duke Bariatta¡¯s entourage, and he was a pedophile who had passed the ¡®Droit du Seigneur¡¯ for girls around ten years old. ¡®Die, you disgusting pig.¡¯ As for Count Cocoulja, he had been caught sleeping through an emergency. He thought the enemy would not be able to get to him. He was also part of Duke Bariatta¡¯s entourage and had also been given this position by buying his title. In a day and a half, a few of the fortresses protecting Duke Bariatta¡¯s territory were destroyed. The other fortresses weren¡¯t as specialized for defense as the Verbooth Fortress, but they were at least prepared for an attack and had a substantial number of soldiers on the watch, though it was not as many as the Verbooth. It was a long journey, but the guards following Davey looked lively. They had their full strengths as if they had just begun the war. It wasn¡¯t just the nobility who were shocked by the stupid and reckless movement of the Heins guards Davey had selected. ¡°Oh my¡­¡± Marquis Peiltris was confused when he first received Davey¡¯s message. To be frank, this was a battle they had no chance of winning; Marquis Peiltris knew that something like this was bound to happen, but it was also true that he slightly hated Davey for taking such unexpected action so blatantly. However, Marquis Peiltris was loyal to the kingdom; he had to do anything to keep the kingdom and his king safe. He had been up many nights thinking about how he should defend and counterattack when he was fighting thirty thousand men with only ten thousand. He also couldn¡¯t expect the third Swordmaster in the kingdom to fight alongside him, since they had to protect the capital. But¡­ [You can come now that it¡¯s been cleared.] ¡®What is he talking about?¡¯ In bewilderment, Marquis Peiltris thought that this feisty prince had charged in with his army of five hundred. When that turned out to be true¡­ he was shocked at the situation presented to him. Part of the huge fortress wall, which was thirty meters tall and ten meters wide, had a perfectly circular hole. It was like something had exploded. The edges were incredibly clean and smooth. Starting with the Verbooth Fortress, the one place he thought would be the most difficult, Marquis Peiltris felt a headache coming on as he kept hearing news of victories. * * * Slam!!! ¡°How did this happen?! How did four or five fortresses be taken over by a mere army of five hundred men in less than three days??!!!¡± Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. As Duke Bariatta screamed in rage, the armored old man looked tense. He said regretfully, ¡°It seems that we have deeply underestimated Prince Davey¡¯s stigmata.¡± That was the only possible explanation; Davey had received a stigmata, the miracle of God, and he was able to use some sort of power because that stigmata was different from normal ones. Although the stigmata wasn¡¯t the reason why the wall had been blown into pieces, it was the only thing they could think of. They only knew that Davey had the stigmata, and nothing else. The problem was that this speed couldn¡¯t be possible from what they knew about stigmatas. Even if they attributed the destruction to the stigmata, as the firepower of a high-level holy magic spell the Holy Empire¡¯s current pope had used in the past was similar to that of a few high-level mages using their magic all at once, they had no explanation for how fast the guards were moving. The location of the fortresses that fell after Verbooth''s defeat could take six hours and up to a few days to travel to. The guard¡¯s speed could be possible if they were all on horses, but it was simply impossible by foot. Their speed was like¡­teleportation. Thud! ¡°Th¡­ There¡¯s an emergency! Even the Yallis Mountain Fortress, one of our last lines of defense, has been taken over!¡± The atmosphere in the conference room grew cold. One of the nobility with a large physique urgently ran in and shouted. They couldn¡¯t tell who was the one attacking anymore. They had taken over a huge part of the kingdom according to their airtight plan, but now their core defense was being wiped out. ¡°I will try to stop them.¡± ¡°Marquis Enza¡­¡± ¡°Prince Davey is stronger than we had expected, but I am Swordmaster; I will not be taken down that easily. While I stop him, march to the royal palace. You should be able to go without a problem if you use the remaining routes.¡± The problem was how long Marquis Enza was going to last. ¡°I will go, too. I will kill that damn Davey with my own hands!¡± Duke Bariatta¡¯s head began to hurt when Carlus started acting recklessly as well. Then, he glanced at the silent man who kept his arms crossed. ¡®Vampire Pace.¡¯ Duke Bariatta wasn¡¯t amused by the vampire waiting nonchalantly and not doing a single thing. He asked, ¡°Hey, you. Shouldn¡¯t you help as well?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°This situation happened while helping you with what you wanted,¡± Duke Bariatta pointed out coldly. Pace, who was staying quiet, smiled eerily. Then, he undid his arms and approached Duke Bariatta while staring at him. ¡°What¡­?¡± All the nobility looked on at Pace¡¯s sudden actions in confusion. Then¡­ ¡°Keugh¡­ Wheeze!¡± Pace charged toward Duke Bariatta in seconds and held him up by the neck. ¡°Y¡­Your Excellency!¡± ¡°You!!¡± Surprised by Pace¡¯s sudden actions, all the nobility pulled out their swords; even the ones who have never wielded a sword had to carry one during a war. Carlus shot up from his seat and shouted in the midst of the heated situation, ¡°What are you doing?! I demand you to let him down now!!¡± Pace stared at Duke Bariatta with a terrifying smile before letting him go. Thud!! Duke Bariatta hit the ground and he coughed with raspy breaths. ¡°I am not your servant. I think you are forgetting that.¡± ¡°You¡­¡± ¡°Get it right, inferior human. You have no right to order me around. The only person who can ¡®suggest¡¯ something to me is that prince who signed a contract with me.¡± Then, Pace turned around and said, ¡°You will hear good news in an hour. I will personally teach him a lesson and silence him.¡± Pace walked out and no one said anything to him, because he released a sudden killing aura so terrifying that even Swordmaster Marquis Enza stopped in fear. Marquis Enza, who was staring at Pace¡¯s back in silence, turned to glance at Duke Bariatta with a frown. He didn¡¯t like the fact that the duke had frozen in fear. ¡°I will take five thousand men and have Prince Davey¡¯s head. Wait.¡± If those two were stopped and if they lost all of their army, Pace would come for Duke Bariatta and the rest next. Knowing this for a fact, the gathered members of nobility hoped that their plan was good enough for them to hold out for the next few days. CH 150 No matter how outstanding their weapons and armory were, their durability differed according to who used them and under what circumstances. Although Davey had gotten rich from selling the blue steel weapons to Duke Bariatta in secret, the weapons were back in his hands now. Davey sat on the field beyond the fortress walls for a break. He glanced over at the blue steel swords that Duke Bariatta¡¯s army had thrown away upon surrendering. He commented, ¡°If I sell these again, then I¡¯ll double in money, right?¡± -Oh my¡­ I expected this when you requested for weapons from the dwarves and secretly sold them to Duke Bariatta, but¡­ ¡®It¡¯s so easy to get money.¡¯ This war was playing out exactly as Davey wanted it to; he had minimized the damage on the uninvolved subjects of the kingdom while picking out those who had caused this and killing them. Now that the enemy¡¯s core had been struck, their strength had greatly diminished. -If they¡¯re not idiots, they will definitely try to stop you and go to the royal palace. Almost eight thousand soldiers, about a third of the initial thirty thousand, had been subdued. Of course, it wasn¡¯t like Davey hadn¡¯t suffered any damage either. There were still limitations to buff magic; his army had sustained big and small injuries, but¡­ ¡®Who told you that you can die?¡¯ Davey¡¯s troops were kept alive by their monstrously fast recovery strength. They were similar to unkillable zombies. ¡®Don¡¯t underestimate a priest who has mastered holy power like the¡ªno, more than the¡ªpope.¡¯ However, the enemy still had twenty-two thousand soldiers left; if they all marched to the royal palace, they wouldn¡¯t be able to last long against Davey and his troops. It was about time for Swordmaster Marquis Enza and the vampires, their final asset, to come crawling out. If Davey hadn¡¯t attacked the vampires¡¯ hideout and provoked them, only a few vampires would have fought, and the rest would have gone into hiding. But now that he had, those arrogant and prideful vampires were going to do anything and everything to kill him. -Davey, vampires are clever and horrible beings who especially like teasing you with your weak spots. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Vampires were ridiculously proud. Their arrogance meant that they saw no one else as living things aside from the nobility. Davey¡¯s army was out of strength even with the buff magic¡¯s effects. Realizing that it would be difficult to move forward with them, he looked down at his hand and made a fist. ¡®About half of my mana and holy power remain¡­ I¡¯ve used a lot more than expected.¡¯ Right now, Davey was in overcharge: his body was not yet used to the metamorphosis and still suffered from random bursts of power. It was a rare case where he had a lower level of control, but the total amount of his power had increased. His overall strength hadn¡¯t really changed, but this was the best time for him to be this reckless. However, this couldn¡¯t go on forever. Davey was crazy to keep doing this. However, he was used to only using a portion of his power, so he cycled between using his power and waiting for recovery; the total amount of mana wasn¡¯t the only thing that increased with the magic circles. The Tionis continent was extremely rich with mana. There weren¡¯t many people who could use it, but according to the comparisons that the heroes of the Hall had provided, not many places had as much mana in the air as the Tionis continent. -Just how much is there? ¡°Um¡­ Ten times more than usual.¡± If a talentless human or a being from another world had come to this world, their progression would be undeniably obvious; the mana here was different from any other place. Davey was born into such a place and also had a very harmonious gift, which was his diverse range of talents. Davey cleared out the Yallis Mountain Fortress and slashed all of Duke Bariatta¡¯s entourage. He silently stared below the fortress, then slowly pulled out Blue Ribbon when he glanced over at the large mountain range just opposite. He also reached into his Pocket Plane and summoned the long and heavy Divine Spear Longinus. At the same time, the spear end that was shaped like a scimitar transformed into the shape of a cross; as a blue magic circle began to vibrate behind Davey, the spear shrank and he absorbed it in the form of a buff magic spell. ¡®One with many strengths has to fight in a variety of methods. I only stick to one method when I¡¯m having fun.¡¯ Davey could feel that Pace was more powerful than any ordinary Swordmaster or vampire he had met. ¡°It means that they are reaching their limit.¡± The Yallis Mountain Fortress was over seven meters tall, but it didn¡¯t matter to Davey who was so skilled in ¡®Grass Dash¡¯ that he could safely land after jumping off a thirty-meter palace. He landed without a sound, then began walking. Davey could feel the presence of two large men who weren''t there before. He murmured, ¡°Fighting alone against two enemies makes the fight enjoyable.¡± Above the mountains was the sky; these men didn¡¯t know that yet. * * * The old man stood waiting, but pulled out one of his bastard swords from his waist as soon as he saw Davey. He declared, ¡°Davey O¡¯Rowane. You won¡¯t be able to take another step forward.¡± ¡°Did you throw the titles out of the window?¡± ¡°Do you expect loyalty or respect from a rebel?¡± Davey scoffed at how calm the old man, Marquis Enza, was. Marquis Enza wasn¡¯t someone who did evil things, but his ideologies were in line with the nobility. He was a crazy believer in authoritarianism. He could have been the most loyal servant, but he had chosen to hold hands with Duke Bariatta, and his ideology had become dangerous. ¡°A kingdom must have a leader. It is natural for commoners to remain protected and stay in their lanes.¡± ¡°Do you think you would¡¯ve said that if you were born a commoner?¡± ¡°I would have accepted that as my fate.¡± It was a problem that Marquis Enza did not leave any room for discussion. ¡°The world changes. If not now, then it will someday.¡± Someday, the Tionis continent¡¯s crown might fall and disappear. Davey didn¡¯t want that kind of world to come right now, but he wanted to stop the commoners¡¯ suffering due to the unreasonable rule. This was his compromise. ¡°Too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the broth. I¡¯d rather stick to the status quo instead of waiting for that kind of chaos.¡± In a way, Marquis Enza was aware of the confusion that ideological change would bring about. When he was young, right after King Krianes got the throne, he had torn down the huge wall separating the commoners and nobility, and had slightly improved their quality of life. ¡®I guess everyone has a story.¡¯ ¡°I think we¡¯ll grow tired of just chatting.¡± Davey glanced over at the gray-haired man slowly approaching from behind Marquis Enza. ¡°Is this our first meeting? You cracked a curse that someone else has cast so recklessly.¡± ¡°You¡­¡± ¡°You were stupid enough to fall into every single trap that I¡¯ve set so far; surely you don¡¯t still think that you¡¯re above me?¡± The man scoffed as he stared at Davey with a cold gaze. ¡°Sure, keep boasting, you inferior insect. You don¡¯t even know what has happened to your home.¡± Looking at the man¡¯s eerie smile, Davey tilted his head in confusion. He asked, ¡°Did you do something to the Heins Territory?¡± ¡°I just made them realize the nobility¡¯s anger. You¡¯re not thinking that it¡¯s like the joke I sent before, right?¡± The man was referring to the time he had sent five thousand monsters by controlling their minds. ¡®He¡¯s not an ordinary being. He can mind-control five thousand monsters.¡¯ ¡°Oh, is that right?¡± The man was saying that the other vampires had attacked the Heins Territory, which was protected only by a hundred guards right now. There were wizard towers and a temple, but it was safe to say that there wasn¡¯t anyone who would be of help to them in battle. On top of that, there was still Davey¡¯s precious little sister, Winley, and his residents who he had to protect. Normally, he should be furious at Pace, but¡­ ¡°Did that pink-haired vampire tell you nothing? You¡¯re going to hurt yourself if you barge into someone¡¯s house like that.¡± Davey calmly took a step forward. ¡°You¡¯re misunderstanding the situation.¡± Pace revealed a horrifying smile and moved swiftly. Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. Boom!!!! At the same time, Davey jumped up and attacked with Longinus, which clashed with a bright red power of blood. Crack!!! The impact of the clash left a huge crater in the ground. ¡°Did you think one High Elf could stop five count-ranked vampires? You are too arrogant and reckless. I will crush your limbs here and make you watch your loved ones be drained to death.¡± Davey, who was fighting like this was a battle of strength, chuckled. ¡°Dumbass.¡± Boom!! Crack!! With the horrifying sound of destruction, a giant claw mark tore through the ground. ¡°Why are you so at ease?¡± Pace asked. ¡°I¡¯m going to tell you two things that you¡¯ve gotten wrong,¡± Davey said. As Pace revealed a confused look, Davey went on to say, ¡°First of all, you will die here. Second, aren¡¯t you wondering who your subordinates whom you sent to the territory are fighting right now?¡± Pace remained as confused as ever. [I will tell you my request.] [Granted!] [First, please promise me that this is a deal between Your Majesty and myself, and not a relation between kingdoms. There must not be any pressure or problems between the kingdoms.] This was the most important thing; even though it was a spoken agreement, the emperor¡¯s formal position was important in the things to come even if¡­ [Please lend me ten Swordmasters who are experienced in large battles.] It was a huge request to borrow Swordmasters. The Lyndis Empire had twenty Swordmasters, and Davey had asked Emperor Deorte El Lyndis for half of his empire¡¯s strongest people. [The reason?] It wouldn¡¯t have been weird for Deorte to grab Davey by the neck and call him crazy, but he just asked a question calmly. [What reason would I have other than to protect my people? I am just one man; as such, I request based on my personal interest.] Some people would wonder what kind of lunatic would use three huge requests that the Lyndis Empire would grant unconditionally like this, but Davey had done it. If he had to, he would have used the rest of the requests he had as well. ¡°Ha¡­ Did you plant an enemy or something? Even if¡­¡± ¡°Ten Swordmasters who are better than ordinary ones, armed with pure silver weapons that are the vampires¡¯ weakness; don¡¯t you think it¡¯s so damn fun?¡± Davey grinned delightfully, then charged in and kicked Pace into the air. He said, ¡°Now, do you understand the situation? You stone-headed mosquito.¡± ¡°You¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m telling you this because I think you¡¯re misunderstanding big time, but there were vampires crazier than you three thousand years ago. Stupid mosquito.¡± ¡®And the battle experience I gained against vampires was with materialized illusions of that time.¡¯ Grit. The best way to get rid of a vampire was to make them so mad that their actions become simple. Davey was using the small bits of advice he had learned from the Sword Lord well. * * * ¡°Will Big Brother be okay¡­?¡± Winley mumbled anxiously while staring out the window in worry. An internal war had broken out; Winley knew that this would happen¡­but it was happening too fast. ¡°Are you worried about your brother?¡± CH 151 ¡°Are you worried about your brother?¡± Yulis asked with a soft smile. Winley quietly nodded, then offered a bitter and firm answer. ¡°Big Brother always overdid himself, even in the past. I know that he has gained a lot of power and that I don¡¯t have to worry about him anymore, but¡­ I still can¡¯t help but be worried about him.¡± Still smiling gently, Yulis said, ¡°Sir Davey does have unimaginable power, but the truth is that it will probably be difficult for him to win against a huge army of thirty thousand.¡± Individuals weren¡¯t almighty; the power in numbers was so strong that even dragons that could alter mountain ranges with one breath would fall if people gathered for a joint attack. What would happen if a light nudge wasn¡¯t from one person, but dozens, hundreds, thousands, or millions of people? Even that light nudge could become a powerful assault. As such, Yulis could understand Winley¡¯s concerns. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Unless there isn¡¯t a request from the kingdom, we cannot intervene in internal wars.¡± ¡°But if they aren¡¯t human¡­¡± ¡°The Red Tower is probably discussing that right now. It definitely won¡¯t be pretty if the vampires gain more power. But the scheme Duke Bariatta has planned is quite meticulous, so¡­¡± Each group held a promise with one another, one that served as a shackle but also as a way to preserve their own individual freedom. Although the youngest, Yulis was one of the Red Tower¡¯s elders. ¡°If there is a reason that will allow them to help, they will do it right away. But it might be good to trust in Davey. He wouldn¡¯t have done something like this without a plan,¡± Yulis said. He knew that if the two sides had similar numbers, Davey¡¯s side would win. Neither Yulis nor Winley knew what Davey had done in the Pandora region and what he had gained there. * * * ¡°Lady Winley. Instead of being like this, why don''t we go on a walk? Sir Davey would be upset when he gets back to find out you¡¯ve spent all this time worrying about him.¡± ¡°Do you think so¡­?¡± Winley stood up and stepped away from the window with drooping shoulders. That was when¡­ Shatter!!! A part of the window of the peaceful seigneur¡¯s palace shattered. In the blink of an eye, something flew right in and aimed for Winley. [Praise! Lead! I am here!] Clang!!!! A defense magic spell surrounded Winley to protect her. Then, Yulis pulled Winley into his arms as soon as the impact was absorbed. He stepped back with her. ¡°Who is it?!¡± Yulis shouted. Winley stared at the shattered window in confusion, like she didn¡¯t understand what was going on. It was unsurprising that the attack had surprised her, but the person who did it was also nowhere to be seen. Yulis looked around on alert before frowning. It was strange, but he couldn¡¯t feel a presence. ¡°Smirk. Over here.¡± That was when a pale hand appeared in front of Yulis, who reflexively tightened his arms around Winley to protect her. Whoosh¡­ At the same time, the pale hand with sharp fingernails summoned a blue fire in its palms and created a huge flame before Yulis could even react. Boom!!! Yulis was taken aback by the flame¡¯s destructive power. He failed to react and was engulfed in the flame. ¡®N¡­ No!¡¯ Yulis released his mana to at least protect Winley in any way he could, but it was too late. ¡®This wouldn¡¯t have happened if I entered the 6th circle.¡¯ Slice! However, what Yulis heard next was not the sound of burning skin; he didn¡¯t even feel a hot, burning sensation. ¡°Keugh?!¡± Instead, all Yulis could hear was the attacker¡¯s painful groaning. ¡°This is Belross. I have found an insect who dared to enter the rescuer¡¯s territory. Let¡¯s begin the mission given by the almighty His Majesty.¡± Hearing an old man¡¯s voice, Winley and Yulis stared wide-eyed at the large old man standing in front of them. He held a longsword that shone with a blue sheen. Yulis knew exactly who this man was because he had been all over the continent. He murmured, ¡°Swordmaster¡­ Sir Belross...¡± Sir Belross was one of the strongest Swordmasters in the Lyndis Empire. In terms of mastery, he was one of the most advanced Swordmasters in the entire continent. ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I¡¯m late. I must¡¯ve let my guard down after seeing how lively the territory was. Haha, to be this relaxed during a mission to protect a rescuer¡¯s territory¡­¡± Even though he was chuckling, Sir Belross wielded his sword. Clang!! At the same time, another man appeared out of nowhere. He charged in and slashed the strange intruder in harmony with Belross. ¡°We¡¯re late, sir. We have spotted activity in other places, and they have started to fight.¡± Marquis Hashan, another Swordmaster of the Lyndis Empire, had been a Swordmaster for a long time. Although he hadn¡¯t been a Swordmaster for as long as Sir Belross had, he had served in war before. Yulis couldn¡¯t help but stare out into space. He was confused as to why these men were here. * * * ¡°See, am I wrong?¡± At Davey¡¯s provocation, Pace¡¯s expression turned terrifying. ¡®They probably have a network of their own. It seems like Pace just heard about the territory.¡¯ All Davey could say was that this was perfect timing. ¡°How¡­dare an insect.¡± Infuriated, Pace glared at Davey with bloodshot eyes. Pace was much easier to tick off than Davey had thought. For vampires like him¡­ ¡®His weakness is that, although he is strong, he gets angry easily because of his needlessly strong sense of pride.¡¯ ¡°I wonder how you feel being played by an insect when you¡¯re so high and mighty. It seems like you outdid yourself and worked on your power of immortality, but did you also iron out the crevices in your brain while you were at it? I guess mosquitoes can¡¯t do any better.¡± ¡°You!! My brain is fine! How dare you call the highly nobility ¡®mosquitoes¡¯?!¡± ¡°Nobility? Just damn mosquitoes!¡± ¡°You!!¡± ¡®Ahahahaha!!¡¯ Boom! Pace was furious, while Marquis Enza simply frowned at the confusing situation. Their intense attacks began. Marquis Enza was strong, but Pace was even stronger. The truth was that Davey couldn¡¯t have chosen a tactic as stupid as this if it was before his semi-metamorphing. Thankfully, the situation was different now. Crack! ¡°Keugh?!¡± ¡®Hit Marquis Enza¡¯s elbow as he charges in with [Aura Blade] and hit his bone. Then, grab him and use him as your shield for Pace¡¯s attack!¡¯ [There are too many attacks because there are too many enemies?] [Remember, it¡¯s all in your mindset! Having a lot of opponents means that there are more meat barriers for you to use! If your opponent swings their weapon, use someone near you as a shield and attack!] Davey was doing exactly what Astrea, the King of Conquests and expert in battle, had told him. ¡°Keuhk!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t bother me! You lowly human! I have a mind to kill you first!¡± ¡°Damn you¡­¡± Marquis Enza, who was able to stay alive by relying on his instincts, angrily said. He tried to catch his breath. The battle went on, and Pace and Marquis Enza were still just being played by Davey. Their synergy was destroyed by Davey, who used them as interchangeable shields depending on the situation and charged in. What Davey lacked had been physical abilities and mana; in terms of experience, it didn¡¯t matter how many enemies were there. And now, since his physical abilities were able to support his power¡­ ¡®How can you fight against me?¡¯ ¡°I will rip you apart right here!¡± [Devil Ylgr¡¯s Front Kick] [Kick in the Shin] Crack!! Pace flinched greatly when Davey¡¯s feet, which flew fast enough to leave marks on the ground, kicked him in the shin. ¡®Nothing is better at subduing opponents than this.¡¯ Afterward, Red Ribbon, which was floating in the air, pierced Pace¡¯s shoulder, and Blue Ribbon slashed him forcefully. ¡®Hm¡­¡¯ Crash!! Pace¡¯s flow completely disappeared once Davey punched him in the stomach. He tumbled down to the ground and right into Marquis Enza. Both men were trampled to the ground far away from Davey. ¡°Keuhuk¡­ N¡­ No way¡­¡± Perhaps they now realized that they were being played by Davey. Marquis Enza glared at Davey like he didn¡¯t understand this situation. He was surprised that Davey had power in the first place, but he couldn¡¯t understand the amount of power, experience, and depth of the young man¡¯s abilities. On the other hand, Pace¡¯s frown deepened like he was shocked at the fact that his powers weren¡¯t working. ¡®It¡¯s cool how his frown gets deeper just when I thought it couldn¡¯t deepen anymore.¡¯ Whoosh¡­ Looking at the two twin swords floating in the air like they were teasing each other, Marquis Enza said, ¡°[Telekinetic Blade Control]¡­¡± When you''re just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. Marquis Enza thought that he was mistaken, but he couldn¡¯t even deny it now. He muttered in shock, ¡°Prince Davey¡­ How did you reach the transcendental level¡­?¡± ¡°It¡¯s obvious. I¡¯ve had a sword in my hand for much longer than you.¡± ¡°Nonsense!¡± ¡®It¡¯s true. Why won¡¯t he believe me?¡¯ Like he had lost the will to fight as soon as he saw Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon move freely in the air, Marquis Enza backed away slowly. On the other hand, Pace turned his glance over to Marquis Enza as he huffed, angry at the fact that Davey¡¯s level of power was much more superior to his. He declared, ¡°All right, insect. It¡¯s not something I should show something like you, but I will show you the true power and terror of a noble.¡± Then, Pace stood up. Shing! ¡°What?! Keugh!!¡± Then, Pace moved behind Marquis Enza, who was backing away in bewilderment, and dug in his sharp, hard teeth. ¡°Damn, my eyes.¡± ¡®Damn it.¡¯ Davey, who was watching silently, covered his eyes with one hand. -Horrifying¡­ To vampires, drinking blood was a choice. Still, it wasn¡¯t a pretty sight to witness. ¡°Keugh¡­ Squeak¡­¡± Marquis Enza, who flailed around in surprise, was slowly being drained out by Pace¡¯s sudden attack. A Swordmaster¡¯s life was disappearing, but everyone here was as strong as Swordmasters; it was actually safe to say that Marquis Enza was the weakest one here. Whoosh¡­ When vampires sucked blood, the victims were being drained of their blood and life energy. As such, Pace began absorbing the mana that flowed out of Marquis Enza, who soon collapsed onto the ground with clumps of hair falling out. He was nothing but bones, no longer looking like the muscular old man he was before. ¡°Huff¡­ Puff¡­ It tastes terrible, but the power is amazing.¡± Pace wiped his mouth in satisfaction and smiled terrifyingly. ¡°You will regret not stopping me from sucking blood. Ha¡­ Haha¡­ Hahahaha¡­¡± A strange and ominous red energy began flowing out of Pace, who laughed eerily. At the same time, his body began distorting and changing little by little; he was changing into the natural form that awakened high-ranking vampires could transform into. Large bat wings emerged from his back, his face got bigger, and his power of blood intensified. So¡­ ¡°He¡¯s transforming right in front of his opponent, right?¡± -I¡­ It seems that way. ¡®As Mencius once said, ¡°The best time to strike is when the enemy is transforming.¡± It¡¯s respectful to wait? Why should I?¡¯ Boom!!! Davey attacked without hesitation and threw Pace into the ground. As soon as he did, Red Ribbon pierced the enemy to the ground with Blue Ribbon and held him in place. Davey was erasing Pace¡¯s power of immortality, but it kept respawning from somewhere. However¡­ ¡®Being immortal doesn¡¯t mean you can¡¯t feel pain.¡¯ Davey couldn¡¯t hold in his laughter. ¡°Keugh?! What is this?!¡± ¡°Did you think I¡¯d wait for you to transform?¡± CH 152 59. With Death and Words. If someone transformed, they would undeniably become stronger. If an opponent became stronger, they would become more bothersome to take care of. Therefore, according to Davey¡¯s flawless logic, he had concluded that he should attack without hesitation. Clash!! Boom! Davey immediately charged in and tackled Pace to the ground. Then, he quickly used his two twin swords to pierce through Pace¡¯s arms and pinned him down. Soon, alongside a destructive sound, the surroundings were overcome by a great pressure and began forming a nasty gravity field. ¡°Co¡ªCough¡­ You coward¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m about to show you something better than that disgusting transformation. What do you think?¡± ¡°You will never be able to kill me. That blue sword is damaging, but do you think you¡¯ll be able to do something with that lowly power?!¡± [Bl¡­ Blue Ribbon can do it!!] ¡®Be a good girl and wait patiently.¡¯ ¡®You¡¯re underestimating Blue Ribbon too much. She hasn¡¯t even shown you anything yet.¡¯ If Davey wanted to let Pace go easily, he could¡¯ve just done it with the power of Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon. Pace seemed to think that this was the limit to the twin swords¡¯ power, but their abilities were amplified based on how much power Davey put into them. At last, the method Davey chose was¡­ ¡°Do you know something called ¡®brutal murder¡¯?¡± ¡°What?!¡± [5th level Holy Magic] [Holy Fire Ball] Boom!! As if a huge defibrillator was shocking someone¡¯s heart, a white shock wave made of intense holy power burst through Davey¡¯s palm and into Pace¡¯s face. Pace groaned loudly and glared at Davey with strange, half-closed eyes. ¡°This is not nearly¡­!¡± [6th level Holy Magic] [Holy Fire Ball] Boom!!!! ¡°Keuhuk! Gurgle¡­ Keugh?!¡± ¡®[Holy Fire Ball] is a powerful demon-type attack¡­ Perhaps it doesn¡¯t affect you that much? Then, how about this?¡¯ [7th level Holy Magic] [Holy Fire Ball] Boom!!! The huge crater vibrated once again and became deeper. A crater within a crater; the overall size began expanding¡­ ¡°Does it hurt? There¡¯s still more.¡± ¡°W¡­ Wait?! S¡ªSto¡­¡± [8th level Holy Magic] [Revised Holy Fire Ball] It was much smaller than the replica of [Holy Wings], but a pair of white wings symbolizing God showed up on Davey¡¯s back. He flapped them. Boom!!! The shock wave of light was incomparably huge. Pace, crushed into the ground, was distorted in a semi-transformed state, but he was still alive. The fact that he was still regenerating although most of his strange power of immortality had been wiped by Blue Ribbon¡¯s slashes meant that his physical abilities were powerful. ¡®It is really best to slash this with Red Ribbon.¡¯ ¡°Ke¡­ Kehehehe!¡± As the wings, which symbolized a large amount of holy power, disappeared, the holy power that surrounded Pace disappeared as well. ¡°Oh, did it end?¡± Pace commented. Instinctively realizing that the attacks were over, he smirked despite looking half-dead. He went on, ¡°Ke¡­ Kehe. Kehehe! Is that all? Is that all?! That¡¯s right! Damn you! My body is still transforming! When I¡¯m done, I will make sure to rip you into¡­¡± ¡°Not yet.¡± Of course, Davey was no longer using holy power, but he was nowhere near done with Pace. He interrupted Pace, then his eyes momentarily shone with a gold light. He grabbed Pace¡¯s face with the hand that was closer. He said, ¡°I have one more shot left.¡± ¡°W¡­ Wait?! Stop¡­!!¡± [9th level Holy Magic] [Strong Spirit] [Finger of God] [Great Holy Fire Ball] It was the ultimate level of [Holy Fire Ball]. Davey was using [Strong Spirit], a 9th level holy magic spell, and [Holy Fire Ball], which was a little different due to the effect of [Strong Spirit]. The mechanism was similar to a poke of a finger, but this was being done with God¡¯s finger. Davey usually stayed away from 9th level holy magic spells because they had a long rebound effect, but¡­ ¡®I will attack you with all that I¡¯ve got.¡¯ And the power¡­ ¡®Will hurt quite a bit.¡¯ Boom!!! A huge explosion engulfed the entire surroundings along with strange, white feathers and white luminescence. * * * The news that Swordmaster Marquis Enza, who went to stop Prince Davey, and Pace, the incredibly powerful vampire, had lost resonated tremendously within the rebel army. First Prince Davey, who won against the monster that had threatened to slaughter a great number of people without blinking an eye, was marching towards them. Furthermore, the royalist army that followed Davey was now much larger compared to before. The freed rebel forces, the oppressed, and the powers who were testing the waters had all joined him. As Davey¡¯s ranks kept multiplying and most of the rebel army was on their way to the royal palace, the core of the rebels was just hanging on by a thread. There was no way that the rebels still had the will to fight, especially since they weren¡¯t that motivated in the first place. The army was still a force to reckon with in terms of numbers, but they knew that the thousands of soldiers at the Verbooth Fortress had been destroyed in just a few hours. Only a few had probably actually fought with their swords, but the fact remained that the army was very shaken up. Their main army was already on another route leading to the royal palace; the only outcome left for them was to surrender while completely surrounded or to be slaughtered. Boom!!! Boom!! The explosion far away vibrated the entire tent. It was clear that it was the sound of the battle mages¡ªthough not the wizard tower¡¯s elite¡ªwhom Duke Bariatta had been preparing in secret. Boom!! Boom!! The explosions continued. Even while the ground was shaking, Duke Bariatta silently stared down at his hand with a tense expression. ¡®Where did it all go wrong?¡¯ This was a battle they could not lose; even without that vampire Pace, his airtight plan and the numerous secret weapons should¡¯ve been enough for him to win without any problems. However, everything went wrong because of one person. It all went wrong because of the first prince Davey O¡¯Rowane, the son of Lennie Alishad, the woman from a nameless baron family located on the outskirts of the kingdom who had risen to the throne instead of his daughter Lynesse, who was originally chosen. Duke Bariatta had used a large sum of money to buy new dwarf-made weapons to be prepared, but the weapons of Davey¡¯s army that were engraved with his strange energy couldn¡¯t be slashed with blue steel easily; it actually worked worse than regular steel. The price of accepting it knowing it was a trap was ruthless. Duke Bariatta didn¡¯t scream about how this wasn¡¯t possible, but just stared down at his hands. ¡®Every flow must have its ebb.¡¯ Davey had told him this when he tried to drive him out with his stigmata and make Carlus the seigneur of the Heins territory. ¡®Duke, there is a saying from a very far place. ¡®Every flow has its ebb.¡¯ It means that all periods of good fortune have an end. Do you understand me?¡¯ Everything deteriorated with time. Perhaps Davey had predicted this situation then and had prepared for it. No, there was no actual preparation; it was just Duke Bariatta¡¯s mistake to bite at the delicious bait in the trap. ¡°Ah¡­ Ahh! P¡ªPlease?!¡± Boom!!!! With a dense sound, one of the large nobles tumbled into the tent. He was fried to a crisp. ¡°Groan¡­ Squeak¡­¡± The man crawled on the floor, groaning in pain. His skin burned unbearably. ¡°You didn¡¯t run away?¡± There were still thousands of rebel soldiers here, and a small number of the battle mages who hadn¡¯t died were probably left as well. However, that didn¡¯t matter considering the situation now. Furthermore, about half of the soldiers were forced to serve; there was no way these soldiers would choose to be loyal to them as they had no legitimate reason. All of them would dissemble into a mess or oppose them if they were given the chance. Duke Bariatta would have used that to pressure them to extend more control over them if they were at an advantage, but the boy in front of his eyes had messed up everything and had led their army to flee. A few of them were attacking his army in anger at what they had to endure for all this time. Even in the midst of this chaos, Duke Bariatta looked up at Davey and said, ¡°You should not have awakened from your coma.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. That was probably your last opportunity.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Davey¡­¡± Carlus, who was nervously sitting beside Duke Bariatta, stood up, trembling. Then, he grabbed a bow from the table, loaded it with an arrow, and pointed it at Davey. It was just like he did the day he had participated in the competition at ten years old. ¡°You damn lowly being! You are an obstacle until the end!¡± ¡°Get your facts straight, idiot little brother. You should understand that you¡¯ve caused this situation, not me.¡± ¡®Your stupidity from the moment you¡¯ve shot me with an arrow has left our kingdom in this state. Unlike Queen Lynesse who used vampires without leaving any evidence, you blatantly dealt with vampires and kidnapped people as sacrifices for them.¡¯ ¡°Well, since you kept quiet even when you knew about it, Duke, you¡¯re probably old news now, too.¡± ¡°The vampires have unbelievable power. If one could harness that power, we could be untouchable conquerors.¡± ¡°Those snobby nobles just used you,¡± Davey scoffed and mumbled, then stared at Carlus, who was trembling like he was about to release his bowstring. Davey asked, ¡°Why do you think I didn¡¯t kill you and Queen Lynesse?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because I don¡¯t intend to.¡± ¡®So that you can suffer in pain forever.¡¯ ¡°Don¡¯t even think of running away through death.¡± ¡®Especially you and your brother Benedict.¡¯ ¡°A¡­ Ah!!!¡± No longer able to hold back, Carlus let go of his bowstring in anger. A luxury bow made with a unicorn¡¯s horn from the western continent was much more elastic than normal ones; it was powerful enough to penetrate human skin without a problem. And since Carlus was able to use it, it was probably a first-class weapon with all kinds of supporting magic spells on it. Swish!! Splatter!!! Soon, a horrifying sound of penetration was heard. ¡°Keuahh!!!!¡± A terrible scream rang throughout the tent from none other than Carlus. The arrow that should have flown toward Davey had been seized in one fluid motion, and before he knew it, Carlus¡¯ eye had been struck by the arrow. It was amazing how Carlus was even alive after a fatal hit like that. ¡°Wheeze¡­ Keugh¡­ Ah!!!!¡± Ignoring Carlus, who was screaming and rolling on the ground with his hand on his bloody eye, Davey glanced over at Duke Bariatta. When you''re just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. CH 153 ¡°It¡¯s starting to feel like a bummer because it¡¯s so easy. Is this all you¡¯ve got?¡± ¡°Something like this was going to happen sometime. It¡¯s just that the victor is you, and not me.¡± Duke Bariatta pulled something out of his pocket and placed a small, silver dagger on the table. He went on to say, ¡°His Majesty wanted to go down a very dangerous path. Because of that, I stepped up to stop His Majesty and protected this kingdom.¡± ¡°Protected¡­¡± ¡°A kingdom with broken rules is destined for destruction someday. His Majesty tried to tear down the necessary wall between the nobility and commoners.¡± Davey had heard of how King Krianes had implemented a policy allowing highly skilled commoners to become nobility in the past. ¡°Prince, you don¡¯t know this world. You don¡¯t know why commoners are born as commoners and nobility are born as nobility,¡± Duke Bariatta said. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know the real reason why a hierarchy was created and maintained even when God exists.¡± Davey smiled coldly at Duke Bariatta¡¯s unbelievably ridiculous logic. Then, all emotions left his expression. He called out, ¡°Monmider.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness!¡± ¡°Bring those three with you. Lock them up in the basement and watch them carefully. We will hand them over to the second party and transport them to the royal palace when the sun rises.¡± Davey didn¡¯t even have to think about their punishment. With a disinterested look on his face, he stared at Carlus, who was crawling on the floor, Benedict, who was standing over by the wall trembling in fear, and Duke Bariatta, who was calmly sitting down. ¡°The start of a monarchy may be elitism in a way, but you¡¯re just crazy if it goes too far, you Hitler.¡± After saying that, Davey turned away. Of course, Duke Bariatta would have no idea who that disgusting tyrant was. The Bariatta family¡¯s fall was quiet, fast, and extremely frigid. * * * This rebellion could seemingly shake the kingdom for years. If the armies of the nobility and royalty were similar in the absence of foreign power, the rebellion would inevitably be neck and neck, leading to tremendous tolls on lives and infrastructure. However, the reality was different; there was one unexpected individual. That one individual had purposely started the war and was even controlling the flow of events. Perhaps this was why the remaining rebel army was stuck, surrounded with their blocked supply routes. All they had left was barely enough food and weapons for the remaining army and their recently conquered fortress. ¡°What are we going to do?!¡± ¡°It¡¯s over¡­ It¡¯s all over!! Surrender¡­ Let¡¯s surrender! That¡¯s the only answer!¡± ¡°Baron Hanvog! Watch your mouth! I will have your head if you demoralize the army!¡± ¡°Watch my mouth! Count Ossult! Are you kidding?! Do you not understand the situation?! What are we going to do right now?! Do you think an army this big will be able to maintain itself without supplies from the main army?! All the army will turn around and walk out if they hear that the duke has been captured!¡± ¡°Then, do you think that Prince Davey, that monster, won¡¯t kill us if we surrender?!¡± The atmosphere was tense, like a sword fight was going to break out at any minute. Most of the high-ranking nobility who had taken part in the rebellion were here; Duke Bariatta and the two princes, the center of the rebellion, remained with the main army, but the ones here had started their journey with the only goal of quickly capturing the royal palace and taking all the honor for themselves. However, this was their final outcome. ¡°S¡­ Sir! Something has happened!!¡± ¡°What is it?!¡± Count Ossult shouted urgently with eyes wide open. The knight shouted, huffing and puffing, ¡°Pr¡­ Prince Davey¡­ Prince Davey has already arrived! With the monstrously strong army of five hundred!!¡± Count Ossult still had a big army, but no one could predict or guarantee their victory; even if the main army wasn¡¯t here, it was near impossible for someone to directly attack them and win with sustaining just injuries and no casualties. ¡®What kind of monster can do that?!¡¯ Count Ossult thought. ¡°Damn it¡­ Apparently, the spears and swords barely have any effect on those monsters!¡± ¡°Not only that?! The new dwarf-made weapons that can slice even steel can¡¯t cut through their weapons!¡± As they were panicking, not knowing what to do, they heard a clear voice ringing out. -Ah. One, two¡­ Is this working? Mic test, one, two. One, two. How could they ever forget this voice? The nobility gulped, listening to the relaxed voice that seemingly blasted right next to their ears. Then, they could hear Davey, the person who worsened their situation. -You are surrounded. You guys won¡¯t last even a day here. Since your parents are waiting, don¡¯t do anything stupid and let¡¯s find enlightenment. Davey spoke as if he was a soldier speaking to a kidnapper with hostages. He had surrounded ten thousand men with just five hundred, and he sounded so calm. * * * The royal palace was quiet after the rebellion. A lot of nobility and guards had been left behind at the palace before Davey¡¯s sudden advancement, but now there was only a guard, one of the kingdom¡¯s three Swordmasters, and minimal defense left. Shing¡­ With the faint sound of a sword being pulled out of its sheath, a man silently stepped into the room wearing white and flowy nightwear. ¡°Have you finally come?¡± The room was in no condition to house royalty. The walls were all cracked, paint was peeling off the pillars, and it was filled with broken bottles and run-down furniture. This was the outer palace¡¯s tower where they locked up royalty. The person sitting on the bed and looking outside the window was none other than Queen Lynesse Bariatta, the First Lady, the most elegant person in the kingdom, and the symbol of absolute authority who had the support of the kingdom¡¯s most powerful person. ¡°Queen.¡± ¡°How considerate you are,¡± Queen Lynesse calmly mumbled and stared at the man with the moonlight reflecting off her eyes. ¡°I¡­¡± ¡°Stop. I don¡¯t want to hear any more.¡± ¡°Queen.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear it, at least not from you.¡± Speaking calmly, Queen Lynesse went on, ¡°If it was going to end like this, I would not have loved you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± King Krianes said quietly, then put his longsword on her neck with a tired face. ¡°Davey will drag you down to the ends of hell, and I have no right to stop it¡­ So, let¡¯s go together. Let¡¯s go and repent to Alisha.¡± Support us at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°Repent? Ha!¡± Queen Lynesse scoffed and glared at King Krianes in fury. ¡°You still don¡¯t get it? I feel nothing for both you and Alisha but hatred.¡± ¡°Queen¡­¡± ¡°Did you think my anger would simmer if Alisha drank poison in front of my eyes? Then, let me ask you this, Your Majesty, who should I take out my anger and hatred? To Alisha, who betrayed me and just died? Or Your Majesty, the absolute being of this kingdom? Or!!!¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°My father who helped to make me like this?¡± Queen Lynesse slowly rose from the bed, laughing at King Krianes who could not say anything. It was like she had lost it. Without tidying her messy hair, she approached King Krianes and grabbed his blade with her bare hands and put it to her neck. She snapped, ¡°I hate everyone. You and Alisha, who betrayed me, and my father, who murdered my mother in front of my eyes in cold blood. We have come too far.¡± ¡®The only things I have left are my sons.¡¯ The only things that Queen Lynesse had left were her sons. As such, her unbelievable obsession for her sons was incredible. The hatred she had for Lennie Alishad, the former queen, became directed at Davey, Lennie Alishad¡¯s son. ¡°Maybe if Alisha hadn¡¯t drank the poison, and if my hatred was directed somewhere without being lost¡­¡± ¡®Maybe¡­our lives would have been different, even a little bit.¡¯ Drip¡­ The blade cut into Queen Lynesse¡¯s hand. As the bleeding worsened, she scoffed coldly and declared, ¡°An apology¡­ Ha! I refuse! This world was already hell for me, and I will now lose my only hope. Everything is your sin, your karma, and I will fall to hell by myself and wait for you. ¡®You don¡¯t even have the right to come to hell yet.¡¯ Splatter!! With those last words, Queen Lynesse fell to the ground as she slashed her own neck. Letting go of the sword reflexively, King Krianes grit his teeth. He stared at Lynesse Bariatta limply lying on the ground. Then, he slowly kneeled and held her body in his arms. ¡°Ah¡­ Ah¡­¡± At the top of the outer palace¡¯s empty, quiet tower, King Krianes couldn¡¯t say one word and just let out bitter cries without a single tear. * * * All the rebels had been suppressed. It seemed like the announcement Davey put out using wind magic to really shake them up was very effective as the soldiers who were dragged here realized the situation, dropped their weapons, and ran away. Perhaps there were too many of them to capture or perhaps even the knights who were supposed to control them lost their will at the unbelievable and ridiculous reality. In the end, the battle between the main army of the rebels didn¡¯t happen. All that happened was most of the nobility were captured by the people and beaten before being tied up and transported to the royal palace. ¡°You made quite a lot. How many people have you exploited for this?¡± That¡¯s all Davey could say as he looked through the documents. ¡°Your Highness.¡± ¡°Marquis Peiltris.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± ¡°See, I thought I would be happy if my revenge was successful.¡± ¡°Your Highness¡­¡± At Davey¡¯s dejected voice, Marquis Peiltris muttered bitterly, ¡°I am happy.¡± However, the rest of what Davey had to say was enough to confuse Marquis Peiltris. ¡°What, did you think that I would think that revenge was all useless?¡± ¡®Not a chance.¡¯ This was the reason Davey endured the training of Hercules, the survival expert, when he had first gone to the Hall of Heroes. He had unfinished business, and he thought he could endure this training if he could really gain power and go back to life with those powers intact. Of course, the amount of training and time was far more absurd than he expected, but that was how he felt in the beginning. ¡®They say revenge filled with hatred can¡¯t be forgotten, even after death.¡¯ To be honest, Davey was a little doubtful of that; since he had lived for over a thousand years, other things started becoming important to him as well. ¡®This time is too long for any human to experience.¡¯ -That¡¯s probably why you¡¯re relatively the same even after your revenge. The royal court was silent. It took about a week for Marquis Peiltris to attend the meeting on the punishment of the rebels as he was extremely busy dealing with issues after the war. ¡°Your Highness¡­¡± ¡°I know, I know. I know that this isn¡¯t very right either.¡± ¡°However, Your Highness¡¯ judgment was correct. In the end, they had crossed a line and their evil acts had shaken this kingdom for decades. No one will be able to criticize Your Highness¡¯ actions.¡± As this was something that Davey had given up trying to remain logical about, he also knew that he had done something stupid. ¡°Make way for His Majesty, the King!!¡± CH 154 Then, King Krianes walked into the royal court. As he did, all the nobility in the court knelt on one knee. There were very few members of the nobility left, since the ones who had been involved in the rebellion were locked up in the jail in the basement; there was so few people that it was concerning whether the kingdom could be maintained. ¡°Everyone¡­ Good work,¡± King Krianes said. ¡°We just did what had to be done,¡± Davey answered calmly. Although the army¡¯s leader was Marquis Peiltris, everyone knew that it was Davey who had ended this war with minimal damage. Davey, the weak and powerless prince, had become someone who no one in this kingdom could look down on. ¡®I wonder if this is right.¡¯ There were not many rumors spreading, since information regarding the rebellion had been controlled. However, now, all eyes would be on this kingdom no matter what they did from now on. Unless they were idiots, the surrounding kingdoms that were keeping an eye on this kingdom would have noticed. ¡°Although devastating, it must be done. We are here to decide on the punishment of the people involved in treason. Davey O¡¯Rowane, the First Prince, raise your head.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°During this battle, with unbelievable powers, you have achieved something great that initially seemed impossible.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Davey stayed quiet as he knew that it wasn¡¯t just a compliment. ¡°I will ask: how do you want to punish the nobility who took part in the rebellion, their leader Duke Bariatta, and the two princes who have abandoned their role as royalty?¡± Normally, this was for King Krianes to decide, but he did not do anything more; the answer to whether this was to test Davey or it was because he felt guilty toward Davey was only in his mind. Davey stayed silent for a while, then said, ¡°I will pull out their teeth.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± ¡°Hm¡­¡± It didn¡¯t simply mean that Davey was going to take their teeth out; there was only one reason for pulling one¡¯s teeth out, and it was to prevent suicide. Usually, this was for stripping someone who had committed a grave crime of all their titles and forcibly demoting them to do hard work as mine slaves. ¡®I don¡¯t particularly like slavery, but¡­¡¯ Davey was going to use this torture if he wanted to inflict extreme pain. King Krianes knew that Davey had waited for this moment, so he could not say anything more. He simply asked, ¡°Do you¡­think you really have to do that? He¡¯s once your younger brother.¡± ¡°Second Prince Carlus has shaken this kingdom, and he is still doing it. Not only that, but he has also challenged Your Majesty¡¯s absolute authority.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°This is my objective stance. I can still remember the moment I was pierced with an arrow and mocked at.¡± ¡°Davey¡­¡± ¡°I do not have siblings called Carlus and Benedict.¡± After Davey spoke, all the nobility bowed their heads. ¡°Leniency is utter absurdity, Your Majesty!¡± ¡°Please do not ignore our request!!¡± All the nobility said the same thing. Among them, some were probably trying to fill their own pockets by taking the rebels¡¯ wealth. Some were probably trying to get rid of them for good, because they were afraid of potential retaliation. ¡°¡­All right. I will proclaim¡­¡± King Krianes, touching his forehead like he had a headache, slowly said, ¡°Hear all, this incident was treason, the gravest crime of the kingdom. As such, I strip the titles of Duke Bariatta, Second Prince Carlus O¡¯Rowane, and Third Prince Benedict O¡¯Rowane, the leaders of the rebellion, and demote them to slaves. They will be sent to the Haoji Mines, the prison for the most heinous criminals, and work for the rest of their lives!¡± Davey just silently bowed his head as King Krianes made a stern declaration. * * * ¡°The queen is dead.¡± -So, it has ended at last. Davey ignored Perserque¡¯s mumbling and asked King Krianes calmly, ¡°Did you think about how I would react, Your Majesty?¡± ¡°Davey.¡± ¡°I hated Carlus and Benedict the most. Then, it was Queen Lynesse.¡± ¡®Do you know who¡¯s next? It¡¯s you, Your Majesty.¡¯ ¡°How should I take this?¡± ¡°Davey. I had to be the one to let her go.¡± ¡°I have made it clear that I have no interest in your past, Your Majesty.¡± King Krianes¡¯ voice became firm, which was rare. He said, ¡°I had to be the one to do it¡­ The acts of the queen were evil, but this wasn¡¯t right either.¡± ¡°If you were going to do it, you could have at least told me.¡± ¡°This was a promise I made with your mother as well. Davey, it¡¯s the only promise Queen Lynesse kept even when she was forced out. So¡­ Please just drop this.¡± There was no father who could override his son, and Davey, who could not easily decline his father¡¯s request, seemed to be a stupid pushover as well. Neither of them had the right to point out the other¡¯s mistakes. ¡°¡­Baris will be the next crown prince.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°But not yet. Resolve the many problems that exist right now.¡± ¡°Davey.¡± ¡°You do not have more than a few months to live, but¡­¡± Davey interrupted King Krianes and released some holy power from his hand. He added, ¡°Don¡¯t think of running away using your body weakened by some poison as an excuse.¡± [Highness Heal] Whoosh!!! An intense light surrounded King Krianes before flowing into him. It was an extremely advanced recovery magic spell that someone like the pope could use, but surely even the pope couldn¡¯t use it as intricately as Davey. ¡°Take ten years to stabilize the kingdom first. And make it so that Baris can be a great king and lead the nation with confidence. Make it so that those things will automatically happen from Baris becoming king.¡± ¡°Is this¡­your revenge on this father who has abandoned you?¡± When you''re just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°I will have faith in the little conscience you have, but if something like this happens again, I will take action.¡± ¡®If that happens, I will not take this complicated route. So, what I want is for you to leave a painless path for your fourth son who will become the king after you. Although I have no interest in being the king, my beloved and treasured brother wants to be.¡¯ Davey did not want to get into a political fight with Baris over a pretentious and garbage title like the king, and he wasn¡¯t going to take on this obligation because of some stupid responsibility. However, since he was this kingdom¡¯s First Prince, he was going to fulfill the responsibilities and duties that came with the right and privileges that would be rightfully returned to him, though it was a brazen conclusion. This was the day Davey formally and publicly declared that he had given up all his rights as becoming a crown prince. It was a perfect escape. * * * On his last day, Davey visited the royal palace¡¯s basement jail before leaving for the Heins Territory. ¡°Davey!!!! Daveyyyy!!¡± Carlus, who was huffing while on the floor, charged at him like a mad dog. Clang!! However, there was a tightly packed, hard metal cage between them. Clang!! Clang!! ¡°I will kill you!! Ahhhh!! I will kill you!! Daveyyy!!¡± Carlus, who was screaming angrily with one bandaged eye, had enough fury in his remaining eye that he could shoot lasers out of it. ¡°You look good, Carlus.¡± ¡®Were you hit on the way here or something? There¡¯s a black spot on the sun on your head.¡¯ ¡°Davey!!!¡± ¡°You¡¯re not a prince anymore. Nothing.¡± ¡°How dare!! How dare you deceive me!!¡± Carlus made a scene and rolled on the ground, shouting loudly in anger. ¡°You will be taken to the Haoji Mines as a mine slave. You will never be able to leave, and you will probably die working there.¡± ¡°W¡­ What?!¡± ¡°The Haoji Mines. You should know it well. Do you remember how many innocent people you put in there just because you didn¡¯t like them?¡± It was a nasty mine for punishment, since it saw no light. ¡®You reap what you sow, you dick.¡¯ Carlus flinched at Davey¡¯s words. There was no way he didn¡¯t know as one of the many ways the Bariatta family tormented people was by sending people who defied them there. Davey was sure that probably a majority of them were filled with rage toward the members of the Bariatta family. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve made sure that they will not kill you. There¡¯s a long time left, and the time you will spend there will be longer than your time as a prince. You¡¯re still young, right?¡± As Davey mocked him, Carlus grabbed the metal bars with wide eyes. In a way, this punishment was worse than death. He screamed, ¡°You think someone like you will be able to send me there?!¡± ¡°It has already been decided and executors will be here to stop you from killing yourself. I don¡¯t think you have understood your reality yet, but¡­¡± Davey trailed off and stared directly at him. A killing aura suddenly burst out of him for a moment. ¡°You are a heinous criminal who caused a rebellion.¡± A heinous criminal; perhaps Carlus had just realized the magnitude of this situation or perhaps he was afraid of what that title might bring upon him, because he turned pale. He immediately yelled, ¡°D¡ªDavey! Don¡¯t do this! We¡¯re brothers! We share the same blood!¡± ¡°Brothers?¡± ¡°Y¡­ Yeah! N¡ªNo! Yes, Big brother! The Haoji! Are you really going to send your blood-related brother to that horrendous place?!¡± Panicking that he was going to be a mine slave, Carlus desperately tried to reach out to Davey. ¡°Big brother!! Brother! I am sorry! I was a fool! Please¡­ Please!¡± Watching Carlus, Davey calmly turned away. ¡°I don¡¯t know someone like you, asshole.¡± * * * The Heins Territory had been attacked once while Davey had been subduing the rebels. However, it hadn¡¯t been a problem since they had made preparations: ten Swordmasters of Lyndis ready with armory and weapons made of pure silver, Rinne, a golem with an ego and Deus Ex Machina, the Decepticon Fleet, and the girl pretending to be a maid of the seigneur¡¯s palace whom Davey was pretending not to know about. There had been more than enough firepower. Of course, Davey hadn¡¯t been able to ignore the fact that there could have been variables, but the vampires had all run away after being slashed. ¡°Thank you for your hard work while waiting here.¡± ¡°That¡¯s all right. We¡¯re just following His Majesty¡¯s command.¡± Davey chuckled as the old man humbly spoke with his head down. ¡°Actually, I wanted to speak with Your Highness.¡± ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yes. Thank you so much.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I did anything to receive your gratitude.¡± The old man firmly shook his head. ¡°Did nothing to receive my gratitude? You cured the disease of Her Highness, the only happiness in this old man¡¯s life.¡± -He is the knight of the small hamster-like princess. ¡®Oh, is he?¡¯ Davey had forgotten about it. He thought that this man was quite loyal. ¡®I wish the Heins Territory had people like him.¡¯ -The Heins Territory is already blessed with gifted people. You should know that. ¡®Of course, I do.¡¯ No one could do everything by themselves; Davey knew that very well, and that was why he had nurtured his own territory¡¯s people. CH 155 Swordmaster Sir Belross was much more famous than Davey had thought. According to Yulis, who had returned after his meeting at the Red Tower, the old man was so outstanding in the eastern continent that everyone knew stories about him when he was younger. The friendliness of a man like that was not bad at all. Not only that, but all the other knights were also old masters of turning the tables who were famous. Davey felt a little overwhelmed as they were all showing their friendliness to him at once. -Considering this, shouldn¡¯t you have been more overwhelmed by the friendliness of the heroes that taught you? As Perserque giggled and asked while pulling on his cheeks, Davey began to think. ¡°Those people were¡­ How should I put it¡­¡± ¡®They really didn¡¯t seem like almighty heroes that dominated an era¡­¡¯ ¡°They just feel like stupid neighborhood friends.¡± ¡®Although they weren¡¯t friends if he considered their actual age.¡¯ ¡°Now I can finally focus on the Heins Territory while the kingdom goes back to order.¡± Davey had to see it to the end if he started. At last, the dwarves, including Elder Goulda, had finished the huge construction project they had been working on since they came to the territory. ¡°Though all we did was fix the problem of the living space.¡± -Normally, it should¡¯ve taken an astronomically large amount of money. It was true; if it wasn¡¯t for the dwarves¡¯ unique know-how and techniques, it would have taken much longer and been lacking in stability as well. ¡°Then, now¡­ It¡¯s time to use this.¡± ¡®Start with the simple things.¡¯ Davey put a finger-sized magic stone that he crafted onto the table and spun it. It was the prototype magic stone that he had made with the Red Moon from the Lyndis Empire. Of course, the power would be less than the fist-sized magic stone he found before¡­ But even one this big was bigger than the extremely rare magic stones found on the continent. This meant that this small continent was casually making something that the entire continent would go crazy for. * * * What was the first priority to increase the quality of life in a territory? It was none other than the stability of personal safety, and also food, clothing, and shelter. After ensuring safety, the first thing Davey chose to tackle was shelter and the improvement of basic infrastructure. Unlike the plentiful storage of food and clothing, the quality of the living spaces and life were¡­ ¡°The infrastructure of the territory has to be taken care of first before increasing basic quality of life.¡± ¡°Infrastructure?¡± ¡°How many wells are there in the territory right now?¡± ¡°I built about seventy-three more. Thanks to the waterway the dwarves made for us, it has become much easier to build wells as water flows around freely.¡± Like the clever girl she was, Amy knew what the territory needed most. For commoners of this world, wells were an important source of water, since it was the way to get water in such a dense terrain. As water was used for drinking, washing, and additional cleanliness, it was one of the essential needs for people. ¡°There are a lot of accidents in wells, and they are one of the origins of disease. I knew you worked hard, but we should slowly get rid of them in the future.¡± ¡°Oh no¡­ I¡¯m sorry. Your Highness! I am foolish¡­¡± Davey pulled Amy up from the ground as she immediately bowed and asked for forgiveness. He said, ¡°I¡¯m not saying that I will get rid of it right away. You actually did well. Be confident.¡± ¡®Just keep growing like this and that will be enough for me.¡¯ Someone had to train human resources. On top of that, it was customary for territories to use wells if it wasn¡¯t for Davey¡¯s plan. ¡°Elder Goulda. Are the facilities that I told you about ready?¡± ¡°Of course, Wise Teacher. It was a little odd, but I liked it more because of that.¡± The dwarves, who were craftsmen to the core and had reflected on their mistakes from Davey¡¯s provocation, were thirsty for new and innovative attempts. After Elder Goulda spoke, Amy, Winley and Yulis looked confused. ¡°Let¡¯s go. I¡¯ll show you something cool.¡± Davey had poured so much money into this project. When he saw it, he was proud to have invested so much funding into making it. It was an underground waterway with a wide space built on top of it, which had numerous water tanks and magic circles all over. On top of that, one was able to access this underground waterway straight from ground level unlike normal underground waterways, which were usually dark and dirty. As a lot of mana stones were shining and illuminating the inside, it felt more clean and sophisticated rather than gross and wet. ¡°The magic circles here¡­ I¡¯ve never seen them created with this method before.¡± ¡°It isn¡¯t the normal circular magic circles that the Tionis continent uses, but a square magic circle made with a highly intricate language.¡± From the size to the inner symbols and the pattern of the magic circles, these highly advanced magic circles had to be near perfect and almost without error to be activated. ¡°Ahem¡­ Well, I don¡¯t even know what it is even when I look at it, so I engraved it just as you drew it.¡± ¡°Considering that, there are barely any mistakes.¡± ¡°Haha! With the exception of the fairies, no kind is more meticulous than dwarves!¡± Elder Goulda declared. Davey glanced around at the wall and floor that was engraved with magic circles and the water tanks in satisfaction. Then, Yulis, who was admiring the magic circles, squinted. ¡°However¡­ Can all of these be activated? Since there are more than five hundred magic circles in here, it¡¯s going to take an astronomically large amount of money to¡­¡± Yulis, who was touching the magic circles in fascination, stared at them. He was confused. ¡°It takes one mana stone or mage to use an installable magic circle like this. It runs for about one to six months depending on the efficiency of the magic circle.¡± To use hundreds of gold to be able to use something like a mana stone for a few months was the pinnacle of luxury, one that not even royal palaces of empires could always afford. ¡°Even if you were to use magic stones, don¡¯t you need at least ten to power all these?¡± The problem wasn¡¯t the output of power, but the fact that the magic circles were too big and spread out. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about those there. About half of them are linked magic circles that don¡¯t need power.¡± ¡°Oh my, something like that¡­¡± Yulis looked confused when he heard Davey. However, Davey just tapped one wall of the huge space according to his prepared plan. A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled. Grgrgr!! At the same time, a large stone wall opened up to reveal a room with the same square magic circle. ¡°This is¡­¡± ¡°The control room.¡± ¡°The control room?¡± ¡°This one magic circle controls all the others.¡± ¡®Meaning that a magic stone only had to be set here.¡¯ ¡°Since magic circles don¡¯t have infinite energy, we will use one after every period of time,¡± Davey said, then placed two magic stones in the divots and released his mana. [Activate] Then, Davey used his activated mana to release the magic stone¡¯s energy and began to start the magic circles. He muttered to himself, ¡°I¡¯m unsure of this working by itself¡­¡± As convenient as overall control systems were, they were much more dangerous. Thinking about the danger, Davey boldly thought to invest the things he had in mind. He commented with a nod, ¡°I¡¯ll just make a new one later.¡± Then, Davey lightly punched the air with his fist. Crack!! Then, the empty space fractured and began splitting into a unique pattern. Even before Davey put his hand on it, the Pocket Place threw out the thing he was looking for without any sincerity or gentleness. * * * ¡°Talk about your irritating personality,¡± Davey said. As the Pocket Plane was made with mana that had a sassy personality, it was seemingly complaining even though it gave Davey exactly what he wanted. It was nice that it gave him what he needed without him having to tell it to, but he wondered if it had to be that mean. Clicking his tongue, Davey examined the object that popped out from the Pocket Plane and put it into the empty space between the magic stones. ¡°P¡ªPocket Plane?!¡± ¡°Oh my!¡± Ignoring Winley and Yulis, the two mages who were screaming, Davey put the small rock that came out of the Pocket Place in the middle of the magic circle. He commented, ¡°No one will be able to mess with it if I leave it like this.¡± What Davey had pulled out was a sealing stone. ¡°No way! Big brother! Is that a sealing stone?!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Wow... I didn¡¯t think I would see a sealing stone that I can see at the wizard tower headquarters in person¡­¡± Unlike magic or mana stones, both of which were naturally made, sealing stones were stones made for a specific purpose; its effect was to seal a certain space if mana was being provided, and what Davey had sealed was damage to the magic circle and deterioration beyond parameters. Since he had made it with pretty high-quality material, it wouldn¡¯t be affected by most attacks. ¡°B¡­ Big brother! Do you have a lot of sealing stones?¡± Winley asked. ¡°No, this is all.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not difficult. I¡¯ll make you one sometime.¡± ¡®If it¡¯s your request, I¡¯ll do anything.¡¯ ¡°¡­He just activated the Pocket Place by swinging his fist when the Teacher has to cast for a long time to use it¡­¡± ¡°Do you have a problem?¡± ¡°N¡­ No¡­¡± Yulis muttered in shock and shook his head. Watching Yulis while recording something on her chart, Amy giggled and said proudly, ¡°His Highness always shows me something cool. You will be at ease just having faith in him regarding whatever he does.¡± ¡°Th¡­ Thank you.¡± It was not jealousy or envy that Yulis, who mumbled in surprise, felt; it was just pure bewilderment. ¡°Sir Davey¡­ I have a question¡­¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°So¡­ What circle are you at?¡± After hearing Yulis¡¯ question, Davey stared into the circles rotating inside his body. The mana circles in his body had a system where the creation of the first circle was the hardest. As he had just gotten as many circles as he could since it got easier to create circles as they increased, he was just checking now. He said, ¡°I only have eight rings.¡± ¡°Oh my Lord Freyja¡­ Only eight?!¡± Yulis mumbled in shock, because the best mage known in the continent only had seven circles. He was so surprised that a mage, who was on the complete opposite side of priests, was looking for God. CH 156 60. Developing Territory and Encounters Yulis could tell that it was not a joke. Besides, it was hard for him not to believe Davey, especially after seeing those things for himself. But instead of envy and jealousy, his expression only revealed surprise and awe. ¡°Pl¡­ Please teach me a lot more things!¡± ¡°Did I even teach you anything?¡± Of course, the answer to that was no. ¡°You have no idea how much of an effect and influence you have on me just by showing me your magic, Sir Davey!¡± Davey nodded, roughly understanding what Yulis, whose eyes burned with passion for learning, meant. Witnessing the flow of mana of magic from a new realm could well and truly act as a basis for one¡¯s growth and development. Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. Well, Davey was, in fact, indebted to Yulis since he had risked his life and saved Winley twice in his absence. So, feeling grateful, Davey thought about giving the man a bit of a free service. How about allowing Yulis to charge and climb into the ranks of the sixth circle with the Special Davey Style Physical Remodelling? If he did that for a week, then¡­ ¡®Ah, that¡¯s not important right now,¡¯ Davey shook his head and turned to the sealing stone, checking if it was properly activated or not. Then, he lightly touched the characters made of light that the magic circle had created. ¡°If I leave it like this, then¡­¡± The people managing this place would be able to handle it quite comfortably after that. And since it would be easier to manage with the spirits¡¯ power, Davey thought of wheedling the elves into managing this place. Vwooooong!!! With the magic circle¡¯s activation, the water roared as it gushed out of the huge water tank. This signaled that the magic circle was working properly. Of course, Davey had spent three days and three nights debugging the magic circle¡¯s structure, so it was natural that it would work properly. ¡°What is this exactly, brother?¡± Winley, who could not reign in her curiosity, asked as she looked around the place. If Winley kept on asking, then all Davey could do was to keep on answering her. She was his sister after all. ¡°It¡¯s a jet pump.¡± ¡°A jet¡­pump? Ah, no way¡­ You mean those installations can pump clean water directly to the royal palace from underground? But it must be very expensive to maintain a pump like this¡­¡± Winley trailed off at the strangely simple and normal explanation and outcome. She was expecting something beyond common sense this time, since Davey had always shown them plenty of abnormal things so far. And of course, her expectations had hit the nail right on the head. ¡°As long as it¡¯s managed properly, it can operate almost permanently. It¡¯s also very cheap and easy to manage. Above all¡­¡± The most important aspect of the pump was something else. ¡°¡­with just this single pump, anyone can draw and use water whenever they want as long as they are situated in Heins Territory¡¯s residential area.¡± There were only a few¡­ No, perhaps it was safer to say that there were no houses without any water on modern-day Earth. But in this world, where most people still drew water from wells, it would be sufficient to deem this crazy attempt revolutionary. Either way, it did not matter to Davey how his words would be able to affect the entire continent¡¯s economy. ¡°My god¡­ Is that even really possible?!¡± Normally, it would cost an exorbitant amount of money to install a pump that could deliver clean water with carefully regulated temperatures to a household. Even the amount of money needed for maintenance was astronomical, since one needed to check regularly if it was working properly or needed repairs, as well as change the mana stones at set times. On top of that, pumps were usually small and not very powerful, so they could only supply water to one place. ¡°I don¡¯t have enough of the supplementary equipment right now, so I made do by installing 500 magic circles on it. However, it is not impossible. Amy!¡± ¡°Y-Yes. Did you call for me, Your Highness?¡± ¡°Pass this message to our territory¡¯s residents.¡± And Davey said¡­ *** ¡°Oh my, aren¡¯t you Lily¡¯s mom?¡± ¡°Hello, Grandma Helena. Are you here to draw some water?¡± ¡°Why, yes. I should do this much, since my sons and grandchildren are working hard to reclaim farmland for us, you know?¡± Grandma Helena laughed, her expression bright and fresh. ¡°You¡¯re in a very good mood.¡± ¡°Strangely enough, my back was not hurting when I went out this morning. So, I thought something good might happen today.¡± ¡°Aha. But how do you know that it¡¯s a good thing¡­?¡± ¡°Hmm. Who knows¡­ Maybe His Highness, the prince, has prepared something huge again?¡± ¡°His Highness, the prince? Ey~ There are a lot of rumors that he¡¯s in big trouble even with all of the things that he¡¯s done so far. What can he even show us here?¡± ¡°Oh my? Lily¡¯s mom, you don¡¯t know anything? About His Highness, I mean? He¡¯s like this! Like this! Whatever he thinks and says, it comes true!¡± With the land drying up from the lack of rain, they had prayed for rain. And when Prince Davey had said that there would be rain, rain had truly come. And that was not all. They had heard that the weather would turn colder, so they had to make preventive measures early on. Prince Davey had said that it would remain warm, and the next day, the cold weather had indeed suddenly turned warm. Diana, Lily¡¯s mom, thought that Grandma Helena¡¯s stories were all bullshit. All she could do was smile awkwardly at Grandma Helena¡¯s display of blind faith toward the prince. Diana had been originally in another territory but had returned to her hometown, the Heins Territory, after hearing about its development. She was among those people that only came back to her hometown after hearing that the once dying land had been revived. Because of that, Diana had never witnessed the miracles that happened in Heins Territory. Perhaps that was also the reason why she thought that the original residents that were left behind and the early settlers were a bit stupid and foolish for having such blind faith and trust in Prince Davey. After being kicked out from her position as a maid, Diana had grown skeptical and distrustful towards high ranking nobles and royalty to the point that she was downright hostile to them. Still, she could not deny the fact that this place felt a bit different from the other territories. ¡°Ey~ His Highness definitely has his own limitations too. Even the king is just a human being.¡± ¡°My goodness! Lily¡¯s mom, you have to be careful with your words. You will be in trouble if you say that somewhere else.¡± ¡°Ahahaha¡­¡± Diana laughed awkwardly as she waited in line to draw water from the well. If it was not hypnosis, then the people of this territory were just plain stupid. She added, ¡°What can we even do here? We¡¯re poor, powerless commoners. We should already be satisfied with this relatively stable land that rarely collects taxes from us.¡± ¡°It seems like you have to see to believe, huh? I¡¯m telling you, my instincts are always on point! It¡¯s coming! Something good is coming!¡± ¡°Oh my. I have to go, I still need to draw a lot of water.¡± At that moment, a little girl shouted from a distance, ¡°Goodness! Grandma Helena!!!¡± ¡°Huh? Isn¡¯t that Lynnie? What¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°Gasp¡­ gasp¡­ So Aunty Diana is here too?! Hello! Gasp, gasp¡­¡± ¡°Calm down and catch your breath first.¡± Lynnie, who was given a bowl of water, hurriedly gulped down the water. Her eyes twinkled brightly. Then, she said, ¡°His Highness has prepared something amazing again!¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± The two older women looked puzzled at Lynnie, who spoke energetically. ¡°No, it¡¯s better if we go! You¡¯ll understand when you see it!¡± The girl, who had been kidnapped and taken to a goblin village just a few months prior and had almost suffered terribly, did not show any signs of depression at all. The two older women followed Lynnie, who had a bright smile on her face, in a daze. They appeared to be drawn to her aura and smile. *** ¡°My god¡­ Goodness¡­ What is this?¡± ¡°Oh my god¡­ Is that a mana pump?!¡± ¡°Warm! The water is warm! Is this what that wicked monster does?!¡± Grandma Helena shouted as if she found the newly-installed structure on one side of the residential area to be absurd. ¡°My goodness! It doesn¡¯t even work like a well, you just turn this thing and the water comes out? And the water is even clean! Without any soil and debris!¡± Generally, commoners would draw water from the well, collect the water, and filter it several times before using it. In places where the water quality was bad, people would have no choice but to use the water as it was. But what was this in front of them? Just a slight twist of this large iron pipe, and clean and warm water would pour out easily for them? The nobles were quite accustomed to this way of pumping water, but for normal people like them, who had never heard of something like this, this mysterious phenomena was akin to a God¡¯s blessing. ¡°His Highness, the First Prince, was here just now! He said that they will install these in our homes soon! In all of the residents¡¯ homes!¡± ¡°What?!¡± The two older women were stunned speechless. They could not believe that they would be installing these metal pipes that could easily pour out water like this in everyone¡¯s home. Unless they were idiots, there was no way for them not to understand what that meant. Namely, they would no longer need to draw water mixed with soil and dirt and filter it every time they needed it. Even the need to use firewood to heat the water would be solved. ¡°Then¡­ Does this mean that we can get clean water in our homes without having to go to the well and draw some? That¡¯s what it means, right?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Grandma Helena widened her eyes at Lynnie¡¯s lively answer. She muttered, ¡°This is a miracle¡­ A miracle¡­¡± Unlike Grandma Helena, who was overjoyed by Lynnie¡¯s words, Diana¡¯s eyes narrowed in suspicion. She said, ¡°This¡­is definitely the mana pump that only those of a higher rank, like the nobles and royalty, can use¡­¡± It was not like Diana did not know about it at all. After all, she had once worked as a maid for a rich noble family. This was a pump that could only be installed by mages at a high price. It was literally an amazing object that could pump water directly from the source. After realizing the fact that this was the same system that those high-ranking nobles and royalty used, Diana mumbled in confusion, ¡°For someone like us that struggles to survive day after day¡­ How can we afford to install something like this in our homes? Even though I haven¡¯t heard the specifics, I¡¯m sure this will cost a lot of money, right?¡± This was something that could only be seen in high-ranking nobles¡¯ houses, the royal palace and in very luxurious noble accommodations. That was why Diana could not believe it. After all, she had heard from her fellow maids about how expensive those were. There was no way that they would install these incredibly expensive structures in a lowly commoner¡¯s house for free¡­ Furthermore, Diana did not trust the nobility at all. If they installed such an expensive thing in their homes, they would definitely rip off a huge sum of money from them and make them fall into a huge pit of debt. After all, she had lost her daughter to a noble that she had trusted in the territory where she used to live, right? Hearing Diana mumbling to herself, Lynnie piped up, ¡°I don¡¯t know about it well, but¡­ When His Highness came here earlier, he told us that the installation itself is free. But we have to pay ten silver coins per month to prevent us from using water excessively¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± This was something completely impossible, even at the kingdom¡¯s capital city. How much money was needed to pump water into every household in this territory? And they would install it for free even in the commoners¡¯ houses and only charge them for as little as ten silver coins per month? ¡°Uhm¡­ And he also said this before he left¡­¡± Lynnie mumbled to herself as she thought back to the events earlier on. Her eyes widened when she finally recalled the words that the prince had said, she exclaimed, ¡°Ah! That¡¯s right! [Everyone, work harder after receiving this welfare bomb!] That''s what he said! Ah, what does welfare mean?¡± ¡°That¡­ That¡­welfare means¡­¡± Diana was stunned after seeing Lynnie trying hard to impersonate Davey to the best of her abilities. If this was true then¡­ Diana thought that there was truly a reason why the residents of this territory trusted and followed their seigneur blindly and acted as if they were mad fanatics. CH 157 ¡°We¡¯ve now properly resolved our problems with the waterways.¡± ¡°A considerable amount of our funds went into this project, Your Highness. We have to put these non-lucrative and huge projects on hold for quite some time¡­¡± ¡°We¡¯re not in a rush to get back our capital. Amy, what about the stones that you purchased from the Allaui Merchant Group?¡± ¡°Yes, all of them have been loaded up and stored in a warehouse nearby.¡± ¡°Alright. In three days, we should call for a few royal guards and tell them to start on the next project with the dwarves.¡± Since they were done dealing with the underground waterways, it was time for them to pack the ground, the very source of dust, and create stone pathways! Of course, stone pavements and roads were things that could only be seen in large cities. However, Davey believed that a cleaner territory would lead to better hygiene, which would in turn result in a more beautiful appearance to attract plenty of visitors and tourists. In other words, if the territory¡¯s quality of life increased, then the natural outcome would be a significant increase in population and that would allow them to generate higher revenue. ¡°I will convey Your Highness¡¯ message right away.¡± Although something was bothering her, Amy did not pursue the matter anymore since she could not pinpoint what it was. She nodded in agreement. For a moment, Davey felt like he was a bit too full of himself. ¡ªIt looks like you have already resolved this territory¡¯s biggest disadvantage when it comes to farming, since you can control the weather and the climate. This applies to the nearby lands too. The Heins Territory was huge¡ªit was not called a vast wasteland for nothing. Even though the land was cracked and dry, if given more time and a larger number of people to manage it, the vast wasteland could turn into fertile and prosperous land. Of course, drawbacks also existed. Although Davey could control the amount of rainfall in the vast lands of his territory, because of a lack of precision, the variety of the crops that they could cultivate was also lacking. Also¡­ ¡°If I make it rain every time we need it, then it will eventually cause damage to the environment.¡± That was actually the most important part. If Davey continued to do that, then it was no different from long-term suicide. After all, this method would kill his surroundings and environment, as well as his goal of living a good life. ¡°It would be nice to have some elementalists to manage things¡­¡± Elves were the most famous race in this respect, as they produced many elementalists. However, Davey did not have any method to entice them and drag them over to work for him, so that was out of the question. Besides, cooperating with that race was not a very appealing option to Davey right now. ¡°Just come inside,¡± Davey said leisurely, his eyes straying away from the documents that Amy had left behind. He watched a man dressed in black military uniform slowly appear as if he had been in the room since earlier. Davey then asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°There¡¯s something that I wish to tell you.¡± Rinne, who was sleeping while hugging Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon on the sofa by the side of the room, slowly opened her eyes at the man¡¯s calm answer. She could not help but tilt her head at the sudden stand-off between Jack and Davey. ¡°Right. You want to say something¡­¡± Jack only wanted to say something to Davey, right? So, why did it sound like this was some kind of big deal? Just to make sure, Davey silently checked Jack¡¯s status window. However, there were no big changes so far. Jack was still the dark elf whose real name was Aina Helishana. ¡°But before that, let me ask you a question.¡± ¡°Please ask away.¡± ¡°Do you have a younger or an older sister by any chance?¡± Davey asked as the atmosphere momentarily turned delicate. ¡°What do you mean¡­?¡± ¡°Nevermind. Right, you¡¯ve done quite a few things for me during this time. I can, of course, listen to what you have to say.¡± Jack only answered Davey with silence. He was seemingly telling Davey that he had to help with this, since he had been slaving over the things that Davey had asked him to do. Jack softly spoke up. ¡°Yes. Then¡­¡± ¡°Huh? Who left this fairytale here?¡± Davey interrupted Jack, stopping him from speaking any further. He held out a small book in his hands and commented, ¡°The Elf¡¯s Lover? Huh? Isn¡¯t this elven romance novel very famous in the capital these days?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right but¡­ I think Miss Winley has brought that here deliberately.¡± ¡°Winley? What¡¯s so good about this?¡± ¡°It¡¯s quite a bestseller among the nobility. I believe it¡¯s a sweet and nice read? The existence of an elf¡­¡± Davey was fully aware. For humans, elves were like fairies of the forest. They were a symbol of peace. But what could Davey do? That image had long been destroyed. He commented, ¡°Is that so? I personally don¡¯t like elves.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Jack flinched at Davey¡¯s words. ¡°If one appears in front of me right now, I will grab them, strip them naked, and hang them on the gates with words ¡®shameless race¡¯ written on their body.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Jack¡¯s silence was prolonged. He flinched even more intensely at Davey¡¯s shocking words. ¡°Ah, sorry. My emotions got the better of me for a moment. What did you want to say to me?¡± *** ¡°Ahahaha! For real? Are you really into that?¡± A slim woman laughed loudly, making fun of the person in front of her. ¡°U-Ugh¡­ S-Stop making fun of me, Kathryn.¡± ¡°Oh my. My dear imperial princess, it¡¯s so fun to see your face turn red. You know? Kahahahaha!!!¡± The woman, dressed in clothes that revealed her tanned skin, laughed happily as she stroked Aeria¡¯s head. Goodness! Someone truly dared to stroke the head of the youngest imperial princess, who was deeply cherished and fenced off by the absolute ruler of the great empire, the Emperor? Still, the parties involved and even the maids in the vicinity did not feel anything strange about it. Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original. A healthy and tan skin, a slim figure and fairly revealing clothing. These things were quite common in the Western Continent. Of course, the woman, who looked to be in her early twenties, looked sexy and beautiful, especially with her eye-catching amber hair tied up in a ponytail, but that did nothing to clarify this situation that defied common sense. On the other hand, if the woman¡¯s identity were to be revealed, people would know that she was not just some run-of-the-mill existence. She was none other than the Flaming Fox. [Kathryn Carabella] She had been given that name because of her red tail and ears that looked like blazing flames. Kathryn might look like a frivolous young woman but the truth was she was the object of fear in Lyndis Empire¡ªthe Empire¡¯s Grand Duchess and one of the greatest and strongest forces of the empire. Kathryn was also a pure-blooded beastfolk, who, in terms of power and strength, was only beneath Emperor Deorte, the man hailed as the Empire¡¯s Strongest Sword. This was no different from saying that she ranked at the top of the master-level forces in the Lyndis Empire. But despite Kathryn¡¯s status in the empire, the beastfolk still suffered and endured from countless contemptuous and disdainful looks. The reason? Simple. She was only a single person. She had more freedom than most because she was the empire¡¯s grand duchess. Even so, she was just a single force with little to no power other than her personal strength. ¡°Oh my. My dear imperial princess, look at how fair your skin is! How can you hide this cute face of yours for such a long time?¡± ¡°U, ugh¡­ that tickles. Stop it.¡± ¡°Hehehehe. Look at how soft and tender you are! Huh? Did you know about how many rumors are flying around in the empire right now? From what I heard there¡¯s a long line of those nobles¡¯ sons waiting to see our dear imperial princess¡¯ face. However! I will make sure to knock those heat-crazed punks down a peg one way or the other!¡± Kathryn pinched Aeria¡¯s soft cheeks, smiling broadly just like those middle-aged uncles as she hugged Aeria tightly, ¡°You can smile now, what a relief. Truly a relief, Your Imperial Highness.¡± ¡°I¡¯m very grateful for your concern, Kathryn.¡± ¡°By the way, that guy¡¯s really amazing, huh? He healed a disease that even the Holy Empire has given up on in just a few days.¡± ¡°Is¡­ Is that so?¡± Aeria tried to reply nonchalantly, turning her face slightly away from Kathryn. The older woman rubbed her chin while deep in thought, murmuring, ¡°It¡¯s quite hard to see someone so capable somewhere else. And that¡¯s not all, he turned around as if nothing happened after taking away the heart of our dear imperial princess.¡± Aeria realized that Kathryn was making a serious error in judgment. She quickly said, ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s not it.¡± ¡°Huh? What¡¯s not it?¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡­ It¡¯s because¡­ I did not fall for him because he treated my disease¡­ He had already saved me before that¡­¡± Feeling that this was a very important point, Aeria wanted to make things clear about her crush on the prince named Davey O¡¯Rowane. Her feelings for the prince had formed long before they met in the empire. She cried out, ¡°This¡­ This is very important!¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± ¡®Ah, what should I do with this cute and lovable creature?¡¯ Kathryn seriously considered kidnapping this cute and adorable little princess and taking her to her mansion. She asked, ¡°Your Imperial Highness, do you truly like that prince?¡± ¡°That¡­ That¡­¡± Despite admitting it, Aeria still was embarrassed. All she could do was lower her head as her face turned a bright red. Kathryn laughed at Aeria. She had not seen this sight for a very long time. ¡°Oh my, what should I do with this cute little princess?¡± ¡°Pl¡­ Please stop.¡± ¡°Your Imperial Highness, would you like me to give you some advice? There¡¯s a way for you to capture a man without fail.¡± ¡°There¡­ There is?¡± Aeria immediately raised her head, revealing wide-open eyes. It was safe to say that she was seriously considering whatever method it was that Kathryn would say. ¡®What kind of guy is that punk to make our dear princess fall this hard for him?¡¯ Kathryn had never met this prince of a small nation that had cured Aeria of her illness, since she had been at the borders doing an imperial inspection when everything happened. ¡°From what I can tell, that prince is either too considerate or just not interested. If we followed your pace and waited for progress to happen, then we''d both get wrinkles by the time something happened, am I right? Besides, that prince left without any hesitation. And with His Majesty, the Emperor, an extreme daughter-loving father, he will definitely not push for an arranged marriage.¡± ¡°Th¡­ Then¡­¡± Kathryn grinned when she saw Aeria¡¯s tearful expression, saying, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then there¡¯s only one good method that will work for you.¡± ¡°Plea¡­ Please tell me!¡± Seeing Aeria answer resolutely as if she would willingly do whatever it took to get the prince, Kathryn pulled Aeria out of her arms. Kathryn shook the girl and conveyed her thoughts as they were, no holds barred, ¡°All you have to do is mate with him.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± A short silence ensued. ¡°Mate with him, eat him up. It¡¯s better if you can get a baby in your stomach. Will he even throw you away if his child is in your stomach? ¡®Course not. What more, a child with an imperial princess?¡± ¡°What?!¡± ¡°My dear princess, whether they¡¯re men or women, people like that act. The sacred act of union between two bodies is the goal of all living things. What I¡¯m saying is that no one is superior or inferior when it comes down to that. Besides, our dear princess has this cute face, who can deny that? If I were you, I would wear my negligee[1] and infiltrate his bedroom right away!¡± ¡°Kathryn!¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s up to you where you want to eat him up. You¡¯ll feel good wherever you are, anyway¡­¡± ¡°Wh¡­ Whaaaa?!¡± ¡°Keep this in mind. Those wicked and dirty men? They¡¯ll die when they hear that beautiful voice of yours. In that respect, we can call Your Imperial Highness¡¯ voice a living weapon¡­¡± ¡°S¡­ S-S-S-Stop it!!!¡± Aeria screamed, her face turning a few shades darker than the shade of red from before. Who in their right mind would say something like that to a member of the imperial family? However, the problem here was Grand Duchess Kathryn¡¯s free and unreserved thoughts and advice were so intense and forward that Aeria could not accept them at all. *** A chilly silence hung in the air. ¡ªI think it¡¯s because your expression is too stiff. Davey immediately shut up when he heard Perserque chuckling at him. ¡®I¡¯m serious. I really don¡¯t like those pointy-eared bastards.¡¯ It was not just some petty joke. In fact, what Davey had done was a test of sorts. If Jack had noticed it, then he would get results. ¡ªWhat¡¯s your reason? ¡®Well, just because?¡¯ Just as Davey had mentioned before, those pointy-eared bastards were very snobbish and arrogant. That was why he did not like them. Well, to be exact, he just truly did not like the elves. So, what was his reason? Because they were vegetarians? No, of course not. Was it because they were a very strict and meticulous race? Well, that was one of the reasons, but it was still not the main reason why Davey hated them. 1. A sheer and see-through long gown, intended for wear at night and in the bedroom. ? CH 158 ¡ªThen, why do you hate them? ¡®Because that stinky Casanova ruined my first love. And right in front of my very eyes to boot.¡¯ Apollo, the damn God of Archery, was a sleazy man from the High Elf Race. He was also the reason why Davey¡¯s fantasy and image of an elf had been ruined. ¡ªYour innocence and fantasy have been ruined? ¡®Death Lord Rho Aias was my first love.¡¯ One day, Davey had gone to Rho Aias¡¯ lodgings to train his dark magic. However, upon his arrival, he had witnessed Apollo and Rho Aias entering the bedroom together. That sight had left him in a daze for a few days. What had happened after the two entered the bedroom? Had there been an alternative ending aside from the most obvious one? Of course not. Just like oil in a frying pan, Davey had burned bright red from what he had seen. It was only natural. After all, he had entered the Hall at only ten years old. Compared to those heroes, who had lived for thousands of years, Davey had just been a bloody childish brat. Well, it was true that he had been a brat, but how could they have destroyed a child¡¯s innocence like that? When he had finally returned to his senses, Davey had run straight to where Saintess Daphne had been and had told her everything. It was safe to say that the events that followed after had been very fun and interesting. All Davey could say was that it had served them right! They had reaped what they had sown! ¡ªHow could you be so childish¡­? ¡®You¡¯ve been single since birth. You will never understand the shock that I felt back then.¡¯ ¡ªYou really are a bastard. The furious ex-Demon Lord tugged Davey¡¯s earlobe and yelled at him. Davey did not like tough and ill-tempered women. Rho Aias with her bright smile and soft, innocent, and elegant image, was still and would always be Davey''s ideal type and first love. ¡®A person only has one first love in their entire life.¡¯ In his past life, Davey had only lived up to twenty years old. When living that life, he had spent almost every single moment inside a sterile room accompanied by educational videos, comics, movies, games, and the internet gallery. He had done that from a young age until his very death. Of course, he had never interacted with anyone and could only watch. As for his current life, he had fallen into a coma the moment he had turned ten. Needless to say, it was very difficult for Davey to find an ideal type, which that high elf had easily ruined. With that incident alone, the list of crimes that the sleazy and crazy high elf had done had grown longer, ruining Davey¡¯s fantasy about the elves and forcing him to hate anyone who was of the same race. ¡°Didn¡¯t you have something to say to me?¡± ¡°Th¡­ uhm¡­ Something urgent suddenly came up.¡± Jack took one, two steps back. His voice faltered before disappearing completely from Davey¡¯s sight. In the end, he still failed to say anything to Davey. ¡ªWhy did you do that? ¡®I was just joking. I didn¡¯t think that he would run away like that.¡¯ However, one thing was clear. What Jack, or Aina Helishana, wanted Davey to do was somewhat related to the elves. ¡°I really like the elves¡¯¡­spirit magic.¡± Well, the elves¡¯ spirit magic might not be any more powerful than his spirit magic since Davey¡¯s affinity with the spirits had been forcibly modified to go beyond his race¡¯s limitations. Still, he liked the fact that the elves could use spirit magic. It was a solution to his problems. After all, if Davey personally managed and maintained even the smallest part of his territory, then it would mean that the territory¡¯s vitality and life would end once he died. ¡°I should try to secretly summon some spirits.¡± ¡ªIsn¡¯t it hard to do here? ¡°As long as the place is good, then it would not be too hard to do some summoning. I have to get ready. The most ideal place would be the elven forest just right outside the territory¡­ I¡¯m used to dealing with spirits, but this will be my first time summoning them¡­so I¡¯m still not sure.¡± Davey had learned how to use spirit magic by borrowing spirits. This was because they hadn¡¯t been allowed to summon spirits in the Hall. However, the most important reason why he had to make preparations was¡­ ¡°Just one look at that, and I know that I won¡¯t be able to do it now.¡± *** As soon as the plan was in place, things began changing rapidly. The water supply was connected to the newly built residential area, allowing the residents to tap cold and hot water at any time of the day in the comfort of their own homes. And that was not all. By combining Davey¡¯s knowledge and the dwarves¡¯ unique technology, they were able to tinker with the buildings¡¯ designs and make its foundation sturdier and more solid. And by changing the building¡¯s internal structure, they were able to create modern-day buildings. Of course, buildings built with premium materials were bound to be expensive. For ordinary people who lived day by day, living in a building like this was like a pie in the sky. But this problem could be easily handled. The territory¡¯s management provided these houses free-of-charge if the ordinary people sold their old houses at a bargain price. Davey, despite having been pointed at and called crazy, still pushed through with this plan. After all, he had plenty of money left over since his Heins Territory had amassed too much wealth for a territory that had less than 10,000 residents. Because of that, the territory¡¯s image was enhanced even further, and the residents¡¯ faces were filled with great joy, vitality, and anticipation for the future. A quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled. The losses that they incurred for these projects were not that important. In fact, the most important part was the fact that the territory¡¯s outward appearance and reputation had increased significantly. This was their biggest advantage. The territory no longer looked like a small village lined with shabby and old houses, but a sparkling and clean territory lined up with pretty houses. It was a view that was hard to see even in the capital. ¡°Ahahahaha! Catch me if you can!¡± ¡°Hey! You¡¯re dead if I get my hands on you!!!¡± Davey watched as a little girl chased after a boy, who seemed to have escaped after flipping her skirt up. Seeing this lively and happy scene in the territory, Davey could not help but sit back and relax. Of course, one could not enjoy this peaceful scenery if they were walking along the streets, so he had made sure to furnish his personal resting spot complete with a pavilion and some benches. ¡°I like this¡­peaceful atmosphere.¡± ¡ªI feel like this warm sun and nice, firm thighs add a sense of drowsiness in the air. Davey completely ignored the words that came out of Perserque¡¯s mouth. He closed his eyes and leaned back on the wooden bench. As if influenced by the relaxed atmosphere, Perserque also showed no signs of getting up. She continued to cling to Davey¡¯s thigh, her eyes closed as if to take a nap. The warm and suitable temperature of the air blowing on their skin was a very nice sensation. In the end, they were both being carried away by the lazy and peaceful atmosphere. ¡°Cough. Ah, I did not see you there, young man.¡± Suddenly, a voice rang out in the area, surprising Davey. Just moments ago, there were no signs of anyone being around. Although this was Davey¡¯s personal resting spot, it wasn¡¯t a violation of any rules for someone else to enter the area. He did not prohibit anyone from entering, so this sudden appearance of a person was not a problem. Davey, who finally raised his head from the back of the bench, saw a smiling old man who approached from a distance. Then, he called out, ¡°Gramps?¡± ¡°Hoho. This is the liveliest and most vibrant territory that I have seen lately. Ah, can I sit next to you?¡± Davey habitually used the Abyss¡¯ Authority on the old man, whose identity immediately popped up in front of his eyes. ¡®Isn¡¯t he quite an unexpected visitor?¡¯ ¡ªWhat you said. Davey wondered if someone like this old man was truly easy to meet on the streets. It was as if the old man was just one of the local grandpas walking around and exercising, considering how easy they met right now. *** ¡°Hoho. Young man, you look quite relaxed. It seems like you¡¯re very comfortable here.¡± If asked if he was relaxed, of course Davey would answer that he was very comfortable and relaxed. ¡°It is very peaceful, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Of course. But I believe it¡¯s the residents¡¯ bright and happy smiles that make this land vibrant and lively.¡± For those who struggled to survive, being given the minimum amount of necessities like food, clothing, and shelter was like giving them a purpose in life. It was their hope for the future, which in turn gave them energy to work hard and do their best not only for themselves but also for their territory. Davey worked very hard to achieve that. He gave the people plenty of benefits and implemented many welfare policies to restore the people¡¯s pride, self-esteem, and sense of purpose. He even went so far as to clean up all the dirty streams and wells, the source of the territory¡¯s sanitary problems, and allowed the people to tap clean water through the water pipes that they had installed all over the territory. With the dwarves¡¯ solid technical skills and Davey¡¯s magic, as well as their literal gold spoon, their territories'' vast amount of capital and funds, they were able to create this masterpiece. And of course, the ones who enjoyed the benefits of their gold spoon were the territory¡¯s residents. Davey believed that his income and profits would increase as long as the residents¡¯ quality of living increased. And if the quality of living increased, the population would naturally grow larger, which in turn would increase the territory¡¯s morale and profits. Changing people''s lives to create a future where they helped each other was one of the changes that Davey wanted to implement. Exploiting others was a concept that existed since ancient times, a problem that persisted even in the modern era where Davey had lived his previous life. However, Davey wanted to see a different world. That was why he was changing things up. Although, it was quite hard for him to predict when this kind of change would reach its fullest potential. ¡ªBut when people get too comfortable, they eventually become lazy. ¡®We have to be good at balancing on that tightrope.¡¯ There were, of course, pros and cons. The pros were a good and comfortable life. However, it could also have a negative effect on security, an area where plenty of problems could arise as well as the territory¡¯s development. ¡°I have seen several other territories and cities in my life, but there are only a few places as vibrant and lively as this place.¡± ¡°You must have been to a lot of places, gramps.¡± ¡°Hoho. I loved the thrill of a new adventure when I was younger. Hoho! There was a time when I walked through a vast plain with just my long sword, a staff, and my gray robe and hat,¡± the old man, who was sitting on the other end of the bench, stroked his well-groomed beard with a delighted smile on his face. ¡°It seems like this territory¡¯s seigneur is quite capable.¡± ¡°The seigneur¡­ Ah. Yes.¡± ¡°From what I heard, the seigneur is a prince who is not even in his 20s yet. Do you know anything about him?¡± ¡°Who knows¡­ I don¡¯t have an idea about what those high-ranking people think.¡± Davey didn¡¯t feel like revealing his identity here. ¡°One look and it seems like the seigneur is after something else. Children smiling happily¡­ Kind and friendly dwarves that easily adapted and assimilated into a human¡¯s way of living¡­ Various merchant groups, magic towers, temples, and schools of alchemy from all over the continent¡­¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± ¡°A place that first developed commerce would naturally attract plenty of people. However, from my long years of travel, I know that having a very relaxed and comfortable atmosphere is quite counterproductive. This territory¡¯s seigneur seems quite capable, since he is balancing the territory quite well to achieve some balance.¡± With a laugh, the old man continued, ¡°Since we¡¯ve already met¡­ Young man, how about playing a game with an old man like me?¡± Smiling at the frolicking children, Davey turned his head when he heard the old man¡¯s words. ¡°What game are you talking about?¡± ¡°How about that famous board game in the Pallan Empire?¡± It was chess. No, to be exact, it was a strategy game that used similar terms and rules with chess called Olde. Davey thought that it had been quite a while since he had fun, so there was no harm in trying. Besides, he was also curious why an old man of his position had come here. Davey agreed to the old man¡¯s proposal without revealing his identity, of course. ¡°Do you know how to set up and play Olde?¡± ¡°Well, you can say that I like it quite a bit.¡± ¡°Hoho! Young man, I like that look on you! Alright, I will leave the rules up to you. Do you want to play using the Eastern Style or the Central Style?¡± Davey pondered for a moment before opening his mouth to say, ¡°Let¡¯s do it with the Harmattan Style.¡± ¡°You¡­¡± The old man looked quite astonished. He commented, ¡°The Harmattan Style was a very popular style of playing before the Eastern and Central styles came out.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because I¡¯m very interested in history.¡± In truth, Davey was not really that interested in history. However, he knew about this because he had interacted with living witnesses of that era. The Harmattan Style was the popular playing rules during the time when Saintess Daphne had been active, and it was also the playing rule that Davey was most familiar with. Although its rules had changed a bit over time, its original structure remained the same. ¡°Hoho! That¡¯s amazing, really amazing. Good, let¡¯s set it up in the Harmattan Style.¡± Perhaps it was because the old man was motivated; he quickly lined up the pieces with a nice and friendly smile on his face. He went on, ¡°Look at these pieces. You know, this is actually a high-end luxurious item used by high-ranking nobles for entertainment. It¡¯s an item enchanted with magic that automatically prevents foul play just by putting these pieces on top of the board. How about this? If you defeat me, I¡¯ll give this to you as a gift.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s fine with me.¡± Davey nodded. ¡°Even though I don¡¯t look the part, I am still an elder. I will concede the first move to you.¡± Davey immediately thought that he should probably be more senior than this old man if they actually compared their souls¡¯ ages. Since it was quite interesting and fun to play the game in this way, he let the old man be. Olde was a strategy game quite similar to chess. Although they had slight differences in their rules, the fact that the two players would have to deal with and fight each other with their own tactics were the same. For a moment, Davey was a bit curious about how good this honorable man was when it came to reading and anticipating his opponent¡¯s tactics. Besides, he could tell that the old man had proposed this game with a different intention in mind. ¡®I¡¯m not going to let you win so easily, gramps.¡¯ Davey grinned as he adjusted his position to a more comfortable one before reaching out. ¡°Soldiers, knights and priests. All of these pieces are important. I wonder which piece you will move first.¡± Davey, after hearing the old man¡¯s question, immediately grabbed the king. He did not hesitate. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how important they are. If the king does not move, then there¡¯s no way that the soldiers will follow.¡± The curiosity and interest displayed on the man¡¯s face deepened at Davey¡¯s words. It seemed like he already noticed that Davey had found out about his true intentions. CH 159 Each move of the pieces on the board was accompanied by conversation, which Davey and the old man easily sustained. ¡°He, who cannot protect his own people, will always walk the path to destruction,¡± the old man continued to speak while sticking to the basics. ¡°Just like King U[1], who was heavily biased, a king who only listens to one side of the story will be blind to everyone else¡¯s sufferings. It¡¯s true that your own people are important, but the others are as important as your own kingdom¡¯s citizens.¡± ¡°What do you think is the most important trait that a kingdom¡¯s citizens should have?¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t it be one¡¯s own loyalty and will to develop and grow? If you lose your goals because your life has become too comfortable, then you would also lose your will to move forward and live a better life.¡± ¡°Hoho. You¡¯re quite a unique thinker.¡± The game in front of them continued even though they were talking about other things. According to Davey¡¯s observations, the old man¡¯s skills were not just average or up to standard. It was beyond that. It was actually to the point where Davey had to wonder if a human was truly capable of reading and creating tactics like that. If Davey were a normal person, he would already have been caught by the old man¡¯s tactics and dragged around until the very end. ¡°Ho¡­ That¡¯s quite amazing. So, laying the pieces for the Seven Tactic Battle was a stepping stone for this.¡± ¡°Speaking of that, aren¡¯t you quite amazing too, gramps?¡± Davey smiled, his hands reaching out for the elephant-shaped piece. Then, he advanced forward and ate the old man¡¯s rampart-shaped piece. ¡°Siege.¡± ¡°Hoho. Young man, you¡¯re quite hasty. If you do this, then you will not be able to prepare for your next move.¡± ¡°Being calculative and sly is very essential. However, you should not be dragged around so easily.¡± After hearing Davey¡¯s words, the old man suddenly asked, ¡°Boy, what do you think about magic?¡± ¡°Magic? Something that causes strange phenomena?¡± ¡°Hoho. Right. If you say so then that must be it. Why do you think of it that way?¡± ¡°Who knows¡­¡± ¡°In Red Tower¡¯s Sage Hellison Valestia¡¯s case, he has reached the 7th Circle and became a Master. Everyone declared that he would reach the legendary realm, the 8th Circle. But he himself said¡­¡± The old man¡¯s words made Davey pause and turn silent. ¡°¡­that anyone who reached the 7th Circle and became a Master will understand everything in the world.¡± Davey remained silent as the old man continued to speak, ¡°He also said that he was able to lift the veils of the 8th Circle to peek at the next realm. However, what he saw waiting for him at that stage was nothing but the vast and empty void¡­¡± A small laugh escaped Davey¡¯s mouth as the game of [Olde] finally reached its end. His side, which boldly advanced and never gave up, had been pushed back. There was not even a possibility of things turning around. ¡°Theoretically, the 8th and 9th Circles are perfection itself. Since I¡¯ve already checked what I already know, I wondered about the meaning and significance of reaching the 8th and 9th Circles. Tsk, tsk. Since it¡¯s already a ¡®siege¡¯, then next should be occupying the lands,¡± the old man mumbled bitterly to himself. Still silent, Davey stood up from his seat and looked at the old man. Then, he moved his piece, turned around, and prepared to leave while saying, ¡°I¡¯m not some sage who saw the end of magic, so I have nothing to say to you.¡± ¡°Right.¡± ¡°But from what I can see, it seems like the sage, who was supposed to be a mage, is not a mage anymore.¡± The old man was made doubtful by Davey¡¯s answer. He repeated, ¡°Not a mage?¡± ¡°What is magic?¡± ¡°The study and research of the things that defy the laws of nature.¡± ¡°There is no end to learning. And the same is true for magic, the study of the laws that govern everything supernatural. Look at the sky.¡± The old man raised his head in doubt at Davey¡¯s words. ¡°Is the sun a mass of light created by god? Or perhaps it¡¯s a massive lump of gas, a mass that¡¯s hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of times larger than the world that we live in, illuminating our land from far away?¡± The old man¡¯s expression slowly hardened. ¡°You¡­¡± Davey continued, ¡°According to the alchemists, the land that we live on is flat and that the sun just turns and revolves around us.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that what¡¯s widely known?¡± ¡°I was interested in this before, so I read quite a few books. I read another theory that says that the planet that we live on is round. Also, it¡¯s not the sun that revolves around us but us revolving around the sun.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°However, nothing has been proven. I have no choice but to live in the dark about this. After all, I haven¡¯t seen it for myself.¡± ¡°That¡­¡± ¡°Another example is common sense. Common sense is a perfectly explained and researched prediction. The answers are clear and obvious that it made it hard for anyone to refute them. But what if you personally checked it and found the truth to be different? What if it was another rule that you did not know of?¡± The old man widened his eyes. ¡°It is what it is. The things that we think we know perfectly are actually filled with things that we still don¡¯t know of. Isn¡¯t it the same with magic? Nothing in this world is perfect. Even if you go higher, there will always be a higher level, a place beyond where you are right now. There are cases where your theories and hypotheses, which you already think are perfect, will turn out differently once you, yourself, check it.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Why? It¡¯s because it will remain as a theory and a hypothesis as long as you don¡¯t check it for yourself.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°To speak so highly, eloquently, and proudly of a clear hypothesis and theory, and claiming it as something perfect even though you have not checked it yourself¡­ That¡¯s being too full of yourself. Well, isn¡¯t the same true for magic? You can¡¯t speak about something so proudly when you have not seen or reached it yet.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°In the first place, what are mages pursuing? Are they after the Circles or are they learning magic to quench their thirst for knowledge?¡± The word ¡®perfect¡¯ existed, but no one could reach perfection. Even those at the 9th Circle, the final stage of transcendence, knew that another realm existed above them. So how was someone at the 7th Circle speaking so proudly about knowing everything? Davey then left without any hesitation. He could tell that the old man already knew who he was. So, he said, ¡°The game was fun. Let¡¯s have a go at the board again some other time.¡± Davey felt the old man¡¯s blank stare boring into his back when he completely left his private resting spot. *** ¡°Someone who did not experience it personally is proudly strutting around and discussing perfection¡­¡± The old man, who was left alone sitting on the bench, smiled bitterly. ¡°Hoho! This is the first time since reaching my old age that I¡¯ve felt embarrassed.¡± The old man thought that he could already prove the theory surrounding the 8th and 9th Circles. He even believed that he could already see through the next level¡¯s essence to the point that he even wondered if it was meaningless to try and reach for that realm. The conversation that the old man had with Davey felt like he had been hit with a hammer on the head, which eventually woke him up from his delusions. The old man stroked his beard, a smile finally gracing his face. ¡°Ma¡­ Master!¡± Then, the old man saw someone rushing towards him. The young man had short hair and was wearing simple horn-rimmed glasses and a red robe. He was the old man¡¯s one and only disciple. The old man said, ¡°Ho. If it isn¡¯t Yulis?¡± It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°Gasp¡­ gasp¡­ Master! I heard that you came so I immediately rushed here! If you¡¯d at least informed me about your visit¡­¡± ¡°Tsk, tsk. Young men these days can¡¯t even relax. You¡¯re in such a hurry that you¡¯re not using your head again.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I can¡¯t serve you properly because I haven¡¯t prepared enough.¡± ¡°Bahahahaha! I have lived long enough, do you think an old man like me will still be obsessed with wealth and honor? I just came here to look around, you don¡¯t have to make a fuss about it.¡± ¡°Hooo¡­ Ah, did you really come all the way here just to meet with Sir Davey?¡± Yulis asked. Sage Hellison Valestia stroked his beard and said, ¡°The world is vast. Just like how they said that you can even learn something from a three-year-old child, it seems like someone like me can still learn a lot from an energetic young man, huh? Hellison, who was about to organize the pieces of the game, suddenly hesitated. The boy¡¯s camp, which looked like it was cornered and forced into the defensive from the old man¡¯s siege, would create a perfect and complete checkmate situation if he had just made one other move. On the surface, it looked like the boy had no other chance for recovery. But after looking closely, Hellison realized that the last tactic was a bit strange. ¡°Ho¡­ Ho¡­ Hohohohoho!¡± Yulis looked at Hellison suspiciously when the old man suddenly burst out laughing. ¡°Five moves. It¡¯s been a long time since I last lost. It seems like he did this in consideration of me and my age.¡± Hellison thought that he had won but he was actually the one having been dragged around by the nose. He stood up from his seat with a satisfied laugh and patted Yulis on his shoulder. ¡°My business here is over. If you meet that little prince, the one named Davey, tell him this¡­¡± ¡°Yes? What do you mean¡­?¡± ¡°I will keep my promise. So, make sure to come to me and let¡¯s play another game again. It¡¯s only right for me to have my revenge battle someday in the future! Bahahahahaaha!¡± Yulis, who was completely unaware of what had happened, looked at Hellison with both suspicion and doubt. After all, his master left with a very satisfied smile on his face and no other explanation. *** ¡°Sage Hellison Vestia¡­ He¡¯s a very amazing man. But this era held him back.¡± If they were in the continent of magic, Atrellia, and not in Tionis Continent, Hellison could become one of the greatest mages of all time, an existence that reached a realm that was beyond the 8th Circle. The most important factor for human growth and development was one¡¯s hard work. Of course, the surroundings and the environment that one lived in should also not be ignored. If one did not have a rival, then they would not feel motivated nor have any will to grow stronger and develop. And that was what happened to Hellison, he lost his motivation. ¡ªYou look like you¡¯re in a good mood? ¡°Do I? Actually, it¡¯s been a long time since I last found something to be fun and exciting.¡± Davey had rarely won a board game like this before, especially since he was against those crazy heroes in the Hall. The ill-tempered ones would overturn the board if they found that things were disadvantageous to them while the calm ones would shout, ¡®Oh!¡¯, distract him and then proceed to eat the pieces in his own formation. Davey firmly believed that the balance patch[2] for the heroes were quite bad. Considering the circumstances that Davey had experienced when playing games like this, it was only right for him to feel satisfied and happy. After all, it had been a very long time since he had tasted the sweetness of victory. Davey smiled as he patted Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon lightly on the back. The two, as if infected by his happiness, dug deeper into his arms with smiles on their faces and eventually fell asleep. ¡ªDavey, didn¡¯t you say that you have a staff in your Pocket Plane? ¡°Did I? Ah, you¡¯re talking about Transcendence¡¯s Demise. That excessive staff that has a dragon heart shoved at its end.¡± ¡ªCan I see it? You know that I specialize in magic, right¡­ ¡°It¡¯s a bit hard for me to do right now. I was able to take out the elixir, my clothes and Longinus but when I tried to take out more, the Pocket Plane scattered like an illusion. So, I won¡¯t be able to take out anything anytime soon.¡± If Davey could take out his fan, then he would be able to acquire a huge labor force. If he could take out his staff, then he would also be able to set up an extra large-scale defensive magic circle and cover the entire territory with it. ¡®But I¡¯m stuck with a useless bamboo spear, damn it!¡¯ Davey, with practiced ease, opened his status window to check what was wrong. ¡°Hmm?¡± When Davey checked the information window that displayed his status, he could see that there were changes in his ¡®Number of Good Deeds¡¯. ¡ªYou have completed the Number of Good Deeds. You can now summon a transcendental class item of your choice. Number of Times Remaining: 1 ¡°Huh?¡± At the same time, Davey saw that another set of information had been added to his status window. His eyes narrowed sharply when he saw the detailed information. ¡°Are you trying to make a deal with me through this method?¡± Davey was starting to understand the reason why god had given him the stigmata on his back. 1. U of Goryeo, the 32nd king of Goryeo. He ruled at the same time as the demise of the Yuan Dynasty and Ming Dynasty in China. ? 2. I believe this is in reference to games where they update a patch to maintain the overall balance of the game ? CH 160 61. The Corruption of the Forest of Elves Davey¡¯s only method of communication with God was through ¡®Check Information¡¯ and the ability to check his own status. Freyja, the Goddess of Wine who was both existent and nonexistent, had requested a deal with Davey the moment he had fulfilled his promise. One part of the request was something he already knew: the purification of the Great Forest¡¯s corrupted spirits. There was no penalty for failing, but there was a reward for success. Davey wasn¡¯t given a direct revelation, but this was what Lord Freyja had told him, according to Daphne¡¯s way of understanding it. Davey''s goal was quite clear, unlike vague revelations that were usually given through the regular faithful believers. ¡ªThe Great Forest¡­ ¡°It¡¯s the Forest of Elves that we went to get Moon Flower seedlings from.¡± Davey was thinking of using the Great Forest, which was abundant in natural energy, for summoning spirits. This was because summonings required a lot of energy. However, he had been putting it off, because it was quite tedious to purify a severely corrupted forest. ¡ªAny other reasons? ¡°It will be good for both the elves and I if I purify the forest, but the way to do it is a little rough.¡± Perserque slowly nodded. ¡ªThose pointy ears will make a fuss if they see you. Perserque was also right. There was only one thing that Davey could pull out of his Pocket Plane as of right now. He was able to retrieve objects that were relatively easy to make, except for the self-restoring clothing, the Elixir, or Divine Spear Longinus, which he had already summoned. Needless to say, he couldn¡¯t summon any other powerful objects. He could feel that they definitely existed in the Pocket Plane, but it was like they had become an illusion. ¡ªIt¡¯s already confusing that the Pocket Plane you made in the Hall is still connected to you here. ¡°I thought it to be a possibility, since most of my power is connected to the soul and not the body.¡± Davey also suspected that this was why his large storage of mana, holy power, and devil mana came with him from the Hall, but now, he was pretty sure that this was the case. However, he didn¡¯t expect for his powers to be nerfed like this. He grumbled, ¡°I can try so many things if I could just take everything out right now.¡± Davey could get large amounts of labor work done nonstop or even put a huge shield over the entire territory. He was sure that the items were good enough to assist him with parts that were a little difficult to use as a soul in the Hall. ¡°Let¡¯s think of it positively.¡± The one who currently had all the power wasn¡¯t Davey, but the divine will; he wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything even if God suddenly took away his Pocket Plane because he was too OP. An owner of the world would be above an owner of a building; even if Davey owned all the land and buildings, there was no way he could beat God. ¡®There¡¯s really no end to abusing power, is there?¡¯ ¡°I¡¯ve been neutralizing it with the Elixir for now, but I can¡¯t even dream of more recovery at this rate.¡± -Is there anything that could harm you right now? ¡°I don¡¯t know, but if the actual Shandra Minea shows up or something, we¡¯re all dead.¡± Everything in this world happened for a reason; the fact that Davey could return from the Hall meant that Davey, who was making a deal with God, had things to do here. For example, he had gotten rid of Shandra Minea, a transcendental beast from another world, at the Pandora Region. ¡°Purification¡­¡± After thinking hard, Davey decided to open his Pocket Plane and pull out what he was thinking of. As a refreshing energy surrounded his hand with a slight buzz, he revealed a bright smile. ¡®The thing I made as a precautionary measure is coming in handy.¡¯ -The staff¡­ I wanted to see it¡­ Perserque pouted. She was very curious to see the staff with the dragon heart. ¡°Just be patient. I¡¯ll show it to you next time.¡± Perserque, who seemed a little disappointed, moped as Davey tried to comfort her. What he had pulled out was a light green marble called the Spirit King Pearl, which was a concentration of the king¡¯s essence. Everything Davey had was valuable, so it would be more beneficial for him to use the right one for the right situation instead of picking random ones out of desire. * * * In a way, the quiet study was a playground for Rinne, Red Ribbon, and Blue Ribbon. They were troublemakers who caused mischief everywhere they went, so Davey felt more at ease having them where he could see them. ¡°Rinne, analyzing that bio-armour is being stretched. Asking that you stop.¡± Rinne voiced her disapproval without any emotion. However, Blue Ribbon just giggled as if she didn¡¯t care. ¡°Hehehe! Rinnie! Squishy~ Squish!¡± ¡°T¡­ Thinking that bio-armour can be touched a little¡­bit more¡­¡± The problem was that even the golem struggled to not give in to the two girls¡¯ smiles. ¡°I think they like it more because you¡¯re not doing anything.¡± ¡°Rinne¡¯s activation consumes a lot of energy. Requires additional supplies. Concluding that unnecessary movements should be avoided.¡± ¡°Then, what are those cookies you are shoving into your mouth?¡± ¡°Rinne possesses a very highly efficient storage of energy. So, requesting additional supplies.¡± Rinne brazenly asked for more cookies without blinking an eye, and even then, her hands did not stop grabbing cookies. Where were all those cookies being stored in her small body? Considering how much more often Rinne looked for food than the twin swords who were crazy about cookies, Davey felt a serious need to determine whether this was just typical golem behavior or Rinne¡¯s personality. ¡°Hm¡­ Red Ribbon sleepy¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s very good to get enough sleep.¡± Since Rinne stayed still and played with the twins well, she could capture the girls¡¯ attention just by chiming in a few times. At last, it seemed like the girls were getting tired from running around so much. As Red Ribbon fell asleep in Rinne¡¯s arms, Blue Ribbon went to Davey and fell asleep in his arms. It was like Red Ribbon¡¯s sleepiness had caught on. Davey smiled and patted her on the back for being so adorable, to which she giggled and hugged him even harder. ¡°Your Highness, this is Royal Attendant Bernile,¡± Bernile spoke with a knock on the quiet study. ¡°Royal Attendant Bernile? What are you doing here at this time?¡± Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original. ¡°Your Highness, I know it is not my place, but can I propose something?¡± ¡°Well, all right.¡± Bernile bowed quietly and presented Davey with a paper chart. ¡°This is a list of the people currently working in the territory.¡± ¡°Hm¡­¡± ¡°They have all worked hard without a break. What do you think about giving them a vacation?¡± Davey, who was just nodding along to what Bernile said, opened his eyes wide. ¡°You¡¯re right. They have probably been working very hard.¡± Scribble¡­ Scribble! Davey executed his thoughts into actions right away. Marking all the names of the people working in the territory, he said, ¡°All right. Let all these people go on a vacation. Then, send the others on vacation when they come back. This way, everyone can enjoy their own vacations.¡± ¡°Your wish is my command.¡± ¡°Give them a good amount of money for them to get back home.¡± It was quite a huge mistake for Davey to have forgotten about the workers¡¯ vacations when he wanted a healthy work environment in the first place. ¡®Just you wait. I¡¯ll send everyone that I see on vacation.¡¯ This was the thought of an incredibly amazing CEO. ¡°Hm? Your Highness. These people¡­¡± Bernile looked a little confused when he read over the names that Davey had marked. He asked, ¡°Yuri and some of the maids have only recently become helping hands in the palace. Is there a reason why you are sending them on vacation first?¡± Like Bernile said, one-third of the people Davey had chosen had only been working in the palace for a little bit. ¡°They¡¯re all from the other territories. I should at least let them head home and tell their families that they are adjusting well. I feel bad for the rest, but tell them that I would like them to be a little considerate.¡± Davey was lying. ¡°I¡ªIs that so? I did not think about that.¡± Davey felt a little guilty because Bernile looked a little touched by his reason. That wasn¡¯t the real reason he was sending back the new helping hands, but it didn¡¯t matter; he would do this if it made everyone happy and satisfied. ¡ªYou sent back the elf lady? ¡®Yeah. The master of the house should be home when a guest visits, shouldn¡¯t they? Depending on the situation, the same decision could be taken differently. The only way Davey could really benefit from it would be the person with the final say. Bernile, who didn¡¯t know Davey¡¯s real reason for doing this, just chuckled. He thought about how considerate Davey was. * * * About a couple of days after sending the newly hired help on vacation, Davey left the seigneur¡¯s palace with only Rinne and Megatron. It was as if he had been waiting for them to leave. The Great Forest, which was located not too far from the Heins Territory, had always been Davey¡¯s final destination. It was usually empty, since a lot of monsters only appeared occasionally and the forest had rough terrain. Davey wasn¡¯t here for a picnic. He was here because the forest had something he wanted. This was also the reason why he had specifically sent back Yuri, one of the new maids. Yuri was a sixteen-year-old maid; she appeared to be an ordinary maid, but Davey could easily see that she wasn¡¯t a normal maid if he used ¡®Check Information¡¯. According to his power, Yuri¡¯s real name was Yuria Helishana, the last line of defense against the vampires. ¡°Ah, my head.¡± The forest had no noticeable differences, but as sensitive as Davey¡¯s spirit affinity was, he could see some strange differences when he looked around. He frowned, muttering, ¡°It¡¯s gotten worse.¡± The forest was familiar but still slightly different. Davey could barely stand the nasty rotten smell that came from the forest. ¡°Question. Rinne detects no stimulus to sense of scent. Reporting that there is a problem with Sir Davey.¡± ¡°Of course, you can¡¯t tell. You have no spirit affinity.¡± Rinne nodded at Davey¡¯s explanation. It wasn¡¯t just any smell, since only people advanced enough to be able to see and touch spirits could smell this nasty odor. ¡°Elves. Thinking they have pointy ears and are picky.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. You know it well.¡± ¡°Rinne has excellent mental calculation abilities. Confident that it is better than Sir Davey.¡± ¡°You¡¯re funny.¡± ¡°Sir Davey, forty-three losses out of seventy-five battles of [Olde] with Rinne.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Giggle, forty-three losses. Rinne thinks lowly of this.¡± How could Davey win against a computer that could calculate a thousand times better than average humans? The thirty-two times he had won was just from tricking Rinne over and over again. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Rinne is excellent. Thinks highly of this.¡± Perhaps Rinne had taken some information from Davey, because her perception of elves was very much affected by his own perspective on them. As a result, these elves had been marked as picky and stubborn by the golem, a great invention, when they hadn''t even met. ¡°It¡¯s here.¡± After walking around for a while, Davey successfully found the barrier leading to the Forest of Elves. The way they changed the barrier¡¯s location and form to keep their village safe was a distinct feature of the elves. Ripple¡­ Davey balled his hands into fists. He watched the barrier spread like a ripple spreading on calm waters when he touched it with the back of his hand. CH 161 ¡ªYou entered quietly before, so why are you knocking now? ¡°Well, the door was locked back then, and I had to open it.¡± Back then, it had been a secret mission. Davey had done what he did because he absolutely didn¡¯t want to run into an elf, but the situation was different this time. ¡°This time, I have to bring out all the pointy ears inside the forest. The least I can do is knock.¡± ¡®Did I seem like a saint who would just sneak in and help and leave without anyone knowing?¡¯ There was no way that Davey could be that nice. ¡ªSo, knocking is part of the plan. Davey was not going to slash through the barrier with Blue Ribbon, but he was going to break it with destructive power. His knock was going to be an intense one. ¡°Hup!¡± [Devil Ylgr¡¯s Ultimate Exploding Fist] [Compression] [Reduction] [Asura¡¯s Ultimate Godly Fist] ¡°Pardon me! I have come to spread a great message!¡± Whoosh! Boom!!!! Davey¡¯s explosive punch struck the barrier that was protecting the elves¡¯ village, shattering it apart. * * * A girl slowly walked into the beautiful, vast forest with a mystical aura. She murmured, ¡°The forest¡¯s clean air is always pleasant to breathe in. Hah¡­¡± The girl, buried deep in her coat''s hood, took a deep breath in delight. She slowly brought her hood down, revealing her long blue hair that fell to her hips. It was tied in a thick braid. It was probably difficult to maintain, looking at how luscious it was. Her thick hair shone with no hint of dryness. Aside from her blue hair, she was about one hundred and sixty-two centimeters tall, had clear emerald eyes, and a playful smile. She seemed to be in her teens due to her bright aura, but her relaxed and fresh smile made her seem like she was in her twenties. ¡°Ah! Lady Yuria!¡± ¡°Ah, Verdis, my friend. Have you been well?¡± ¡°Have you finally returned?!¡± A few men appeared on the forest¡¯s treetops once they saw Yuria Helishana. They were not human, but fairies or the forest¡¯s residents. Their ears were longer than any other kind, had skin as clear and white as porcelain, and were also very beautiful. All the elves put their bows on their belt and gathered toward her as she walked past the grassy bushes, which almost shone with vitality. ¡°Are you hurt anywhere?¡± ¡°Lady Yuria! I am glad you have returned safely! Lady Yuria!¡± ¡°It is all thanks to the spirits watching over me. Has anything happened in the forest while I was gone?¡± ¡°No, there weren¡¯t any invaders, and the monsters were fine as well. The spirit beasts were quiet as well.¡± ¡°That is such a relief.¡± ¡°But¡­the contamination is getting worse. Some of the spirit beasts that were affected by it are running wild¡­¡± the elf man said dejectedly. ¡°Shall we go in?¡± Yuria said with a nod. ¡°Oh, no! We have held you up for too long! Let¡¯s go right away! Everyone in the village is waiting for your safe return!¡± With her distinct smile, Yuria quietly nodded at her people¡¯s never-ending kindness. She had unintentionally returned to the forest for a little while, since the prince she was trying to approach had sent her back on vacation. ¡°You are beautiful as always, Lady Yuria.¡± ¡°Millia, my friend. You are more beautiful to me.¡± ¡°Oh my, you will be beaten if you say something like that.¡± Yuria faintly smiled as the elf woman giggled playfully. ¡°Did your trip go well?¡± ¡°It was very interesting. I gained a lot from the trip.¡± ¡°You must be careful of humans. Your beauty cannot be hidden even if you disguise yourself as a human, Lady Yuria.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! I heard that humans are cruel and heinous! I heard they sell their own kind as slaves¡­¡± ¡°Oh my, how beastly¡­¡± Support us at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. Yuria just quietly nodded, listening to the elves chattering amongst themselves. She then commented, ¡°Of course, not all humans are kind. However, not all humans are evil, either.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°The place I went to has a kingdom¡¯s prince.¡± Yuria said clearly and elegantly, as if she was telling an old tale, ¡°He¡¯s quite fascinating. He¡¯s of quite a high rank among humans, but he works hard for even the lowest commoners. He is worthy of respect, even from an elf¡¯s perspective.¡± Some of the elves slowly nodded, as if they were fascinated by her story. ¡°There really¡­is a human like that?¡± An elf asked. ¡°Of course. Not all humans are the same. They are all different.¡± That was when¡­ ¡°Lady Yuria, with all due respect, all humans are horrible. You surely haven¡¯t forgotten what happened to your mother, right? Have you also forgotten the reason why elves turned our backs on the world and erased the traces of our existence?¡± Everyone¡¯s attention was drawn to the elf who spoke against Yuria. The elf continued, ¡°Ahem, I understand that you left the forest to find a way to save it, but it was very foolish and dangerous. There¡¯s an old saying that good things will happen when you listen to the advice of an elder.¡± ¡°Elder Condae.¡± ¡°You mustn¡¯t forget it. Three hundred years ago at the capital of elves, we decided to turn our backs on the world. I do not know what the world is like now, but we may get caught if you keep leaving,¡± Elder Condae complained. Yuria said cautiously, ¡°Elder Condae, but¡­¡± However, the elder elf went on like he had no intention of listening to Yuria. ¡°No buts. Lady Yuria, you are the leader of the Moon Forest. Have some more responsibility as the leader and remember your divinity and purity as an elf. The human world that is full of greed does you no good, Lady Yuria.¡± While Elder Condae criticized Yuria, some of the elves frowned. ¡°Elder Condae! Please watch your words! Lady Yuria did not go to the human world to entertain herself! She even brought the blessing of the spirits with her to not get caught!¡± ¡°Do you think the blessing of the spirits will last forever?! Sigh¡­ This is the problem with youngsters these days¡­ Tsk tsk.¡± ¡°Everyone, stop. All I can do right now is to be relieved at the condition of the forest, but I will find a solution soon,¡± Yuria said. ¡°This is the plan of the Spirit God and the World Tree. This situation is inevitable since we have gone against the will of the World Tree." Yuria sighed at Elder Condae¡¯s harsh words. She murmured, ¡°Everything has a course. It is supposed to be our fate, but I cannot follow it this time.¡± ¡°Lady Yuria!¡± ¡°I will finish this myself. I have faith in the dream I had. A helpful being will come. That is why I left the forest for a little while. I will bring someone who has a strong affinity to spirits.¡± Elder Condae frowned. ¡°If it goes on like this, it will be too late for you to do anything, Lady Yuria! Humans are evil beings! They are not even worth comparing in terms of spirits! Do you really believe they will be of any help?!¡± ¡°I have had enough of it, Elder Condae!¡± At last, an elf guard shouted at Elder Condae in anger. ¡°You are being rude to our leader!¡± ¡°Rude?! Rude is your current attitude toward me; what I am doing is giving advice! I am a noble of the Center! How dare a guard from the sticks raise his voice!! Wake up!! The outside world is nothing but corruption! If all of you were in your right mind, you would actually convince Lady Yuria to receive the purification from the World Tree!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! Being punished by the World Tree because of rejecting the marriage chosen by the World Tree is nothing to be proud of! It is something we should bow down and repent for!¡± Not only did Elder Condae speak, but the other elders nodded along and spoke in agreement. ¡°Lady Yuria! It is time for you to stop being stubborn!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! Are you trying to follow the path of Aina?!¡± Yuria massaged her head quietly. The elders were coming down on her hard now that they had gotten the chance to. At the same time, she revealed a strange smile. It was a small change, but Millia, the elf guard who had been with her for a long time, noticed it. Her eyes widened and had a single thought in her mind. ¡®She¡¯s going to explode!¡¯ Normally, Yuria was elegant, quiet, and careful, but it was a big problem if she got mad. Yuria Helishana, the forest¡¯s leader, was an elf who suppressed her sadism which was so extreme that she could let someone bleed out with a smile on her face. ¡°Elder Condae.¡± ¡°Yes, Lady Yuria!¡± ¡°Do you think you and the saints of the Divine Tree have the right to speak about my sister¡­¡± When Millia, who knew how angry Yuria was, urgently went to stop her¡­ ¡°Pardon me! I have come to spread a great message!¡± Everyone tensed up upon hearing an echo of a voice. Boom!!!!!! At the same time, a huge explosion shook the entire forest with a catastrophic vibration. * * * ¡ªDavey¡­ Wasn¡¯t it a little too strong? ¡°Hm¡­ No, it¡¯s perfect.¡± Davey intended on making a small hole, but instead, he crushed the entire barrier. It would require highly advanced spirit magic to fix it, but the barrier had to be broken anyways. ¡ªThey will be here at any time. ¡°Warning, Sir Davey. Many hostile presences are approaching. Rinne attacks?¡± ¡°We¡¯re not here to fight. Let¡¯s just wait for their warm welcome since we have already partly reached our goal.¡± Pew!!! Twang!!! Of course, the warm welcome was accompanied by arrows. With a faint wind, arrows flew toward Davey from all directions. These arrows were faster than regular ones, but Rinne batted them away as if she had been waiting for them. Then, Rinne summoned a huge cannon on the back of its hand and aimed it at the other end of the forest as its cold, blue eyes shone. Even during all this, the forest was silent like the elves were still trying to conceal themselves. ¡°Spirit arrows¡­¡± Davey murmured as he picked up the arrows that Rinne had shot down. ¡°I even voiced my intentions of spreading good word¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Do you still think that I haven¡¯t figured out you live here?¡± As Davey spoke, the surrounding atmosphere vibrated a little. ¡°Lead me to the village. I have something to discuss with your leader.¡± It might have been smart to show the dwarves a little respect as they had some interactions with humans. However, Davey thought it was obvious what kind of answer these pointy ears would give him. So¡­ ¡°The choice is yours, but so is the responsibility.¡± Perhaps it was better to pressure them. Davey¡¯s energy gradually intensified and suppressed the surroundings. He wasn¡¯t lifting a finger, but his energy, which had flowed out naturally in response to the escalated situation, was suppressing the surroundings. ¡°Stop!!¡± It was the other side who waved the white flag. Crunch¡­ With the sound of crumpled leaves, a man wearing green clothing appeared from the forest that was silent until a few moments ago. CH 162 ¡°¡­¡± ¡°The barrier was unstable, but for it to break¡­ Did you do that?¡± ¡°Yes, I broke it.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Well, why are you not taking me away? You can tie me up if you¡¯re worried.¡± The elf looked confused when Davey stretched his hands out and stared. Then, the elf said, ¡°You cannot go into the village. There is only one choice for you.¡± ¡°To die?¡± The elf¡¯s silence was enough. ¡°You are only giving me one choice, but I¡¯ll give you two.¡± When the elf slightly frowned in silence, Davey said, ¡°Do you want to cooperate and let everyone live in peace or do you want to rot and be destroyed?¡± Just as the elf was about to scoff, Davey added, ¡°Half of your forest is corrupted, isn¡¯t it? And it¡¯s just getting worse. Your leader seemed desperate enough to sneak into the Heins Territory to fix it.¡± ¡°You¡­¡± ¡°Go and tell her that her boss is here.¡± This land, this forest, was on Heins Territory. ¡®I bet you guys don¡¯t even pay rent.¡¯ * * * ¡°L¡­ Lady Yuria!¡± ¡°Did you look into it?¡± Yuria glanced at the guards calmly while comforting the young elves who were trembling in fear. She thought it was somewhat of a relief that the danger outside hadn¡¯t gotten in yet. ¡°The enemy! Is it a human?! No way!¡± ¡°Yes¡­ It¡¯s a human. There¡¯s also a strange being that isn¡¯t human. I couldn¡¯t feel any spirit energy from it¡­ It was like it¡¯s dead.¡± There were only two cases where spirit energy was absent: either it was the Undead, who defied the laws of nature, or a manmade being. The most important thing about this case was that an outsider had invaded the forest that had remained hidden for so long. It wasn¡¯t an accidental run-in, but an intentional one. Furthermore, the barrier that was created using spirit magic had been blown to pieces and could no longer be repaired. ¡°Look at that!! Lady Yuria!¡± Of course, Elder Condae was not going to let this slide. He huffed and complained, claiming that he had been right all along. He yelled, ¡°We have been discovered at last! What are you going to do! Humans are greedy beings! How are you going to take responsibility!¡± ¡°Elder Condae,¡± Yuria said. ¡°What is everyone doing?! Gather all the guards and remove the invader! We must not leave any traces!¡± Elder Condae glanced at Yuria and added, ¡°This has happened because of your foolish actions, Lady Yuria. We must leave this place before it is too late.¡± ¡°Elder Condae.¡± Yuria addressed him in a low voice for the first time. However, not noticing that, Elder Condae continued on. ¡°Are you worried about the corruption?! Go and beg for forgiveness from the World Tree right now!!¡± This situation was an emergency, so the other elves could not refute Elder Condae. However, at that exact moment, one of the elf guards slowly raised his hand and said, ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m sorry, but¡­the human has surrendered.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°And he wants me to give you a message.¡± Yuria, who was slowly getting angered, returned to her usual expression. She asked, ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°That is¡­ He said you would know if I told you, ''Your boss is here¡¯¡­¡± Yuria¡¯s eyes widened upon hearing the guard. * * * The forest was quiet. Feeling the strict and tense atmosphere, Rinne stood in front of Davey with her weapon still in her hand. She declared, ¡°Rinne is an excellent golem. Rinne will protect Sir Davey.¡± ¡°Do you think you will ever have to protect me?¡± ¡°¡­Rinne thinks Sir Davey¡¯s personality is terrible¡­¡± ¡°But you can do things that I can¡¯t. That¡¯s enough for me. It¡¯s my job to protect and yours to help me.¡± ¡°Splitting the work¡­ Understood.¡± Davey stared at the wooden handcuffs, which almost seemed to be alive, in fascination. It was spirit magic, which different kinds were able to use. However, a certain type of it was given to the elves like a special right. ¡ªThen, even you can¡¯t use it? ¡®Well¡­¡¯ Even Davey couldn¡¯t overcome the barriers of being a human. However, if he could use that system to his advantage, using it was a possibility. ¡ªThe person who taught you spirit magic¡­ Yuriana, was it? ¡®Yeah, the incredible elementalist who bonded with all thirteen Spirit Kings even though she was human.¡¯ ¡ªAnyone else? ¡®Um¡­ The only married couple in the Hall, maybe? Ylgr, the Demon Lord from the same continent as her, is her husband.¡¯ The Demon Lord, inspired by Stick Man and created crazy martial arts techniques, was married to Yuriana, the elementalist who taught Davey spirit magic. Of course, she wasn¡¯t one of the four wicked women in the Hall, but she was also far from normal. Demon Lord Ylgr always vented in tears whenever Davey got a drink with him. [Damn it, marriage is death! Davey! Don¡¯t get married and be nagged all the time! Women are all monsters pretending to be foxes!] There were four types of spirits: fire, earth, water, and wind. However, one could bond with more spirits if they were a kind with special powers, like the Light Spirit that High Elves bonded to, or Dark Spirits that Dark Elves bonded to. ¡°Lady Yuria has allowed it. Follow us, human.¡± One of the elf guards approached Davey warily and covered his eyes with a cloth. He warned, ¡°Your head will be pierced with an arrow if you try anything stupid.¡± ¡°You can tie me up harder if you really can¡¯t trust me.¡± ¡°Quiet!¡± Davey didn¡¯t see these elves as his enemy; to him, they were valuable workers that were going to work for the territory. Not wanting to provoke these elves who were already on alert, he just smiled and stayed quiet like they asked him to. In fact, Perserque was asking him questions like she wasn¡¯t anxious about this situation at all. ¡ªThen, what about the other spirits? You said thirteen, didn¡¯t you? ¡°Um, so, there are like illusion types, confusion types, time, space, ice. Well, there are a lot.¡± ¡°What are you talking about, human?!¡± ¡°Ah, it¡¯s nothing. Let¡¯s go.¡± Chuckling, Davey took a step forward. His footsteps were so light that it was like he wasn¡¯t even blindfolded. * * * The elf village¡¯s atmosphere was nothing like when Davey had visited the Yellowstone Tribe¡¯s dwarf village. The dwarves were wary of humans, but there wasn¡¯t any hostility; they just seemed to be surprised. However, the elves were different. Their hostility, wariness, and fear were clear. They had successfully erased their existence from the world for the past three hundred years. Even the most skilled informants couldn¡¯t get any closer because of the wide barrier which had been created by spirit magic. Although they had covered Davey¡¯s eyes with an old cloth, he could definitely feel their gazes and attention. ¡®I sense it¡­¡¯ ¡°You guys¡­aren¡¯t ready yet.¡± -What are you talking about? ¡°You¡¯re not ready as residents of the territory yet.¡± How dare they treat the owner of the building and land with anger and hostility? ¡®Have some more respect, you foolish pointy ears.¡¯ ¡°Hurry up and move, human.¡± As the elf growled and pushed Davey, Rinne clenched her jaw and stared up at the elf. ¡°Rinne, warning. Rinne will present you with high-quality assault if you push Sir Davey one more time.¡± ¡°Funn¡­¡± ¡°Rinne will do it. Rinne will. Rinne will do it if Rinne said so.¡± Rinne was also in handcuffs like Davey, but a bat appeared in her hands. It shone for a second before it disappeared. ¡°Huh¡­¡± ¡°Rinne will do it if she says so. Don¡¯t provoke her. I¡¯m not here to fight, and I¡¯m not here to harm you, either.¡± As Davey walked calmly, the elves looked at him with even more hostility. He could distinguish their faces through the vibrations, knowing exactly how they looked even though he couldn¡¯t actually see. This was the Eye of the Mind: it was still a sensation, but it was a higher level of power rather than a sense. In a way, it was a level one could only attain after reaching the Sword of the Mind, a higher power than the Telekinetic Blade. [Remember, hiccup! Ah, I¡¯m getting drunk. The Sword of the Mind is something that will allow you to see the invisible, and smell what is odorless. It is like when an elementalist can see and smell spirits: seeing and feeling the invisible. That is the Sword of the Mind.] It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV. This was what Dokgo Jun, the Heavenly Destroyer, had said to Davey when he had been trying to find a way to learn the Sword of the Mind. [The one who has learned the Sword of the Mind can see the flow of the world and has the ability to go against the flow sometimes. Others may think they have hidden themselves and their intentions perfectly, but it would be clear to you. Same with assassins, too.] Sword Lord Ares had also told Davey the same thing. ¡°We have brought him, Lady Yuria. Human! Kneel!¡± ¡°That¡¯s all right.¡± The elf that was going to push Davey once again stopped after hearing the command. Then, they took his blindfold off, and he could see the village now. There weren¡¯t a lot of elves, just a little over a hundred, but the fact that they were elves, beings that one would see in fantasy novels or fairy tales, reminded Davey that this was no ordinary scene. The plants that grew in the Forest of Elves were different from the plants in regular forests; some were shining, and some budded with flowers from a light touch unlike normal plants, which almost didn¡¯t move at all. ¡®If I use it right, this will make me rich.¡¯ Davey knew that he would be able to make some very effective medicine if he harvested these plants, but he took his eyes off them for now. The important thing was not the plants but the picky pointy ears in front of him right now. After looking around a little, Davey smiled at the girl with sky-blue hair who was standing in the middle of the elves. He asked, ¡°How is your vacation going?¡± ¡°I suspected that you knew about my identity.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°You already knew about the existence of elves, did you not? And¡­¡± Faintly smiling, Yuria told Davey about what he had said to her about leaving the territory in her hands when she was disguised as a maid. She went on, ¡°Then, when the corrupt nobility invaded the territory, I pushed them out with the Light Spirit¡­ That¡¯s when I knew that you knew.¡± Then, the elves¡¯ hostility intensified as Davey spoke. CH 163 ¡°Are you going to keep me tied up? I am your employer as well as the owner of this land. You guys are trespassing, you know that?¡± Davey asked. One of the elves dressed in traditional clothing stood up and loaded his arrow. He commanded, ¡°Shut up, human! I will kill you right¡­¡± ¡°Stop it! Elder Condae!¡± Silencing the others with a loud voice, Yuria stared at Davey. He couldn¡¯t tell what she was thinking about. She then said, ¡°I assume you came because you have something to say? I see that you have come here in a completely different way than before.¡± ¡°I have my reasons.¡± ¡®A still stone gathers moss.¡¯ The elves were truly cut off from the rest of the world. They didn¡¯t seem aware of what the barrier was doing to their forest. ¡°If you say so. Millia, please escort him to my room.¡± ¡°B¡­ But Lady Yuria!¡± The female elf guard, who was teary and fearful, cried out. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I don¡¯t know about other humans, but you can trust him.¡± * * * It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV. Crunch¡­ Crunch¡­ The wooden branches twisted around Davey¡¯s wrists like they were alive slowly undid themselves. He reached for his tea on the table, but stopped. Yuria had given him something weird once when she had been in charge of serving tea when she was Yuri, a maid at the seigneur¡¯s palace. He asked cautiously, ¡°You didn¡¯t steep cockroach wings again, did you?¡± ¡°Oh, no, This is my new tea that is both tasty and good for you. Try it, boss.¡± Yuria smiled pleasantly, but it felt somewhat eerie. She added before sipping the exact same tea, ¡°It is a tea made by aging slime liquid for a long time. It is one of the tastiest teas among the ones I have made, and it is great for your skin.¡± ¡°¡­Well, okay.¡± Whatever it was, Davey could drink it. He had quite a strong stomach; he had even eaten living bugs to ease his hunger before, so this was nothing. However, he just didn¡¯t want to do it. Also, the most important thing for Davey right now was to grab everyone¡¯s attention and assure them. The fact that he wasn¡¯t here to slaughter them made this interaction different. ¡°Eek!¡± The elves turned pale as if they all knew about Yuria¡¯s strange sense of taste. The deep scent that wafted up into Davey¡¯s nose was surprisingly addictive. He commented, ¡°It¡¯s good. It also helps with mana movement.¡± ¡°Ah, right? It has such good effects, but why won¡¯t anyone else drink it¡­?¡± Avoiding Yuria¡¯s gaze, the elders and some of the elf guards, who followed Yuria in, looked away as she stared at them with sincere sadness. ¡°Well, most can¡¯t have things that they can¡¯t stomach, even if it¡¯s good for them.¡± Davey chuckled and glanced at Yuria as he set down his empty cup. Yuria was a beautiful girl¡ªactually, it would be right to call her a woman. Considering the particular scent of an adult elf coming from her, she certainly didn¡¯t seem that young. Still, her appearance surprised Davey. Elves were said to be beautiful beings, but Yuria¡¯s beauty made her stand out from the rest. ¡®I guess being a High Elf has its perks.¡¯ ¡°You can serve this the next time you make tea. Still, cockroach wings are a bit too much.¡± ¡°Oh my, talking about something like that in this situation.¡± Covering her mouth and chuckling, Yuria glanced at Davey with an indiscernible smile. ¡°All right, boss. For what reason did you come here?¡± When Davey was going to answer¡­ Clang! ¡°Lady Yuria! What more is there to listen to?! Talking to this harmful creature makes me feel like I¡¯m being tainted!¡± One of the elves stood up in anger and growled, looking at Davey like he wanted to rip him apart. It was the man whom Yuria addressed as Elder Condae. He added, ¡°Human, you have no choice. I will kill you after I make sure to find out how you found out about this place! What are you all doing?! Drag him out and put him in jail!¡± ¡°Stop it,¡± Yuria said calmly. Elder Condae seemed more infuriated than before. With veins bulging from his neck, he yelled, ¡°Can you still not tell how big of a deal this is?! Do you want to sell your fellow elves as slaves because of your feisty eagerness?!¡± ¡°Stop¡­¡± Elder Condae flinched when Yuria Helishana began chuckling. ¡°It. Can you please not make me say it again?¡± Yuria was smiling but¡­ ¡ªHm, charisma is something people are born with. ¡®She¡¯s pretty good. I like her even more.¡¯ Davey began to think he would get along quite well with Yuria, especially if she was the elves¡¯ spokesperson. Yuria was only staring and not glaring at Elder Condae calmly, but there was still something intimidating about her. She had an aura fitting for a leader, in a way. ¡°Will you wait for a little bit since I am in the middle of a conversation?¡± ¡°Ahem¡­¡± Elder Condae backed down and flinched. Yuria smiled and said, ¡°Sorry, we were interrupted. Shall we get back to the topic?¡± ¡°Sure,¡± Davey answered and met Yuria¡¯s gaze. ¡°You need some of my help to deal with this corruption, am I right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. We need the spirit affinity that you have, boss. An incomparably deep and great affinity that even elves cannot compare to.¡± ¡°Are you trying to summon the highest spirit?¡¯ ¡°Yes, since we need a spirit with a high enough rank to purify the corruption. However, I cannot do it by myself. That is why I went to the Heins Territory to get your help.¡± Yuria didn¡¯t hide her intentions; it seemed like she thought that it was meaningless to play tricks on Davey when he already knew her identity. But¡­ ¡°Screw that.¡± Yuria widened her eyes and said, ¡°What do you¡­¡± ¡°Let¡¯s stop beating around the bush. I¡¯ll offer you something: I will purify the forest, and I want you all to be official residents of the Heins Territory.¡± Yuria then squinted at Davey. ¡°The same thing you did to the dwarves¡­¡± ¡°You know a lot.¡± ¡°Goulda, the dwarf elder, is a loyal customer of my special tea.¡± Of course, Grandpops Elder Goulda would freak out if he knew the ingredients, but perhaps it was best not knowing. Yuria responded with a smile, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I will decline that offer. But we do need your help.¡± ¡°Hm¡­¡± ¡°However, I will pay the price for it,¡± Yuria said firmly. 62. The Groaning Spirits Yuria rejected the offer, as Davey had expected. Not wanting to rush her, he agreed to help her out. After all¡­ ¡®It¡¯s going to fail anyways.¡¯ To Yuria¡¯s surprise, the conversation went a lot better than she expected. Yuria seemed puzzled at how easily Davey had given up, but didn¡¯t miss the opportunity. Then, she also allowed Davey to stay in the forest until the day of the supreme spirit¡¯s summoning she planned. Of course, there was a strong backlash from the elders, who were going against everything Yuria was saying, but she didn¡¯t change her decision. The reason for that was simple. ¡°This is the home of the Moon Forest¡¯s residents. If there is a way, I will choose to actually gain something than stubbornly abide by the World Tree. Since you are the residents of the Divine Tree, you seem to not have much love for the forest. If so, you may leave, elders.¡± Perhaps it was because of Yuria¡¯s determination, which was unlike her usual gentleness, that the elders backed down silently. Considering that¡­ ¡ªShe must be pretty important to those elder elves. ¡®Could be in a good way, could be bad.¡¯ It seemed like the former, though. Afterwards, Yuria led Davey to the origin of the corruption herself. Davey didn¡¯t hide his frown and distaste for the place. [It hurts¡­] [Save me¡­] Davey could clearly hear the surrounding cries of the spirits. The nasty odor was assaulting his nose non-stop. It was an odor that people who had average or low spirit affinity couldn¡¯t detect, so this was only unfortunate for him. Davey was put through hell by Elementalist Yuriana, who was trying to raise his spirit affinity. ¡®She threw me in magma to raise my affinity to fire, and she sank me to the bottom of the ocean to raise my affinity to water.¡¯ -Oh my, that¡¯s beyond stupid¡­ How are you still alive? It didn¡¯t seem possible, but Davey did accomplish that in the end. He had prepared to endure those extreme environments with everything he had, and he had forcibly raised his affinity while undergoing training that was close to reforming his entire body. Spirits couldn¡¯t be summoned in the Hall. Like how Shane Scrift, a summoner of mythical beasts, had created images of the three Kings of Mythical Beasts that had been in his memory, Yuriana had also materialized the spirits she was bonded to. The Hall was the soul world, and as such, living creatures like mythical beasts and spirits couldn¡¯t reach it. ¡ªThat is the only way to raise spirit affinity without bonding with them, but¡­ It was too much. ¡°Are you sure this is where the corruption started?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Davey knelt and put his hand on the ground upon hearing Yuria speak. The forest that should be beautiful and pure was destroyed and tainted because the spirits had become corrupted. There were no plants, and the dirt was sticky like tar. ¡°The ground itself is destroyed from this point onward. It¡¯s an endless swamp, so I suggest you don¡¯t go¡­¡± Davey completely ignored Yuria and walked into the center of the swamp. Yuria widened her eyes. It was natural for her to be bewildered as Davey, who should have sunk to the bottom in seconds, was floating on top like he was standing on hardwood floors. All he did was use air tiles to move a little, but it was difficult for elves to understand because they had very little understanding about magic. ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± ¡°N¡ªNo¡­ Seriously, who¡­¡± Yuria answered in bewilderment while she stood at the opening of the swamp. Meanwhile, Davey inspected the sticky sludge on the floor. CH 164 The spirits¡¯ corruption was apparent. The entire forest was seemingly diseased, occurring due to a few coincidences that happened simultaneously. However, the corruption that Davey saw right here was¡­ ¡®It¡¯s so much faster than I expected. Something like this¡­¡¯ Davey couldn¡¯t shake off the feeling. The only way for him to discover the actual truth was to see it for himself. Luckily, he had a friendly oddball elf right beside him. He quickly asked, ¡°The corruption is much worse than I thought. Am I missing something?¡± ¡°What do you wish to know?¡± Davey answered Yuria quietly, ¡°From what I know, the presence of High Elves should be enough to purify the forest.¡± ¡°Oh my, you know that as well.¡± ¡°I also know that your surname ¡®Helishana¡¯ means the priest of the elves.¡± A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled. This was the reason why Davey didn¡¯t think of Yuria Helishana and Jack as family even though they had the same surname; for elves, their surname did not mean family, but it referred to their current rank or title. There was a reason why forests were formed around High Elves, because it would be difficult to control all elves just by bloodline. Yuria just sighed when she heard Davey talk about this. She had seemingly given up on being shocked anymore. ¡°I¡­¡± Yuria slowly lowered her head and murmured bitterly. ¡°My powers to purify a forest have been sealed because of the World Tree¡¯s punishment.¡± Listening to Yuria in silence, Davey touched the tree that was breaking down. This was the origin of the forest¡¯s corruption. This huge tree was in the middle of the forest far away from the elves¡¯ village. Eerie bits of skin were stuck on the tree¡¯s surface like a tumor, and they were beating like a heart. As Davey released his spirit power on the strangely distorted tree, a spirit that looked like a little boy appeared on the surface. He looked terrible with bloody tears falling from his eyes. He was far from beautiful and pure, looking only like a corrupt spirit. [It hurts¡­ It hurts¡­ Save me¡­] Davey put his finger on the spirit¡¯s cheek as he heard his cries. He asked, ¡°Does it hurt a lot?¡± [A¡­ human? A human can see us?] ¡°Yeah. Can you take the suffering?¡± [It hurts¡­ It hurts¡­ It hurts so much¡­ But it¡¯s okay.] Usually, nature spirits should have gathered near Davey and chattered like innocent children. However, the spirits here just moaned in pain, like they didn¡¯t have the energy to talk. ¡°How long has it been like this?¡± ¡°Not too long. We were able to heal naturally since the corruption wasn¡¯t too bad, but¡­¡± ¡°The speed of the corruption became unexpectedly fast?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± As suspected, someone had tampered with the corruption. It could be either one of the elves or an outsider. Normally, the corruption should be purified on its own since Yuria was present, but her powers to purify had been sealed from the World Tree¡¯s punishment. ¡°They say stagnant water is bound to rot.¡± The Divine Tree that should be protecting the spirits was just watching them get corrupted and die in pain. It was unbelievable. Noticing this, Davey asked, ¡°Is the World Tree still in the west?¡± ¡°Are you an elf? How do you know all that?¡± Yuria widened her eyes in surprise. ¡°Is it?¡± ¡°Yes, it is; the shrine of the Divine Tree is in the west. It used to be filled with greenery and peace, but¡­¡± ¡°If you get the chance to speak to them, tell them that I will cut the World Tree down if I see them.¡± ¡®How dare this lunatic tree do this shit in someone¡¯s land?¡¯ ¡°The tree should be prepared to be cut down if it has messed with someone else¡¯s land.¡± Coincidentally, Davey also had a chainsaw, which was a good method of communicating what he meant and logging. A Divine Tree that had lost its purpose had no value. The fact that it had sealed an elf¡¯s power and drove a forest to this condition because of its own desires was already enough evidence that the World Tree had abandoned its duty. Of course, the elves would be forever turned against Davey, but they weren¡¯t his residents or the kingdom¡¯s citizens. All Davey was trying to do was develop the territory in various directions by incorporating other kinds, such as dwarves, elves, orcs, or beastfolk without discrimination. He wasn¡¯t a philanthropist trying to protect a completely different kind. ¡°Chuckle¡­ Chuckle¡­ You are ruthless, boss.¡± ¡°Do you think I¡¯m joking?¡± ¡°Still, don¡¯t you think it¡¯s ridiculous to cut down the World Tree? The World Tree is huge and with a very wide trunk, an old trunk, that can¡¯t be dented even with a Swordmaster¡¯s [Aura Blade],¡± Yuria explained with a bitter chuckle. ¡°Am I bad?¡± ¡°I guess, in a way. Objectively, Yuria could be seen as bad since she was putting hundreds of elves in danger because of her personal desires as a leader. It was clear that the forest had become like this because she couldn¡¯t purify the forest, since her powers had been sealed from going against the World Tree. ¡°I rejected the marriage arrangement the World Tree chose, and that is why I received the punishment of the Divine Tree. The effects of the punishment are seen in my forest, and it has come to this because I couldn¡¯t purify the corruption during its early stages.¡± Yuria was full of guilt. She thought that the forest wouldn¡¯t be in such a painful state if she had just obeyed. ¡°This is my last try. If it fails, I am going to send everyone back to the Divine Tree. That is better than dying.¡± ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°My sanctuary is here. If the forest really does become corrupt to a point beyond repair, I will burn my soul and purify this entire forest according to the primordial promise,¡± Yuria told Davey. She would definitely be able to stop the corruption, but it didn¡¯t change the fact that she and the spirits would all disappear. ¡®A High Elf who was punished by the World Tree because she refused an arranged marriage¡­¡¯ It was very wrong. ¡°Can I ask why you refused?¡± ¡°The saint of the Divine Tree¡­ I couldn¡¯t give that man everything.¡± It seemed like something had happened. Maybe the infamous love triangle¡­ ¡°He tricked my sister, corrupting her and banishing her from nature¡¯s arms. I haven¡¯t seen my sister since. I¡­¡± Yuria revealed a rare look of anger and injustice, but the darkness on her face disappeared right away. ¡ªYou should be sorry for suspecting something like a love triangle. ¡®Hm.¡¯ ¡°I cannot forgive him.¡± ¡ªAn arranged marriage with a man who destroyed her family¡­ It¡¯s more ridiculous than a fiction novel. ¡°It¡¯s the World Tree¡¯s fault for sealing your perfectly normal powers, not you. You weren¡¯t even the one who made the forest like this, right?¡± Corruption was like a disease of the forest; if elves resided in the forest, spirits would follow, and the power of nature would grow stronger. It was similar to how a sick human would get diagnosed with leukemia if there were overwhelming white blood cells. Corruption could happen anytime and anywhere. That was why the High Elves of each forest assumed the role of the leader and purified it. The people who tried to force Yuria, the perfectly normal leader of this forest, into an arranged marriage and sealed her powers when she refused were in the wrong. Yuria was more of a victim here. ¡®The victim-blaming culture should really disappear.¡¯ This situation where the perpetrator was being treated well and the victim was hiding away¡­ It was a story that Davey had heard before. The cause of this was obvious: a conflict of power between the elves. That reason could also explain why another High Elf wasn¡¯t coming here even though they knew about the state of the forest. The elves that were near the Divine Tree probably wanted to hang Yuria out to dry until she waved the white flag herself. Unlike the stumpy dwarves, these picky pointy ears were all hiding something even though they acted all benevolent. These old elves had isolated themselves from the world and were as rotten as the water at the bottom of a well. * * * ¡°Elder Condae, what are we going to do?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. Lady Yuria Helishana was born with a great gift among the High Elves. Like her older sister, she has the gift and affinity to bond with the highest-ranking spirit that hasn¡¯t appeared in hundreds of years.¡± Elder Condae sighed after the two elders spoke. He muttered, ¡°Of course. It¡¯s that affinity that dragged this corruption on for twenty years when it should have dried up the forest instantly.¡± ¡°Then, we must do something! Lady Yuria is trying to summon a supreme spirit! She is also using that greedy human¡¯s power to do it!¡± ¡°But her spirit affinity is real. It is a long shot¡­ But if it¡¯s Lady Yuria, there is a chance of succ¡­¡± Listening to the elders shout in anger, Elder Condae smiled creepily. He said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If she really does succeed, then we just have to advance the corruption even more. The rebound will be stronger if the desperate attempt that she planned was to fail.¡± ¡°Then¡­.¡± ¡°Then, we will step up. We will kill the human who knows about elves and pressure Yuria Helishana to return to the Divine Tree. Isn¡¯t that the perfect scenario?¡± The two other elders slowly nodded in agreement. ¡°But¡­I heard that the human is pretty strong. If he is just as Lady Yuria described, there is a chance we may be defeated before we can do anything.¡± ¡°Right. That is why we need some sort of trap.¡± Elder Condae pulled out a small marble. ¡°This is a Sealing Marble with the powers of an ancient spirit.¡± ¡°Oh my¡­ Such a sacred treasure¡­¡± ¡°Usually, it is to amplify a spirit mage¡¯s power, but it can also suppress other powers. From what I hear, he seems to be a pretty advanced Master¡­¡± Elder Condae mumbled and smiled creepily. ¡°Even if he is a Master, how could a human take the attacks of an Ancient Guard, the elves¡¯ great power, with his mana and holy power sealed?¡± Elder Condae chuckled satisfyingly. ¡°However, it seems like that human has pretty high spirit affinity as well. If Lady Yuria is asking for his help¡­¡± ¡°Ahem, do you think a newbie will be able to summon a spirit just with high spirit affinity alone? Did you forget that the only way to bond with high-ranking spirits is to start with low-rank spirits and slowly work your way up?¡± Elder Condae scoffed. The other elders nodded. ¡°Y¡ªYou¡¯re right.¡± ¡°Remember that nothing changes. All we must do is bring Yuria to the saint of the Divine Tree.¡± Elder Condae¡¯s eyes shone dangerously as he said, ¡°Rather formally. We can¡¯t have someone stand in the way of that process.¡± CH 165 Many people looked at Davey, who felt uncomfortable. However, only a few of them approached him with clear hostility in their eyes. The corruption spreading from within the forest had yet to touch the residential area, which was why it still remained beautiful. ¡ªThis small untouched space is the only place where you can summon high-ranked spirits. The Forest of Elves was brimming with the spirits¡¯ energy. After all, the spirits¡¯ companions were elves and the same was true the other way around. Wherever the elves existed, spirits existed. In other words, spirits would only appear where elves have gathered. For Davey, preliminary work was very important. Aside from the elves¡¯ personal narrative, Davey also walked around the forest to check things with his own eyes. Whether it was in the field of medicine or in any other fields, problems and complications could only be resolved after carefully checking the root of the problem. ¡°When it comes to spirit magic, the richer the spirit energy present in nature, the higher the chances of summoning spirits.¡± ¡ªBut those things are meaningless for you, right? ¡°Now, why would you say that? Regardless of the summoning¡¯s success or failure, the type of spirit that I can summon still changes depending on the circumstances.¡± There were still huge distinctions between the same lower-ranked spirits. For example, there were spirits with high purity and spirits with plenty of impurities. Simply put, just like there were differences between first-class water and fifth-class water, there were also differences between spirits. ¡°There¡¯s certainly a difference between supreme-ranked spirits, albeit a bit weak and indistinguishable. However, this does not exist among spirit kings.¡± The differences between the spirits were very miniscule. However, since Davey decided to do it, he thought that he should do it properly. [It hurts¡­] Davey gently placed his hand on the tree¡¯s bark where the contaminated spirits were dwelling before releasing a weak stream of holy power. Although he believed that it was not good to experiment with the patient in front of him¡­ ¡°Can you hold it in for a bit?¡± [We trust you¡­ human.] [Fifth Class Holy Magic.] [Purify.] [Aaaaaack!] Vwooooooong¡ª A brilliant white light formed at Davey¡¯s fingertips and pierced through the tree trunk. Unfortunately, nothing changed. Only the spirits¡¯ screams rang out in Davey¡¯s ears. Theoretically, if they were truly suffering from pure corruption, then there should have at least a bit of response at this level of purification magic. ¡ªNothing¡­ Absolutely no reaction at all. ¡°I¡¯ve only heard about how contaminated spirits that are at the end of their lives can¡¯t be cured by holy magic. It seems like it¡¯s true.¡± Davey found out that the system was different. Just like how he had used his death mana to deal with the death knight¡¯s disaster with Illyna, each power had a different code that corresponded to their own system. ¡ªIn the first place, spirit mana is mana created from the changes in mana, holy mana, or devil mana. And that was also the reason why Davey did not try to pull spirit mana on its own. ¡°How to say this, it¡¯s a bit different from spirit mana?¡± Davey placed his hand against the wrinkly and rough tree trunk once again. This time, he released spirit mana. ¡°The corruption is a problem among the spirits, and a problem of the spirits should be solved with the spirits¡¯ power.¡± ¡®Aren¡¯t I quite the multi-talented person? An excellent all-rounder?¡¯ ¡ªThere¡¯s nothing that you can¡¯t do. A swindler with a ridiculously out of this world cheat sheet. Perserque shot back and glared at Davey. ¡°To be exact, spirit mana is like the spirits¡¯ fuel. I¡¯ll give you a good example.¡± Davey explained it in a way where the affinity with the spirits was like one¡¯s riding skills, with the spirit mana being the horse and the spirits being the carriage. If one used their spirit mana to bring out the spirits¡¯ power, then the spirits would move. ¡°The purification of this corruption can only be done if the carriage moves. The principle is similar to how a carriage works. If your horsepower is low, then the heavy carriage will not move. For example, using weak spirit magic with some spirit mana would only slow down the corruption¡¯s progress by a bit.¡± There were quite a lot of pathways, just like how Davey¡¯s mana pathways were, so he had to try them out blindly. However, doing so would only have the tiniest bit of effect. ¡ªHow uselessly detailed. ¡°No power in the world exists without plenty of details.¡± If something could be easily explained in a few words, if something like that truly existed, then it would be god¡¯s miracle. The prime examples of that were the holy magic engraved on Davey¡¯s body, as well as someone ranking one¡¯s item in their own pocket plane without the owner¡¯s permission and locking it out of their reach. Basically, these were things beyond one¡¯s grasp. All illnesses and diseases should be properly diagnosed and researched through a step-by-step process. If Davey decided to just summon a spirit without knowing the root cause of the problem, then there was a high chance that it could become a trap. Nothing would be more embarrassing than that. ¡°Hey,¡± Davey called out to the young elf that was tasked to follow him and watch his movements. ¡°What, human?¡± The elf looked quite hostile. However, the elf wouldn¡¯t step out of line and would only be slightly disrespectful towards Davey. Well, this was all thanks to what Yuria had said when everyone had gathered earlier. [I hope the Moon Forest¡¯s residents are not that shameless to the point where they cannot tell the difference between kindness and hostility.] Of course, Davey still received quite a lot of hostile gazes since he had smashed their barrier apart. But thanks to his promise, he could control the level of hostility that he was up against. ¡®Tsk. So trivial. I¡¯ll make you a new one later.¡¯ It would not be too strange if the elves snorted at Davey and called bullshit for his words. However, Yuria had heard of Davey¡¯s previous achievements, so they seemed to believe him for now. They could directly feel the incomprehensible spirit affinity flowing in Davey¡¯s body. ¡°What? Do you think holy magic is so amazing? What are you doing over there, being so distracted?¡± ¡®Kyaa~ He¡¯s quite the country bumpkin! Like someone living from the mountains coming to the city for the first time!¡¯ ¡°Don¡¯t! Don¡¯t¡­ Don¡¯t make me laugh! Do¡­ Do you think someone like me will be curious about some human¡¯s magic?!¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you stop pretending that you¡¯re not interested?¡± Davey asked. The elf widened his eyes and turned his face to the side. Davey felt his eyes burn in disgust when he saw the young elf act so shy and embarrassed. He believed that Yuria Helishana, the leader of this forest, was close enough with this elf, Verdis, to call him her best friend. If that was the case, then he could trust his credibility for a bit. ¡°If you have something to say, then quickly spit it out.¡± ¡°You are in a contract with a spirit, yes?¡± ¡®Hmm. This scent is the scent of a water spirit.¡¯ If Davey caught Verdis trying to cheat his way out of this situation, then he would definitely send his hands flying away. Verdis looked at Davey as if pondering deeply over the matter. Then, with a sigh, he said, ¡°I have a contract with the intermediate-rank spirit¡­ Undine.¡± ¡°Intermediate-rank, perfect. I¡¯m sorry, I have to check something, so can you call her out for a moment?¡± Verdis sighed at Davey¡¯s request, silently stretching his hand out as droplets of water started to gather around his fingertips until they formed the figure of a very small girl. The only difference the girl had with humans were her ears, which were shaped like fins, and the horns sprouting on her forehead. Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°Now, use the spirit¡¯s power to purify this tree. Make sure to use all of your power for this.¡± ¡°Why on earth should I¡­¡± ¡°You don¡¯t want to save your forest?¡± Verdis flinched at Davey¡¯s question. ¡°I¡¯m in the process of verifying something. Go ahead.¡± ¡°Damn¡­¡± With a frown, Verdis conveyed his will. His contracted naiad immediately reached out, her expression strained and her eyes turning from red to black. Swoooooosh! Shwa! Once the droplets of water flew from Undine¡¯s fingertips and entered the tree, changes immediately took place. It was just for a brief moment, but the corruption seemed to have faltered before quickly returning to its original state. At first, there seemed to be nothing wrong. The corruption appeared to be ordinary. However, Davey, with his Death Spirit Eye open, caught something. He muttered, ¡°The corruption has devoured life force, and in large quantities too.¡± ¡°What¡­ Do you mean by that?¡± ¡°Do you have missing elves or ones that died in the village?¡± ¡°That¡­ That¡­ Why?¡± Verdis flinched in doubt and suspicion. ¡°This is very important. Are there any? Or are there none? If you lie, then I won¡¯t be responsible for the consequences that follow.¡± Perhaps it was because Davey had a grim expression, but Verdis quickly turned pale and said, ¡°There¡­ There have been quite a few accidents in the village lately. There was a herd of monsters that suddenly descended and tried to invade our territory. We lost a few lives from that incident.¡± ¡°Their bodies?¡± ¡°All of them had been cremated and sent back to Mother Nature...¡± ¡°Did one of the conservatives say that?¡± Verdis frowned at the implications of Davey¡¯s words. He spat, ¡°What the hell do you want to say, human?¡± At this point, the elf¡¯s tone had gone curt. He seemed annoyed by Davey. Davey turned around with a cold and frosty smile on his face. ¡°You better hope that it¡¯s not what I think it is.¡± The accelerated corruption and the devoured life force, as well as the source of the life force¡­ It was already obvious to Davey where it came from. *** Davey found it worthwhile snooping around and doing repetitive work around the forest. After all, he was able to buy enough time by smashing the barrier apart, which had allowed him to twist the spirit mana flowing in the forest and block the root cause of the corruption for a while without anyone knowing. Davey found out that the corruption had a total of seven sources. And as he went around, he infused some spirit mana in them and blocked them from creating unnecessary variables in the meantime. What Davey did was similar to applying a very strong tape on a crack that leaked contaminated water. Originally, at the rate at which the corruption was spreading, it would only take around two months to completely devour the forest. But with Davey¡¯s stopgap measure, he was able to add another fifteen days to that inevitability. No matter what anyone said, Davey knew that it was only a matter of time before this forest turned into the forest of death. ¡°Ah, it would be good if they already took the bait by now. They¡¯re still fooling around too much.¡± Davey actually had two options here. He could choose to summon the spirit right away and clean up the forest or find a good place where he could summon the spirit and clean up the forest at a nice and comfortable pace. However, the fact that the first option would be quite troublesome¡­ no, it was actually very troublesome and would drag his foot down was the only thing that was stopping him from doing it. Since Davey was a human being that could feel joy, anger and sorrow, it would be alright for him to wait a few more days and do everything at his own pace, right? After two days of staying in the forest, the elves had now turned to neglecting him and his presence. It was not that strange since Davey was the human that destroyed their barrier. On top of that, after declaring that he would clean up the corruption and looking at its source, he suddenly installed a hammock in the outskirts of the village with a superb view of the forest and enjoyed a leisurely time. So, everyone thought that it was a hassle to pay attention to him and just went around neglecting his presence. ¡ªDavey, there are children. Candy¡­was a revolutionary and ambitious product that the Academy of Alchemy had created and sold through the Merchant Association all throughout the Heins Territory. It was quite different from the candy that Davey knew, but its sweet taste had made it a popular snack for ordinary children. Of course, it did not only cater to the ordinary. It was also the perfect snack for Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon to eat. A candy or a snack was quite common by humans¡¯ standard, but it seemed like such a snack was not quite common for the elves. From what it looked like, the elves¡¯ children had become curious about the snack, because Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon were happily licking their candies while snuggling in Davey¡¯s arms. Davey could see the village children sticking their heads out and looking at him from afar. And their eyes were filled with curiosity, not vigilance and fear. It seemed like these elven children were still too young to receive any brainwashing, or what they called education. So, their reactions were still quite natural. ¡ªYes, that¡¯s exactly right. They are focused on the candies that you gave out. Davey smiled and nodded at Perserque as he took out more lollipops from his pocket plane. He thought that work was work and that nothing was wrong with manipulating public opinion through the children. ¡°Red Ribbon, Blue Ribbon. Is it delicious?¡± ¡°Yeah! Yeah! Very delicious!¡± ¡°Sweet!¡± The two answered excitedly, as if the gazes of the children around them did not matter. Davey could even see some of the elven boys turning red from the bright smiles of the two girls in his arms. ¡ªNo matter the race or kind, a smile is very precious. Haa¡­ Perserque sat on the smiling Red Ribbon¡¯s head and petted the girl¡¯s hair gently. Well, Davey could not actually tell who was cuter. Perhaps he thought that way because Perserque was smaller than Red Ribbon. However, Davey tried to ignore her as he held a candy out and asked, ¡°Do you want to eat more?¡± ¡°More! More! Eat more!¡± Of course, children would definitely want to eat any kind of new and delicious food. Would they even have the capacity to say no? However, it was not just one candy that had been taken out. ¡°But if you eat more, won¡¯t your teeth rot?¡± ¡°U, Ugh¡­¡± Davey almost failed to endure when he saw the two girls turn teary from his words. Thankfully, he was able to persevere. ¡°Red¡­ Red Ribbon will not eat¡­¡± ¡°Blue, Blue Ribbon too¡­¡± ¡°Is that so? That¡¯s too bad. Then, who should I give this to?¡± When Davey glanced up to look at the elven children, he saw that they were already sneaking up on him as if they had already forgotten that they should just be watching and hiding from him from afar. He asked them, ¡°Do you guys want some?¡± Davey knew that he almost got them after seeing the children look like they would nod at any given moment. However, everyone¡¯s eyes widened in surprise before they screamed and scattered around. It seemed like they recalled the stories about Davey¡¯s kind. He murmured to himself, ¡°Hmm. They seem well-educated.¡± That was right. Kids should not follow someone they did not know just because that someone gave them snacks. ¡°Red Ribbon, Blue Ribbon. What would you guys do if a stranger gives you a snack?¡± ¡°Hngh?¡± Red Ribbon, snuggling deep in Davey¡¯s arms while licking her candy, looked up at him and tilted her head in confusion. Meanwhile, Blue Ribbon, with her wide and cute eyes, immediately said, ¡°Th¡­ Thank you!¡± ¡°We¡­ We will eat them too!¡± Red Ribbon also piped up. ¡°¡­¡± However, their answers were completely wrong in the first place. ¡°You can¡¯t say that in that situation,¡± Davey said as the two looked at him with sparkling eyes. ¡°No. I don¡¯t want one. Stop.¡± ¡°Nwoo. I¡­ I¡­ I dwon¡¯t want one! Shhhhtop!¡± Davey chuckled when Red Ribbon imitated him with her cute and slurry pronunciation. He stroked her head gently. Her pronunciation wasn¡¯t quite there yet, since she was still little, but the speed at which she accepted things and adapted to the outside world was quite fast. ¡°How about you, Blue Ribbon? Do you understand?¡± Davey said, nodding at Blue Ribbon. ¡°Nwoo. I dwon¡¯t want one! Shhtop!¡± Blue Ribbon replied with a bright smile. A smile was unknowingly painted on Davey¡¯s lips. Perhaps this was how fathers felt when they were raising cute daughters? Suddenly, the thought of two emperors who suffered from a severe obsession with their daughters crossed Davey¡¯s mind. He laughed. Tap, tap¡ª Then, just when Davey was about to hand over some more candies to the two girls as a prize, someone tapped him on the shoulder. CH 166 ¡°Hmm?¡± When Davey turned behind, he saw a very small four to five year old girl looking up at him with her pure and bright eyes. The little girl looked as innocent as the others, but there was one thing that set her apart from the rest of the elven children. Unlike the elves, who usually wore a considerably loose and airy outfit, the girl in front of Davey was wearing a strange robe covering her entire body. ¡°Do you want to eat some?¡± And unlike the other elven children, the little girl had the courage to come up and interact with Davey. Even though Davey found the elven race to be disgusting and was not comfortable dealing with them, he just could not turn such a child away. Treating the little girl like an ordinary child, Davey handed a candy to her. However, he startled the girl and she immediately hid behind the tree that Davey was leaning on. The girl slowly peeked at Davey and said, ¡°U¡­ Uncle¡­ Are you a human?¡± Blue Ribbon, Red Ribbon, and the young elven girl had similar physiques. However, being of a race that lived for a long time, the little girl¡¯s pronunciation was on a completely different level compared to Davey¡¯s girls. ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m a human.¡± ¡°Hnnngh¡­¡± The girl looked at Davey curiously after she heard his answer. And slowly, ever so slowly, she came forward again and approached him carefully. She murmured, ¡°Yummy smell¡­¡± ¡°Here you go. Don¡¯t bite it, lick it slowly.¡± ¡°Yummy smell!¡± The girl¡¯s eyes sparkled at the sight of the candy. Listening to Davey¡¯s words, the girl carefully stuck her tongue out and licked the lollipop. Her eyes widened in surprise at the candy¡¯s sweetness. She started to smile brightly as she shoved the entire candy in her mouth. ¡°Hehe. Yummy.¡± ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Myuu. My mom named me.¡± The girl ignored Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon, who were both in Davey¡¯s arms. She looked straight at Davey before calling out, ¡°Uncle.¡± ¡°How about calling me ¡®brother¡¯ instead of ¡®uncle¡¯?¡± ¡°Uncle.¡± The girl was very stubborn. She asked again, ¡°Uncle, are you a human?¡± The little girl¡¯s insignificant question from earlier had come up once more. When Davey squinted before nodding, the girl hurriedly tugged on his arm and exclaimed, ¡°Myuu will show you her treasure!¡± In response to the word ¡®human¡¯, the little girl told Davey that she would show him her treasure. Davey, helpless after seeing Perserque pull on his sleeves and urge him to follow, shrugged his shoulders. ¡ªThe fact that this child wants to show you her treasure means that she has a very favorable impression of you, Davey. ¡°Huh? Huh? Quiiiick! Myuu will show you her treasure! It¡¯s a pretty and sparkling treasure!¡± Davey, with his two girls in his arms, slowly pushed away from the tree he leaned on. He let the small lady urge him and tug at his arm, following her. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡± Myuu¡¯s pure smile became even brighter at that moment. There was just something about a child¡¯s smile, regardless of their race, that could turn one¡¯s heart warm and soft. *** Myuu, the little elf in a robe, led Davey toward a denser part of the forest. It was quite a bit further away from the village where the other elves lived. It was obviously still a part of the elves¡¯ territory, with spirit beasts running around, but Davey still found it strange. ¡°Uncle! Here! Here! Sit here!¡± Davey could not understand the little girl¡¯s excitement, but he still followed along and sat on a stump. The moment he sat down, Myuu dashed towards a small hole in a tree and expertly crawled inside. It was quite a shabby space to be called a house, but the way Myuu entered and exited the tree with ease made it look like it was her home. Davey left Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon in Rinne¡¯s care as he looked around the area. One of the spirit beasts, which was looking at the other side of the forest, turned and glanced at him for a moment. Then, it slowly approached Davey, nudged his hands, and rubbed its head adorably against him. It was purring so loudly that even Davey could feel how much it liked him. Hornless Elkdiars were spirit beasts known for not approaching anyone recklessly, cautious even toward elves. But this very same Elkdiar approached Davey the moment it found him and showed him how much it liked him. Even during his first visit to this forest, Davey had found out that the spirit beasts and spirits were very kind and friendly to him. This just went to show how ridiculously high Davey¡¯s inherent affinity to nature was. ¡°Heave¡­ho.¡± Only after Davey waited for quite some time did Myuu, who crawled inside the hole in the tree, wriggled and slid down from the tree. She ran to where he was and handed him a small purse. ¡°Treasure! Myuu¡¯s treasure!¡± Myuu shouted with a big grin. She urged Davey to look at it with her eyes. When Davey opened the purse, he was surprised by his discovery. ¡°Oh? Isn¡¯t this a spirit stone?¡± ¡°Sparkles! Mom gave it to me!¡± Davey chuckled, since Myuu was asking him what he thought of her treasure. He was wondering how he should answer when Perserque tapped him on the shoulder. With a gentle smile on her face, she said¡­ ¡ªTell her that you¡¯re jealous. Children show their treasures and always want to see how surprised and amazed you are. ¡°Oooh! What¡¯s this? This is very surprising. I¡¯m very jealous, huh?¡± ¡ª¡­ Perserque¡¯s gentle expression hardened and turned cold. Davey¡¯s strained and poor performance did nothing to impress her. ¡ªEven a monkey can do better than that. Even Davey had to agree with what Perserque said. He knew that his acting was so lousy and awkward that even he himself found it quite embarrassing. But it seemed like Myuu thought differently. ¡°Hehe!¡± Myuu smiled brightly, accepting Davey¡¯s awkward acting to be the truth. She happily poked the spirit stone with her finger before holding out a fruit that she took out of her pockets. ¡°Uncle! Can you be Myuu¡¯s secret friend?¡± ¡®A secret friend?¡¯ ¡°What¡­do you mean by secret friend?¡± Davey asked, bewildered. The little girl simply nodded, as if there was nothing wrong with what she said. ¡°Yeah! Yep! Mom told Myuu before she went to heaven that there are humans that Myuu can trust! Uncle has a warm scent, so you¡¯re a good human! That¡¯s why Myuu wants to be friends!¡± Davey wondered if this was an appropriate reaction from an elf. After all, elves were a race that rejected others vehemently. Davey found it really strange. But just when he was about to check the girl¡¯s information¡­ ¡°Hnggh¡­ Refreshing!¡± Myuu found her robe¡¯s hood to be too stuffy, so she took it off and finally revealed her appearance to Davey. She looked completely different from the elves. Of course, it was not her missing front teeth, but something else entirely. ¡ªMy goodness¡­ Their existence has disappeared for almost 300 years. How¡­ ¡°A half-elf¡­¡± The little elven girl, who was strangely receptive and kind towards a human, with her light green hair was half human and half elf. She was a half-elf. *** A half-elf was born from a union between an elf and a human. Compared to pure-blooded elves and high elves, who had long and pointed ears, half-elves¡¯ ears were a bit blunt at the ends. Of course, their ears were still a bit longer than that of humans. Myuu was a half-elf, someone born between a human and an elf, so she was not that hostile to a human like Davey. Her father was probably a human. However, despite the bright smile on Myuu¡¯s face, she still could not hide her longing for affection and her loneliness. She asked again, ¡°Uncle! Uncle! Will you be secret friends with Myuu?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s be friends. We can be friends.¡± ¡°But the village says that you should not stay with Myuu,¡± Myuu said with a pout. ¡°Timmy and Ellie said that too!!! Because he said that Myuu¡¯s a half, she does not have any right to have friends!¡± ¡°Who said that?¡± ¡°Hnggh¡­ It¡¯s scary Grandpa Condae. Yeah! Yeah! Grandpa Condae said that it¡¯s a crime to stay with a half! Timmy and Ellie said sorry and that they won¡¯t play with Myuu anymore! Is Myuu a half?¡± Elder Condae was definitely the elven elder who had openly shown his hostility towards Davey. Myuu was smiling brightly as if she was just talking casually with her friends, but the content of her story was not very pleasant. Davey had no idea how absurd or reasonable these words were, but he thought that it was an extremely unpleasant incident for the child to have gone through. ¡°Who¡¯s the more hideous and disgusting race?¡± For Davey, whether it was an elf or a human, a bastard would always be a bastard. Myuu was born from the love of an elf and a different race entirely. If Davey looked at it from the perspective of those conservative and arrogant elves, then Myuu¡¯s existence would definitely be something repulsive and ugly. ¡°You don¡¯t have to keep it a secret.¡± ¡°Huh? Why? Grandpa Condae said that one should never be friends with Myuu though?¡± A quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled. ¡°That old bas¡­ No, that grandpa does not know any better.¡± ¡°Y, Yeah¡­ Myuu also does not know difficult things!¡± Myuu, who was tilting her head just a few moments prior, smiled brightly as if she finally understood, ¡°Then, uncle! Are you friends with Myuu?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± A bitter feeling rose from the depths of Davey¡¯s heart after seeing Myuu¡¯s bright and pure smile. The only reason why Davey was acting friendly towards the elves here was because of Yuria. Also, there were quite a few elves here that had a decent amount of common sense. Well, except for the conservatives. ¡°But¡­you¡¯ll get in trouble if you get caught¡­¡± ¡°This uncle of yours is much scarier. I¡¯ll scold them back. Don¡¯t worry.¡± To hear the word ¡®brother¡¯ from the mouth of a bean-sized girl would prick Davey''s conscience, so he settled for uncle, which was the next best option. The little girl tapped her lips in thought while Davey took a small bite out of the fruit that she had given him. She started to giggle. ¡°Really? Kyahaha! Then you¡¯ll be Myuu¡¯s friend! Just a friend, not a secret friend!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Ah, Uncle¡­ What''s your name?¡± ¡°Davey.¡± Myuu muttered Davey¡¯s name repeatedly, as if figuring out the pronunciation and the sounds coming from her own mouth. ¡°Davey O¡¯Rowane.¡± ¡°Davey O¡¯Rowane¡­ Davey. Davey. Then, Uncle Davey?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Davey answered, patting Myuu¡¯s head gently. Red Ribbon, who was sitting right next to Davey and sucking on her candy, took out her remaining candy and offered it bravely to Myuu. ¡°Would you like to eat some candy?¡± ¡°Wooow! Want to! Want to eat!¡± Children could get along so easily. A bitter yet warm smile appeared on Davey¡¯s face as he watched Myuu, Red Ribbon, and Blue Ribbon become quick friends. Seeing how Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon were friendly with her, Myuu grew even happier. She ran around in circles, shouting how she had gained more friends. Then, Davey asked her as if he just remembered, ¡°Myuu.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Shall this uncle show you a spirit to celebrate us becoming friends?¡± ¡°Spirit? Yeah! Wanna see! The little friends! So cute!¡± Well, Davey did not know if the spirits or Myuu were cuter. As Myuu jumped around happily, Davey stood up. He should not delay things even further. Then, he looked for a suitable space and drew a magic circle with his fingers. The magic circle was not big, but it had everything that he needed. He then said, ¡°Well then, Myuu. Stand over here.¡± The girl immediately ran towards Davey and stood right where he pointed at. Davey grabbed her by the armpits and lifted her up before gently placing her down on the magic circle. Then, he said, ¡°Now, you have to repeat what uncle says. Alright?¡± ¡°Yeah! Myuu will look at the spirits!¡± Davey rubbed the smile off of his face when he saw Myuu¡¯s bright and sparkling gaze. He looked at the magic circle calmly while slowly releasing his spirit mana. Unlike pure-blooded elves, the half-elves had considerably lower affinity with the spirits. And according to general knowledge and common sense, there was no way for the young Myuu to summon a spirit. ¡ªBut you¡¯re someone that demolishes common sense. For Davey, it was not that hard to give a friend to someone who needed a friend, even if he had to defy and destroy common sense. Davey stood still and wondered what kind of spirit would be good for Myuu. It did not matter which spirit it would be, but for elementalists, their first spirit had a great influence on their preferred spirits in future. ¡®Hmmm. Right, it¡¯s also nice to open random boxes.¡¯ Davey bit back the smile that was creeping on his lips as he said, ¡°O¡¯ Great Will that has existed since the beginning of time, in charge of all things including nature.¡± ¡°Be¡­ Beginning of time¡­¡± Myuu, fascinated by the spell that Davey uttered, diligently repeated after him. Her words were as clear as she could make them to be. ¡°O¡¯ Great Will, as your noble and lofty air caresses me, I beseech you to open a contract with me.¡± Davey¡¯s spirit mana escaped from him on behalf of Myuu, who was still reciting the words after him. As they continued the spell, Davey wondered which spirit he should summon for the girl. ¡®Choose, who to choose? Which spirit to get? Which spirit to take?¡¯ ¡°A water spirit? Or an earth spirit? Which spirit do you want to see?¡± ¡®Just tell me, this uncle will definitely bring this friend to you.¡¯ ¡°Unghhh¡­ the little friend! Myuu wants to see the little dirt friend!¡± ¡°Alright¡­ So you want to see Gnoum?¡± ¡°Myuu wants to see Gnoass! Gnoass!¡± CH 167 Davey was shocked that the girl knew Gnoass, the Earth Spirit King. In fact, he could not believe it. All Davey could do was laugh at the girl¡¯s innocent request and said, ¡°Gnoass is a bit busy, so you can¡¯t see him now. I¡¯ll show him to you later.¡± ¡°Eeeeeh! Whaaaaat? Uncle, don¡¯t lie!!!¡± ¡®This brat?¡¯ ¡°Alright, alright. I¡¯ll show him to you soon. For now, let¡¯s settle with Gnoum. How about Gnoum?¡± Gnoum was the low-rank earth spirit. ¡°Gnoum? Will Gnoum be friends with Myuu?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Then, I want to see! I want to see Gnoum!¡± Summoning spirits should be done in a sequential manner. One should first summon a low-rank spirit and finish assimilating with it before summoning an intermediate-rank spirit. The same was true for summoning high-rank spirits; one had to finish assimilating with an intermediate-rank spirit before summoning a high-rank one. Of course, it was the same with supreme-rank spirits and spirit kings. Although the time it would take for an individual to completely assimilate with their spirit would vary depending on their talents, this system should absolutely be followed. Simply put, one had to spend a great deal of power and time to summon higher ranked spirits. For Davey, who skipped a lot of the process and forcibly created a way that did not conform to the system, a huge amount of power was drained out of him. However, considering the amount of power dwelling in his body, this much power being lost could be easily ignored. Vwoooooong!!! The magic circle shone brightly as soon as they finished the spell. Myuu looked down at the magic circle in both awe and admiration. Crack, crack, crack!!! After a moment, lumps of soil began to gather together inside the magic circle until they took the form of a little gnome. Gnoum¡¯s basic form was similar to that of a human¡¯s, but the roundness of its body made it look more like an animal standing on its two feet. ¡°Cu¡­ Cute! Gnoum! Can you be Myuu¡¯s secret¡­ No! No! Can you be Myuu¡¯s friend? A friend?!¡± Perhaps the small gnome understood the child¡¯s excited yell. After it completely took shape, Gnoum looked at Davey and Myuu alternately before flying up and kissing Myuu¡¯s forehead. ¡°You¡¯ll really become my friend?!¡± A small and weak light was engraved on Myuu¡¯s forehead after the Gnoum kissed her, gradually disappearing from sight. Now, only Myuu would be able to hear Gnoum''s voice. With this, the contract, which was supposed to be impossible to do, had been completed. ¡ªAn elf that has not yet completed her primary growth has signed a contract with a spirit¡­ Elves were originally loved by nature. Simply put, their race had great talent for being an elementalist. In fact, even those talentless elves could still deal with and sign a contract with low-rank spirits. However, elves also faced several restrictions. Only after passing through a certain period of growth, the primary growth, would they be able to receive the spirit¡¯s blessings and be able to summon their spirits. The elves were a race that underwent a process of growth. Right before birth, they would be in their infancy. Then, they would undergo their primary growth, their secondary growth, their tertiary growth, and finally reach their adulthood. Myuu was a young elf who had yet to undergo her primary growth. Young elves still in their infancy did not have the power to summon a spirit, let alone sign a contract with them. ¡°If you want to call for your friend Gnoum, all you have to do is hold the spirit stone in your hand and call for him in your heart. He will appear whenever you call for him.¡± ¡°Wow! Myuu has many friends now! Mom and Dad must have sent Myuu many friends from heaven, because Myuu has been very obedient and quiet!¡± Red Ribbon, Blue Ribbon, Davey, and Gnoum were all Myuu¡¯s friends now. Perserque cried with her hand covering her mouth. She watched Myuu run around in delight after finally gaining friends. ¡ªSniff¡­ She must have been lonely for a very long time. Davey provided the mana to fulfill the contract, but for Myuu to be able to summon her spirit later, she would need to borrow mana until she was fully grown up. The item that would allow her to do that was the spirit stone, which was filled with spirit mana. The quality of Myuu¡¯s spirit stone was quite high, so she would not have any big problems even if she used it a couple of times. Myuu shouted her thanks to god while Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon jumped around, infected by Myuu¡¯s happiness and excitement. Davey watched the three children jump around happily before slowly saying, ¡°Well, you came here to find me, so how long will you keep on hiding, huh?¡± Davey¡¯s voice suddenly turned somber, his relaxed and calm aura slowly disappearing. ¡°I heard that you came here.¡± ¡°Yuria.¡± ¡°I believe you already know the reason why I¡¯ve come to find you.¡± When Davey turned around, he saw Yuria Helishana approaching him with a bitter smile on her face and a fruit basket in her hands. *** ¡°Kyaaaaa! Come here!¡± ¡°Kyahahahahahaha! Catch me if you can!¡± Yuria smiled brightly when she saw the three children running around happily. She said, ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve seen that child enjoy herself that much.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t underage elves supposed to be under absolute protection?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how you know that, but¡­there¡¯s nothing else I can say about that. Our race has a great tendency to reject half-elves, but it was not as bad as it is now.¡± Yuria sighed bitterly. Her eyes followed Myuu, who was running and playing happily. ¡°Myuu¡¯s mother was a normal pure-blooded elf. Her father was an ordinary human.¡± Elven Guards were in charge of communicating with other villages and carrying important items around. These messengers were the only elves that could leave the forest freely, and it seemed like Myuu¡¯s mother had been one of these messengers. ¡°On her way back to the Divine Tree from being dispatched on a mission, she met with a monster and was left with one foot in the grave. That was when she met Myuu¡¯s father.¡± An elven woman who had been on the brink of death and a human man who had rescued her from the grim reaper¡­ This encounter had created a spark between them, which had resulted in the birth of the half-elf child, Myuu. ¡°Their family originally lived in a small village in the human world, but from what I heard, the village suffered from a bandit attack. Only Myuu and her mother were able to escape and seek refuge in the Divine Tree.¡± ¡°The child¡¯s father¡­ No, the answer is already obvious.¡± ¡°Yes. The problem came after that. Myuu¡¯s mother, an elf, who voluntarily chose to leave the forest to continue her relationship with a human and even gave birth to a child, could not escape the World Tree¡¯s wrath and punishment.¡± Yuria had personally hidden Myuu away here. However, was that all to this story? ¡°Most of the forest¡¯s residents here have grown tired of the World Tree¡¯s ridiculous tyranny and extremely conservative views. If they were the only ones here, then Myuu might have been able to live in the village.¡± ¡°But from what I can see of your current situation, you all left her alone to live outside of the village.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because of the conservatives. When I turned my back on the Divine Tree¡¯s Land, the World Tree sent three elders to watch over me. You¡¯ve already met one of them, right?¡± Yuria was talking about Elder Condae, who was quite an overbearing and conservative elven man. She added, ¡°There are fewer supporters of those conservatives in this forest. In fact, it¡¯s safe to say that there¡¯s no one here that follows them completely. However¡­¡± However, the World Tree was backing these conservative elves up. Even if they crossed the line, the World Tree would interfere for them. ¡°The only thing I could do was to stop Elder Condae from trying to kill Myuu. For her to keep her life, we came to an agreement that Myuu has to live in a residence outside of the village and no one would interact with her.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯re afraid of the World Tree¡¯s retaliation?¡± ¡°The inhabitants of this forest are a blemish to the World Tree¡¯s eyes. That¡¯s right. In human terms, we¡¯re traitors. However, even if they call us traitors, the World Tree has no justification to send their troops and subjugate us.¡± Yuria sighed, the words flowing out of her mouth in a calm manner. ¡°That¡¯s why everyone¡¯s persevering¡­until I can summon a supreme-rank spirit.¡± If Yuria succeeded in summoning a supreme-rank spirit, they could be free from the World Tree¡¯s punishment and interference. On top of that, a supreme rank elementalist would have an additional effect, increasing and strengthening their influence as a high elf. As a small tribe living in a small village without any power, these elves endured shame and injustice and had no choice but to hold their resentment in. They were only given a few choices to live and survive. ¡°All of the villagers know how Myuu was holding out on her own in this place. They are nice enough to help her silently. It¡¯s just¡­they¡¯re all cowards.¡± Yuria tapped on the basket in her hands before looking at Davey. She said, ¡°This is the public opinion¡­ From this point on, this is my personal opinion.¡± Yuria smiled beautifully. ¡°Sir Employer,¡± Yuria called out, standing up from where she sat before kneeling in front of Davey. Then, she bowed her head and tried to say something. However, Davey cut Yuria off before she could even do so. He said, ¡°I¡¯m actually in the middle of fishing right now.¡± Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°But I¡¯m a bit short on bait. Would you like to join in?¡± Davey was confident that he would be able to catch every single one of them like yellow corvina. When Yuria raised her head to look at him, a faint smile was painted on her face. *** The air was filled with solemnity as everyone turned to watch the huge magic circle in front of them. The magic circle was a supplementary magic circle which had been handed down since ancient times. This was powered by the elves¡¯ spirit magic and was used to aid an elf in summoning a supreme-rank spirit. It functioned by providing the lacking affinity and mana through the help of others. The number of people who could help through this magic circle was restricted to around six people, but the help that they could provide was more than enough. Aside from Yuria, who signed a contract with a high-rank spirit, there were seven elves who had signed a contract with intermediate-rank spirits. With Davey¡¯s intervention and the help of five outstanding intermediate elementals, the magic circle was completed and ready to operate. Under the elves¡¯ countless gazes, Yuria lowered the wand inlaid with a spirit stone and slowly entered the magic circle. She stood right at the center. Then, she began an elegant and graceful dance, the spirit mana gently rising in the air. ¡°The spirits of nature¡­¡± ¡°Bless us.¡± As if impressed by Yuria¡¯s will, dots of light began to gather around her. For others, they might look like dots of light, but for Davey, he could see the spirits of nature in their own natural form gathering around the magic circle and blessing everyone inside it with their power. ¡°In compliance with the Origin¡¯s Covenant,¡± Yuria chanted the spell quietly as she continued to dance inside the magic circle. ¡°Your existence, a firm and solid part of nature.¡± Everyone gulped as they watched Yuria politely call out the spirit through the ritual. The supreme-rank spirits were called the master-rank spirits. They could immediately elevate a high-rank elementalist to another level. For elves that considered the spirits to be their companion for life, a supreme-rank spirit was a mysterious and miraculous sight, something that they had to watch with complete attention. For a low-rank elementalist, they had to completely assimilate and communicate with their low-rank spirit before they could attempt to call out and sign a contract with an intermediate-rank spirit. The same process also worked for intermediate elementalists trying to sign a contract with high-ranked spirits. ¡ªIt¡¯s unstable. ¡®She¡¯s inexperienced. She lacks the spirit mana, and her assimilation and communication with her spirit is incomplete. Also¡­¡¯ In the first place, Yuria and the elves¡¯ ability to handle and control spirit mana was lacking. The conclusion of this summoning ritual was already a foregone conclusion. However, the biggest problem here was none other than the corruption that slowly ate away at the forest. Considering the fact that higher ranked spirits could only be summoned in a place rich and abundant with clean and pure spirit energy, the results were already obvious. This was especially since they were surrounded by corruption that was slowly progressing and devouring everything in the forest. While Davey was lost in his thoughts, Yuria did not stop chanting. ¡°In compliance with the Origin Covenant! In the name of the noble and pure Nature, I beseech you, the One Governing the Seas! Reveal yourself upon this lowly one that desperately desires to lay witness to your greatness!!!¡± Yuria lifted the wand high up in the skies and cried out, ¡°Ellestra!!!¡± Yuria was crying out for the supreme-rank water spirit, the Water Dragon Ellestra. With her cry, the spirit energy wandering around the magic circle fluctuated wildly and created a huge vortex of water. Undeen, the high-rank spirit of water, appeared in the form of an adult woman and protected Yuria upon her summoning. ¡°It¡­ It appeared!¡± ¡°My god! I never imagined that I would be able to see a supreme-rank spirit in my life!¡± Even elves, who lived a life longer than humans, had never seen a supreme-rank spirit before. After all, these master-rank beings were a very rare sight. The elves immediately bowed down in worship once the water droplets began to take the form of a giant water dragon. [In¡­ com¡­ pliance¡­ with¡­] Yuria¡¯s face brightened when Water Dragon Ellestra¡¯s voice, despite being garbled by some kind of noise, rang loudly in the area. Although she had not fully summoned the spirit yet, the fact that this supreme-ranked spirit had responded to her calls was already a big deal. But what did they say about accidents? That they happened during unsuspecting times, right? CH 168 ¡°We¡¯re¡­ We¡¯re in trouble!!!¡± A couple of elven guards, who were watching the area, broke inside of the ceremonial hall with urgent looks. ¡°The¡­ The corruption is crossing the barrier and approaching us quickly! We have to run!!!¡± At the elven guard¡¯s words, the elves worshiping the supreme-rank spirit jumped up with their eyes wide open. ¡°What¡­ What in the world?!¡± ¡°This place has abundant spirit energy, how can the corruption get here?!¡± As if to prove the guard¡¯s words, the vitality of the beautiful forest, which was filled with a dazzling purple light, started to fade away. At the same time, the warm air turned chilly and proved everyone¡¯s earlier words false. If Davey were to describe this, he would easily tell that the corruption was on its way here. The entire forest was being corrupted at this moment. And as the one who best knew the truth, Yuria¡¯s face turned ugly and her emotions affected her will, which was linked to the summoning of the supreme-rank spirit, Ellestra. The supreme-rank spirit¡¯s gigantic figure began to crumble and fade. ¡°Children who don¡¯t listen to their elders should be reprimanded. Besides, this is probably the result of you allowing the child with contaminated blood in her veins to live in this village for too long.¡± Search bit.ly/3iBfjkV for the original. A man walked through the crowd of flustered elves with a cold smile. Following right behind him were all of the conservative elves. However, the problems did not end there. A woman elf with a mask on her face and a blue uniform, which was different from the other elves¡¯ clothes, escorted them all while exuding a mind-numbing aura. ¡°That¡­ That uniform, don¡¯t tell me¡­¡± ¡°Ancient Guard.¡± ¡°Why is the guardian of the Divine Tree here?!¡± ¡°The rebound from the failure of summoning a supreme-rank spirit is huge. The chief is now in a critical condition. From this moment on, all authority will be transferred to the most senior elder. I, Condae, will now take over.¡± ¡°El¡­ Elder Condae. What in the world¡­?¡± The pale Yuria spoke with great difficulty. She tried her best to hold on to Ellestra¡¯s fading summons. ¡°That cursed brat, who inherited that dirty blood, had gone to the source of corruption. That¡¯s because of her useless curiosity. And then? She fell into a swamp! That¡¯s the reason why the corruption accelerated. There is no turning back now.¡± ¡°Do you think you make sense? That place is off limits! Myuu is a very smart and good kid. She listens to her elders well!¡± ¡°Then, do you think I¡¯m lying right now? Tsk, tsk. The chief does not believe the words of the elders that they should respect. This is something that I couldn¡¯t imagine when I was young.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not something that we should hear from an elder who has abandoned their honor from the very start!!!¡± Elder Condae raised his head arrogantly and said, ¡°There¡¯s nothing you can do. Give up this forest and return to the Divine Tree.¡± ¡°We¡­ We won¡¯t!¡± ¡°I am the current commanding authority! Are you telling me that you will defy my orders even if you¡¯re going to die soon?!¡± Elder Condae screamed, his anger soaring. He made everyone flinch. ¡°Just look! Just look at what happened to you after following the words of your young chief Yuria Helishana! The forest is corrupted and can no longer be revived! Your chief, who confidently declared that she would summon a supreme-rank spirit with the help of such an ugly and disgusting human, failed!¡± Feeling the chilling atmosphere, Elder Condae smirked viciously. He snapped, ¡°But that¡¯s not all. The dirty half-blood that used to follow your chief eventually finished the entire forest. If you still dare to defy me, then I will use force!¡± Condae, as if he had finally organized all of his pieces on the board, turned to look at Davey and declared, ¡°Human, you will die here. And Yuria will return to the Divine Tree. The truth is now clear.¡± ¡°Then, is it my turn to speak now?¡± Davey grinned. His hands, still on the magic circle, were very relaxed and at ease. The damn fish that had been bothering him from the very beginning finally took the bait. The fish jumped around excitedly, very confident that he would be able to break the fishing line. However, the fish did not know that the line was very tough, just like thread made from oricalchum. ¡°I recall that I made something clear when I entered this forest.¡± ¡°What¡­¡± ¡°The choice is yours and so is the responsibility for the consequences of your choices.¡± ¡®Maybe he knows?¡¯ ¡°Ah, that position is perfectly within my attacking distance.¡± Slash! After a red flash, a quick yell could be heard. At the same time, a part of Condae¡¯s hair fell down with blood dripping down his otherwise white and pristine cheek. ¡°Oh my! My hands slipped.¡± Condae widened his eyes, his pupils trembling. His mind was left completely blank from Davey¡¯s relaxed voice. Then, he hurriedly threw something out as he screamed, ¡°Kill¡­ Kill him! Kill that bastard!¡± Condae continued to scream as the bead that he threw in the air released black currents in the air. Shwaaaaaaaa! The black current took control of the entire area and suppressed the holy power and mana that was coursing through Davey¡¯s power, forcing it to change and turn into spirit mana. Spirit mana was mana that could not strengthen one¡¯s body. It could not even bring out an [Aura Blade] or even express magic. ¡°Kill¡­ Kill him quickly! The barrier will not last long!¡± With Condae¡¯s shout, the woman, who the elves called an Ancient Guard, charged at Davey. The reason why a master-rank being had a strong impact and sense of presence was because of their skilled mastery of mana. Mana and holy power could give someone plenty of abilities. However, the biggest takeaway for someone trained in the martial arts was the fact that these two powers could enhance their physical capabilities and allow them to transcend their own limits as a human. If all of these had been restricted, would a master-rank individual still be able to do something? Of course not. Condae was fully aware of that fact. That was why he took his trump card and used it to overpower Davey. In no time at all, a blue dagger appeared and stabbed straight at Davey¡¯s neck. However, instead of panicking at the woman¡¯s sudden attack, Davey smiled and said, ¡°Giving me a large amount of spirit energy and even amplifying what¡¯s around me¡­ Thank you, I¡¯ll use it well.¡± The pearl, which had been sleeping quietly inside Davey¡¯s pocket plane, appeared in the forest and shone a brilliant light. In an instant, Davey was able to grab the pearl with both hands, dragging and pressing it on his chest as he chanted the trigger spell. [Release.] The effects of the huge power¡¯s essence of the origin of existence and the root of nature, the Spirit King, was unimaginably simple. Spirit Kings had the power to forcefully take over powers and possess the body supreme-rank spirits. They also had complete power over all of the spirits. All of the spirits were equal in front of their presence. There were actually three things needed to summon a Spirit King. One, a contract with a supreme-rank spirit. Two, complete assimilation with the said supreme-rank spirit. Three, the final piece, was a pure will. [Heed my orders.] Fwiiiiish! ¡°Ugh!¡± An enormous amount of energy surged inside Davey. The woman, the Ancient Guard, who attacked Davey flew back. She was devoid of the power of the spirit, which had now been sucked inside Davey. Davey completely ignored the wide-eyed Elder Condae, who was watching the entire situation in disbelief, and turned towards the half-dead and panting Yuria. He stretched out his arm. [I command you. Halt.] As if they had turned into an incantation[1], Davey¡¯s words turned the body of Water Dragon Ellestra, who was kept at bay despite the risk, into droplets of water. Shwaaaaaa!!! The huge power from the summoning ritual lost its purpose after the interruption, scattering in all directions. Davey began to recite his words quietly, his hands reaching out once again. [I command you. Merge.] Shwaaa!!! Davey completely ignored everyone, who was watching slack jawed at the sudden turn of events. He made eye contact with Yuria, who smiled helplessly and finally let go of her hold on Ellestra¡¯s figure, something that she was keeping with all her might. The rebound immediately engulfed Yuria, forcing her to vomit mouthfuls of blood and taking her consciousness away. Despite that, a small smile still appeared on her face. Before she could completely slip away, she said, ¡°I leave¡­everything to you.¡± Elder Condae must have known by now the true meaning of the saying, ¡®Made the soup yet everything¡¯s gone to the dogs!¡¯ *** The sudden turn of events and the ritual¡¯s termination, which led to the tremendous power brewing in Davey¡¯s hands, started to devour the surroundings and left everyone at a loss. ¡°What¡­ What is this?!¡± But instead of answering everyone¡¯s questions, Davey just started to command the tremendous force that was running wild in his hands to rotate and change its property. Actually, the spirit mana that Yuria handed over was basically unnecessary. However, the thing that Davey needed from Yuria was her pure will and desire to summon a spirit. Everyone silently and blankly watched Davey lower the tremendous power in his hands on the floor and kneel down on one knee. They watched as Davey started to recite his incantation. [The One that encompasses the world below from the beginning of time.] [The solid and firm existence that upholds the covenant.] [The being that manages the flow of the earth and calms its strong turbulence.] [I beseech thee. Keep the promise that thou swore on thy name and follow the covenant.] [In the name of Davey O¡¯Rowane.] [In thy name that became the source of the earth.] [Thy name granted to thee by the Great Will.] [Gnoass.] Everyone widened their eyes even further when they heard the final word that Davey uttered. It was only natural. After all, it was obviously Yuria who had summoned the supreme-rank spirit. However, as if following the steps to a plan, she had handed over the baton to Davey. And now, a completely incomprehensible and unimaginable being was going to appear under his summoning. ¡°Gnoass?!¡± ¡°The¡­ The Spirit King?!¡± The elves¡¯ flustered voices rang out. Everyone knew that those who had not yet summoned a spirit had to start summoning and signing a contract with a low-rank spirit. This was the absolute law. They could only follow these steps slowly and gain power through a step-by-step manner. This was common sense. Yet, someone like Davey had suddenly appeared in front of them and brought out not a low-rank spirit but a mythical existence right off the bat. The elves believed that they were already lucky to have witnessed the appearance of a supreme-rank spirit for once in their lives. However, they were suddenly presented with the highest being, the source of the earth, the origin of the ground, the Earth Spirit King Gnoass. The power that a Spirit King possessed was enormous. Even if Gnoass was only newly summoned, the power that he could command right away was already comparable to the level of power that Davey had right now. That was how strong and powerful an existence Gnoass was. If someone heard what Davey was doing right now, they would call bullshit. They would claim that there was absolutely no way that Davey would succeed in summoning such an existence. That he would bleed and collapse even before the Spirit King could take its form. In fact, everyone present here thought this way. There was no other reason except that it was common sense. But¡­ Vwooooooong¡ª The great being moved excitedly, as if responding to Davey¡¯s call. It showed its tremendous presence and power, a power that made Water Dragon Ellestra, the spirit that Yuria had tried to summon and barely materialized, pale in comparison. 62. The Earth¡¯s Master, Gnoass. Unlike Yuria, who had done meticulous preparations and even had the help of a magic circle to summon a supreme-rank spirit, Davey did everything with his own hands. ¡°He¡¯s¡­ He¡¯s really going to be able to summon it?!¡± The one who was most shocked by this event was none other than Elder Condae. His eyes, which were completely trained on Davey, were filled with shock. It was like his eyes would fall out at any moment. Vwoooooooong! Finally, a huge tremor rocked the ground. The tremendous amount of spirit mana that had been stored in Davey spread and covered the entire area. Perhaps it was because the amount of spirit mana released was so tremendous that everyone present felt their skin prickle despite the energy being colorless, odorless, and intangible. Everyone held their breaths and watched Davey silently. The lumps of soil gathered in front of Davey, his spell¡¯s flow changing for a brief moment. ¡®Watch! This is the Davey-Style Spirit King Fishing method!¡¯ 1. ?? - ÑÔë‘ (¤³¤È¤À¤Þ) or kotodama, the belief that words contain mystical power. ? CH 169 Pzzzz!!! The huge balls of free energy that had spread out instantly gathered, engulfing the magic circle that slowly faded away. A new one began to take form. Shocked, everyone stared at the enormous magic circle, which was over a hundred meters wide, with wide eyes. The circle was in neither rune language nor the ancient elves¡¯ language. It was in the spirit language, the most superior language. Humans couldn¡¯t use the elves¡¯ spirit magic because they did not understand their ancient language, just like how elves could not use the spirit language¡­ Or at least, that was believed to be a known fact. However, Davey wasn¡¯t going to stop using the elven or spirit language just because it was unnecessarily complicated. Boom!! The ground shook once. [My desires are yours, and your desires are mine.] Boom!! [I crave your power, and you will yearn for my existence.] Boom!! Ending his spell, Davey slowly stood up and raised his arms while opening his eyes. Rumble!!! As he raised his arms, Davey¡¯s intense spirit mana released a huge amount of vitality into the ground and began creating a huge giant out of soil. The soil giant, over thirty meters tall, had a mind-numbing presence. * * * ¡°Wh¡­ What is?!¡± Elder Condae widened his eyes and his jaw dropped on the floor in disbelief. He couldn¡¯t believe or understand this situation at all. Elder Condae knew that Yuria Helishana had been trying to summon a supreme-rank spirit. Like the other conservative elders had said, it was clear that Yuria Helishana had an incredible gift, which was having great affinity with the water spirit, even among the High Elves. The saint of the Divine Tree, the one he served, had told him that, with her gift, Yuria might be able to successfully summon a supreme-rank spirit if she had the assistance of nature. To ensure that Yuria would fail, Elder Condae himself had planned and executed numerous obstacles for her along the way. He had done all kinds of things to prevent her from interacting and bonding with Undeen, the intermediate-rank water spirit, and to force her to summon Ellestra, the supreme-rank water spirit, without proper preparation. Then, finally when it seemed like Yuria would succeed, he did something even more drastic and passed the point of no return. Thanks to that, the corruption spread quickly in the forest, and Yuria Helishana was actually failing to fully summon Ellastra. Up to this point, everything had been going according to Elder Condae¡¯s plan. However¡­it was at that moment that the disgraceful human stepped up. He seemed to have been waiting for this very moment. He awakened the power of his strange marble and engulfed the power of the massive ancient spirit that he had created along with Yuria¡¯s power. Then, he summoned up a soil giant as if the corruption that had taken over the forest was none of his business. ¡°T¡­ The corruption¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s disappearing.¡± Elder Condae could not take his eyes off the soil giant. The nearby plants, which had been drying out, now regained their color and returned to normal. Then, while Condae froze in shock, the human who stood calmly despite having just summoned a spirit king called out, ¡°Rinne.¡± ¡°Waiting for command.¡± ¡°Get him.¡± ¡°Roger.¡± Boom!!!! Elder Condae couldn¡¯t understand their conversation, but he soon found himself pinned to the ground. He was in immense pain, unable to even scream. ¡°Rinne feels the emotional circuit rapidly overheating. Requesting permission for a strong beating. Suggesting that Rinne does it!¡± ¡°Wait.¡± Davey¡¯s eyes did not have their usual red hue. They shone with a mysterious brown glow. * * * A huge amount of Davey¡¯s spirit mana disappeared instantly. His mana, holy power, and devil mana quickly changed into spirit mana to make up for the loss, but this wasn¡¯t an ideal situation. Davey couldn¡¯t help but frown in disappointment as he watched the soil giant. He muttered, ¡°Seriously, the fuel efficiency is terrible.¡± However, Davey kept moving toward his original goal. He had come here to make a contract with a spirit, as well as to live up to his end of the deal that he had made with the Goddess of Wine Freyja. He said, ¡°I request a contract.¡± [The pure scent of an elf. But you are different; no pure yearning, and you have not merged completely with a supreme-rank spirit either. You tricked me.] One could only summon a higher spirit upon fully merging with those in the lower ranks. This was a requirement, because the higher-ranks wanted to see if the person was good enough to make a contract with them. There were three requirements to summon a Spirit King. To fulfill them, Davey had borrowed Yuria¡¯s pure will, and his spirit language and abundant spirit mana had made it seem like he had merged with a supreme-rank spirit. ¡°It¡¯s your fault for getting tricked. Don¡¯t think about running away. This magic circle is infamous among the Spirit Kings, no?¡± Davey said. He was aware that the spirit world was not confined to Tionis. [The damn elementalist¡¯s¡­ She is not a being of this world¡­ How do you know this nasty magic circle?] ¡°You know her?¡± [How could I forget? I am the person she made a contract with.] ¡°Huh, what a coincidence! Well, that¡¯s good to know, because I¡¯m her student.¡± [One demon has raised another! Damn it!] ¡°Ah, I don¡¯t care! So, are you going to do it or not?¡± [If you are her student, do I have a choice? Can I even refuse?] ¡°Of course¡­¡± Davey trailed off before saying with a sneer, ¡°Not. You will never be able to go back if you don¡¯t make a contract.¡± The soil giant appeared to frown at Davey¡¯s brazen request. [Damn fraud. I¡­accept your contract. It is reprehensible that you tricked me, but I am the one who got tricked.] Each Spirit King required rather similar things, which only had slight differences differing from one Spirit King to the next. Then, how did Yuriana, the elementalist, summon thirteen Spirit Kings? It was fraud, in a way. [Speak, contractor. I will grant your wish.] ¡°This is my first request.¡± [I accept.] ¡°I want the removal of the enemies.¡± The Ancient Guard who was going to attack Davey stared at him with wide eyes. Besides Condae, who had already been subdued, there was only one other enemy that Davey had to deal with. ¡°Aak?!¡± The Ancient Guard hurriedly tried to get away from Davey by instinctively releasing her spirit powers. She tried to fight back by conjuring up a spirit arrow, but she was only contracted with a high-rank spirit. Her spirit attacks were meaningless against a Spirit King, a being who was two ranks higher and was the very origin of spirits. Ultimately, the place they had chosen to hang Davey to dry had actually come back to bite them in the butt instead. The Earth moved to grab the fleeing woman like it was alive, then crushed her into the ground. Then, the Spirit King¡¯s overwhelming anger pierced into her. The power shown was much stronger than what Davey had expected; perhaps it contained the anger of having been tricked by him. Boom!!!! The Earth shook with a huge explosion, and the woman who was punched by Spirit King Gnoass slammed against the ground helplessly. She couldn¡¯t fight back at all. It only took a few seconds for an elf like her to turn into a meat pancake like they had been crushed by a hydraulic press. It was quite grotesque, but Gnoass didn¡¯t stop there. He moved the ground and swallowed the elf up. Unless they had something special planned, even an advanced elementalist couldn¡¯t endure a Spirit King¡¯s attack. Davey lost interest in the Ancient Guard, who had only been there for a short while. He said, ¡°I give my second request: the purification of all the corruption in this forest.¡± [The odor of corruption¡­ It¡¯s disgusting. All right, I accept.] ¡°And, there should have been a will of an elf when I summoned you. Take care of the curse and rebound upon her. You can do that, right?¡± A spirit curse was different from curses cast with holy power or dark magic. It was only breakable by another spirit. [The curse of the World Tree¡­] Davey heard Gnoass, the soil giant, sigh when no one else could hear him. [The Divine Tree must be insane.] ¡°I think it is out of its mind as well,¡± Davey mumbled. A huge pile of spoil began to swallow Yuria up. It looked like she was being buried alive, but no one else could easily speak up. They were probably frozen in fright from the Spirit King¡¯s presence. After all, it was not a high-rank or supreme-rank, but the Spirit King Gnoass. The effect he had was enough to leave the elves in awe. Grrr!!! After some time, Yuria fully emerged from the soil. She was still unconscious, lying on the ground, but she looked much better than before. The Spirit King¡¯s natural power had instantly untangled the power of the spirit that was tangled inside her. Then, Gnoass curled up like he was following Davey¡¯s will and slowly dug his hand into the ground. At the same time, Davey released a large amount of mana that Gnoass quickly absorbed. The Spirit King was starting to purify the entire forest and not just the surroundings. Davey could handle the required mana of a Spirit King, but he could still feel that even the smallest movements took a lot of mana out of him. He knew that Gnoass, who was pissed at him, was overdoing it and excessively taking his power. To be able to take the Spirit King¡¯s tantrums¡­ ¡°I should probably get my mana to the 9th circle.¡± The first summoning of a spirit required a lot of mana. Davey could barely breathe as the Spirit King drew on his strength excessively on purpose. As Davey picked Yuria up from the ground as he complained, she slowly opened her eyes and stared at him. She couldn¡¯t focus on him at all, glancing over at the soil giant boasting his presence. With a faint smile, she asked, ¡°Gnoass, the Earth Spirit King¡­ You¡­really succeeded?¡± ¡°Amazing, right? You can¡¯t see this kind of stuff anywhere.¡± ¡®Do you think it¡¯s easy to catch a Spirit King in your life?!¡¯ ¡°Ha¡­ You are just unbelievable, boss¡­¡± ¡°I told you I was going to summon him.¡± ¡°Well, half the things you¡¯ve told me are ridiculous stories, boss. How could I believe you?¡± Yuria coughed, but she still had a faint smile on her face. ¡°Even though Gnoass neutralized the rebound, you won¡¯t be able to summon spirits for a while.¡± ¡°I was prepared for that. What about the corruption of the forest¡­?¡± ¡°See for yourself.¡± When Davey gestured over to the forest, Yuria noticed that the dull forest was coming back to life. Feeling relieved, she murmured, ¡°How can I ever repay you¡­?¡± ¡°Stay awake. This is the important part.¡± Davey had achieved both his goals; he had successfully made a contract with a spirit and he had purified the Great Forest. The only thing left was an additional source of money. Yuria nodded and got up, asking, ¡°Do you have the proper evidence?¡± We are bit.ly/3iBfjkV, find us on google. ¡°Rinne has a lot of functions.¡± Davey looked at Rinne, who silently stood with the little half-elf on her back, and the Megatron, which had pinned Elder Condae to the ground. Rinne¡¯s hostility made her seem like she was about to pull out her chainsaw and behead Condae, even though she had no ego. That was because of the disgust she felt. Conade probably thought Myuu had died from the forest¡¯s sudden acceleration of corruption, but Davey wasn¡¯t terrible enough to let a girl who had befriended him die. ¡°Ah¡­ Ah¡­ This is all a lie.¡± ¡°Be quiet, Elder Condae,¡± Yuria said. ¡°This is all a lie!!! How could a mere human¡­!!¡± Elder Condae screamed so loudly that he was practically spitting. ¡°Tell me! How could a human summon a spirit and not you?! And a Spirit King! How is this possible!¡± ¡°There¡¯s something more absurd than that.¡± Speaking coldly, Yuria left Davey¡¯s arms. Then, she approached Elder Condae while speaking to a shocked elf standing near her. ¡°Millia, my friend. Give me the bow.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Oh? Lady Yuria?¡± ¡°Hurry.¡± Milla, the elf guard who had been staring into space, was unable to comprehend the situation and the calm yet cold atmosphere. She handed over her bow. Yuria took the bow indifferently, then loaded an arrow and pointed it at Condae. She declared, ¡°Elder Condae. Do you admit to accelerating the forest¡¯s corruption for the purpose of fulfilling the Divine Tree¡¯s orders and throwing out a child who should be protected into the origin of the corruption?¡± Everyone went pale. ¡°L¡­ Lady Yuria! What is this?!¡± Ignoring the flustered elves, Yuria stared straight at Elder Condae. She was not speaking with respect, but with condescension. ¡°Speak! Elder Condae.¡± ¡°¡­Nonsense! Why would I do such a thing! This is a conspiracy! This cannot happen! You know, this kind of thing couldn¡¯t have happened in my days¡­ Keugh?!¡± Condae, who was screaming in fury, collapsed with a scream. Rinne had kicked him in the head with her bare feet. ¡°Rinne has excellent recording abilities.¡± After speaking calmly, Rinne¡¯s blue eyes shone. Whoosh!! At the same time, the light from her eyes projected into space and began playing a video like a beam projector. CH 170 The video was a little dark at first, but it slowly brightened up to reveal a male elf who held an unconscious little child next to him. [Elder Condae, we have secured Myuu.] [Good work. Everyone will return to their places now. Even Yuria Helishana will not be able to successfully summon a spirit when the entire forest is corrupt.] The elf speaking in the video with a creepy smile was Elder Condae. [But, sir¡­ Using this child even if she''s half¡­] [Ahem, are you not going to obey me? Tsk tsk, these youngsters¡­ That kind of insubordination would not have happened back in my day. You do as you are told; defy me and face the consequences right away.] [¡­Understood.] [Haha, don¡¯t forget that my will is also the will of the World Tree and the Saint of the Divine Tree.] It was ridiculous seeing an ass draped in a lion¡¯s skin. [U¡­ Understood.] The young elf who was frowning in shock stared at the sleeping little girl, Myuu, whom Elder Condae was holding onto. [If you want to blame someone, blame Lady Yuria, the one who defied the will of the World Tree and the Saint.] Then, the video showed Elder Condae throwing Myuu into the middle of the swamp, the origin of corruption. Clearly, Elder Condae had snuck back here like he knew nothing when he was the one who had accelerated the corruption in the forest. ¡°E¡­ Elder Condae. What is¡­¡± ¡°Th¡ªThis is...¡± When all the other elves looked at him in shock, Elder Condae became flustered. He did not know what to do. ¡°Sir Davey, do you think Rinne¡¯s cinema is excellent?¡± ¡°Sure, excellent.¡± ¡°Requesting more compliments.¡± Rinne put her hands on her waist and puffed up her flat chest with a bright expression. As Rinne confidently asked for more compliments, Davey smiled and said, ¡°Sure, good job.¡± ¡°Re¡­ Requesting more compliments! Requesting for materialistic compliments!¡± ¡°Stop it.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± Rinne clicked her tongue, then glared at Condae. Yuria said coldly, ¡°Do you have anything more to say? Disgusting traitor.¡± Although Condae always made a big fuss about getting rid of Myuu, it was a completely different story now. He had actually thrown a child, who was with abundant life energy, into the origin of corruption to accelerate it. In response to Yuria, Elder Condae shouted back in feigned disbelief, ¡°H¡­ How could I! This is a conspiracy! It is a conspiracy! How dare someone conspire against an elder¡­ Keugh?!¡± However, Condae¡¯s punishment came quickly. An arrow pierced his shoulder in an instant. ¡°If Rinne did not go and rescue Myuu after you left her like that, she would be dead. Do you understand?!¡± Yuria shouted at Condae furiously. Elder Condae remained silent. Then, he looked around and glanced at the other elves, who all stared back in shock. They looked at him like they knew he would do this kind of thing. Some even looked at him with criticism, as if they were saying that he had gone too far. ¡°This is too¡­¡± ¡°How could you do this kind of thing, Elder Condae?¡± At last, Elder Condae gave up pretending and screamed in fury, ¡°This is all because of you! If you did not defy the will of the World Tree, none of this would have even happened!! You betrayed and disobeyed the World Tree!¡± ¡°So?¡± We are bit.ly/3iBfjkV, find us on google. ¡°You are the real problem! Because you rejected the will of the World Tree!¡± Listening to Elder Condae desperately shouting, Yuria smiled brightly. ¡°I¡¯m glad you mentioned it. This is the World Tree¡¯s will, right?¡± After saying that calmly, Yuria declared freely, ¡°Then, the residents of the Moon Forest will no longer acknowledge the World Tree. We will reject all the useless, long-held customs of the World Tree.¡± Yuria was declaring independence. In a way, this was a declaration of war; perhaps she remembered Davey telling her that he would protect her even if she became enemies with the World Tree. Davey couldn¡¯t help but laugh at Yuria¡¯s bold and feisty decision. * * * ¡°Do¡­you know the meaning of what you¡¯ve just said?¡± Elder Condae asked with his jaw clenched. ¡°Oh, why wouldn¡¯t I know?¡± Yuria replied. ¡°Are you saying you are going to ignore the three-hundred-year-old tradition and join forces with that disgusting and lowly being?! You¡¯re betraying us divine elves?!¡± ¡°Condae! Get it right.¡± Even forgetting the honorifics, Yuria glared at the elder elf coldly and said, ¡°We are not the ones who betrayed the elves. It is you and the World Tree.¡± The elves¡¯ oldest tradition was to protect adolescent elves, whether they were half or full elves; the young ones who had elf blood and lived in the village had to be protected without discrimination. Condae became quiet at Yuria¡¯s cold criticism. ¡°What did Myuu do wrong? What did she do to you? That child lived alone because she had no friends.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°That little girl was so lonely that she turned to humans, the people she should be most wary of, and offered to show them the treasure first. Do you have any idea how that must have felt?¡± Listening to what Yuria had to say, some of the elves lowered their heads; they also knew that they were partly at fault for abandoning Myuu. ¡°She was so lonely that she went to spirit beasts, who couldn¡¯t even understand her, and boasted about making friends with those who weren¡¯t even elves. She did that for hours. Then, she personally took them to her house and showed them the treasure that she said she wouldn¡¯t show anyone! So¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Do you think you have the right to call other kinds disgusting and selfish?¡± Whether it was elves or humans, all intelligent beings had their own thoughts and ideologies; some were kind while others were evil. It was just that elves had become rotten from their self-love and from being closed-off for too long. ¡°E¡ªEverything is according to the elves¡¯ law¡­¡± Condae said. ¡°If this is the elves¡¯ law, I will no longer remain an elf or a High Elf priest.¡± Yuria¡¯s statement was shocking, but no one could say anything in retaliation. ¡°If this is true¡­¡± ¡°This is crossing the line, even if it is the World Tree.¡± ¡°What are we¡­?¡± The elves who were in self-hate, loss, and shock could not easily escape their state of panic. ¡°Soon, this Moon Forest will not be under the World Tree. This forest will work closely with Prince Davey, a human, and the Heins Territory. Furthermore, it will be a relationship grounded upon freedom and understanding. Is anyone against this?¡± Everyone shook their heads when Yuria asked firmly. ¡°I will follow your decision, Lady Yuria.¡± ¡°Damn it¡­ It¡¯s almost humiliating to be an elf!¡± ¡°This is unbelievable. I endured when we were driving out that little child, but this is¡­¡± Then, the elves¡¯ eyes reddened as they stared at Myuu, who was on Rinne¡¯s back. ¡°We are proud elves! We have followed you here because we didn¡¯t like the ones who are obsessed over tradition! If the World Tree cannot even see its own problems because of its void of self-love, I¡¯d rather join hands with humans!¡± ¡°I will, too!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! Who can we trust if we can¡¯t even trust the one who can summon a Spirit King?!¡± The elves had a strange custom of trusting people based on one¡¯s art in spirit magic. They began shouting one by one until almost all the elves eventually agreed with Yuria. They were choosing to trust in Yuria and making this decision on their own after facing reality. This was the kind of freedom she wanted to give this forest¡¯s residents. ¡ªThe girl is much more outstanding than I thought. I wonder if she knows that she would have lost her life if she just messed up a little bit. While listening to Perserque, Davey put his fingers on Myuu¡¯s neck. He commented, ¡°Her life energy is gone.¡± ¡°Rinne acknowledges the mistakes. Analyzing that lots of life energy was drained even with a fast rescue.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, she will recover if she receives healing magic and eats and rests well.¡± Davey felt guilty, because both Yuria and himself had used Myuu. This child might grow up and hate him after remembering this incident. ¡°I can¡¯t¡­look at Myuu anymore,¡± Yuria mumbled depressingly as if she knew that possibility as well. Her red eyes had tears which threatened to fall at any minute. ¡°I had to ignore her until we got rid of the traitors, even though I knew it was dangerous.¡± Yuria approached Davey, who was casting a recovery magic spell on Myuu with a little holy power, and hugged Myyu. She murmured, ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ Myuu, I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± ¡°Hm¡­¡± At the same time, Myuu moved a little and opened her eyes after regaining consciousness from the magic spell. While recovering her life energy, she glanced at Yuria and was confused. She asked softly, ¡°Hm¡­ Why are you crying¡­?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Myuu, I¡¯m sorry¡­ I am so sorry. I knew you were going to be in danger¡­ But I¡­ I ended up pulling you into this dirty fight for power,¡± Yuria replied tearfully. Myuu began tearing up as Yuria began to sob, then hugged and patted her on the back. She said, ¡°Mm¡­ Mm, don¡¯t cry, sis. You always comforted me and patted me on the back when I cried. And that made the tears go right back inside.¡± ¡°Myuu¡­¡± ¡°Myuu really likes you, sis.¡± Yuria sobbed loudly and held Myuu in her arms as the child smiled brightly. Davey silently looked away and noticed the Demon Lord was quietly looking at them with reddened eyes. He thought, ¡®Man, you are emotional.¡¯ ¡ªYour emotions are just dried up. ¡®Well, I don¡¯t feel good either.¡¯ Sighing, Davey stared at Spirit King Gnoass who was purifying the forest while boasting his huge presence. Then, he called Myuu, ¡°Myuu.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Uncle?¡± ¡°Myuu, you said you wanted to see Gnoass, right?¡± Myuu wiped her tears and nodded. ¡°Do you want to see him very much?¡± ¡°Yeah. Gnoass! Is Gnoass going to be friends with Myuu, too?¡± As Myuu asked that question with an innocent face, Davey silently stared at the supreme Earth Spirit King Gnoass. He thought of forcing him to listen if he was going to reject. However, it seemed like his concerns were unnecessary. [An innocent soul. Very clean. The Earth always welcomes innocent souls.] ¡®This damn pedophile¡­¡¯ ¡°Gnoass says he wants to be friends as well. Anyways, you, stop moving so much. Your movements cost too much mana.¡± Everyone stared at Davey in shock and bewilderment as they heard him say that to Gnoass. An elementalist was complaining to the Spirit King to not move unnecessarily since his fuel efficiency wasn¡¯t good. The others were even more shocked because it wasn¡¯t a regular spirit, but the Spirit King. [I refuse, contractor. I know very well about exaggeration. Contractor, there is no way you cannot tolerate my power when I can be physically summoned.] ¡°Yay!!¡± Myuu, who was jumping up and down in joy, let out a gasp in surprise when she saw Gonass, the huge soil giant who was in front of her. ¡°Woah¡­ So big! Su~uper big!¡± As Myuu ran over and tapped on Gnoass¡¯ huge foot in delight, Gnoass began moving his other hand with one still dug into the ground. Then, he slowly picked Myuu up onto his shoulder and began moving. ¡®This guy, I told him to stop moving like that.¡¯ At Davey¡¯s annoying gaze, Gnoass moved more actively and made Myuu even more delighted. Looking at it like this, the spirit looked like a grandfather giving a piggyback to his grandchild. CH 171 [First contractor, your wishes have been granted.] Gnoass was talking about the purification of the forest. The amount of corruption was so vast that it would have taken a supreme-rank spirit days or even months to get rid of. However, a Spirit King, who was called nature itself, had the power to revert everything back to normal in a shorter period of time. ¡°Good work, Gnoass. Maybe you should appear in a smaller size next time. My neck¡¯s hurting from how big you are.¡± [You have never summoned a spirit before, but you still called upon me.] In fact, Davey could call upon the Spirit King without the usual sequential summoning method because of one reason. He explained, ¡°It¡¯s because of the Spirit King¡¯s essence that your original contractor, the elementalist, had made for me.¡± [Are you telling me she really made the thing she used to just joke about?] Well, technically, the Spirit King¡¯s essence was made in the Hall after she had died, but it seemed beneficial to not tell Gnoass that Yuriana, the elementalist, was still alive as a soul. Bypassing the entire process of going through the low-rank, intermediate-rank, and then high-rank spirits was impossible, even for Davey. Due to that reason, he had used the pearl with the Spirit King¡¯s power. Classified as a transcendental-level object, the existence of the Spirit King¡¯s essence itself had a huge effect although it was consumable. It could ignore any kind of limitations and summon a supreme-rank spirit to make a contract with them. The spirit Davey had contracted with was Gnoeanenn. It would have taken him a while to merge with it, but he was able to call upon the superior Spirit King if he tricked them. Although, the required power by all of this was up to Davey. Of course, knowing the truth didn¡¯t change the fact that it was shocking and hard to believe. ¡°It¡¯s truly the Spirit King¡­ I still cannot believe it. I never thought I was going to see a Spirit King in my life¡­¡± Yuria said. ¡°I told you. It¡¯s that kind of object.¡± ¡°The world would go wild if they knew that something like that existed.¡± Davey smiled bitterly. He thought it a good idea to hide the fact that he still had twelve more essences of Spirit Kings in his Pocket Plane, since it would allow one to easily summon for the Spirit King if it wasn¡¯t in a corrupt forest. * * * This was the summoning of a Spirit King and not a supreme-rank spirit. The conservatives¡¯ short uprising was subdued in an instant. There was no way they still had the will to fight when the Ancient Guard had been lost after being killed by a single shot. ¡°Gracious Savior.¡± The dwarves called Davey ¡®Wise Teacher¡¯, and now the elves were calling him ¡®Gracious Savior¡¯¡­ We are bit.ly/3iBfjkV, find us on google. Sitting on the tree stump in the quiet forest where Myuu¡¯s house was, Yuria pulled out a small marble and showed it to Davey. It was the marble that Elder Condae had used to suppress Davey. ¡°It is a pearl of a nameless ancient spirit that has the power to transform all other kinds of power into spirit mana. I never thought he had something like this¡­¡± Unable to hide her bewilderment, Yuria sighed. ¡°He probably had this to weaken you.¡± ¡°Probably.¡± Most power, including mana and holy power, would be forced to change into spirit mana once the pearl was activated. Of course, it wouldn¡¯t have had much of an effect on Davey even without the Spirit King, but it was something that would¡¯ve had a serious effect on an ordinary Swordmaster. As Davey quietly released mana into the pearl Yuria just handed to him, it began to lightly vibrate. Although it had been used, it vibrated like it was alive. Then, someone¡¯s voice momentarily pierced straight through his brain. [Chaos!! Destruction!! Hopelessness! Kehehehehe!!! Cough cough! Pahahahah!] ¡°¡­¡± Quickly throwing the pearl onto the table, Davey clicked his tongue. ¡®Of course, it wasn¡¯t just Yuriana¡¯s spirits that have a crappy personality.¡¯ ¡°How well do you know about the different spirit types?¡± Davey asked Yuria. ¡°Types? Aren¡¯t there just the Six Spirits? The four basic types, and then the spirit of light and darkness. Not to brag, but I am contracted to the Light spirit and Undeen, the high-rank water spirit.¡± ¡°Chaos,¡± Davey mumbled quietly. ¡°Cha¡­os?? Yuria asked. ¡°It¡¯s a pearl containing the high-rank spirit pandemonium, Chaos. I don''t know what lunatic sealed him in there, but this object sealed the spirit alive.¡± ¡°A spirit of chaos¡­ How could such a spirit¡­¡± The high-rank spirit of pandemonium, Chaos, had a simple ability. This oddball spirit changed all the power surrounding him into his own. ¡°There are thirteen kinds of spirits. Didn¡¯t know that, right?¡± ¡°Oh my¡­ That is also shocking knowledge. I¡¯ve never heard of such a thing, even in the ancient books.¡± Yuria picked up the pearl with wide eyes. Since she couldn¡¯t hear the crazy voice from inside, it was probably better for her to have it than Davey. ¡°You keep it. Until we can free that lunatic in there.¡± ¡°L¡­Lunatic?¡± ¡°If you gain the ability to summon a supreme-rank spirit, you will be able to hear him. You¡¯ll see why I called him a lunatic.¡± Yuria fell into deep thought, then nodded. ¡°I guess I really declared war on the World Tree.¡± Yuria chuckled, then said, ¡°You¡¯re going to protect us, right?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see.¡± Yuria smiled in satisfaction as Davey joked around. She said firmly, ¡°I will do my best to serve you, so I won¡¯t disappoint you.¡± ¡®I don¡¯t know about anyone else, but I am yours,¡¯ Yuria mumbled very quietly, but Davey heard it clearly. ¡®Sorry, but it¡¯s easy for me to release that kind of force even without the Spirit King.¡¯ Sometimes, ignorance truly was bliss. * * * Shwaa¡­ The forest regained its original beauty after the corruption had disappeared. The spirit beasts wandering the silent fields were surprised by the human activity and disappeared. A woman wearing a blue uniform appeared out in the field. She slowly put her hands together to cast a hand seal, then quietly muttered a spell in ancient elf language. [La Prushella.] Soon, a small hologram slowly appeared in front of her eyes. ¡°I meet the Mother of the First Tree.¡± ¡°Hm. Did your mission go well?¡± Upon hearing the woman¡¯s relaxed and benevolent voice, the elves bowed their heads even more. They said solemnly, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. We failed the mission. And¡­Mira¡¯s dead.¡± ¡°Dead?¡± The holographic woman¡¯s eyebrow twitched. ¡°We did not expect it at all; the human had set a trap. We blindly trusted the Ancient Spirit Pearl that Elder Condae used, but the human controlled its power and summoned a Spirit King,¡± the woman in the blue uniform reported. The faint image of the woman in the hologram chuckled. ¡°Ha¡­ Haha. That¡¯s quite a scene. I didn¡¯t know that what I saw would be true.¡± ¡°What did you see?¡± The woman in blue asked. ¡°Never mind, I saw a monster whose existence cannot be explained by logic. Well, it is a relief that you came back alive. It seems like he did not notice you.¡± ¡°My apologies. I think he already knew, but let me go.¡± There was nothing but silence after the woman¡¯s report. ¡°How dare he test me¡­¡± The woman in the hologram shook her head as the woman in blue lowered her head. The holographic woman then added, ¡°Come back into Mother¡¯s arms. We must leave them be for a while.¡± ¡°You are not going to form an additional slaughtering squad?¡± ¡°A runaway daughter is bound to return to her parents. She will learn someday that she¡¯s in the palm of my hand.¡± ¡°I will not forget that, World Tree,¡± the woman in the blue uniform quietly replied, then slowly rose. However, the two people did not know that the person who was listening in on their conversation had turned away without hesitation as well. * * * The dwarves called Davey ¡®Wise Teacher¡¯, but the elves were calling him something different. ¡°Gracious Savior! This is a call a fruit. It is our forest¡¯s specialty. My mother wanted me to give this to you¡­¡± ¡°Oh, you didn¡¯t have to.¡± As Davey laughed exaggeratedly and pretended like he didn¡¯t care, the young elf boy sheepishly scratched the back of his head. He said, ¡°Elves¡­ No, the residents of the Moon Forest do not forget our debts. Even more so if it is someone who rescued Lady Yuria.¡± ¡°We heard everything from Lady Yuria. The person who corrupted this forest all this time was¡­¡± One of the male elves grit his teeth with reddened eyes. The way Elder Condae and the conservatives had accelerated the corruption was simple: he had kidnapped elves, disguising it as an accident or that they had gone missing, and had thrown them in the origin of corruption while they had been still alive or barely dead. ¡°They said my daughter lost her life after running into a monster in the forest. My daughter was close to the age of marriage, and just seeing her brought me joy.¡± But that never happened; she had been killed because of the dark greed of Elder Condae and the World Tree. ¡°I just wanted to apologize for not trusting you just because you are human when I didn¡¯t know you. And¡­thank you for helping us weak elves to take revenge on our enemies.¡± ¡°Ah, I didn¡¯t do anything! You got the wrong person,¡± Davey said. ¡°Haha, I didn¡¯t know you would be this humble. The story that humans are all disgusting and selfish beings seems to be completely false.¡± ¡®It¡¯s true,¡¯ Davey thought. ¡°However, we heard that we would have all died if you didn¡¯t help us, Gracious Savior.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. We heard that they were planning on killing all of us after taking Lady Yuria to the Divine Tree. They said that the elves who defied tradition¡­were worthy of death.¡± Davey had gained four things from Elder Condae¡¯s overstep. The elder elf had been very hostile, but had ended up going to jail after giving Davey his everything. Oh, Elder Condae, was just amazing¡­ The debate about how to punish Elder Condae, who had completely lost his will to fight and was locked up in jail, and the radical conservative elves who had contributed to the corruption raised some commotion for a while. The elves who found out their families had been wrongfully sacrificed begged for their revenge to be taken, and most of the others agreed with them, saying that they shouldn¡¯t let the people who had tried to kill them and had betrayed the forest be alive. However, Yuria could not easily make that decision. ¡°What are you thinking about? Just kill all of them,¡± sipping slime tea, Davey said to Yuria indifferently. Yuria was sitting on the tree stump in the small garden on the outskirts of the village where there was a tree hole big enough for a little child to live in. This was Myuu¡¯s home before she moved to the main village. She muttered, ¡°I¡¯m just a little sad.¡± ¡°Geez.¡± Davey was confident that he would give a firm suggestion. He said, ¡°You are able to show mercy when you¡¯re not in a tight position. Will you simply let yourself be stabbed to death without fighting back if the forest was invaded because you want to be the bigger person?¡± Giving illogical lunatics a second chance was just giving them a second chance to do the exact same thing. In fact, Condae, who was tied up and unwilling to fight back, just repeated one thing over and over. ¡®I did nothing wrong. It¡¯s all a sacrifice for the greater good!¡¯ ¡°I will follow if you say so, Gracious Savior.¡± Yuria was the forest¡¯s leader, but she and the residents of the forest had become residents of the Heins Territory. As such, it seemed like she was trying to consider Davey¡¯s opinions as much as possible. ¡°I like that you are giving me your everything, but don¡¯t forget what you asked for.¡± Yuris stared at Davey in surprise. They had asked for a life that was free and a relationship built on logic. ¡°You have become residents of the Heins, not slaves.¡± ¡°Then, we can exile them¡­¡± ¡°Kill them.¡± ¡°Oh my, so straightforward. All right.¡± Davey couldn¡¯t help but sigh when Yuria agreed so easily. What was wrong was wrong, end of story. He further explained, ¡°Leading by getting your followers to fear you is dangerous, but your roots will be unstable if you lead while accepting everything without establishing any basic rules.¡± ¡°That is¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s proven by history. Remember that the position of a leader is nasty; sometimes you have to be mean and fierce.¡± ¡®And that is why I kicked out the Rowane Kingdom¡¯s king.¡¯ History showed the reason why the kings of Joseon, Korea¡¯s past era, had been all so short-lived. Yuria sighed. ¡°You¡¯re right. Maybe I was being a childish fool in front of you, even though you¡¯re probably much younger than me.¡± Well, Davey was probably older in terms of soul age. ¡°Anyway, what should we do about the barrier? The one that you shattered?¡± Yuria asked as she stroked Myuu¡¯s cheek with a bright smile as the child slept in her arms. ¡°You¡¯re going to take care of it?¡± The way that a beautiful elf was asking Davey to take care of matters while cradling a sleeping little girl who was sucking on her thumb¡­ CH 172 ¡®This¡­ This feels almost immoral.¡¯ ¡ªHow could you think of something like that? You libertine. Why are you like that when you don¡¯t even touch the girls who like you? Looking at Perserque¡¯s wicked smile, Davey slowly made a fist with his hand and punched the empty space. Crackk! The empty void shattered before he pulled out a strange-looking dark brown staff. ¡°Just wait, I¡¯ll set up something incredibly spectacular.¡± ¡®Then, I¡¯ll set up a portal connecting the Heins Territory and the elf village.¡¯ It was time for Davey to make an independent transportation portal, one that he had planned in the dwarf village. No one could interfere with his portal. ¡ªTh¡­ That¡¯s¡­?! When she saw the big staff that Davey had pulled out, Perserque screamed with sparkling eyes. Davey hadn¡¯t felt this comfortable grip in a while; he couldn¡¯t help but feel a little happy at the somewhat familiar feeling. He had thought of this before, and it would be nice to test it out in a smaller place than the Heins Territory before actually setting one up there. ¡°Sorry, but I¡¯m not making a barrier that will completely block contact. I will put up something else instead. What do you want? Do you want a big magic defense that can withstand a meteor once, or maybe a saint sanctuary to constantly fill this place with life?¡± Premium options were expensive. ¡°Pardon?¡± Yuria was confused by Davey¡¯s question. ¡°Well, if you don¡¯t want that, do you want a barrier powered by spirit mana that reflects physical attacks?¡± Since the elves were his territory¡¯s residents now, Davey was going to take care of them. Yuria looked puzzled at the choices Davey was laying out for her. She asked, ¡°Um¡­ Did I mishear you?¡± ¡°You heard me right. Make a choice. Whatever it is, I¡¯ll set it up today. I have to make a transportation portal connecting this forest and the Heins Territory quickly.¡± ¡°I¡­ have¡­ a¡­ a meet¡ª¡± Almost running away from Davey, Yuria disappeared into the forest quickly. * * * At last, Yuria compromised and asked for a barrier that could protect the forest in many ways. The elves could not take their eyes off of Davey, as if thoroughly fascinated by him. They were also curious, wondering if such an unbelievable barrier could even be created. ¡ªHe¡­ Giggle. Look at this beauty. How can it be this gorgeous? This was what losing face looked like. ¡°¡­¡± Honestly, Davey was fully focused on something else than the elves who watched him doubtfully. ¡ªOh my¡­ The body made of adamantium, the engraving of the orichalcum¡¯s symbol, finished with the bones of an ancient dragon and pure-mithril (extremely pure mithril), and coated with the Elixir (The Teardrop of God)! The culprit grabbing all of Davey¡¯s attention was glued to the staff that he held onto. It was Perserque, who had an intense and creepy smile. Her eyes looked like they could shoot lasers out of them. ¡ªDavey! Tell me! What kind of magic did you put in here? [Meteor]? [Hellfire]? Or maybe¡­ Is there something like the multidimensional atomic division magic that is only theoretically possible?! What could Davey have hidden? As she kept asking questions, the former Demon Lord rubbed her cheeks against the staff shamelessly. ¡®You¡¯re going to drool on it. That¡¯s expensive, man.¡¯ ¡ªSlurp. I¡­ It¡¯s the first time I¡¯m seeing something like this! The Transcendence¡¯s Demise¡­ What a great name. Davey! ¡®No, I don¡¯t want it. Stop it.¡¯ That phrase wasn¡¯t only restricted to Red and Blue Ribbon. ¡ªYou can¡¯t even let me borrow it for a while? So mean! So stingy! You are the first man who is making me beg! When Davey shook the staff, Perserque, who was whining like a child and throwing a tantrum, screamed. She could no longer hold onto the staff and fell off. ¡®Why are you so greedy when you can¡¯t even touch it?¡¯ ¡ªNo! A little bit of my soul is left! I have slight control over some objects, so one day! I will be able to borrow it! Perserque backed off with a pout and looked at the staff in yearning. The staff was called the Transcendence¡¯s Demise; it used to belong to Odin, who had been Davey¡¯s magic teacher, but it was his now. Odin had been the best mage in the Atrellia continent and called the God of Mages. It was a little odd that Odin had given Davey his most treasured item before Davey left, but Davey planned to use it well now that it belonged to him. Using magic with this crazy staff was incredibly addictive, like a drug. At last, the Transcendence¡¯s Demise, the ego-less but living staff capable of instantly reading, saving, and utilizing his mana, began reacting in a familiar way. The heart of a dragon more superior than an ancient dragon had been put inside the staff. From within the regular magic crystal, it vibrated, as if eager to release its power. ¡°Uh¡­ Gracious Savior? Don¡¯t you have to create and leave magic circles at the corners and the middle to make a barrier?¡± Yuria asked. Davey nodded in response. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Yuria had mentioned the conventional way, which Davey could have used as well. ¡°The point is to cover this entire forest, right?¡± As Davey slightly raised the Transcendence¡¯s Demise, which resonated while remaining connected to him, up into the air before letting go, the large staff defied gravity by floating up and began spinning around. ¡°Okay, good.¡± Speaking calmly, Davey stretched out his hands and clapped lightly. [8th circle] [Space magic] [Custom Space] This spell gave the caster a certain set of rules according to their mastery of mana: the vast, quick, and accurate computational power and a large amount of mana. Normally, a custom space was for mages to create rules to reinforce their magic in a small space and bombard attacks in a short amount of time. This stupidly strong spell had barely been used since the continent¡¯s sage was at the 7th circle, but this did not apply to Davey. [Attack Absorption] [Grand Magic Protection] [Great Illusion] Davey used illusionary magic to prevent invaders from interrupting the process and created the barrier with near-perfect physical and magic resistance. He then released his hand seal and muttered quietly, ¡°Gnoass.¡± Boom¡­ Boom!! Then, the Spirit King was summoned. A large presence began to take form in front of Davey before the giant of the Earth appeared in this forest once again. Some may think that Davey was overworking a Spirit King, but he had no intentions of leaving the spirit he had made a contract with to just relax, even if the spirit was a king. ¡®He has to work since he has taken my hard-earned spirit mana.¡¯ ¡°Hup!¡± ¡°T¡­ The Spirit King has been summoned again.¡± Ignoring the elves¡¯ whispers about how unbelievable the sight was no matter how many times they saw it, Davey addressed the fully summoned Spirit King, ¡°I give you my request.¡± [I take your request, Contractor.] Gnoass, the tall giant answered. He wasn¡¯t as big as the first time, perhaps due to what Davey had said to him when he had been first summoned, but his presence alone contained a huge amount of mana. ¡°What I want is the circulation of spirit energy.¡± The barrier had to store power independently and circulate the energy used to maintain itself semi-permanently. As such, it needed a spirit, since a spirit¡¯s power was strongest here. If it had the will of the Spirit King, the most powerful spiritual being, it would be highly effective. Understanding Davey¡¯s intention, Gnoass broke down into huge clumps of soil and surrounded Davey. At the same time, Gnoass¡¯ huge whirlwind of power merged with his mana to create a giant magic circle made of hundreds of spirit languages and tens of thousands of rune language combinations. Each rune language differed in the size of the letters, the font, the location, and the shapes they made together. They required a migraine-causing level of deep computational abilities, but it didn¡¯t matter to Davey. Instantly repositioning itself, the spirit language was absorbed into the rune languages, which encrypted the physical and magic protection, and they mixed together. Then, Davey clasped his hands together and spoke with one knee on the ground. [Lord Almighty, I beg with great will.] [If I executed it this perfectly, give me a blessing or something.] Whoosh!!! [9th level Holy Magic Defense] [Thea Sanctuary] A pure white light spread and enveloped the magic circle in its entirety. Then, as Davey stood up and shook his hand, the huge magic circle shrunk to about ten centimeters wide and took on the distinct shape of a hemisphere. It was so cute and small that no one, not even animals, could go through it. ¡°I can feel a great deal of power. What did you put in it just now?¡± Yuria asked. Davey felt exhausted, perhaps from the large amount of mana that drained out of him. Still, he offered an answer while waiting for the barrier to completely solidify. ¡°A 9th level holy magic protection spell with an 8-circle custom barrier. On top of that, I added resistance to physical and magic attacks, and made the magic circle¡¯s power circulate with the Spirit King¡¯s blessing.¡± Yuria glanced at the barrier in surprise, but looked puzzled after realizing something weird. She muttered, ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°That¡­is too small, no? It¡¯s so small that an animal couldn¡¯t fit through it, let alone a person¡­¡± Support us at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. Yuria raised a valid question about the barrier, which was only about ten centimeters wide. She was right; the size was bound to become smaller as more powers were added to it. In that sense, the ancient control system covering the entire Heins Territory was an absolutely unbelievable thing. Of course, there was a magic stone large enough to support it. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be a huge waste to make such a barrier bigger?¡± Davey asked. ¡°W¡ªWhat use is it to make the barrier that is supposed to protect the forest this small?!¡± Dumbfounded by Davey, Yuria glared at him. She stated, ¡°It just has to be bigger.¡± Davey had pulled out the Transcendence¡¯s Demise for a reason. He lightly grabbed the adamantium body of the staff that was floating in the air. Then, he asked, ¡°Do you know this staff¡¯s nickname?¡± ¡°W¡­ What is it?¡± ¡°A genie¡¯s lamp.¡± It defied all logic. It was stupidly strong like the Divine Sword, or perhaps even stronger than that. Of course, Yuria wasn¡¯t going to understand what Davey meant by a genie¡¯s lamp; it would be better for him to just show her. ¡®The size¡­ is maybe enough to cover the entire forest.¡¯ There might be a side effect of spirit energy becoming extremely abundant as a large amount of energy would circulate, but there was a reason Davey cast a sanctuary. Like rock paper scissors, magic created the base, and the power of the spirit and holy power strengthened each other¡¯s weaknesses and cooperated together. The theory of correctly incorporating the three kinds of power was quite famous in the study of magic. ¡°Genie, make it bigger.¡± As Davey lightly tapped on the barrier with the staff, Yuria¡¯s eyes widened as she saw what happened next. CH 173 63. The Hein¡¯s Festival for Unity of All Kinds. According to the will of Freyja, Goddess of Wine, the Transcendence¡¯s Demise itself was considered to have a great influence. It was locked inside Davey¡¯s Pocket Plane so that he could not use it recklessly. The staff used an ancient dragon¡¯s heart as its magic crystal, and the orichalcum engraving on its adamantium body amplified its effects. There were also many other parts and finishings reinforcing it¡­ ¡°A stupidly strong object was created,¡± Davey exclaimed. The Transcendence¡¯s Demise did not exist in the Tionis continent, but Atrellia, the continent of magic, which was another dimension for Davey. Clang~ With a clear ringing sound, the staff that hadn¡¯t fully bounced off the barrier stopped in mid-air due to an invisible force. At the same time, a red wave spread out and created a breeze. Then, light seeped out from the staff¡¯s magic crystal and surrounded the very small barrier. ¡°Oh my¡­¡± The shining barrier soon grew larger, defying all logic. Davey would¡¯ve had to pour mana into it and work for months, not days, to slowly increase the size if he had to make it himself. Fortunately, the Transcendence¡¯s Demise possessed powers that could achieve the same in a short period of time while maintaining that close balance between powers. It could alter its size and strength of any kind of magic that one used; it could make the giant Sun with magic, and it could make it as small as a spoon if the Transcendence¡¯s Demise could handle that level of magic. Conversely, it could take something the size of a ball, something a little larger than a spoon, and make it huge. The staff was almost a divine weapon that could make fireballs over thirty meters wide. Fitting as Odin¡¯s most treasured item, which was said to have been blessed by God, one of the enemies destroyed by the Transcendence¡¯s Demise was an ancient dragon. And that dragon was even known as the possessor of magic. The vast energy that absorbed the surrounding power by colliding and circulating around slowly stabilized and created an unexplainable phenomenon. The mana needed to make this barrier larger was about the same battery power needed to start a car. Davey was feeling pretty exhausted from using quite a lot of mana, but he wouldn¡¯t have been able to handle his disappointment if he simply gave up for that reason. ¡°Ah¡­ Let¡¯s make the transportation portal next time. This uses a lot more mana than I expected.¡± ¡°This¡­is unbelievable. I don¡¯t know a lot about magic¡­ But how is this possible?¡± Yuria seemed shocked by the staff¡¯s ridiculous power that was able to expand the barrier to cover the entire forest while minimizing the loss of effectiveness. Actually, she wasn¡¯t the only one who was shocked. The other elves looked the same way. There was almost a sense of respect and awe as they saw Davey instantly create a huge barrier in such an unexpected way. ¡ªOh my¡­ You can ignore any laws and either enlarge or minimize magic¡­ Davey!! ¡®No, I don¡¯t want it. Stop.¡¯ ¡ªBad guy! Don¡¯t do that! Perserque frowned sadly as she pulled Davey¡¯s hair. ¡ªKeugh¡­ If only¡­ If only I had a body! The wide magic circle slowly merged into the ground and fully stabilized, disregarding whatever Perserque had to say. ¡°Well then, I should give it a test run.¡± Davey had been stabbed in the back once, so who was to say that it wouldn¡¯t happen again? If the divine will put a lock on the item because it possessed the power to ignore all laws and nerfed it without him knowing, then he needed to know right away. It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV. * * * Luckily, the divine will wasn¡¯t that petty. Davey secretly let out a sigh of relief when he saw the barrier safely stabilize and block his attacks without any issues. ¡°Hahaha! Wise Teacher! It has been a long time! I have been waiting to meet you!¡± ¡°Elder Golgouda?¡± ¡°I was waiting for you to return, but it seems you did something huge once again?¡± ¡°Well, it just happened to be so. I also have something I wanted to discuss with you.¡± ¡°Hm, what a coincidence. I actually came to get Goulda, since the Mining Festival is happening soon.¡± ¡°Mining Festival?¡± Elder Golgouda chuckled at Davey¡¯s question before saying, ¡°Well, it¡¯s that festival: the dwarves¡¯ largest festival. It¡¯s a semi-annual event that happens twice a year!¡± It was a time for dwarves to worship and celebrate the God of Iron. Best part, he wasn¡¯t even real. ¡°Although we can¡¯t tell whether it exists or not, it¡¯s like a superstition of some sort. As such, all elders must participate¡­¡± Davey¡¯s eyes sparkled as he quietly stroked his chin. ¡°Wait.¡± Currently, dwarves and humans were living together in harmony in the Heins Territory. However, there were only a few dwarves, and unlike regular residents, they hadn¡¯t fully settled here. Naturally, conflicts between different kinds could arise over their unfamiliar existence. The solution was to instill familiarity and promote equality as they were all residents of the Heins Territory. ¡ªThink carefully. It could backfire and make things worse. ¡°You¡¯re right¡­¡± Davey murmured. Elder Golgouda tilted his head in puzzlement. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°Ah, nothing. Do all the tribes gather for this festival?¡± Davey asked. ¡°Hahaha! No, each tribe holds their own festival within their tribe.¡± Davey squinted at that revelation. It was a specialty that would be different from anything and anywhere; something that would be unique to the Heins¡­ ¡°That festival¡­ Have you thought about having it here?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I have just obtained a very nice item. I am thinking of investing a bit of magic stones in making a transportation portal between this place and the dwarf village.¡± ¡°A¡­ A transportation portal!¡± ¡°Yes, it won¡¯t be compatible with mana gates since it has a different structure. And other people won¡¯t be able to go into the village whenever they want.¡± ¡°Hm¡­¡± Elder Golgouda slowly nodded as he thought about what Davey had just said. Then, he looked up at Davey like he realized something. ¡°Is it to get rid of the strange awkwardness between the humans here and us dwarves¡­¡± ¡°Well, publicly, it is a festival for the ones who have worked hard to develop the territory.¡± ¡°Hm. The real reason was for the harmony of humans, dwarves, and¡­the elves who were now going to be seen more often in the territory. Although, it was still up to them to choose to reveal their identity or not. It was actually because of the World Tree¡¯s Covenant that the elves had hidden themselves away. However, the elves in the Moon Forest had no reason to keep that covenant now. In fact, Yuria actually proposed that they should show themselves as the Heins Territory¡¯s residents to truly turn away from the World Tree. Was she reckless? Maybe; she was probably blindly trusting Davey, but it was definitely a bold decision. However, Davey had given the elves some time at least as they were still wary about it. Although he understood their concerns, he heard news a little while later that rendered their concerns meaningless; about two weeks after leaving the forest, the news that had rattled the western kingdoms had traveled to the eastern continent. * * * ¡°Sir Davey, did you hear the news? There¡¯s a rumor that someone saw elf-looking beings in the western continent.¡± ¡°E¡­Elves?¡± The people who heard the news were Winley, who was very surprised, Yulis, who smiled softly, and Elder Golgouda, who was here to discuss the matter about the festival. ¡°B¡­ But aren¡¯t elves beings from fairy tales? There is a record of elves in the ancient books, but no one has seen elves in real life.¡± There was a good example of this: a story of a foolish king. A young king of a kingdom in the central continent had combed through the entire continent to find these elves. Some critics said that he had gone mad due to fantasizing about elves, who only existed in fairy tales. However, he kept on going for ten to twenty years¡­only to find nothing. The kingdom was forced into subjugation to a nearby kingdom after the treasury ran out; he had been sending funds to other kingdoms for exploration and the exploration team. As this was a time when people were actively going to war, they were forcibly occupied by force. However, the king¡¯s last words on the execution stand were quite famous. [Elves exist. I have seen them, and they were chillingly beautiful.] These last words of a mad king were remembered as a famous saying amongst the territory¡¯s busybodies. It would be weird if people didn¡¯t know this story, since there was a fable about elves and the foolish king of the Mulk Kingdom that children of nobility learned about. As Winley spoke doubtfully upon hearing the news, Elder Golgouda cleared his throat and asked, ¡°Ahem! Do you two humans not believe in elves?¡± ¡°Well, I can¡¯t be sure, but¡­¡± ¡°Elves exist.¡± Yulis and Winley were intrigued by Elder Golgouda¡¯s statement. ¡°Well, I only heard this from my father, but apparently¡­ My grandfather used to say that he didn¡¯t have a good relationship with elves.¡± Winley was fascinated, as if she was hearing old tales from an old grandpa. She blurted out, ¡°R¡­ Really?! Are there any other stories?!¡± ¡°Um¡­ I am curious as well. If it isn¡¯t too much trouble¡­¡± ¡°Pahahah! I¡¯m sorry. I wouldn¡¯t know because I haven¡¯t seen them myself. As there¡¯s an old saying that dwarves and elves are not on good terms, I do not know much about those weak pointy ears. We just consider them real.¡± The two could not hide their disappointment. ¡°Sir Davey, you have guests.¡± Then, the quiet window opened and Rinne, who was playing outside with Red and Blue Ribbon, hopped into the room. ¡°Kyah! R¡­ Rinne! How come you look like that?!¡± Rinne calmly brushed off the leaves that were stuck on her clothes as Winley screamed, then answered calmly, ¡°Rinne is engaging in intense labor. The energy and activity of Red and Blue Ribbon exceeds expectations computed by Rinne¡¯s computational circuit¡­ Children¡¯s energy is infinite¡­¡± ¡®That¡¯s right. I waved the white flag in six hours when I was playing with Red and Blue ribbon.¡¯ Perserque, who was more patient, could last about twelve hours playing with the two girls. Rinne glared at Davey, then said in exhaustion, ¡°Sir Davey, requiring the materialistic compliment you promised. Will go on strike if not met. Rinne is highly considering that option.¡± ¡°There should be some bread that the chef has prepared in the kitchen. Go and eat it. Anyways, a guest is here?¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Remembering her original purpose of coming here, Rinne gestured over to the door with her head. A small rustle could be heard. Davey didn¡¯t have to see who it was to figure out his mystery guest¡¯s identity. The scent of being contracted to a high-rank water spirit was pretty intense. ¡°I didn¡¯t forget your promise that you¡¯re going to take responsibility.¡± CH 174 ¡°Ah¡­ Beautiful,¡± Winley shouted in shock. She had spoken exactly what was on her mind, because she was too shocked to filter her thoughts. ¡°Oh my. Thank you, Lady Winley.¡± ¡°La¡­ Lady?¡± Winley mumbled to herself and widened her eyes. She looked at the pure and elegant beauty and the little girl in her arms before glaring at Davey, who could read her thoughts immediately. ¡°Brother¡­ Don¡¯t tell me?!¡± Davey frowned at Winley¡¯s appalled voice. He asked, ¡°What in the world is going on in that head of yours?¡± A strikingly beautiful woman¡­ To be precise, it was a girl wearing a hood over her head. She had bright blue hair and emerald eyes that shone brightly under the glare of the light. She was also carrying a little girl in her arms. This entire sight would definitely arouse anyone¡¯s suspicions. However, the identity of these two people were none other than Yuria Helishana and Myuu. Creaaaaaaak¡­ Thud. ¡°Oh my, there are other visitors. I was not aware of that.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Yuria smiled beautifully at Davey¡¯s reply, then let down the child in her arms. Myuu immediately ran towards Davey with her wide and sparkling eyes. ¡°Uncle!¡± ¡°Goodness, Myuu! We haven¡¯t seen each other in only a few short days but you¡¯ve gained quite a bit of weight, huh? How have you been?¡± ¡°Nope! Myuu did not gain weight! Myuu always has fun with Gnoum. With Timmy and Ellie too! I ran around a lot! A loooo~t!¡± The four other people present in the room frowned in confusion when they saw the child arguing with Davey. Only after Myuu¡¯s hood fell down from her struggle to get comfortable in Davey¡¯s hold did their frowning gazes stop. They murmured, ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I came to report on the results of the proceedings regarding Elder Condae and the other conservatives. Ah, before I talk about that, it seems like the streets are quite lively?¡± ¡°Everything¡¯s bound to be noisy and lively for you, since you took a vacation and skipped work for almost two weeks.¡± ¡°Fufu,¡± Yuria chuckled as she lowered her head and looked at the four people who stared wide-eyed at her. She said, ¡°It¡¯s my first time meeting one of you, but as for the rest of you¡­ Long time no see. Did you miss the tea that I brewed?¡± Golgouda¡¯s jaws dropped and his eyes grew wide at Yuria¡¯s words. He could still recognize her despite the slight changes in her appearance. Actually, he was the one who was most familiar with Yuria, who worked as a maid in the estate. ¡°Y¡­ You¡­ don¡¯t tell me¡­¡± ¡°Let me formally introduce myself. I am Yuria Helishana, the High Elf leading the Moon Forest¡¯s elves located inside the Great Forest. Ah, Mr. Benefactor, from what I can understand, you will be having a joint festival with the dwarves¡¯ Mining Festival?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Then, please let our Moon Forest participate alongside you. It¡¯s just in time for our Spirit Ceremony too. It¡¯s the perfect event to calm the chaotic and unsettling aura that¡¯s still lingering in the village.¡± Listening to Yuria¡¯s words, Davey said with a smirk, ¡°You¡¯re going to drag the aggro properly, huh? You think everything¡¯s so simple, huh?¡± ¡°Our Moon Forest has rejected the World Tree¡¯s Covenant. Of course, this means that the World Tree¡¯s pledge about staying cut-off from the rest of the world is meaningless to us. Anyway, we¡¯re supposed to reveal ourselves sooner or later¡­ If that¡¯s the case, then I decided that it¡¯s better to just reveal that we¡¯re under your protection in a just and open manner,¡± Yuria explained with a smile, removing the hood that covered her head. Everyone gasped when they saw Yuria¡¯s ears, which were longer than Myuu¡¯s ears and gave off a mysterious aura. *** Elves loved nature dearly and they loathed the thought of it being destroyed. Meanwhile, dwarves loved fire and iron. In a way, one could describe the relationship between the elves and the dwarves as oil and water. It also had to be known that the two races hated losing to each other. ¡°Ha! No matter what you say, it is us, dwarves, that suggested this festival. Well, you pointy eared forest dwellers can also create some amazing things but you¡¯re still no match to the dwarves when it comes to having fun! Do you really think that elves who live among the grass know how to have fun?¡± ¡°Oh my. I¡¯m looking forward to that. But don¡¯t you know? Intelligent creatures tend to flock where there is something new and novel. And don¡¯t ever think that just because we¡¯re called forestfolk that we only know how to caress the flowers with elegance and grace. Although we¡¯re not as fiery and boisterous as the dwarves, we still have our own simple yet vibrant and lively entertainment.¡± ¡°Ho? Is that so?¡± ¡°Of course. Both elves and dwarves are beings who live in this world. Do you think you¡¯re the only one living a decent life?¡± ¡°Then, I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m also looking forward to what dwarven festivals are like.¡± ¡°Hohohohoho!¡± ¡°Fufufufu!¡± Although they were exchanging bright smiles, Yuria and Golgouda looked like they were about to grab each other by the collars. ¡°Come to think of it, your ages are quite strange. Right?¡± ¡°Oh my. A young elf like me still has a bright and long future ahead. I can¡¯t compare to someone like you, who has plenty of experience and knowledge.¡± ¡°Hahahahahaha!!! Aren¡¯t elves the race that¡¯s well-known for not aging? But it seems like you have a lot of wrinkles and folds, huh?¡± ¡°No one can escape time. Even elves can age. But I¡¯m still very young¡­ Oh my! By any chance¡­ Are the wrinkles on your face bothering you?¡± Golgouda¡¯s eyebrows twitched when Yuria¡¯s soft smile turned a tad bit brighter. ¡°Hohohohohoho!!! It doesn¡¯t matter what you say, nothing can top the dwarves¡¯ Mining Festival when it comes to enjoyment and being spectacular. You¡¯ll see. In this three-races-alliance, us, dwarves, will be the ones to receive the highest rating and recognition!¡± ¡°Oh my~ I¡¯m really looking forward to that. Our Spirit Festival is also known for being a festival that no other race can compare in terms of beauty.¡± Elder Golgouda and Yuria grinned at each other. However, upon closer inspection, one could see and hear them gritting their teeth. It seemed like a conflict between races had already started in Davey¡¯s office. As for everyone else present, nobody could understand what was going on right now. ¡°Hey, you guys. What do you think you¡¯re doing right now?¡± Davey asked, clicking his tongue. Both the elf and the dwarf lowered their eyes. They finally realized that they had shown everyone here the ugly side of their races. ¡°Cough! We¡­ We went a bit too far.¡± ¡°Forgive me, Mr. Benefactor. I have been too impertinent.¡± Davey got up from his seat and looked at the two of them silently. As the two fidgeted like children who had done something wrong, he said, ¡°Do you know why humans have the largest population and vast land in the entire continent?¡± ¡°That¡­ I don¡¯t understand where you¡¯re going with this?¡± Elder Golgouda mumbled in confusion after hearing Davey¡¯s question. ¡°It¡¯s because humans breed awfully fast. We¡¯re also awfully stingy and shrewd.¡± The humans were not as fiery nor as honest as the dwarves. They also did not risk their lives for honor and grace like the elves. ¡°We will fight with you for recognition in this festival.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Simply put, we will win.¡± Yuria and Golgouda were both taken aback by Davey¡¯s declaration. ¡°Of course, it¡¯s not that fun if we just do it like that, right? I want us to do our very best, so how about we bet a prize for this?¡± Davey proposed as he took out a very special and unique jewel, letting it float in the air. ¡°T-That¡­¡± ¡°This is called Monicca. It¡¯s quite amazing, right?¡± ¡°My¡­ My goodness! Did you say Monicca?!¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­beautiful.¡± Monicca was a gem formed from a fallen meteorite that had absorbed large amounts of mana. The formation of it was a low probability, so it was rare to find. Of course, it was just a beautiful gem with no obvious effects or abilities. However, for those who lived extravagantly and luxuriously, it was also a divine treasure that even the Red Moon jewel that Davey had gotten from the Lyndis Imperial Family could not compare with. ¡°The value of a gem of that size is definitely amazing.¡± The probability of this jewel appearing was so unrealistic that, when discussing gems and jewelry, everyone just treated it as something as mystical as an illusion. However, Davey had the gem on hand because of a simple reason. It was a product of his magic training. Monicca was the result of Davey¡¯s elaborate training wherein he had constantly applied heat and pressure to an ordinary stone while planting mana inside. In fact, Davey had created plenty of this jewel in the Hall to the point that he was overflowing with them. Simply put, the jewel was not a very important item in Davey¡¯s eyes. It was actually something that he could easily sell even at market price if he so wanted to. The only reason why he did not do so was that he was no longer pressed for money. When he had been in need of money, his Pocket Plane had not been available to him, so these things were just a nuisance to him now that he was not in desperate need of cash. ¡°C¡­ Cough! Since¡­ Since you¡¯re betting something of this value, our dwarven pride will not allow us to back down! We will bet Sentinel! One of our village¡¯s twelve treasured swords!¡± Elder Golgouda declared loudly as he rose to his feet. A sharp glint appeared in Yuria¡¯s eyes instantly. As if rearing to fight, she declared, ¡°Good! We, elves, will bet the Spirit¡¯s Tears, one of our elven treasures that takes a hundred years to form. I can tell that you want to increase the scale of things, and us elves are definitely in favor of that. Let¡¯s all create a huge splash!¡± ¡°Cough! The land is very vast, we don¡¯t have to worry about space! I¡¯ll bring the people from the Black Stone Tribe as manpower. Those bastards are still indebted to you. Hohohohoho!¡± The scale of this festival had grown to a very desirable extent. This was how scary a battle of pride was. Of course, the only one smacking their lips in satisfaction from the development of this situation was Davey. After all, it did not matter whether he won or lost this fight. It would still prove to be beneficial to him in the end. ¡ªIt seems like you¡¯re egging them on and igniting their will to compete to increase the scale of things. For Davey, it was impossible to hold a fun festival with just mediocre enthusiasm. It had to be a huge festival, one so huge that it could turn into a very hot and famous spectacle. If this was successful, the earnings and profit that they would get from tourism would be unimaginable. Since this was going to be their first event, it would be an advertisement of some sort for the territory. And the first advertisement was very important for them to devour and empty the pockets of all the tourists that would visit their territory in the future. Davey had to make it so that it was impossible for people to call this event all talk and no substance. Meanwhile, Winley and Yulis, who watched as three priceless items appeared so suddenly, could only laugh dryly at the very unrealistic and impossible situation unfolding in front of them. Yuria and Golgouda might have failed to notice it but Winley, Yulis, and Goulda, who were watching the situation on the sidelines, already saw through Davey¡¯s intentions. Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original. ¡°My god¡­¡± ¡°Sir Davey¡¯s skill in making things go out of hand is truly incredible.¡± These two people had now resigned themselves to their fates. They were already very tired of being surprised by Davey¡¯s actions and had already given up on being shocked. The rest of the people in the room soon left, saying that they would come back to play later. This was because Yuria had requested a private meeting with Davey. Among those who left, Elder Golgouda, the chief of a dwarven village, seemed to have other thoughts and had clamored before he left. However, the contents of the topic that Davey would discuss with Yuria was not meant for many pairs of ears. ¡°If you¡¯re asking for a private meeting, then¡­it¡¯s probably because of the World Tree, huh?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve already heard of the news.¡± According to rumors, beings believed to be elves were sighted in the western part of the kingdom. Davey already knew that those rumors were most definitely not spread by the humans but by the elves themselves. ¡°It seems like they¡¯re preparing to reveal their existence to the world¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m actually quite a bit flustered, since the response has come much faster than I expected. My master, Madis, heard about our village¡¯s situation and decided to keep an eye on the situation over there for the time being and keep me informed of the changes.¡± ¡°Is he trustworthy?¡± Yuria smiled brightly at Davey¡¯s question. ¡°Yes. I don¡¯t know about the others but the only one that I can trust in the Divine Tree is Madis. Anyway, the World Tree has decided, so the elves¡¯ existence will be revealed to the world. I believe it will be revealed in a few months at the latest.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯re taking the initiative?¡± ¡°Yes. From what I heard, the title of being the first is quite important for humans.¡± Davey wondered if he had to help Yuria before he nodded silently at Yuria¡¯s smile. Clack! Just then, someone slammed the windows open and entered with familiar ease, breaking the comfortable silence in the room. Since Rinne took care of Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon, the three of them would most probably be exhausted from playing around. This meant that they were not the intruders. If that was the case, then there was only one possible person left. ¡°Davey! I have shocking news for you!¡± There was only one person, a girl, who would come in and out of Davey¡¯s window and act as if it was her own house. This girl had dazzling and bright golden blonde hair, and a cute style. She was the precious child of Pallan Empire, the strongest force located in the center of the Tionis Continent. That was right; she was none other than Illyna de Pallan. ¡°Request a formal visit. You¡¯re not a thief, so stop coming in through the window.¡± ¡°Eyy. What are you talking about? There shouldn¡¯t be any need for that between us.¡± ¡°Is your physical health alright?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ About that, there''s still some side effects but everything¡¯s alright.¡± Davey smiled, noticing that the girl was talking to him without noticing Yuria¡¯s presence. On the other hand, Yuria was sipping her tea silently on one side of the room. ¡°Davey, I heard about the trouble that happened in the Rowane Kingdom. You won¡¯t believe how shocked I was when I heard about the ridiculous things that you did after coming back.¡± ¡°It is what it is.¡± ¡°Ahem¡­ Well, that¡¯s your own business. Anyway! I brought more interesting news! Do you want to know about it?¡± Davey felt like Illyna would ignore his refusal, so he simply said, ¡°Interesting news?¡± ¡°I heard this from my father, but I believe you¡¯ll also be interested in it.¡± Illyna stepped down from the window sill and patted down her skirt. This gesture was simple and absurd, one you would not see from a member of the Imperial Family. Then, she continued, ¡°You must have heard the rumors about beings believed to be elves sighted on the western part of the continent, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The busybodies were all making a fuss these days, so there was no way that Davey had not heard about it. ¡°I¡¯ve heard it from my father himself so the rumors about the beings believed to be elves being seen on the western part of the continent must be true!¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°Is that so? What do you mean ¡®Is that so?¡¯ Isn¡¯t that very surprising?! That¡¯s an elf! An elf! They¡¯re the faes that appear in children¡¯s fairy tales! They¡¯re a noble and elegant race whose beauty is unmatched!¡± Davey nodded at Illyna¡¯s words. ¡°Caldeiras told me that elves truly existed but it¡¯s very hard for me to believe since I haven¡¯t seen any of them at all.¡± ¡°Is it really that amazing?¡± Illyna shouted incredulously, ¡°Of course!¡± Hearing Illyna¡¯s answer, Davey silently jerked his thumb to one side of the room and nodded. He was pointing at Yuria, who was still enjoying her tea and laughing as if she found the situation to be very, very interesting. ¡°You wanted to see various races living in harmony in Heins Territory right? Shouldn¡¯t you be thanking me for bringing you this information in advance? How about teaching me a new swordsmanship from the [Longsword]¡­?¡± Illyna, who had been talking nonstop, finally took notice of Davey¡¯s actions. She glanced toward where Davey was pointing to and finally saw Yuria, who was enjoying her tea. She immediately stiffened and stopped her long tirade. ¡°It seems like I don¡¯t need any of your advanced information though?¡± Davey murmured in a teasing tone. However, from what it looked like, his words did not even register in Illyna¡¯s ears. He added, ¡°After all, I¡¯ve already caught them.¡± ¡°Da¡­ Davey?!¡± Davey thought about making Illyna a sacrifice to the board that he had created with his allies and making things bigger. After all, he would sell anything and everything if the situation called for it. CH 175 ¡°An¡­ An elf?!¡± Illyna, unsure of what to make of the situation in front of her, stuttered after finally discovering the presence of the elves, Yuria and Myuu. ¡°Nice to meet you, Princess Illyna de Pallan. My name is Yuria Helishana, I am the leader of the Moon Forest.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Nice¡­ Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Illyna de Pallan.¡± Davey smiled at Illyna, who was still busy looking around in confusion. Then, he noticed that Illyna was no longer looking at Yuria and was looking at Myuu, who was nestled in Yuria¡¯s arms. Finally, her wide eyes drifted to Davey. Her current thoughts were already very obvious. ¡°Davey, don¡¯t tell me¡­¡± Davey felt his stomach churn from the misunderstanding, even though he had guessed that Illyna would come to such a conclusion. He said firmly, ¡°You¡¯d better stop those needless thoughts. I am not hoping for much from you, but I really do need your help.¡± ¡°Da, Davey?!¡± Illyna took two steps back, feeling uneasy from Davey¡¯s words. For some reason, she felt like she was experiencing deja vu. As if realizing something, Illyna immediately jumped away and pulled Caldeiras out. She yelled, ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ Don¡¯t come close!¡± ¡°With the way you¡¯re acting, someone might think that I¡¯m threatening to hurt you.¡± ¡°Ha! Don¡¯t make me laugh! Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve forgotten about the night that we previously spent alone in the cave?!¡± Illyna angrily cried out. Her choice of words were quite misleading. ¡°Something happened back then?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t make a fool out of me, Davey. I have never experienced something so painful in my life before! And you did not even let me go even after I told you that it hurt!¡± ¡°But you liked it in the end.¡± Yuria¡¯s eyes sparkled when she heard Illyna¡¯s wild cries. She murmured, ¡°The two of you¡­ alone at night¡­ I see. As expected of you, Mr. Benefactor. You¡¯re very young and full of vitality.¡± By elven standards, Yuria was not so young anymore. Then, she continued, ¡°But I find it quite strange. From what I heard, Pallan Empire¡¯s princess is already betrothed to Red Tower¡¯s Mage Yulis? But if you engaged in matters of the flesh then¡­ No, don¡¯t tell me¡­ The fire¡­¡± ¡°No!!! What do you mean matters of the flesh?!¡± Illyna shouted. She was very embarrassed and flustered, since she was screaming at someone who she had just met for the first time. Yuria found Illyna¡¯s reddened face and screams interesting. She smiled cheekily. ¡°Oh my? That¡¯s not it? But you said that it hurt at first¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like that!!! I find that outrageous misunderstanding to be very offensive!!!¡± Yuria smacked her lips as if she found Illyna¡¯s indignant objection and embarrassed screams to be a pity. She said, ¡°I see. So, you haven¡¯t gone that far yet. Kids, so fresh and tender.¡± Yuria¡¯s smile became slightly sharper and she narrowed her eyes slightly. She whispered, ¡°I really want to torment you¡­¡± Davey pretended to not hear Yuria¡¯s whisper. ¡°Ah. I understand now. The two of you love each other but you haven¡¯t gone that far yet? Love is obviously not a requirement in a political marriage, so even if you have an affair with a paramour¡­¡± ¡°No! Why do you keep misunderstanding us like that?! There¡¯s nothing between Davey and I!!!¡± Yuria tilted her head in a show of confusion and said, ¡°You say that there¡¯s nothing between you, so why do you climb through someone else¡¯s window with no rhyme or reason?¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ That¡¯s¡­ That¡¯s because we¡¯re friends!!!¡± ¡°Fufu¡­ There¡¯s no such thing as friendship between a man and a woman, princess.¡± Yuria did not let Illyna go, offering a quick rebuttal of her own. In the end, Illyna could only shout at Davey. Her face was red and tears were welling up in her eyes. ¡°What the hell?! Do elves normally like to torment people like this?!¡± ¡°I guess you¡¯re the perfect candidate to be bullied.¡± ¡°Stop laughing!¡± Both Yuria and Davey finally felt that the teasing and the bullying was enough after seeing the tears in Illyna¡¯s eyes. ¡°That¡¯s enough bullying.¡± ¡°Oh my. I did not have any intentions of bullying her though?¡± Davey could see that a creepy smile had crept up on Yuria¡¯s face as she saw the restless and antsy expression on Illyna¡¯s face. ¡°Illyna.¡± ¡°Wha, what?!¡± ¡°I¡¯m running out of time, so I really need your help to prepare for the festival.¡± Illyna frowned at Davey and said, ¡°You only look for me when you need something from me.¡± Annoyed, Illyna turned Caldeiras back into a brooch and slumped down in one of the office chairs. This was a festival that would be held by three races: the dwarves, the elves, and the humans. However, it was held in the Rowane Kingdom. No, to be exact, this was the Heins Territory¡¯s festival. This meant that there was no room for the Pallan Empire to intervene. However, Davey truly needed Illyna¡¯s help to finish the festival on a successful and happy note. ¡°I don¡¯t need much. There¡¯s just something that I need to get and it¡¯s something that you can get with your strong and powerful influence in the Pallan Empire.¡± ¡°Davey¡­ What do you think I am?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to pay you properly.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not the problem?!¡± Davey was openly showing his intention to use her, and that pushed Illyna¡¯s irritation to the point of explosion. At that moment, Davey realized that it was time for him to throw a carrot. If he used the stick here and stimulated her even more, then she might just explode. He asked calmly, ¡°Do you want to become a Sword Master?¡± ¡°Swo¡­ Sword Master?!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. If you cooperate well with me, then I will offer you a stepping stone that allows you to become a Sword Master.¡± Actually, Davey could tell that Illyna was already on the verge of crossing that threshold and would be able to reach that level even without his interference. However, since she did not know that, Davey took full advantage of the opportunity. Besides, even if Illyna thought Davey was lying, she would still ponder over the matter since she had already seen how much Davey had broken common sense with his actions. Not long after, Illyna cooled down. It seemed like her anger had truly reached its peak as she shouted, ¡°Ha! You¡¯re completely mistaken if you think I¡¯m that kind of person. Do you think I¡¯ll fall for something like that?! Is there something that I can¡¯t even do for a friend?! Go on! Tell me what I need to do to help you? Huh?!¡± Davey could really be¡­two-faced and cunning when necessary. *** The Pallan Empire was home to many priceless items, items that could not be seen in other empires and kingdoms. The same was true for the item that Davey needed. The item that Davey brought here from Pallan Empire through Illyna¡¯s help was none other than the Flare Break Stone. It was like a small palm-sized mana stone, but it was not just any ordinary mana stone. After the Iron Blood War ended and the Cold War started, this item¡¯s usage had been significantly reduced into a mere mine explosive. However, this was the very item that the Pallan Empire had imposed strict restrictions on whenever it was exported from their empire. The Flare Break Stone¡¯s nickname was [Impartial]. That was because whether it was an old man, a child, or a Dragon Knight stationed at the borders, everyone would be laid to waste in front of this menacing weapon. ¡ªThe mana within it is a huge mess. With one pull from the safety pin, the mana inside the mana stone will collide and cause an explosion. You don¡¯t even need to use mana to trigger it, so anyone can easily use this weapon. The Pallan Empire¡¯s weapons were very famous in the continent. The reason why the Pallan Empire, despite having only a few great mages and sword masters compared to other empires, had been reborn as the strongest empire was because of the weapons research that their current emperor had proposed. This explained why only three out of the seven empires that had attacked them had survived from that war. Of course, the weapons that they produced had a clear disadvantage in a way that the unit price of each weapon was very expensive and could not be mass-produced so easily. So, why in the world was Davey going to use a weapon for the festival? Well, one thing was for sure, it was not going to be used for security purposes. After all, they had put as many restrictions and limitations on tourists before they could enter the territory, so there was no need for it. Besides, the weapon was too powerful to be used just for security purposes alone. ¡°Your Highness. I have brought the people with very dexterous hands, just like you ordered.¡± In the castle¡¯s underground, groups of people entered the Miscellaneous Workshop located right next to the Decepticon Fleet Workshop. All of the people present were human. There was not a single dwarf or elf in sight. ¡°Thank you for your hard work. Your journey here must have been tough.¡± ¡°Not at all! It¡¯s only expected that we should come here!¡± ¡°Yeah! Besides, whenever the saint is involved, we won¡¯t ever lose money!¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m very grateful for your trust.¡± Davey smiled as he brought out buckets of every material that they would use. ¡°What¡¯s all this for?¡± ¡°Well, the dwarves and elves have been running around trying to one up each other with their Spirit Festival and Mining Festival. Can we just let them do as they please with our human pride on the line?¡± ¡°That¡­ What did you say?!¡± ¡°Let us show them that in Heins Territory, the dwarves have their own dwarf things, the elves have their own elf things, and us humans have our own human things to show them too.¡± All of the necessary materials had been gathered in advance. Davey knew excessive competition would just cause ruin. However, if they had proper cooperation, then they would be able to achieve their goal more beautifully. ¡°Your¡­ Your Highness¡­ Excuse me, but what are we supposed to make here?¡± ¡°The thing that we¡¯re going to make will mark the festival¡¯s finale. Never forget this. The dwarves and elves are citizens of our territories and are our neighbors. We are competing not to fight and undermine each other but to show our potential,¡± Davey reminded them to not forget the original intention of this festival. ¡°If there¡¯s someone trying to muddy the waters, I will behead them myself.¡± Usually, to take out a rock that was stuck and make it roll, one would need a considerable amount of energy and funds. However, the impact was quite small since everyone tended to believe in Davey. Before the other shoe fell, Davey had to assimilate the three races perfectly. And the only way to do that was to go through the trouble of trying to make everyone get used to one another. ¡°There¡¯s no way that we¡¯ll do that! Just tell us what to do!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s keep our backs straight and start preparing to work,¡± Davey said as he placed his finger on the Flare Breaking Stone¡¯s safety pin and spun it around. When you''re just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. At the end of the day, Davey¡¯s goal for this festival was to create something that all of his territory¡¯s residents could enjoy. He wanted an event where they could laugh, chat, and be merry. So, why not do that and make money through tourism, too? Davey recalled a saying from modern earth, ¡®The empty cart is the loudest¡¯. Things would not go smoothly if they just promoted themselves extensively without showing good results, right? *** The festival preparations were so tight and hectic that Davey felt like one month just flashed by and ended in an instant. During that time, Davey had devoted most of his time and almost all of his energy into facility inspection and setting the proper zoning. The main purpose in holding the Heins Allied Festival was to allow the people who had suffered to have fun, chat, and be merry. However, Davey was sure that there would also be quite a lot of people who would attend after hearing the rumors about their festival. If that was the case, then shouldn¡¯t they at least fill their pockets up with some coins? The dwarves¡¯ Mining Festival was quite famous for those who lived in luxury. It was an annual festival where the dwarves had to offer sacrifices to the God of Iron. However, only a select few had witnessed this festival personally, which explained the high interest in it. Of course, the festival itself would not become famous just because some rumors about it began to spread. How could it become famous if nothing about the festival was known, right? It became famous thanks to the best-selling book that the dwarven tribe had sold during their Mining Festival which had promptly spread all over the continent. The book, [Mining Travelog], was famous enough that almost all nobles in the continent had recommended it as a must-read. Compared to other travelogs released in the continent, this book only discussed the dwarven race¡¯s closed off festival, the Mining Festival. Davey was not sure whether it was because the author had amazing writing skills or the way they had successfully inflated one¡¯s imagination about the festival, but this travelog successfully increased everyone¡¯s enthusiasm and interest towards the Mining Festival. That was the case for the dwarves and the dwarves alone. For the elves, their first reappearance to the world had piqued the interest of many. What more if they announced that they would hold their Spirit Festival, a festival that was on par with the dwarves¡¯ Mining Festival, at the same time? Although they could not get a good response from the ordinary people who were busy making ends meet every day, they were still able to turn the heads of the free mercenaries and the nobles and capture their interest. ¡°The number of tourists that arrived are higher than what we expected, since the rumors spread faster than we imagined. There are a dozen noble families visiting from our kingdom and around a hundred families from other nations. There are also a lot of free mercenaries that have come to visit the territory.¡± ¡°It seems like the value of the dwarves and the elves are quite high. A lot of people came.¡± The very fragrant bait was quite alluring to the big fish that had shown great interest in them. In fact, the big fish had no choice but to bite the hook and never let go. The territory¡¯s facilities and housings had been repaired and cleaned, giving the territory a clean and beautiful outlook. Although it was not that easy, it was for this reason Davey had pushed the making of those buildings and the paving of those roads. The territory¡¯s beauty and allure had increased, which also increased the foot traffic. Things happened quite a bit faster than Davey had expected, but in the end, it was still a good deal for him and the territory. At the end of the day, this wasn¡¯t too difficult a task for Davey. After all, he had been preparing for this for a long time. The festival that they would hold would last for a total of four days and three nights. However, three days before the festival started, the territory became even busier because of the unusual guests that had arrived. ¡°My goodness¡­ I have never seen that many visitors coming from the Rowane Kingdom¡¯s capital.¡± ¡°That just goes to show how great our festival is. The most important thing here is that we should not let all of the residents work during the festival. Let¡¯s arrange it so half will work and half can go around to enjoy the festivities. Let them take turns to have fun.¡± ¡°But if we do that, then our manpower¡­¡± ¡°There¡¯s no other choice. We have to hire people from the outside.¡± CH 176 Davey was opening the door of opportunity for the commoners, who lived pay cheque to pay cheque; he wanted them to be able to enjoy themselves as well. He would stand to gain a lot if they chose to move to the Heins Territory from enjoying it very much. ¡°Your Highness, I heard that you made a bet with the dwarves and elves.¡± ¡°The relationship between them could sour even more if they were the only ones competing. I¡¯m just participating to lighten the mood up a little.¡± ¡°But¡­ Monicca is an expensive jewel that is worth so much. Its worth was whatever one determines it to be.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m not doing charity work or anything. The preparation is complete on my end, too.¡± ¡°You¡¯re¡­talking about the explosive magic stone¡­¡± ¡°Are you worried?¡± ¡°How could I doubt anything you do, Your Highness?¡± They could only doubt Davey so much. Royal Attendant Bernile and the others all agreed upon the fact that they had no choice but to blindly trust Davey, who always brought unbelievable results no matter what he did. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter whether I win or lose that bet. For Monicca¡­ I can just make it again.¡± It took about a year to make one Monicca, but Davey¡¯s Pocket Plane was full of failed works. ¡°Chuckle.¡± Royal Attendant Bernile scoffed in bewilderment at what he just heard from Davey. ¡°Why don¡¯t you go see the festival, Royal Attendant Bernile? This isn¡¯t an opportunity that comes by often.¡± Royal Attendant Bernile smiled faintly, then shook his head. ¡°It is Amy who has worked hard all this time. When else would she be able to let loose and rest if not now, Your Highness?¡± The territory needed someone to take care of the small and large issues that arose in the continent. It was originally Amy¡¯s job, but Bernile insisted that he wanted to give her some time to rest. ¡°Thank you for taking care of her. Perhaps I was too inconsiderate of her.¡± Amy had followed Davey, and she had looked after him when he had still been in a coma. ¡°Although I always criticize her for lacking in certain areas, she is a clever child. She is the only source of joy left in this old man¡¯s life. But she is probably exhausted from working so hard recently. When shall I give her time to rest, if not now?¡± ¡°Okay. If you say so, I¡¯ll respect it. However, make sure to enjoy the festival for at least a day. We still need to know how the festival is running. This is an order,¡± Davey said. Bernile quietly nodded. ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡¯ After watching Bernile leave, Davey glanced out the bright window and stared at the bright image of the territory. ¡°So? You¡¯re not going to see the festival?¡± Illyna asked with curiosity as she stared at Davey with indifference. ¡°I¡¯m going to go. I have to keep my word if I said that to Royal Attendant Bernile.¡± Then, Davey opened a drawer and pulled out something. ¡°Hm? A mask? What for?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want anyone to recognize me and pretend to not know me. From now on, I¡¯m David, not Davey.¡± ¡°You¡¯re funny.¡± Although Illyna thought Davey was being ridiculous, she looked somewhat amused as well. She added, ¡°You can put lipstick on a pig, but it¡¯ll still be a pig. It¡¯s just bothersome.¡± ¡°Then, should I just throw it all away?¡± Lightly stepping up onto the windowsill with one foot, Illyna twirled and asked playfully, ¡°Well then, my prince. May I ask for you to escort me?¡± ¡°You won¡¯t regret it, at least.¡± ¡®Whether it be the Mining Festival, the Spirit Celebration, or the finale I prepared.¡¯ * * * The territory was far busier than Davey expected, perhaps due to the large crowd and their excitement from the festival. Regardless, it was better regulated than he had thought. The Mining Festival was almost a parade for the dwarves who had prepared their work for a long time to boast and show off. Of course, those artworks and masterpieces were hung on display in galleries. Other than that, there were lots of snacks unique to dwarves, pubs, or betting stalls on the streets for people to enjoy. The numerous artworks decorating the streets caught everyone¡¯s eyes, and the dwarves¡¯ specialty foods and alcohol touched their noses. Since the dwarves like tasty and curious foods, some were cooking mouthwatering food right on the street. Amongst the people who were fascinated by the different culture and scenery, Illyna¡¯s excitement stood out from the rest. ¡°D¨CDavey! Look at this!¡± Illyna grabbed Davey¡¯s hand and quickly ran toward the stall where an entire boar was being grilled. She was fascinated as she stared at the boar with wide eyes. She exclaimed, ¡°Its shine is no joke. I saw a lot of whole animal grills when I was training for the knight order, but this is top notch!¡± Seeing Illyna¡¯s eyes sparkle, Davey asked the dwarf who was cooking with an apron on, ¡°How much is it?¡± ¡°Hm?¡± The dwarf raised his head and squinted as he stared at Davey. ¡°Is something wrong?¡± Davey asked. ¡°Oh! You are the Wise Teacher!¡± ¡°Wise Teacher? What are you talking about? The dwarf looked a little puzzled by Davey¡¯s answer. Then, he gasped and nodded slowly like he understood something. He simply changed the subject. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s a cute human couple! Welcome! It is five silver in human currency for one plate! You can pick your flavor; which one would you like?¡± Davey was a little surprised at the price of five silver, but it was reasonable considering the normal prices here. ¡°Hm¡­ This sauce called ¡®Ultra Violence¡¯ is very unique. What is it?¡± It was Illyna who answered when she heard that there were a lot of flavors. ¡°Hm? Ah, it¡¯s an intense one! You will not easily forget it after you eat it. However, humans cannot tolerate this intense flavor very well. How about the normal flavor? This isn¡¯t very intense¡­¡± It only took seconds for Illyna¡¯s competitiveness to fire up. ¡°Ultra Violence!¡± Illyna shouted firmly. Surprised by her sudden shout, the dwarf glanced at Davey with a worried gaze. He asked, ¡°Wise Teacher, will she really be okay?¡± ¡°You got the wrong person.¡± The dwarf did nothing more than just chuckle at Davey¡¯s answer. However, Davey did ask Illyna once again as a warning out of unnecessary concern. He asked, ¡°It¡¯s going to be more intense than you think. Do you think you will be okay?¡± ¡°Of course! I can stomach anything and everything that can be eaten.¡± Davey wondered if Illyna would be able to say the same thing if she was presented with live bugs. ¡°You¡¯re going to regret it.¡± Illyna flinched a little as Davey threatened her, but her eyes were already full of desire to have a taste. Her competitive spirit was already on fire. ¡°I¡¯m someone who ate the intensely herbed food of the west. Don¡¯t underestimate the Pallan Empire¡¯s only daughter.¡± Everything seemed to be fine just from seeing how confident Illyna was. However, she had no idea how intense the dwarves¡¯ specialty foods were; the spice felt like a merciless assault on the tongue! By the standards of the people of the eastern and central continent who couldn¡¯t eat hot things, the dwarves¡¯ spice had something that made it difficult to get used to. ¡°Hahaha! It might be a little spicy.¡± As the dwarf chuckled and handed her a plate, Illyna gulped and stabbed the meat on the plate with her fork. She could have been a little repulsed by this cheap meal as royalty always had luxurious meals, but she looked delighted and full of excitement. Then, she sat down and put the nicely grilled piece of meat in her mouth with a nervous expression. ¡®What do you think will happen?¡¯ ¡ªWell, she will probably scream if she doesn¡¯t have strange tastes like you. ¡°Hup!!!¡± The dwarves preferred a spice level that was considered extremely spicy even in South Korea, the country Davey had lived in in his past life. Illyna teared up as she clenched her jaw. She held her fists so tightly that her hands could possibly break. Davey watched Illyna force herself to tolerate it because of her face and pride even though she wanted to scream and roll on the floor. It was quite funny seeing her stare at him with resentment, even though she had tears in her eyes. * * * ¡°Hahaha! Are you okay?¡± the dwarf asked. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m fine,¡± Illyna pretended to be okay and replied, but her face was already red from the spice. Davey had already tried this intense flavor when he had visited the Yellowstone Tribe. He commented, ¡°See, I told you.¡± ¡°I¡­ I said I¡¯m fine! And you try it!¡± As Illyna picked up a piece of meat and shoved it into his mouth even before he could do anything, Davey casually released his mana in secret. Then, he uttered a spell without anyone hearing it. [Pain Reduction] [Olfaction Desentization] In some way, spice could also be a type of sensory pain. Just with these two spells¡­ ¡°Hm, it¡¯s good.¡± ¡°N¡­ No way. Are you human?!¡± Unlike Illyna, who was in shock, Perserque squinted and glared at Davey. She knew exactly what he did. ¡ªYou fraud. ¡®It¡¯s her fault for being tricked.¡¯ The thing about spice was that once one tasted it, it would come back later even if it disappeared for a bit. As the spice came back just when she thought she was okay, Illyna grabbed Davey¡¯s arm hard enough to break it with a tense face. She was pretending so hard that her eyes were full of tears. She exclaimed, ¡°I¨CIt was delicious! D¨CDavey, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Hahahahaha! Wise Teacher! Come again next time! I will give you the ¡®Hyper Violence¡¯ flavor, my family¡¯s secret sauce!¡± ¡®I keep telling you that I¡¯m not the Wise Teacher.¡¯ Davey was in quite some trouble, since the dwarves recognized him as if the mask was nonexistent. Although it wasn¡¯t to trick the dwarves, he was disappointed that they could figure out his identity so easily. The dwarves¡¯ festival was much more festive and diverse than Davey had thought. ¡°Hey! The elves are going to do the Spirit Dance over here!¡± ¡°Spirit Dance? What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°They said that it was a dance with spirits? Everyone is going crazy over it because it¡¯s so cool.¡± Watching the crowd of mercenaries who came to see the festival chatter amongst themselves before leaving, Davey found a familiar face. He murmured, ¡°Elder Goulda?¡± This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°Hm? Wise Teacher?¡± Davey wondered how they were recognizing him when he had a mask on. He coughed. ¡°Ahem, you got the wrong person.¡± ¡°Hahaha! If you say so, Wise Teacher! So, how do you like this? Would you like to try?¡± Goulda, who was looking after the huge stall with pride, pulled out a large box and handed it to Davey. It was as if he had been waiting for this moment. ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°The treasure of the dwarves! A blind box! You will pick one of the balls in here. If you win, you will make a fortune in seconds! There are items worth dozens and hundreds of gold in human currency as well. The most surprising thing is that you can¡¯t lose! So, how about it? Intriguing?¡± ¡°Hm¡­ How much is it for one?¡± ¡°I will give it to you for cheap, Wise Teacher. Two silver for one.¡± Two silver would get Davey one chance. The contents were unknown, but within it was a reward that could make him a fortune. ¡®This is totally¡­¡¯ It was just like a gambling box from games. It was fitting for the dwarves, who liked gambling and betting. ¡°Woah!! It¡¯s a sword covered with dwarf-made mithril?! Cool!¡± That was when a human exclaimed and got everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°Look at this! This sheen! It¡¯s definitely real!¡± ¡°Woah!!¡± ¡°S¡­ Should I try?¡± ¡°I mean, two silver¡­ That¡¯s not even that expensive.¡± As people began to gather after hearing the excited mercenary¡¯s shouts, Goulda chuckled and asked Davey in delight, ¡°See? So? Would you like to try it? The odds are quite good.¡± As Elder Goulda slowly tried to entice Davey, Illyna was staring at the box blankly as if she was already persuaded. She mumbled quietly, ¡°If one time is for two silver¡­ One gold is fifty times¡­¡± Davey quickly grabbed Illyna¡¯s hand and pulled her away. He said to her, ¡°You become a capitalist pig if you get lured into that kind of gambling.¡± ¡°You¡¯re pretty good for using a wingman, too,¡± Davey said. After listening to that, Elder Goulda chuckled and said, ¡°You really won¡¯t regret it. Well, for you, Wise Teacher, I will give you ten chances for free.¡± Davey grinned. ¡°Haha, I¡¯m Davey, Elder Goulda. Do you think I will fall for such a trick?¡± ¡°Hahaha!¡± Davey wasn¡¯t one to fall for that sort of sweet trick. He had already experienced firsthand the rock bottom one could feel from blind box gambling. He would not make that mistake again. CH 177 ¡®Human beings have endless greed¡­¡¯ ¡°Davey¡­ Enough. You already spent three gold on it. Are you crazy? There aren¡¯t any more balls to draw. Stop it!¡± ¡®Which makes them repeat the same mistakes.¡¯ ¡°One more¡­ Huh?¡± In the basket before Davey was a heap of opened balls. He stared blankly at the pile before glaring at Elder Goulda, who was chuckling in amusement. Elder Goulda then showed Davey a list and said, ¡°Since you played a lot, Wise Teacher, I will give you everything that you drew from the balls.¡± ¡°Damn it. What have I done?¡± Maybe it was because Davey had played too many games in his past life, but he had been lured into this gambling game even though he already knew the consequences. ¡°Whoo~ What an amazing record! Pahahaha!!¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see, Elder Goulda.¡± ¡°Ahem! You chose to do it, Wise Teacher. No refunds!¡± Davey scoffed at Elder Golgouda, who held the basket of coins close like a treasure. ¡°Anyway, Wise Teacher, are you on a date?¡± Illyna gasped. She was rendered speechless by that question. ¡°Hahaha! Well, that doesn¡¯t really matter! There¡¯s a gallery made by craftsmen over there! I don¡¯t know if it will meet your standards, but there are a lot of artworks that have been made with quite some dedication. Go take a look.¡± Davey nodded quietly at Elder Goulda¡¯s proposal. Apart from the quality, most dwarf galleries competed for their artistic design or intricacy of the work. Perhaps this was why Illyna could not take her eyes off of the various artworks and beautifully detailed accessories that were rare in the outside world. Although she would have seen numerous beautiful things as royalty, Illyna could not say anything but just gasp at the gallery¡¯s beauty. ¡°Wow¡­ Wow, this¡­¡± Like the objects recorded in the Mining Travelog, a famous bestseller, the works on display at the Mining Festival did not disappoint. The flamboyant artworks struck everyone in awe. ¡°Ah, Wise Teacher! You¡¯re here!¡± It was Elder Golgouda. He chuckled when Davey sighed at how the dwarf had recognized him instantly as if the mask was invisible. ¡°I¡¯m glad you came! I knew you were going to see us dwarves first! Ahem! Come inside and take it in! Us Yellowstone craftsmen really worked hard on this, so I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll see a couple that is to your liking!¡± ¡°Hm¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s not everything. You remember Tors, the guy from the Blackstone Tribe? He must have said something because they sent over multiple artworks as well.¡± ¡°I saw some artworks that had a slightly different style; that must be the Blackstone Tribe¡¯s.¡± ¡°Hahaha! Of course, you caught that instantly, Wise Teacher! How is it? Will you contribute your artwork for the next Mining Festival?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good idea.¡± It was just as Elder Golgouda, who was giggling at his small victory, confidently predicted; looking at the dwarves¡¯ artwork that had been worked on for a long time for this day, Davey could feel that they were made with their souls and he wanted to make something new as well. ¡°Wow¡­ I¡¯ve never seen Mermaid¡¯s Tears refined like this¡­¡± Illyna looked at the beautiful blue jewel with sparkling eyes, expressing a hint of desire in her gaze. The jewel made people want it, and she wanted it. However, she did not show any more desire than that, but she still could not take her eyes off it. ¡°¡­¡± Davey quietly watched Illyna stare at the glass case, then glanced over at Elder Golgouda, who was standing beside him with a friendly smile. ¡°Wise Teacher.¡± ¡°How are you recognizing me when I have a mask on?¡± ¡°Hahaha, why don¡¯t you try to cover the sky with your hands as well? I have prepared what you asked for.¡± Then, Golgouda gave Davey a small box and added, ¡°I repeated heating and cooling for one hundred fifty-two hours in the Great Furnace exactly as you said.¡± Elder Golgouda smiled as Davey stared at the box in surprise. He asked, ¡°Anyway, is it that beautiful princess who will be getting this?¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°Haha!! You have to jump right into it and make grand gestures when you¡¯re young! When I was younger, I beat five or six dwarves to get my girl!¡± Davey scoffed, but Elder Golgouda shook his finger like he knew everything before walking away. ¡°Davey, I think we¡¯ve seen everything here. What are you doing?¡± Playing with the box in his hands, Davey turned to look at Illyna when she tapped his shoulder and called him. Then, he hid the box and slowly walked with her. He murmured, ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go! There¡¯s still so much to see!¡± Illyna¡¯s smile did not disappear for a while, like a child who found a new toy. * * * ¡°This place¡­ Woah, you can see the entire territory from here!¡± Illyna, who was looking around in the silent atmosphere, was surprised at the view of the entire territory. As this was the highest place in the entire land, the entire Heins Territory could be seen from here clearly. And in a way, it was a solitary resting place for Davey; it was where he came to clear his head when there was a lot on his mind. As such, most of the equipment here met all of his standards or were according to his preference, like a hammock or pavilion, and a large wooden chair so that he could look down on the entire territory. ¡°But no one is here?¡± Illyna asked. This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°This place is off-limits to other people.¡± Illyna twirled and looked around as if she had gotten used to the silence. Then, Davey pulled out a pocket watch and checked the current time. He commented, ¡°It¡¯s almost time.¡± ¡°Time?¡± ¡°Yes, time to use the things I asked from you.¡± Illyna nodded as if she understood Davey. ¡°Oh, right, you purchased a large amount of Flare Break Stone from the Pallan Empire. It¡¯s for the festival.¡± Then, Illyna frowned slightly in puzzlement. ¡°I still don¡¯t understand. We accepted because we were intrigued by your status as a Swordmaster, but¡­the foreign export of Flare Break Stone is very strictly regulated.¡± Dozens of people could die if even a little child used it. Illyna was saying that Flare Break Stones weren¡¯t easy to obtain even with money, as they had a high chance of being used in horrendous terrors. Of course, Davey bypassed the middle part of the transaction with Illyna¡¯s authority, but it would be problematic for her as well if she didn¡¯t know what they were being used for either. ¡°So? Seriously, which part of the festival are you going to use that explosive for?¡± Illyna asked. Davey answered while staring down at the territory from the watchtower. ¡°What do you mean? I have to blow everything up.¡± ¡°B¡ªBlow up?¡± Of course, if an object was meant to explode, it should be blown up. ¡°What?! Are you saying you are going to blow up all those explosive magic stones in the plaza?!¡± ¡°No.¡± Davey pointed at the sky and clarified, ¡°I¡¯m going to blow it up there.¡± ¡°The¡­sky?¡± ¡°It¡¯s going to be a rare sight. Take a good look,¡± Davey told Illyna. Then, he covered his ear with two fingers and asked, ¡°Rinne, can you hear me?¡± [Sir Davey?] Then, Rinne¡¯s voice rang throughout Davey¡¯s head. ¡°Are you ready?¡± [The Decepticon Fleet. Rinne¡¯s proud juniors. Rinne highly appreciates their thorough preparation.] ¡°Good.¡± Illyna looked puzzled at how Davey was mumbling to himself. ¡°It¡¯s time to start the finale. Let¡¯s begin the Flowers of the Air.¡± [Command accepted.] ¡°Flowers of the Air?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡± There was something similar to the concept of fireworks in the Tionis continent as well, but¡­ Ping!! Ping!! It didn¡¯t have the technology to recreate the modern fireworks on Earth. Illyna looked puzzled as the shining objects flew into the air one by one from all over the territory. ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°Flare Break Stone.¡± Red, blue, and gold stones; as the colorful objects flew up into the air, the puzzled Illyna was extremely shocked and stared at him with wide eyes when Davey told her what they were. ¡°What?! Are you crazy?! You don¡¯t know what will happen if you shoot them up in the air?! What were you thinking?!¡± ¡°Stop worrying and look.¡± Annoyed by Davey¡¯s nonchalant attitude, Illyna looked up at the sky. Boom!!! Boom!! Illyna was going to look at Davey again in frustration, but she looked back at the sky in surprise. At the same time, her eyes widened. She muttered, ¡°What is¡­¡± It was like someone had painted the sky. The shining stones exploded in the sky after reaching a certain distance, and covered the sky in large fragments of light. They became flowers or animals; the images were all unique and in different colors, but they all had a breathtaking beauty to them. Even Illyna, who was shouting at Davey and calling him crazy, could not peel her eyes away from the artwork in the sky and stared at it in awe. Ping! Boom!! Crackle!! The light scattered into dust, shone, then burned away on its own. The light burned and crackled away in a short period of time, but that was enough to grab everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°How is it?¡± ¡°Oh my¡­ That¡¯s possible¡­with Flare Break Stones?¡± ¡°Well, I used other materials too, but I did use some of it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s beautiful¡­¡± Illyna sincerely gasped in amazement. Watching the successfully executed fireworks in satisfaction, Davey pulled out a small box and said to Illyna, ¡°Here.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a present. It will help with mana circulation.¡± Illyna, who opened the box in puzzlement, mumbled in surprise after opening the box, ¡°This is¡­¡± The box only had a sapphire necklace. Considering everything Davey and Illyna had experienced together, a jewel-decorated necklace was very simple and small. In fact, a sapphire was a common jewel that could be obtained easily. However, this one was a little different. Unlike other ordinary sapphires, a faint blue light was circulating through the artistically engraved patterns on the jewel. ¡°It¡¯s not just any sapphire. It¡¯s valuable,¡± Davey said. The sapphire had undergone a continuous process of heating and quick cooling in the dwarves¡¯ Great Furnace for days. Some may wonder what kind of lunatic would do something like that to a necklace, but thanks to that, a common jewel like a sapphire had turned into something that could not be traded for anything else. ¡°Why are you giving me this?¡± Illyna looked up at Davey with a trembling gaze. Davey told Illyna about the necklace¡¯s simple purpose. ¡°A bribe.¡± CH 178 Davey told Illyna that this was just a glimpse, a token of appreciation for what she had done for him and what she would do for him in the future. Illyna was possibly disappointed. After being surprised by Davey¡¯s gesture, she chuckled after realizing something. Then, she handed him the necklace again and asked, ¡°What are you doing? You¡¯re not going to put it on for me?¡± ¡°Ask your boyfriend to do something like that for you.¡± Illyna smiled brightly and said, ¡°That¡¯s stupid, Davey! Are you telling me that I should ask my boyfriend to put on a necklace another man gave me?¡± ¡°Hm, I guess you¡¯re right.¡± Davey took the necklace Illyna handed him, undid the clasp, then gestured for Illyna to come over. He said, ¡°Come close.¡± ¡°This is supposed to be romantic, but why do I just feel empty¡­?¡± Even though she muttered those words, Illyna willingly approached Davey and stared up at him with a smile. Davey then wrapped his arms around Illyna and slowly clasped the necklace around her neck. Then, he lifted her luscious blond hair and straightened it out a bit. Illyna¡¯s delighted smile brightened even more. Maybe she really liked the necklace that shone with a serene, blue light. She then commented, ¡°You¡¯d be great husband material if you weren¡¯t such a psycho.¡± ¡°Tomboys like you aren¡¯t my type.¡± When it came to women, Davey liked the petite animal-like princess of the Lyndis Empire, or Perserque, the Demon Lord beside him. ¡°Psychos like you aren¡¯t my type, either. The royal palace is going crazy about finding me a husband, but you are the complete opposite of their criteria.¡± ¡°Thank you for your consideration, Your Highness.¡± They giggled together before bumping fists. Like Yuria had said, there were no true friends between men and women; however, Davey thought that his relationship with Illyna had something a little off for it to be called a romantic relationship. It would just be a nuisance for them both if the people around them called them a couple when they themselves did not have any feelings for each other. ¡°But¡­¡± Illyna, who was looking up at Davey, lowered her head. Then, she carefully said with a faint smile, ¡°So¡­ You know, Davey. If¡­¡± Rambling on, Illyna looked around like she was flustered. ¡°If¡­ If there isn¡¯t anyone who is good for me¡­ Y¡­ You¡­¡± The moment Illyna bit her lip and was struggling to tell Davey something¡­ Vooosh!!! ¡°Kyahh?!¡± Forgetting about what she was about to say, Illyna let out a cute scream fitting for her age and collapsed onto the ground at the sudden vibration. The source of the sound was none other than her ring. ¡°Sigh¡­ That surprised me,¡± Illyna mumbled in annoyance, then sighed. ¡°My kingdom is calling me. Sorry Davey¡­¡± ¡°Go.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Go. Something came up for me as well.¡± Illyna looked confused when Davey repeated himself, ¡°Go.¡± Although confused by how firm Davey was being, Illyna still nodded. She then said cheerfully, ¡°Sorry. But since the festival is going on for a few days, let¡¯s come with Winley tomorrow!¡± At last, Illyna sighed and turned her back on Davey to leave as he had suggested. From a little while ago, Davey had weakly sensed a familiar energy from not too far away. There was only one person who had this unique and cold energy: Jack, the Echo Guild informant who was taking on his personal requests. Jack¡¯s actual identity was Aina Helishana, the dark elf. Right now, she was fighting someone and releasing her killing aura on the outskirts of the territory. ¡°These guys are ruining a good day.¡± Davey was a little annoyed. ¡®They should know the time and place to invade or attack or whatever.¡¯ If they couldn¡¯t even keep those basic manners¡­ ¡°I¡¯m going to have to pull out all their hair, even if it¡¯s the World Tree.¡± Davey had no choice but to punish them. * * * There were four or five elves wearing a blue uniform; they were all Ancient Guards who were exceptionally strong in the Divine Tree. They all had Master-level bowmanship, and they were skilled elves who had made a contract with spirits of higher ranks than intermediate. The Ancient Guards were heading to the Heins Territory, where everyone would be enjoying the festival without knowledge of their presence. By the command of the World Tree, they were to attack the Heins Territory and end the life of the human who had the guts to provoke them. However, their secret invasion was stopped by some man before they could even enter the territory. ¡°You should¡¯ve gotten rid of your killing aura. You cannot go any further than this,¡± the man said calmly. A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled. The Ancient Guards silently surrounded the man with their weapons in their hands. ¡°We do not want unnecessary killing. Move, human,¡± the male Ancient Guard quietly said to Jack, the man in the black uniform. However, Jack did not budge and simply twirled his smoothly curved dagger, his favored weapon and his protection all this time. He continued to block their way. ¡°I refuse. I have no choice but to kill you if you decide to come any closer.¡± The invaders became more hostile at Jack¡¯s emotionless warning. ¡°We are going to execute the command we have been given. If you choose to stand in the way¡­¡± one of the Ancient Guards trailed off and loaded an arrow into their bow. They added, ¡°Unfortunately, we will have to return you to Mother Nature.¡± Ping!! With the sound of air ripping, sharp arrows began flying towards Jack in seconds. * * * ¡®Ancient Guards.¡¯ Trying to hide the cold sweat running down his entire body, Jack, no, Aina Helishana moved swiftly as she swatted away the arrows flying towards her with a tense face. Dangerous attacks that could severely injure her if she made even one misstep flew toward her endlessly. She was a high-ranking informant in the Echo Guild, the continent¡¯s best intelligence guild. Her assassination skills were that of a Master, and as she herself was a former Ancient Guard, her spirit magic was also quite advanced. As such, Aina could not let down her guard; her opponents were Ancient Guards, what she had been before, and there were five of them targeting her. The person who was grabbing her attention was¡­a woman in a flowy uniform that the Ancient Guards were surrounding and protecting. ¡°Hup!¡± Shwang!!! Splatter!! As soon as Aina¡¯s concentration broke for a second, the sharp arrow cut her waist as it flew by. She reflexively moved and avoided any lethal injuries, but she couldn¡¯t help but frown at the stinging pain that she felt. ¡°¡­¡± Aina stared at the arrow instantly pointed at her forehead with wide eyes. As soon as the elf let go, that arrow would be lodged right between her eyebrows. It was too late to dodge it; the damage of concentrating on something else proved to be far more detrimental. [Stop. Stop it.] For the first time, the woman who was standing still near the Ancient Guards opened her mouth and interfered with the situation. Smiling like she knew everything, the woman had incredible beauty and was wearing a very modern outfit. She looked to be in her mid to late twenties, and was frail with no weapons or muscles. There was no reason to worry about her as she wasn¡¯t wearing defensive armor, but just a thin and flowy outfit that looked like it could easily be ripped apart. There shouldn¡¯t have been a reason to worry, but Aina did feel wary. Apart from not judging a book by its cover and whatnot, Aina Helishana knew who that woman was: World Tree Yggdrasil. It was the woman¡¯s only name that was given to her by the primordial will. The woman wasn¡¯t the true being, but was an incarnation that had part of its powers. If it was the World Tree¡¯s incarnation, it could subdue Aina with a flick of her fingers. This meant that Aina was just hanging by a thread. Watching Aina reflexively get up and back away from her, Yggdrasil deepened her benevolent smile even more. [Hm, I wondered where my naughty daughter had run away to. It seems you were here.] ¡°I am human. I am not an elf.¡± [A human, you say¡­ That is quite an interesting story, Aina.] ¡°¡­¡± [Did you really think I would not be able to recognize my own child if you hid your face with such a crude artifact?] ¡°Damn it¡­¡± [I don¡¯t know why you and your sister are making my heart ache so much.] ¡°You are the reason why. Take off that disgusting hypocritical mask. I have become dead to my sister because of you and the Saint of the Divine Tree, and I cannot show myself to her.¡± Aina Helishana felt tense from her inevitable nervousness. ¡®I cannot let her¡ªthe World Tree¡ªand the Ancient Guards get to Davey.¡¯ The Ancient Guards wouldn¡¯t pose a problem, but the incarnation of the World Tree was a different story. The World Tree was a transcendental being that had the ability to change the terrain of a land with its will. This woman may just be the incarnation, but her powers were beyond common sense and logic. It meant that no matter the level of power, nothing could measure up to her. The World Tree was an almost unfairly powerful being of another dimension. If it was the World Tree whose presence itself held great power, even Davey would have a hard time. ¡®If he doesn¡¯t stop her with the interference of a Spirit King or something, he doesn¡¯t even stand a chance.¡¯ All Aina Helishana knew was that Davey had gone to the Forest of Elves and that he had gone against the World Tree, but she had no idea what he had done there. That was inevitable as she had just returned to the Heins Territory. To be honest, it was almost a coincidence that she had discovered the invasion of the World Tree and the Ancient Guards and was stopping them. This was the result of her moving to the source of a familiar but terrifying energy on her way back to the territory. ¡°Why are you here?¡± The World Tree put on a benevolent smile at Aina¡¯s cold question. [I have become interested in the human who took away two of my children. I am delighted today. So, move. Although you have left my nest, Aina, you are still the child of my forest like everyone else. I do not want you to lay down your life for some worthless human life.] Aina ground her teeth at Yggdrasil, the World Tree, talking as if the outcome had already been decided. She could not know how strong the incarnation was, but no good would come from Davey facing her. This was a difficult decision to make. If Aina blocked them from advancing, she would die. If she let them go, however, then Davey would die. Aina didn¡¯t follow Davey enough to pledge her life to him, but no one would be able to solve her problem if not for Davey. Above all, she felt nothing but loathing for the World Tree. This was a scale that had been tipped to one side already, so Aina¡¯s decision was quicker than expected. She said, ¡°I refuse. I cannot let you harm him in any way.¡± CH 179 66. The Tide Goes On. [My, that is unfortunate¡­] Aina could hear the incarnation of Yggdrasil, the World Tree, mumbling in bitterness and disappointment. She showed no hint of insincerity, expressing her genuine heart, which made this much more terrifying. Whistle!! Shwang!! The attack was unannounced. The Ancient Guard charged at Aina in seconds, pointing the rapier that was originally at their waist, and then swiftly struck it towards Aina¡¯s heart like an arrow. The five elves surrounding Aina closed in on her with a tight combined attack formation. They had seemingly become one. Cang!!! Aina dodged the two elves who charged toward her with rapiers at lightning speed. Then, an arrow flew toward her weak spots to utterly terrify her. Swat!!! All five enemies cooperated with one another to pressure Aina. If all of them were as skilled as a Master, this fight could only have one conclusion. However¡­ ¡®I have to tap on my experience with large-scale battles.¡¯ Aina Helishana took a short breath and slightly tilted her head. At the same time, with a flash of green light, a rapier with a layer of spirit power flew over. Immediately following the failed attack, Aina tripped the elf who was about to step back after retrieving their sword. She also grabbed the arm of another elf who was coming at her and cut the chest of the elf who had fallen to the floor. Splatter!!! Hot, red blood shot up into the air, accompanied only by silence. Sqwelp! Squeege!! Of course, Aina had to pay the price for what she did. ¡°Sigh¡­¡± Taking a short breath, Aina frowned as she looked down at the deep cut on her arm. ¡®They are much stronger than I thought¡­ It¡¯s trouble if they can already injure me like this¡­¡¯ Aina had subdued just one enemy. Even if she put her life on the line to overpower the rest of the elves, the most dangerous one would still be left. If the battle went on like this, the enemies wouldn¡¯t be the only ones lying on the ground. Aina was going to fight with her life, but she did not intend on dying; there was no one in this world who wanted to die. With that in mind, she made a rather bold decision. The incarnation of the World Tree was the core moving her enemies. If so¡­ ¡®I will neutralize the incarnation!¡¯ If Aina¡¯s prediction was right, the incarnation would be able to use all of the World Tree¡¯s powers, but she would have virtually no physical abilities. Plus, it had only been about three hundred years since the World Tree¡¯s will had changed. Thus, the incarnation would be an exceptional being, but her fighting abilities would not be great. Aina, who was dodging attacks while looking for an opening, quickly threw a couple of daggers wrapped in cloth. She kept the Ancient Guards in check with these surprise attacks, since the daggers reflected no light and did not fly too quickly. Swish!! Clink!! Nobody was hit since the daggers weren¡¯t explicitly aimed at the elves. Once the daggers lost momentum, they fell to the ground. Aina¡¯s breathing became rougher. She also sustained more injuries. Even so, her eyes shone even brighter. Splatter! Aina only collapsed to the ground after multiple rapiers penetrated her stomach when she was barely holding on. ¡®Cough¡­¡¯ She didn¡¯t moan in pain. Instead, she fought back even while coughing and gurgling from the blood. Boom!! Unfortunately, the elves overpowered Aina. She was ruthlessly pinned to the ground with her arms behind her back. She glared at the five Ancient Guards and Yggdrasil with cold eyes. ¡°Do not fight back. The World Tree does not allow it,¡± an Ancient Guard said with blind faith. Aina bit her lips hard. [Stop. We are all children of the forest; what are you going to do by violently suppressing her?] ¡°My apologies.¡± The elves bowed at Yggdrasil¡¯s criticism. [Aina.] ¡°...¡± [It is not too late now. Come back to Mother¡¯s arms. You cannot do anything about your corruption, but if you repent your wrongdoings and come back to us¡­] ¡°Ha¡­ Wrongdoings?¡± Spitting out cold words, Aina¡¯s eyes were filled with rage. Crack!! The elves reflexively held Aina tighter, but they couldn¡¯t shut her mouth. ¡°I learned something from that man, Davey. He is a damn pervert, but he is truly powerful and he has faith and loyalty. He is different from you, so¡­¡± [Hm?] Yggdrasil tilted her head in puzzlement. Looking at the incarnation¡¯s benevolent smile, Aina slowly raised her fist and put up her middle finger. She declared, ¡°Screw you.¡± Click!! With that, Aina tugged on something invisible. Psheeee!!!! The daggers that pierced the floor illuminated at once and released a nasty, poisonous smoke. ¡°Huh?! Mother of the Divine Tree! Take cover!¡± The flustered Ancient Guards all blocked Yggdrasil at once. However¡­ ¡®I hope they all die.¡¯ Killing hundreds of incarnations wouldn¡¯t change anything, but Yggdrasil¡¯s true body was a large immobile tree. If she lost an incarnation, she would not be able to roam freely for a while. Aina didn¡¯t think the Ancient Guards would be able to harm Davey, that monstrous boy, at all; the only worrisome being was the World Tree. Crash!!! Boom!! Aina sighed at the huge explosion, which spread the poisonous smoke of fatal effects. The smoke was impressive since it could be detonated with the proper triggers. With the high temperature during which the explosion took place, there was no way the incarnation of the World Tree, who only had the physical abilities of a human, would be able to endure that. ¡°Is it taken care of¡­?¡± Looking somewhat unsure, Aina stood up and quickly turned away. Whatever happened, she thought it was best to¡­ Splatter!! Run away when she had the chance. Aina looked down at the thin and sharp blade of a rapier that had pierced her heart with wide eyes. * * * Shatter!! Aina¡¯s skull-shaped necklace was broken by the rapier¡¯s sharp edge, and her appearance began to change. The strong physique of a middle-aged man was enveloped by light before slowly shrinking in size. Aina was no longer one hundred ninety centimeters tall but barely one hundred sixty centimeters. Her large and tough muscles disappeared, transforming into lean, smooth, and soft light brown skin. Her black hair turned into a dark navy, as if it had lost color due to sunlight, and her short hair grew into two hanging braids. ¡°Cough¡­¡± It was definitely a fatal injury. Unable to control her body, Aina fell to her knees. Her bright eyes, the only part of her which still held onto so much life, began closing. Squelp!! As the rapier that pierced her heart was ruthlessly retrieved, Aina collapsed like a marionette with severed strings. Blood spilled from her various injuries, her bright eyes lost focus and had a blank gaze, and she could barely speak. ¡®N¡­ No¡­ I can¡¯t die here¡­¡¯ Aina, who was struggling to mumble, felt her sight slowly begin to blur. Before losing consciousness, which hung on by a mere thread, she saw the incarnation of Yggdrasil and the five Ancient Guards walking out of the explosion without a scratch. That attack had been a somewhat desperate surprise attack; Aina had executed it with her own life on the line. ¡®I guess I¡¯ll just die a disgraceful death.¡¯ * * * ¡°What should we do with her?¡± [Just leave her. Don¡¯t be the one to take her life.] ¡°If that is what you command.¡± Watching the elves bow towards her, Yggdrasil erased the smile from her face and stared at the brown-skinned elf who had collapsed in front of her. Aina Helishana had initially been praised as the most talented elf in the Divine Tree¡¯s Land. However, she corrupted herself and left the forest behind as a Dark Elf. It had roughly been thirty years since she had taken off, but her eyes remained the same. Yggdrasil momentarily struggled to smile, feeling weird. However, she soon turned to put her hand on the elf who had been cut by Aina. Vooosh!!! At the same time, a bright light flashed from her hands and healed the chest that had been sliced by the sharp blade. She instantly healed the elf¡¯s fatal injury. However, the other Ancient Guards couldn¡¯t witness such a sight. Yggdrasil, the World Tree, had the power to comfort the children of the forest with benevolence. She was the large tree known as the origin of elves, so she had power comparable to that of Demon Lord Perserque¡¯s, who had been a major factor of the Continental War three thousand years ago. ¡°Ah¡­ My World Tree¡­¡± [Are you okay?] ¡°Yes!¡± [That is a relief. Then, let¡¯s go. We have wasted too much time and strength.] The incarnation of Yggdrasil, the World Tree, glanced at the collapsed Aina before shaking her head and walking away. That was when the starless night sky darkened. It was as if an unknown force had sucked up all of the surrounding light. The moment the Ancient Guards immediately realized that something was off and looked around with wide eyes¡­ ¡°I heard that Dark Elves'' eyes change color based on their emotions.¡± They heard a man¡¯s calm voice. ¡°If her eyes, which should have been the first thing to darken after corruption, are still that bright, it means that she¡¯s quite stubborn, right?¡± ¡°Wh¨CWho?!¡± Click. With the sound of something being unlocked, a weapon had been drawn. It came from the elf who was standing at the front of the pack with rapiers on their waist. ¡°What?!¡± When you''re just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. Splatter!! The Ancient Guard¡¯s eyes widened as they realized their rapier was missing; however, they could not say anything more about it. A blade had pierced through their forehead with a sharp, clean sound. Elves could be healed from any injury as long as they did not die, but even the World Tree¡¯s power could not revive those who died instantly. It only took seconds for an Ancient Guard, who was a Master hunter powerful enough to contract with an intermediate-rank spirit, to die. The surroundings soon descended into darkness. It became a completely dark underground cave where no one could see more than an inch in front of them. ¡°Protect the Mother of the Divine Tree! This is a surprise attack!¡± A strange man had hidden his presence and attacked them. The Ancient Guards, who were surprised by him, sharpened all their senses, but all they could feel was cold air. They could only see darkness and smell the terrifying odor of fresh blood. ¡°Although you are all unwelcome guests, I still have to offer you a proper welcome to our festival.¡± ¡°Wh¡­ Who are you?!¡± ¡°Show yourself!¡± The man¡¯s voice sounded a little younger than someone in their twenties. Perhaps he was just a teenager. With his voice, the surrounding air dropped in temperature and was so close to freezing. ¡°There happens to be a fun event that I wanted to do, but I was contemplating whether it would be too stimulating or not. Do you happen to like haunted houses?¡± CH 180 The Ancient Guards could not hide their bewilderment in the pitch-black darkness, which rendered them blind to their surroundings for the first time. Unless they received special training, those with normal vision were bound to panic upon losing their sight. The sense of sight provided organisms with the most amount of information. As such, the result of obscuring vision was simple. ¡°Hehehehehe!!¡± That was when the elves heard a crazy woman¡¯s eerie laughter right beside their ears. Swish¡­ ¡°Huh?!¡± Splatter!! Startled by the sudden killing aura and rustling sound, an Ancient Guard pulled out their rapier and swung it around. Although they weren¡¯t Swordmasters, they were still able to strengthen the impact of their attack. A cut could be heard before something fell to the floor. ¡°Hehehehehehe!!¡± However, the terrifying laughter did not stop and kept ringing in their ears. ¡°I¡­ It is human wi¡­ witchcraft! Do not be tricked by it! Give up your sight and find the mana! He is definitely near us!¡± ¡°Protect the Mother of the Divine Tree! Do not let him lay a finger on her!¡± A male elf was the first to react, shouting firmly. He decided that tracing the human¡¯s mana would be much better than flustering around and trying to regain sight. The others concentrated and tensed up as if they had been knocked to their senses. However¡­ Swish. ¡°Wha?!¡± Thud! Something silently flew across the dark surroundings and struck someone, who fell to the ground. ¡°Humans, dwarves, and elves are all intelligent beings. Does your sense of fear feel different because you eat grass or something?¡± The human mocked the elves, asking, ¡°Is the person you are protecting really your ally?¡± At the same time, something eerie brushed past the Ancient Guards, who immediately became even more alert. Their vigilance at the moment was unimaginable. The Ancient Guards¡¯ eyes widened as they realized that something was off. They could not see anything, but they could tell that something was strange. ¡°Even the World Tree, who is supposed to protect you, is staying quiet. Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s weird? It is actually possible that you are all alone right now.¡± As the voice trailed off, an eerie and unknown presence brushed past the elves again. They turned blue in fear as chills ran down their spine. The Ancient Guards¡¯ unwavering spirit slowly began to break from the human¡¯s teasing remarks. * * * ¡°You seem to have something to say. Can you wait for me to finish up on this side first?¡± Davey asked calmly. The woman with a benevolent smile only smiled even deeper. [You are much more fascinating than I had imagined, my child; even I am surprised, too. Well, alright. It¡¯s not a good feeling for me to see my daughter die as well.] ¡°You¡¯re slick.¡± After that comment, Davey quietly inspected the brown-skinned woman who was lying on the floor. She had been fatally injured with a hole in her chest. The injury was so bad that it should have killed her, but¡­ ¡ªShe¡¯s alive, Davey. It was almost miraculous; Aina, who had returned to her original appearance, looked so terrible that it was almost a miracle that she was still alive. ¡°I wonder what made her turn her back on her people at such a young age.¡± An elf¡¯s age could be determined by the thinness of the ends of their hair or by looking at their ears. From what Davey could see, Aina Helishana was around one hundred and twenty years old. Considering that elves lived far longer than humans, she was on the younger side. Davey wondered if it was Aina¡¯s tenacity or the darkness spirit that stopped her from bleeding out. It might be both factors; currents of black energy were covering her injuries, stopping the bleeding, and making the injury less severe by forcing her ripped skin to stick together. It was quite new for Davey to see a darkness spirit be this desperate to save the one they were contracted to. After all, they usually enjoyed destruction. [The magic you put on the children is not magic normally used by humans. This feeling¡­ It¡¯s wicked dark magic.] Without answering Yggdrasil, Davey glanced over at the five elves who laid on the ground and moaned in pain. They had lost their sense of balance and were mumbling gibberish. [8th Circle Dark Magic] [Fear] This spell¡¯s effects were simple: it was a curse-type illusion magic that messed with the senses of people with low magic resistance to make them panic. This was the dangerous thing about fighting a dark mage; unlike elemental magic, which controlled and studied the flow of nature, dark magic was a more practical field of study that studied organisms. As such, there were more spells that actually directly interfered with one¡¯s body or mind rather than the spells themselves being destructive. Of course, the Ancient Guards were Masters who wouldn¡¯t be affected by ordinary magic. However, they had blind faith, which made them slightly vulnerable in certain aspects. In fact, the elves who were on the floor screamed intermittently and shook, unable to come back to their senses. Davey had only shown them one illusion to confuse them. All he showed them was a reality where they wandered around an endless maze in darkness. Of course, he created an imaginary ghost that could not be attacked or understood, since a simple maze wouldn¡¯t be effective. It was actually quite easy to make a normal being feel enough fear to drive them mad. Davey released his holy power after barely containing the dark devil mana that ran wild in his hands. It was much harder to control his violently roaring devil mana, which seemingly complained about not being used in a long time. Devil mana was usually unstable, but its current erratic behavior was inevitable. After all, Davey hadn¡¯t used it since his metamorphosis. Davey placed his hand on Aina¡¯s chest, and stared at the black energy engulfing his hand like it was guarding her. ¡ªDon¡¯t touch her! Then, Aina¡¯s energy took on the form of a porcupine and shouted desperately. ¡ªGet away! ¡°You get away.¡± Swat! ¡®You¡¯re so stubborn when all you can do right now is maintain her current condition¡­¡¯ Whoosh!! The horrendous wound on Aina¡¯s chest gradually began to heal as Davey cast healing magic after immediately pushing away the black energy. He did so with his spirit mana that had the sign of his contract with the Spirit King. However, the wound wasn¡¯t fully healed even after quite some time had passed. Still, Aina¡¯s current condition was better than before. Laying down the unconscious Aina in a safe location, Davey glanced at the woman who was looking at him calmly with a benevolent smile. He commented, ¡°Honestly, I thought the great tree would have some logic. This is unexpected.¡± [Do not try to understand my actions and thoughts, child who defies destiny.] ¡°Child¡­¡± Davey couldn¡¯t help but laugh. ¡°Wasn¡¯t the will of the World Tree changed recently?¡± [My mind has been alive for more than three hundred years; a human that cannot even live for more than a hundred years cannot understand the will of the Divine Tree, which lives for thousands of years.] Davey stayed silent. A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled. [But this is surprising. You have far exceeded the expected potential of humans. All right, do not be too nervous. I have just come to have a talk with you.] ¡°A talk, you say¡­¡± Davey mumbled quietly, thinking that it was ridiculous. He then added, ¡°How dare you invade this place this carelessly to talk?¡± Boom!! As soon as Davey spoke, multiple stone pillars shot up from near Yggdrasil and flew toward him. The ground behind him began to shake and change. ¡°Gnoass, shot-blocking.¡± Kaboom!!! It only took moments for the giant hand that came up from the ground to crush the stone pillars. Then, it quickly came down on Yggdrasil like it was going to crush her. Thump!!!! However, another type of power gathered into a huge wall of soil, which blocked Gnoass¡¯ attack and deflected it. Rumble!!!! It was a fitting level of power for a World Tree, who was one of the origins of nature. Once his attack failed, Gnoass created a huge body, ignoring Davey¡¯s former request, and criticized Yggdrasil. [World Tree, the long-standing arbiter of the forest. Have you gone mad?] Spirit King Gnoass was fuming. From his perspective as a Spirit King, who was nature itself, it was unbelievable that the World Tree, which was the core of elves and the kind that protected nature, was actually trying to destroy nature instead of protecting it. [Hm, it is you, Gnoass. I did not think that a great being like you would come down to this world. According to the primordial covenant and will of the World Tree, a being like a Spirit King should only appear before someone who rightfully completed the test. By chance, were you tricked by that small human child?] Gnoass became more hostile as the World Tree provoked him. [You are the exalted World Tree, but am I worthless enough for a young World Tree like you to judge me?] Gnoass said sternly, letting out his fury with an overwhelming level of power. It seemed like one of them would be crushed just from this conversation alone. Noticing that, Davey said calmly, ¡°Gnoass, get back.¡± [Contractor.] Davey just smiled at Gnoass, who was being stubborn. ¡®Don¡¯t make me say it twice.¡¯ Davey turned his glance from Gnoass, who became quiet from his cold stare, to the woman in front of him. [My name is Yggdrasil, the great tree and the pillar upholding the world.] ¡°The name is Davey O¡¯Rowane.¡± The woman smiled beautifully, but her eyes shone with an indiscernible gaze. She asked, [Do you know why I have defied the trivial rules and have come to see you?] Davey quietly released Perserque¡¯s power. However, all he could see was a green light. ¡ªThe World Tree is a being that has received its name from divine will. I cannot discern her with my level of borrowed power. Perserque was saying that a higher level of power had blocked hers. The World Tree¡¯s physical abilities were much weaker than any ordinary knight; Yggdrasil was almost just a regular person. However, the power she had was strange. This was the first time the power of the Abyss had been blocked. ¡°How would I know if you don¡¯t tell me?¡± [Chuckle, why don¡¯t you take a guess?] ¡°What is the point of that? I¡¯ll just look stupid if you refuse to admit it,¡± Davey replied calmly. Yggdrasil chuckled in amusement. [All right. I also do not have enough time to play this game, so let¡¯s cut to the chase. Return Yuria to me.] ¡®It seems like I kidnapped her or something when you put it this way.¡¯ ¡°Is that the reason you came all the way from the west? To tell me that?¡± [Hm¡­ I guess you also know that I have put down my roots in the western continent.] ¡°I¡¯ve heard and seen a lot more than you know. I deny your request. Yuria has become a resident of the Heins Territory. No one can touch her without my permission, whether it be the empire or the World Tree.¡± [Hm, that is troublesome.] ¡°You are the one in trouble. I have nothing to lose.¡± [You are beaming with confidence, my child. You will definitely be able to stop some of my abilities with Gnoass¡¯ power. It is still a mystery as to how a human can summon the great being of the Earth.] Yggdrasil calmly acknowledged the truth. Then, as if unable to do anything else, she said, [My child, this is not because of my personal greed, and I cannot let this go.] ¡°Personal greed¡­¡± [My child, do you know of the Demon Lord?] ¡°Demon Lord?¡± [Yes, there was a Demon Lord who existed three thousand years ago that made every being on this continent tremble in fear.] Yggdrasil mumbled quietly as if she was telling an old tale. [That Demon Lord¡¯s name is Perserque. The true evil of all time that flooded the continent in blood is about to awaken, and no one will be able to stop the fury of the Demon Lord, who has been waiting for their awakening.] Yggdrasil spoke in a comforting manner, but what she was saying didn¡¯t matter; all Davey did was calmly stare at the girl who was floating next to him. He thought, ¡®She¡¯s talking about Demon Lord Perserque.¡¯ ¡ªShe¡¯s talking about me. The silver-haired girl turned to Davey at the exact time he did and stared at him in puzzlement. CH 181 For a moment, silence blanketed the entire area. This was no surprise. Perserque¡¯s existence was not that widely known in the world, so there was a high chance that they truly did not know much about her. ¡°Co¡­ Cough!¡± However, just because they knew and understood something did not mean that everything would work out for them. Davey tried to contain his laughter by shutting his mouth completely. On the other hand, the former Demon Lord, the one involved in the matter, was already laughing loudly, with tears forming at the corners of her eyes. Davey still could not believe that the World Tree was trying to resurrect Demon Lord Perserque. They appeared to believe that as long as the Demon Lord, someone filled with hatred, was awakened to the world, the entire continent would be bathed in a sea of blood. ¡®Are you truly filled with hatred?¡¯ ¡ªKyahahahahaha!!! But since Perserque was not visible, all Yggdrasil could see was Davey trying to hold in his laughter. [Is there something funny about what I said?] ¡°No, everything¡¯s fine. My answer remains the same. I refuse. Yuria is already a resident of Heins Territory. It¡¯s none of my business whatever it is you want to do with the Demon Lord.¡± Besides, even if Perserque was resurrected now, she was not restricted to whatever they wanted to do. She did not even have any reason or justification to wage war in the world. After giving an answer to Yggdrasil, Davey flicked his finger and released the illusion magic that he had cast on the ancient guards earlier on. ¡°Gasp!¡± ¡°Urgh! Ha¡­ Ha¡­¡± As they gasped and moaned in pain, a voice rang in their ears. ¡°Come at me if you want to find her. If you remain stubborn and don¡¯t have any room for compromise, all that¡¯s left for us is to engage in barbaric acts and get into armed conflict.¡± From Davey¡¯s point of view, if there was no room for negotiation between hostile factions and neither side could compromise, then there was only one answer. The result would be quite bittersweet, but there was no reason for Davey to hesitate, especially if he already knew the outcome. [Why can¡¯t you just go along with the trend and follow the times? Can you even handle the anger of Demon Lord Perserque, someone who is known as the supreme evil?] ¡°From the beginning, you already expected such results. So¡­why are you wagging that long tongue of yours?¡± What Davey said next was how he truly felt. ¡ªThis again? Perserque sounded fed up with Davey and just ignored him as usual. ¡°If you¡¯re scared, then why don¡¯t you just go and die?¡± Meanwhile, the ancient guards, with tears and drool dripping down their faces, continued to gasp. They looked like they had not yet escaped the terrible darkness and fear that Davey had shown them. If they did not have the force and the power in their bodies supporting them, they would have already run away from the terrible situation, a situation where they were not even allowed to breathe. Inside the darkness, where everything had been taken away from them, the only thing that they could rely on were their senses. There weren¡¯t that many people, especially those who were only given an ordinary human¡¯s body and abilities, that could hold onto their sanity if they were suddenly dropped in a dark and unknown labyrinth and left running away from monsters with chainsaws in their hands. Because of that, the ancient guards looked completely helpless. They could not even stand up; they just kept gasping to try and catch their breaths. They looked completely different from when they had attacked Aina Helishana earlier. Clap! At that moment, the incarnation of World Tree Yggdrasil, who had been silent up until this moment, clapped her hands once. ¡°Urgh?!¡± ¡°Hngh!¡± The panicked and flustered ancient guards turned to look at Yggdrasil with bulging eyes. They still trembled from the fear and terror that they had experienced, but the alertness and clarity had started to return to their eyes. From what it looked like, they were starting to escape from the total and complete panic from earlier. [My children, I¡¯m sorry. This is because your mother is too lacking, I can¡¯t persuade that human child.] Yggdrasil¡¯s words only had one simple meaning. ¡°Kgghk¡­ ugh¡­¡± The ancient guards, who were panting as they faced Yggdrasil, turned to look at Davey and quickly stood up as if they had finally returned to their senses. They drew their weapons and moved to surround Davey as if they were keeping him in check. As they tried to stop trembling, the ancient guards glared at Davey, showing both fear and hostility in their eyes. They were looking at him in doubt, wondering if he was truly the one who had done all that to them. [I don¡¯t know if I can kill you right away, but one thing is for sure: you won¡¯t have it easy. You will definitely suffer.] As Yggdrasil¡¯s calm voice echoed in the area, a green stream of energy floated from her and gathered around the elves. This was the World Tree¡¯s Blessing, and only one result could come from this. The still-trembling elves, the very same elves who hadn¡¯t completely escaped from the terror earlier on, took a deep breath and aimed their weapons at Davey. From what it looked like, they finally realized that Davey was the cause of all of their suffering. The weapons in the ancient guards¡¯ hands were different from ordinary arrows. These arrows were embedded with spirit stones. Judging by firepower alone, the elves in front of Davey were very determined to kill him. ¡°Human¡­ You dare to make a fool out of us? You will pay for your sins,¡± one of the male elves declared. He had a murderous glint in his glare as he pointed his rapier at Davey. Davey, however, just grabbed the rapier, pulled it away from the elf, pointed it at him, and murmured, ¡°Since I don¡¯t have my weapons with me, I¡¯ll borrow this for a moment.¡± The elf was immediately flustered. He drew the dagger on his waist the moment he realized that his weapon was gone and took some distance from Davey. It seemed like the elf was a master-class existence for a reason. ¡°How dare you¡­ How dare you use our elven weapon?! A mere human like you?!¡± ¡°Since when did the rapier become exclusive to the elves? I did not release the magic I cast on you just to hear that tongue of yours make some absurd joke,¡± Davey said. He thought that he should take this opportunity to release his stress. Since he was very annoyed, his first blow naturally caught the leader-like figure among them. A rapier was truly a perfect weapon for those who had weaker muscle strength but great speed. It was the perfect fit for the elves, who had lower muscle mass compared to humans but were very flexible. However, it was quite ironic¡ªthe one who had created the rapier was a human, but it was the elves who had explored the weapon in-depth and devised new ways to use it. For the elves who were unaware of the truth about the past, it had to be an eyesore to see Davey strutting around in their front yard and using the weapon that they were proud of, especially since they had just suffered from Davey¡¯s spell just now. However, these idiots had completely forgotten who Davey was and what he was capable of. Actually, Davey could understand their overflowing pride. Even if they looked like that, they were still the best of the best in the Divine Tree. Unfortunately for them, their opponent was much stronger. All Davey did was thrust forward from a slightly crouched position. In truth, he did not really have much skill to show when it came to the rapier. He was not familiar with using a thrust-oriented weapon. However, that did not matter. In the end, a sword was a weapon. And when it came to weapons, the most efficient way to kill a person was inevitably the same. All Davey needed to do was to stab, cut, and slash. ¡°How dare someone like you pick up a rapier to fight against me? I have been dealing with a rapier my entire life!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t even think of stopping me.¡± Davey opened his eyes slowly. His voice was calm and serene as he said, ¡°You can try, but it¡¯s futile.¡± [Demonic Sword 28th Form.] [Fiendish Rakshasa.] All Davey did was simply lunge forward, but the tip of his rapier was headed straight toward the gap in his opponent¡¯s defenses. If the elves wanted to block such a fast thrust, they had to be capable of discerning even the most minute shift in his movement. ¡°Ha!¡± The Ancient Guard who was at the vanguard and rushing toward where Davey was immediately raised the metal shield on his wrist and snorted. However, the price that he had to pay for ignoring Davey¡¯s warning would definitely not be light. ¡°Don¡¯t stop me.¡± Clang!!! A loud clang reverberated in the area the moment Davey¡¯s left foot made contact with the ground. It was as if iron clashed with iron. At the same time, a bright light flashed. Without the elf even realizing it, Davey had stabbed him in the pit of the stomach, the middle of the forehead, and the solar plexus. The elf still charged forward, not realizing that he was already dead, but in spite of its momentum, his charge failed to reach Davey... ¡°Cap¡­ Captain Solar!!!¡± ¡°Damn bastard!!!¡± The elves could not even see what had hit their comrade, but seeing the collapsed elf in front of them made their fury rise, which in turn clouded their judgment. The remaining elves all lunged at Davey, wanting to pierce him right through. It did not matter how excellent the World Tree¡¯s recovery ability, an ability that was limited to the elves, was. In this situation, her recovery and healing ability would not be of much help at all. After all, Yggdrasil did not have the power to save an already dead elf. One of the elves aimed at Davey¡¯s throat with his rapier as he charged forward. Seeing that attack, Davey decided to skip dodging and blocking. He just thrust forward and dug through that elf¡¯s weakness. [Devil Ylgr¡¯s Suppression] [Total Destruction] Crack!!! ¡ªUgh¡­ I¡¯m just watching, but I can also feel the girl¡¯s pain. Davey had slammed his head against a girl¡¯s forehead. It was so loud that it sounded like the girl¡¯s skull had broken apart. Crack, crack!!! With the eerie sound of bones breaking, another elf had collapsed. Perhaps it was because Davey¡¯s force far exceeded what they had expected. The last elf that tried to attack Davey head on panicked and tried to flee. However, Davey had already caught him. Crack, crack!!! Crack, crack!!! ¡°Keuaaaaaaaack!!!¡± The elf screamed desperately as Davey dislocated his shoulder and broke his ribs. However, Davey did not kill the elf. He lifted the elf that he had easily overpowered and blocked the projectile flying straight at him. Stab!!! With a bone-chilling sound, the arrow that contained the power of the spirit pierced through the elf¡¯s forehead. The elf was turned into a meat shield, and the arrow burst out from the back of his head. The arrow that contained a spirit stone had been aiming for Davey¡¯s navel. But instead of hitting their enemy, it had struck their comrade. The sharp arrowhead not only had pierced through the elf¡¯s head but was also close to piercing through Davey¡¯s as well. However, it stopped right before his nose. ¡°Kyaaaack! Men¡­ Menvee! No!!!¡± The elven woman who was holding the bow screamed. Her eyes widened in shock. Perhaps it was because she had shot her colleague instead of Davey, but she lost her composure completely. She screamed, ¡°Damn you! You bastard!!! Monster!!!¡± Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. On the other hand, the other elf in charge of the rear immediately widened the distance between him and Davey, pulling the string of his bow tightly. It seemed like he had finally realized the situation that they were in. ¡°The rapier is quite light.¡± ¡°Urk?!¡± ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s perfect for throwing too. Remember that well and make sure to practice it in your next life.¡± Stab!!! The elf could not even finish the attack even after nocking two arrows on his bow. That was because Davey had already blasted a hole in his head and killed him. In the end, the only elf left was the one still reeling from shock after killing her own comrade. The woman was a master-class being and someone who had signed a contract with a high-ranking spirit. However, that did not matter at all. After all, all four of her colleagues, including herself, had suffered under the hands of Davey. They could not even do anything to him. And their only ally, the World Tree? She could not even help the elves at all, especially with Spirit King Gnoass standing by the side. In fact, the elves should have known from the very first time they heard that a human had summoned a Spirit King. From what it looked like, the woman also just had a realization, her expression visibly darkening and her body slumping down. Davey approached the elf. ¡°¡­¡± The emotions that flashed through the elf¡¯s face was that of terror, confusion, and shame. As Davey came closer and closer to her, she¡­wet the pants hidden under her blue ancient guard uniform. The woman looked quite pitiful as she looked up at Davey with her eyes wide open and her lips trembling. Unfortunately, Davey had never intended to keep her alive. That was why he was going to use dark magic. The woman¡¯s eyes slowly turned from Davey¡¯s face to his hands that were gathering mana silently. Then, she gritted her teeth so hard that she could not even articulate words properly. ¡°This¡­ This is a lie¡­¡± No matter the race, anyone would go through the same five stages of reaction when witnessing something unbelievable. The elves were no exception. ¡°This is completely impossible!!! There¡¯s no way such a monster exists!!!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to send you off swiftly and painlessly.¡± The first reaction was to completely deny all of the facts that were clearly in front of their eyes. Thump!!! CH 182 A thick cloud of dust bloomed from the huge explosion. The explosion was so violent that even the ground crumbled from the impact, creating somewhat of an earthquake. It was a very powerful blow that no one could even endure and fight against. However, Davey withdrew without any hesitation after he felt a subtle feeling on the tips of his fingertips. Davey was using a basic mana manipulation method, which would force the opponent to tremble from their insides before disrupting the mana flow in their body. It was a very unstable skill that could easily be dispelled by someone with a strong resistance. However, for someone who had given up on resisting, like the panicked woman in front of Davey, the skill could easily kill her. It was also a skill that allowed Davey to kill anyone without damaging the physical body. Despite the attack already brewing in his hands, Davey stopped himself from touching the woman. The elven woman remained safe while the ground right next to her was overturned and damaged. In fact, the ground looked like it had been scratched and torn apart by a vicious and ferocious animal. ¡°Hiccup!¡± The woman hiccuped loudly. Her face collapsed even further from the fear and terror of the attack. ¡°¡­¡± ¡ªDavey? We are bit.ly/3iBfjkV, find us on google. Perserque called out to Davey, wondering why he suddenly stopped his attack. ¡ªWhy did you suddenly stop your attack¡­? ¡®Use your authority,¡¯ Davey answered Perserque calmly as he looked at Yggdrasil, who was frowning from the onslaught of Gnoass¡¯ power. The World Tree was not an idiot. Despite knowing that they would be annihilated upon invading this place and having an armed conflict against Davey and Heins Territory, they still came. They even threw a suggestion that Davey would never accept. Did the World Tree do something like this without pondering over the matter? Really? Did she really bring a pregnant mother here without pondering over this matter? ¡°What a f*cking bastard,¡± Davey said. He frowned from the World Tree¡¯s actions as a crazy bastard. ¡ªMy goodness¡­ Perserque turned pale after using her Abyss¡¯ Authority, upon Davey¡¯s suggestion, on the collapsed elven woman in front of her. Even if Davey wanted to beat them to death countless times over, he would never resort to killing a pregnant woman. That was something that he would never, ever do. He had a conscience, unlike the World Tree, who just did something completely wrong and unforgivable. ¡°World Tree.¡± [As expected, you have a keen eye on things.] ¡°You¡¯re going back just like that?¡± Baaaaaang!!! Once Davey was done talking, Yggdrasil¡¯s incarnation and the surrounding area was crushed by Gnoass¡¯ power. A huge explosion took place. Of course, it was not an attack that could harm the World Tree¡¯s body, someone that exceeded the general population¡¯s strength and prowess. Davey frowned, jumping without hesitation and grabbing the World Tree by its head. The World Tree¡¯s short body eventually appeared and was firmly in his grip. [Ugh¡­] Davey wiped the expression off of his face as he listened to Yggdrasil¡¯s painful groans. It was quite ridiculous how one could become more cold and detached the more angry they became, just like Davey right now. Davey truly had no reason to be infuriated at how the elven mother was treated. However, he was furious by the fact that he almost made a pregnant woman explode from the inside. It put him in a very f*cked up situation. ¡°All under-aged elves should be completely protected. For the World Tree, all elves are her children,¡± Davey said calmly as he made eye contact with Yggdrasil. The situation here was clearly much more problematic than before. However, Yggdrasil just looked at Davey nonchalantly as if it did not matter to her at all. [This is my final warning. Return Yuria to me.] ¡°I refuse.¡± [If that¡¯s the case, then the elves and the humans will go past the point of no return.] After speaking calmly, Yggdrasil turned away from Davey and said to one Ancient Guard, [Penella¡­ Forgive me.] Davey wondered why Yggdrasil was asking forgiveness. Then, the elf named Penella, who was struggling to get up with her pale face, turned to Yggdrasil and looked at her with wide eyes. [I will remember¡­your sacrifice forever¡­] After hearing Yggdrasil¡¯s calm murmur, Penella¡¯s gaze turned determined. As if she had made up her mind, she picked up one of the rapiers on the ground and slowly stood up. [Isn¡¯t it funny? I am the World Tree. I am the ruler, the root, and the pillar of the elves.] ¡°¡­¡± [Yet there are elves, like Yuria, in the Divine Tree that question the idea of me, the World Tree, ruling above them.] Davey frowned when he realized what Yggdrasil was talking about. Stab!!! At the same time, Penella lifted the rapier in her hands and stabbed herself in the heart. Now, all five Ancient Guards were dead. As silence ensued in the area, Yggdrasil said quietly, [Urk¡­ This is my victory. This is me using you, but what can I do? This is something that I have to do to follow and cope with the flow of the world¡­] Yggdrasil had created a cause and a reason that forced Davey to kill the five Ancient Guards brutally. In fact, Davey should have realized it the moment he saw them strutting confidently and fighting a losing battle. When Davey slammed her roughly on the ground after hearing her bitter musings, Yggdrasil could not help but look at Davey in confusion. She found his actions so unexpected. However, she could not voice out her doubts. All she could do was groan faintly at Davey¡¯s rough handling as he grabbed her head once again. ¡°So it¡¯s not enough for you to mess with someone else¡¯s land? You still have to strut in my house and speak all this nonsense, huh? And since you¡¯re just an incarnation, you think it¡¯s alright to just die and go back after doing all that, huh?¡± World Tree Yggdrasil must have declared to the elves in their holy land, the Divine Tree, that they would come to the humans¡¯ land to negotiate peace. The elves, who were unaware of the World Tree¡¯s true cause, would definitely praise her for her decision to pursue peace. When they learn of the pregnant elven woman, the other Ancient Guards, and their spiritual support, the incarnation of the World Tree, were brutally murdered by a human¡­ The World Tree could manipulate the story and make it so that her incarnation had disappeared while the Ancient Guards had died brutally while protecting her. What an interesting scenario, right? After all, no one could refute it since the World Tree was the only one who could tell the news to everyone in the Divine Tree. In the end, everything so far had gone according to World Tree Yggdrasil¡¯s manipulations. This situation would turn Davey into a ferocious villain who enjoyed the slaughter and murder of elves from the holy land, Divine Tree. On the other hand, it would paint the World Tree as a saint who believed in humans and world peace but had become a victim of betrayal and corruption. However, Davey believed that there was no use crying over spilt milk. If that was the case, then¡­ ¡°Fine. Since things have already reached this point, you can do whatever you want.¡± In the first place, Davey still had deep loathing and disgust for the elves living in the Divine Tree. Now that his opponents had caused such a situation, he had no choice but to answer them in kind and resort to terrible and dirty things. Davey raised his other hand with his index and middle fingers straightened while his other hand yanked Yggdrasil¡¯s head. His eyes slowly turned black as dark mana gathered at the tips of his fingers. Since the opponent openly showed her hostility towards him, then Davey had to return it in kind. He would roll up his sleeves and help her in the process. ¡°Go on, go back to the Divine Tree and ignite the ire of the elves. Then, come at me with all you¡¯ve got. I¡¯ve already told this to Yuria. But since you¡¯re here in front of me, I¡¯m going to tell you about it too, so clear those ears of yours and listen well,¡± Davey growled at the World Tree who did not even resist and acted as if she wanted him to kill her quickly. He went on, ¡°The moment your main body appears before my very eyes is the day the pillars of the world will be cut down under my blade. You started this war, so I will make you take full responsibility for it.¡± [Kghhk¡­ Urk, kghhhk¡­] Since the World Tree dared to play tricks on him, it was only fair to make her suffer. The force of a powerful high-ranking curse vibrated at the tip of Davey¡¯s fingers, its energy spilling into the surroundings. However, Yggdrasil just smiled without any resistance. She could easily break free by exercising her authority, but she did nothing. She wanted Davey to kill her quickly. [Soon, the elves will all gather and come here to kill you. What¡¯s more, existences with favorable impressions of elves will come here too. Can you endure everyone coming here and showing their hostility towards you and you alone?] The only pretext that Yggdrasil had was the five elves¡¯ deaths and the incarnation of the World Tree¡¯s demise. Then again, war did not truly need any big reason to take place. What was the reason for earth¡¯s World War I back then? It had started because of the assassination of two people alone. Davey roughly let go of Yggdrasil¡¯s head with a cold expression still on his face. He looked Yggdrasil in the eyes and growled, ¡°Which shape do you like? A ¡®m¡¯ shape or a circle?¡± [What?] Bang!!! Davey then poked Yggdrasil¡¯s head and placed his dark magic, which was loaded with countless curses, on her forehead. From simple curses to those strong enough to corrupt and devour the Divine Tree, they were Yggdrasil¡¯s ticket to a Death Road somewhere. ¡®From hair loss to atopy[1], you deserve it. Damn b*tch.¡¯ ¡°Right, war¡­ War is great. Come at me if you can.¡± [Urk?!] ¡°From the first bastard that comes¡­¡± Davey looked at the slowly collapsing Yggdrasil and issued a dangerous warning, ¡°¡­I will smash them all to pieces!¡± Smash!!! Davey smashed Yggdrasil¡¯s head. This was his declaration of war against an entire race, and it was much cleaner and far more horrifying than what he had thought. *** ¡°Ugh¡­ Ughhh.¡± With a grown, a brown-skinned elven woman slowly got up from the ground. Her groan echoed in the otherwise silent field. The woman pressed on her chest as she slowly got up, as if still hurting even after having been healed by Davey¡¯s magic. She looked around in confusion and mumbled, ¡°What happened¡­ I definitely died back then¡­¡± The woman¡¯s eyes widened when she saw Davey standing not far from her. ¡°Long time no see, Jack.¡± It was true that they hadn¡¯t seen each other for quite a while. The woman¡¯s eyes widened even further after hearing Davey¡¯s greeting. Then, as if remembering something, she patted her chest in a panic and stuttered, ¡°My, my necklace¡­!¡± ¡°Skip the disguise. I knew who you were from the very beginning, Aina Helishana.¡± Aina looked at Davey silently. Her wary expression was clear as day. She asked, ¡°How do you know my name¡­?¡± ¡°Ask about trivial matters later. I¡¯m not in the mood to answer your questions at all,¡± Davey muttered nonchalantly as he carried Aina. He commented, ¡°Your condition is quite stable at the moment. I barely pulled you out of death¡¯s door, so you better stay silent and obediently stay on my back. I don¡¯t want blood spilling on me.¡± Despite her confusion, Aina remained silent. *** A bright light flashed among the leaves of a gigantic tree, which shook violently. Then, the body of a woman slowly took shape from one of the tree¡¯s roots on the ground. She was none other than World Tree Yggdrasil, the gigantic tree and the incarnation¡¯s main body. [Ugh¡­] Yggdrasil gasped, moaning in pain. The pain coursing through her veins was extremely terrible. Although the incarnation was not the main body, it was still part of the Divine Tree and it had been completely destroyed by a mere human. And since that incarnation carried quite a lot of power, the rebound on the main body was not that light. [Cough.] Yggdrasil coughed, undressing herself and descending from the otherwise empty and quiet altar. She immediately immersed herself inside a clear and transparent lake that was located on one side of her roots. To everyone here, this was the most sacred and divine lake. Yggdrasil trembled as she scrubbed fiercely and cleaned herself, like a mysophobic patient who had been thrown into a nest of bugs. Her hands were balled into fists so tight that her nails could break. [How dare he put a curse on the body of the Divine Tree? He is quite gutsy. If only the origin¡¯s restriction upon us was not in place¡­ I would have already erased all of the beings in that territory.] Yggdrasil mumbled as she sank deeper into the lake. She had achieved her primary objective and she did expect to fail to bring Yuria back. Thanks to that expedition, the divided political views and factions in the Divine Tree were now going to come together. ¡®What¡¯s that popular phrase? The enemy of an enemy is an ally?¡¯ From this point on, the radicals and the conservatives who clashed with one another were going to unite and vent their anger toward that young man named Davey O¡¯Rowane and his territory. Although the human had cursed her before her incarnation¡¯s death, Yggdrasil thought nothing of the curses. She believed that she could easily remove them. After all, the lake where she was bathing in could cleanse anything filthy and leave behind a spotless canvas. She firmly believed that the curses placed upon her body would soon be washed away. [Hmm?] However, Yggdrasil¡¯s eyes could not help but widen after seeing the long hair hanging on her fingertips. She was clasping a lot of hair in her hands. ¡°We¡­ We are in trouble! The leaves of Mother Divine Tree¡¯s branches are falling!!!¡± ¡°Something happened to our mother! Quick! Bring the priests to the altar to see mother! The rest of you, summon your water spirits and chant the spell healing!¡± Hurried cries rang in Yggdrasil¡¯s ears as she thought, ¡®My children are coming here in this situation?¡¯ [¡­] Her silence remained longer than necessary. 1. A genetic problem that involves the immune system that makes one become more likely to develop allergic reactions and diseases. ? CH 183 67. The Central Continent and A Difficult Guest. ¡ªDavey, if elves treat you as their enemy, some humans will treat you the same. People struggled with accepting the happiness of their own families, let alone strangers. If elves suddenly appeared and treated Davey as the enemy, it wouldn¡¯t be strange if others hopped onto the bandwagon and did the same. ¡°They won¡¯t be able to do anything just yet.¡± ¡ªThey won¡¯t? ¡°Yeah.¡± The curses that the Death Lord had taught Davey were to combat and defend against other curses, and Davey had no intentions of letting all of those lessons go to waste. For the dozens of curses that he had cast, it would take at least a few months to a year to break them. He hadn¡¯t used their curses out of irritation but out of the expectation that he would have conflict with the elves someday. As such, he didn¡¯t think it was a good idea to just take bold action right from the start. ¡°Anyway, what do you think?¡± ¡ªAbout what? ¡°The fact that there are people trying to bring you back to life.¡± Perserque looked at Davey with a bitter expression. ¡ªI don¡¯t know. Feels like that was the only truth that the World Tree said. Perserque, who was speaking calmly, suddenly looked at Davey with wide eyes. -Wait¡­ Davey! If I can come back to life! ¡°...¡± Perserque still hadn¡¯t given up on the Transcendence¡¯s Demise. ¡ªDavey! Just leave this for now! I will find a body and come back to life for sure! Perserque was completely motivated, but Davey wondered if the unknown beings who were trying to resurrect her would place some limitations on her revival. He muttered, ¡°We¡¯ll see.¡± ¡ªI will come back to life! I have no intentions of entering Nirvana before having that beautiful staff in my hands!! ¡°All right, all right.¡± It was a relief that news of the horrifying incident had not reached the territory. As the night deepened, Davey looked down at the lively streets that were still in a celebratory and festive mood from the window. Then, he walked over to the small room on the quiet, upper floor. ¡°...¡± In the room was a woman silently lying on the bed. Her sky-blue eyes shone. ¡°This is the first time that we are meeting like this, right?¡± Davey asked. ¡°How long¡­have you known this?¡± Aina asked quietly. Davey shrugged indifferently. ¡°From the moment I saw you.¡± ¡°...¡± Aina looked up at Davey in silence. She found that answer thoroughly ridiculous. She was definitely an adult elf in terms of age, but she still looked like a child due to her short height. ¡°First, thank you for saving me.¡± ¡°Yeah, you should be. You can consider yourself to be in my debt.¡± ¡°They are separate matters,¡± Aina coldly criticized Davey, then her eyes widened as she realized something. She blurted out, ¡°Then, what you said before about not liking elves?!¡± ¡°Of course, I did it on purpose.¡± ¡°You fraud!¡± It was quite funny that Aina, who was quite cold and emotionless, was showing this much emotion, but Davey did not say anything about that. He simply commented, ¡°Who are you going to blame? It¡¯s your fault for falling for it. And besides, I didn¡¯t lie.¡± It was true that Davey still did not like elves. He had accepted the elves of the Moon Forest because they were a little more open at least, but he still did not view the old, rigid, pointy ears favorably. ¡°...How did you figure it out? The artifact that changes one¡¯s appearance¡­¡± ¡°I know because I can see through it.¡± ¡°That¡­ You said that to me when you first saw me.¡± ¡°I know. That¡¯s why I said it.¡± ¡°Ha! I was completely played.¡± Aina sighed and lowered her head, as if feeling empty from the realization that she had been played this entire time. ¡°Well, I did respect your request and have brought you here where no one else can see you. So, why are you trying to hide? Elves are no longer a secret since there are elves in this territory now.¡± When Aina stayed silent even after his questions, Davey asked another. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem right for you to hide just because you¡¯re a Dark Elf. Wait, are you¡­?¡± ¡°Please, I am begging you. Please do not ask me anything,¡± Aina mumbled calmly with her head down. ¡°No one in this territory can see my true self. That is why I worked in the disguise of a man. Although, that has now broken¡­¡± Davey slowly nodded as if he thought about something. ¡°That artifact. Are there no spares?¡± ¡°I made that artifact with the help of an oddball when I wandered around after leaving the forest. There aren¡¯t any more of it since it cannot be detected by mana,¡± Aina answered. Davey looked at Aina quietly before asking, ¡°Do you want me to make you one?¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± Aina looked puzzled. ¡°Wait.¡± Davey then pulled out a simple ruby ring from his Pocket Plane. He released mana from his hand and channeled it into the ring. [Metamorphosis] [Illusion] After using a simple illusion spell and an appearance-changing spell, Davey said, ¡°It¡¯s probably not as perfect as what you used before, but be satisfied with this for now. The activation word is [Change]. You will transform instantly if you blow a little mana into it.¡± Aina looked surprised as she took the ring. Then, she cautiously put the ring on her index finger and mumbled, ¡°[C¨CChange].¡± As soon as she muttered the activation word, Aina¡¯s physical appearance began to change right in front of Davey. Her frail physique became larger and muscular, and her light brown skin lightened. Noticing all of those changes, she commented, ¡°I¡¯m just not used to it¡­ It¡¯s a little uncomfortable.¡± ¡°I just made it, so of course it is slightly uncomfortable. It can be detected by mana, and the slightest impact will undo it. So, tread lightly.¡± ¡®I¡¯m doing a lot for you, aren''t I?¡¯ As Davey smiled, Aina took a deep breath before asking, ¡°Now can you hear out my request?¡± Davey nodded. ¡°Well, I can hear it for sure.¡± Aina pulled out a map that was ripped apart, then said, ¡°It is a small island in the eastern continent¡¯s western region.¡± ¡°Island?¡± ¡°Yes, it has become the Land of the Undead because the forest has become deeply corrupt.¡± ¡°So, you want to go on a treasure hunt?¡± ¡°Similar, but not quite. The thing we are after is not treasure but a piece of evidence; evidence that the Saint of the Divine Tree has betrayed the elves and is borrowing the power of the Undead.¡± Aina was also fighting the Saint of the Divine Tree, but Davey was quick to give a firm answer without hesitation, ¡°No.¡± ¡°Haah?!¡± ¡ªWhat? ¡°Hm?¡± Aina quivered, surprised by the answer. She avoided Davey¡¯s gaze as he stared at her like something was wrong with her. She murmured, ¡°Y¡­ You said you would grant it.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to anymore.¡± ¡°Haah?!¡± Davey heard another strange sound coming from Aina when he answered firmly. It wasn¡¯t that he had misheard her, so he reflexively borrowed Perserque¡¯s ¡®Check Information¡¯ powers and used it on Aina. ¡®I have to find out if I don¡¯t know.¡¯ Bleep¡­ With a sound that only Davey could hear, Aina¡¯s information appeared on the status window in front of him. ¡°...¡± After taking a look, Davey felt like he didn¡¯t want to know more. ¡ªAll these pointy ears are so ridiculous. Some leader of a forest was hiding her sadistic nature, and now there was this. Davey couldn¡¯t stop himself from frowning at the situation. * * * The festival was a success, but the other incident couldn¡¯t be even more of a failure. Last night, Davey had taken care of all the elves who had attacked the territory. He had led a small group of people to bury all five Ancient Guards before creating the headstones for them. Davey felt most bitter about the elf who had committed suicide. He had no remorse for the woman named Penella, but he didn¡¯t feel all that good about the fact that her unborn baby had died together with her. Whether elves or humans, it was never good to see an unborn child die. Aina was strongly against making the headstones. In fact, she had argued with Davey because she couldn¡¯t understand why he was making headstones for them when they had caused him such trouble. However, Davey still made the headstones for his own reasons and purposes. If he didn¡¯t have the reason for it, he would have just left them there, buried them, or cremated them. He didn¡¯t want to hide the elves¡¯ deaths. He wanted to have clear evidence that the elves had come to attack the territory and had died here. Sometimes, to build toward the big picture, Davey had to take some questionable and small actions. The headstones were empty and nameless. It was nothing but a cross made out of sticks being stuck onto the ground. Burying the bodies and then covering them up was also as easy as breathing to Spirit King Gnoass, so it was no difficult or long task at all. It was quite amusing to see Aina¡¯s shocked expression when she realized that Davey was contracted to Gnoass afterwards. ¡°Twinkle twinkle wittle staar!¡± ¡°H~ How I wonder what you are!¡± Davey watched the two children show off their talents in amusement. The children stood side by side and bent their knees together while shaking their hands. They were performing a simple song and dance Davey had taught them. It seemed that the girls found it interesting enough to practice and show it to Davey, who found the performance so cute that he wanted to bite their cheeks. ¡°Aw, so cute! Why are you so cute?¡± Davey sincerely hugged the two girls. The girls giggled in delight and burrowed even deeper into Davey¡¯s chest. ¡°Rinne, where is Myuu?¡± ¡°Rinne¡­ Three people, too difficult a task¡­ Require additional¡­pay¡­¡± Rinne, who was declaring a strike while limply lying on the floor, raised her head slightly and said, ¡°Reporting that Myuu is working with Elf Yuria.¡± ¡°All right. I¡¯ll take them today, so rest well.¡± ¡°Rinne¡­ Appreciates the rest.¡± Rinne looked quite peaceful as she quietly closed her eyes as if she had fallen asleep. Rinne sometimes chose to sleep like humans when she had to cool off her body that had overheated from too much movement. Thanks to that, she looked more like another species with wings and a halo floating on their head rather than a golem. After the incident with Elder Condae, Yuria was taking extra care of Myuu. It could be said that she was overdoing it. She seemed to be trying to give Myuu all the love that she hadn¡¯t been giving all at once, especially since she had the chance to do that now. Of course, considering what she had done so far, Davey wondered if that was the only reason. ¡°Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon, where do you want to go with Daddy today?¡± ¡°T¨CThe Food Market!¡± ¡°Delicious food! Um, um! A place with a lot of it!¡± The girls replied instantly. They were interested in the food market at the festival¡¯s human section. ¡°Then, shall we go?¡± ¡°Yeah! Yeah!¡± ¡°Kyah!¡± The girls rubbed their cheeks against Davey in a good mood. ¡°I like Dada!¡± ¡°Blue Ribbon likes Daddy more!¡± The girls were seemingly competing against each other. Although they were swords in their true forms, they developed and grew just like other children. Thinking about that, Davey wondered what it would be like to have a mother figure who would comfort them and help guide them in the right way. The children did call Perserque ¡®Mommy¡¯, but she was just a spirit. The only person Davey could think of was¡­ ¡ªOf course, the only lady who would match your type seems to be that cute princess from the Lyndis Empire. ¡®What about you?¡¯ ¡ªHey! I have no interest in a man who is more than a thousand years younger than me. Perserque was not interested? Davey scoffed and stared directly at her. ¡®You. We¡¯ll see if you really are resurrected like the World Tree said.¡¯ ¡ªHa. Do you think I will be afraid of you? ¡®I¡¯ll let you borrow the Transcendence¡¯s Demise.¡¯ We are bit.ly/3iBfjkV, find us on google. ¡ªOf course, my type is someone like you. Of course. Davey wondered why Perserque was so easily bribed¡­ Then, he chuckled. ¡°Dada! You like Red Ribbon?¡± ¡°Yes, I like both Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon.¡± ¡°Th¨CThen, kiss Red Ribbon on the ch¨Ccheek!¡± Just when Davey was about to smile at how the children innocently and openly expressed their love¡­ ¡°D¡­ Dad?¡± Davey heard an unfamiliar voice that expressed bewilderment. ¡°Hm?¡± Davey momentarily froze before turning toward the voice. There was a shocked little girl who was all dressed up. She stood in place with a tense face. Her fox ears on top of her teal-colored hair perked up like she was nervous; perhaps she was quite surprised by Davey. CH 184 Davey thought that this current situation was the very definition of awkward. ¡®Why are all these esteemed princesses of empires taking turns visiting me?¡¯ Davey didn¡¯t engage with other kingdoms¡¯ nobility or royalty that visited during the festival, because it would be endless if he were to engage with all of them. In that sense, he should do the same with the beastfolk girl in front of him right now, but¡­ She was a little different, since she was not here for the festival. She had come for a routine check-up as Davey had treated her before. ¡°Um¡­ Are you uncomfortable because of me¡­?¡± The beastfolk girl was quick-witted, so she asked that question with an anxious expression. ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. I was just looking at your condition, which appears to be fine right now.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Thank you so much. I wasn¡¯t able to say a proper goodbye back then¡­¡± The beastfolk girl¡¯s face lit up as if she was relieved. Then, suddenly feeling startled, she instantly lowered her head and did not know what to do. ¡ªEven her ears are red. How can she be that adorable? A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled. Perserque flew all around the princess as if she wanted to give the latter a hug at any second. ¡°Anyways, I was a little surprised. I would have prepared something if you sent word that you were going to come.¡± Davey was lying. ¡°S¡­ Sorry. I was being a bit stubborn¡­¡± The beastfolk girl was lying too. Davey could sense that someone had strongly encouraged her to come. ¡°No, that is alright. Try the tea. It is quite fragrant.¡± Widening her eyes slightly, the beastfolk girl reached out and carefully sipped her tea. Although Yuria Helishana used crazy ingredients most of the time, no one in the entire seigneur¡¯s palace had more experience in brewing tea than her. Of course, she was quite good at brewing tea with ordinary ingredients as well. ¡°It is very fragrant,¡± Aeria commented. ¡°This tea is made by brewing Elicil leaves. It¡¯s a rare herb that only grows in the Forest of Elves.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Is that so?¡± There was nothing but silence between them as Aeria looked around, unable to find something to focus on. Disliking the quiet atmosphere, Red Ribbon tugged on Davey¡¯s clothes with a sad frown. ¡°D¡­ Dada.¡± ¡°Red Ribbon, come here.¡± Davey picked Red Ribbon up into his arms. Aeria¡¯s ears twitched. She suddenly turned to stare at the girls, Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon. The children were peeking out from behind Davey. ¡°Ee¡­ Eah¡­¡± Of course, the children groaned from the sudden attention. ¡°T¡­ Those children called you ¡®Dad¡¯ a little while ago¡­¡± Wondering about the children, Aeria looked like she was desperately wishing for something as she asked that question. It was somewhat courageous of her to do so. ¡ªI think I know what this is about. ¡®What is it?¡¯ ¡ªI don¡¯t know. Perserque giggled and backed away. She was teasing Davey. ¡°Red Ribbon, Blue Ribbon, say ¡®Hi¡¯. This is Princess Aeria.¡± ¡°A¡­ Aeria,¡± Red Ribbon quietly mumbled and repeated the name. ¡°S¡­ So cute!¡± Aeria¡¯s eyes sparkled as she watched the children squirm. She didn¡¯t know that she was also quite cute with that particular reaction. Then, her eyes widened and she shouted bravely, ¡°Um¡­ Y¨CYour Highness! I know it may be rude, but¡­ May I ask you¡­¡± ¡°Yes, of course.¡± ¡°Ah, thank you! Um¡­ So¡­ Are the two children¡­¡± Aeria seemed flustered by Davey¡¯s silence, but still managed to finish her sentence. ¡°Are they your biological children?¡± Biological children¡­ Davey did give birth to Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon in a way. However, the children weren¡¯t human, so they weren¡¯t the kind of biological children that Aeria was asking about. ¡°The situation is a little strange, but I am raising these children.¡± Aeria¡¯s face lit up at Davey¡¯s calm response. She was flushed, then flustered, and finally her face lit up again. It was fascinating how animated she could be. ¡°Sigh¡­¡± Letting out a sigh, Aeria looked around like she didn¡¯t know what to say before speaking cautiously, ¡°S¡­ So, I wanted to tell you how thankful I was! Um, so¡­ It was¡­¡± ¡°You said that a little while ago, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Oh!¡± Aeria widened her eyes as if she was going to cry at any moment¡­ She had a cuteness that made Davey want to tease her even more. ¡®No, I can¡¯t.¡¯ If Emperor Deorte, who was taciturn and a crazy daughter fanatic, were to know that Davey teased Aeria in such a manner, he might be angry enough to send his military after Davey. No matter how playful he was, Davey wanted to avoid the tiring event of going to war against an empire. ¡®Anyway, I¡¯m going to have to do a closer examination.¡¯ ¡°Just in case, do you mind showing me your back?¡± Davey asked. ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°I will do a more thorough examination just in case.¡± Flustered and surprised by Davey, Aeria quickly got up. It seemed like she had understood him, but she stuttered, ¡°O¡­ Okay. I¨CI¡¯m sorry, but your head¡­¡± ¡°Hm?¡± It seemed like Aeria had gotten the wrong idea. ¡°It¡¯s a little embarrassing if you watch me get undressed.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± It was quite a rare occurrence for Davey to be bewildered, but he was by Aeria¡¯s innocence. ¡°You¡­don¡¯t have to take off your clothes. Just turn your back towards me.¡± Realizing that she had misunderstood, Aeria began tearing up from the humiliation. Davey sounded cold and stern as he abandoned all personal motives when treating Aeria as her doctor. Perhaps that was why Aeria flinched and looked dejected. It was adorable. Whoosh¡­ There was no more conversation after that. Davey quietly put his hand on Aeria¡¯s back and released mana during the awkward silence. With a slight vibration, the mana¡¯s buzzing resonated through the room. ¡°Haah¡­ Hup.¡± Davey thought it would be really nice if Aeria didn¡¯t make those weird sounds every time mana went inside her, but Perserque just giggled from afar as if she enjoyed seeing him suffer. And¡­ ¡°Rinne, collecting very excellent visual data. Appreciates this.¡± Rinne, who Davey didn¡¯t notice approaching, was standing outside the window and smiling creepily. Her reaction was annoying Davey. ¡°Kyahh!¡± When Davey held Aeria¡¯s shoulder to stop her from moving, she screamed in an adorable way at Rinne¡¯s sudden appearance. ¡°Stay still. You shouldn¡¯t move.¡± No matter how quiet or awkward the atmosphere was, all those little things should be disregarded during a medical examination. Aeria froze in an awkward position when she heard Davey¡¯s firm voice. However, Davey stayed quiet. He kept carefully spreading mana and pushing it into Aeria¡¯s body. Unlike other diseases, the Melting Acceleration Virus was distinct and easy to find due to mana. As such, Davey was able to examine Aeria for the virus by spreading mana around her body with his hands and without any other complicated medication. Although the virus wasn¡¯t completely gone, a small amount of it couldn¡¯t cause a relapse. However¡­ ¡®What is this?¡¯ Davey could feel something strange in Aeria. It was like a superior virus that he had never seen before had been planted within her. She was possibly born with it, but she had no clue of it at all. ¡°I think you will be fully cleared in a month at the most. You must rest until then.¡± Aeria nodded like crazy after Davey calmly gave her an answer. ¡°Giggle¡­ Sir Davey, Rinne has obtained exceptional visual data. Analyze that it can be transformed into a lot of taste data if handed over to Yuria.¡± ¡®You¡¯re saying that Yuria will give you a lot to eat if you show this to her.¡¯ Sparks flew from Davey¡¯s eyes as he glared at Rinne, who was mocking him. He commanded, ¡°Leave. Go and play with the kids.¡± ¡°Rinne refuses. Sir Davey gave Rinne vacation today. Requesting that he guarantees Rinne to do whatever.¡± ¡°...¡± Rinne was basically protesting that she was free to do whatever she wanted because she was on vacation. Davey couldn¡¯t take away what he had given Rinne, so he was the one to wave the white flag first. ¡°All done. You can turn now.¡± ¡°T¡­ Thank you.¡± Aeria looked down with a flushed face, then looked up at Davey and called out, ¡°Um¡­ Your Highness.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°If it is alright, may I give you a present?¡± Davey was confused, but he still nodded quietly. Then, with two hands, Aeria gave Davey the small basket that she had brought when they had first met. She explained, ¡°I¡­ It¡¯s chocolate from a trending confectionary from the central continent! I made it myself. Please accept it!¡± Taking the basket from Aeria, Davey thought that this was quite similar to Valentine¡¯s Day, a trending event from his past life on Earth. ¡°Valentine¡¯s¡­ Oh!¡± Coming to a conclusion, Davey widened his eyes in realization. Then, he sincerely expressed his gratitude, ¡°Thank you, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Huh? Oh¡­ Yes! You¡¯re welcome.¡± Aeria had taken it a different way, but Davey was already running simulations on how to use this event to get some cash or financial gains in his head. The thing about trends was that if it was maintained to a certain extent, it could develop into its own culture. And this kind of culture¡­would make a lot of money! ¡ªWhat should I do about this money-grubber¡­? Clicking her tongue, Perserque looked at Davey like he was pathetic. However, Davey was strictly thinking about nothing but spreading this story as trends began with a famous person doing something. What Davey didn¡¯t know now was how this decision would come back to haunt him later¡­ * * * ¡°Greetings, Your Highness. I am Kathryn Carabella, the Grand Duchess of the Lyndis Empire.¡± The greeting was quite formal. It seemed like Kathryn was forcing herself to be. ¡°Hello, Grand Duchess Kathryn. I¡¯m familiar with your great name.¡± Davey actually didn¡¯t know who she was, but he still said that he did. Kathryn, the woman with amber-colored hair who was standing in front of Davey, was the one who lightened up the tense atmosphere between Aeria and Davey. Suddenly appearing in the middle of the awkward silence, she had used all kinds of excuses to keep Aeria away and requested a one-on-one with him. ¡ªI heard of Grand Duchess Kathryn when I was still inside Caldeiras. She is the strongest swordsman of the Lyndis Empire. Listening to Perserque¡¯s mumbling, Davey quietly glanced over at her. ¡°Please forgive my impertinence for coming out of the blue. It was my idea that Her Highness and I come here. I insisted,¡± Kathryn revealed with a smile. Davey clenched his jaw while maintaining a friendly smile. ¡®So, you¡¯re the culprit.¡¯ However, Davey hid his true emotions. ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m curious, too. I¡¯m curious to see who our innocent Highness has deeply fallen for,¡± Kathryn said. ¡°Hm¡­ I wonder. I am grateful for your friendliness, but a small kingdom¡¯s prince such as myself is undeserving of Her Highness¡¯ attention.¡± ¡°Oh my, I did not think you would be this humble.¡± Kathryn giggled as her eyes shone playfully. Kathryn had a dangerous smile; just in terms of feelings, it seemed like she was as dangerous as the four psycho women in the Hall. But of course, the degree of it was incomparable. ¡®I speak from experience when I say that you have to be careful of these kinds of women at all costs.¡¯ ¡ªWhy? ¡®They are enemies that I can¡¯t beat.¡¯ They were powerful but illogical nuisances, and they always took unbelievable actions. ¡®It¡¯s best not to get involved with a psycho like that. I guarantee you that this woman is just like them. My involvement will only bring me trouble.¡¯ After listening to Davey¡¯s answer, Perserque tilted her head in confusion. CH 185 ¡ªThat description¡­ Don¡¯t you think it actually fits you well? ¡®I could never be like that.¡¯ There was no way Davey could be compared to those psycho heroes. With a smile, Davey pressed Perserque¡¯s head down. At the same time, he sensed that the woman in front of him was watching him like a hawk and assessing him. He asked, ¡°Is something the matter?¡± ¡°Oh. nothing. I heard that you are very strong, Your Highness. I¡¯m just a little intrigued.¡± Davey smiled at Kathryn, whose speech kept interchanging between informal and formal. He knew that she was struggling to maintain her formality with him. He said, ¡°There¡¯s no need to be formal, Grand Duchess. It seems like this is a rather difficult situation for you to be formal, so let¡¯s just speak informally.¡± ¡°Should we?¡± Kathryn replied like she had been waiting for this moment. She revealed a dangerous smile like a predator catching its prey. ¡°Then, Your Highness, since Her Highness has left, I will give you the message from the crown prince.¡± ¡®Since I received a lot of gifts to carry out this task,¡¯ Kathryn mumbled quietly, then handed Davey a short document. Feeling that something was off, Davey asked, ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°This is an offer of engagement.¡± Davey froze at Kathryn¡¯s offer. ¡°Can I be honest? His Highness the Crown Prince Alberth and I have the same opinion regarding you, but His Majesty is quite stubborn.¡± Kathryn giggled and mumbled like a little devil setting up a trap. She went on, ¡°Honestly, our Princess Aeria is cute, right? Isn¡¯t she pretty? Her chest is as flat as pancakes right now, but it will blossom like apples in a few years. Here, take this. Take it.¡± When Kathryn handed him a small and strange-looking bottle, Davey asked, ¡°What is this?¡± Kathryn giggled and said, ¡°It¡¯s a famous potion from the central continent. Take it and sleep with her. You know, it¡¯ll be difficult to get a bride like our adorable Princess Aeria.¡± ¡®What is she talking about?¡¯ As Davey quietly stared at her in confusion, Kathryn slowly approached like a saleswoman trying to work him. She cooed, ¡°Our Princess Aeria has an amazing body and such a cute voice. Honestly, you think so too, right? Right? For me, when I see her stretching in the morning, I want to kidnap her right at that moment and keep her at the Grand Duchess House.¡± Davey nodded subconsciously at Kathryn¡¯s straightforward questions. He was falling for her logic, since he always had a hard time with people like her. ¡°So, I¡¯m telling you that this is a rare opportunity! Do you think royalty would hate having grandchildren? His Majesty¡¯s initial fury will only fade away and it will only become a dinner table story later on.¡± Davey froze. He was dumbfounded by Kathryn¡¯s proposal. Perserque, who was floating beside Davey, had her legs crossed and her hand on her chin. She muttered quietly. ¡ªYou are right on the money by calling her a dangerous psycho. Once again, Davey realized that his instincts were sometimes eerily accurate. Kathryn was a clear reminder of that fact. Kathryn Carabella, the foxy Grand Duchess, put more pressure on Davey with her distinct playful smile. She pressured and hurried Davey so much that if she was a saleswoman, she would be forcing people to purchase her product and not just promoting it. When he finally regained his senses, Davey had a quill with wet ink on its tip in his hand. The pen was so close to the blank space where his signature should be. ¡®I awoke one morning and found myself famous. I awoke and found myself signing. How is this any different¡­¡¯[1] As Grand Duchess Kathryn said earlier on, Aeria was definitely a charming candidate to be engaged to. Even while Aeria tried her best to control her expressions around Red and Blue Ribbon, who were still guarded against her, she had an unrealistic cuteness and elegance to her. There weren¡¯t a lot of people like her around Davey. She was pretty charming and Davey would be lying if he said that he wasn¡¯t attracted to her at all. In fact, he actually thought that she would be the best partner if he absolutely had to get married. However¡­ ¡°This¡­ Being allies or not, I think I¡¯m going to have to go to war with the Lyndis Empire the moment I sign this,¡± Davey said jokingly. Right now, Davey saw this document as basically signing the agreement to go to war. Kathryn smiled bitterly before laughing alongside Davey. She said reassuringly, ¡°Ahahahaha! Don¡¯t worry, Your Highness. This is not only my offer, but also His Highness the Crown Prince¡¯s as well.¡± ¡°So, are you saying the two of you are confident that you will be able to handle His Majesty the Emperor of the Lyndis Empire?¡± Davey asked. Kathryn stroked her chin and answered, ¡°I assume that His Highness the Crown Prince will do something, but¡­ If anything happens, eh, I will give you all the support you need. You just have to care for our Princess; I will take care of the small things.¡± ¡°Is that not treason?¡± Davey asked. ¡°I am not part of any kingdom. I am loyal to the empire, but my master is always Her Highness.¡± Davey wondered if this was something the Grand Duchess, the pillar upholding the Lyndis Empire, should be saying. Now, he was able to ascertain that she was much stranger than what he had imagined. ¡ªDavey¡­ Grand Duchess Kathryn is quite famous. Piecing together some of the things that child Illyna has said about her, Kathryn¡¯s personality is more like a carefree mercenary than a person of nobility. After listening to Perserque¡¯s explanation, Davey began to appreciate Kathryn¡¯s informal attitude much more than before. Of course, formalities were important, but people who were too caught up in them failed to see reality. The reverse was true as well. However, it was clear to him that Kathryn Carabella was not a fool who acted impulsively and thoughtlessly. This meant that her outward personality was a mere act to trick others and seize whatever benefits they had. No one knew what she was hiding beneath her mask; she could have some ulterior political motives beneath that easygoing attitude. ¡°The more I think of the engagement with the Princess, the more I realize the downsides and losses for her,¡± Davey said. ¡°Ahahaha! What are you talking about? If you are okay with it, those small things won¡¯t be a problem anymore. Or, what, do you want a political advantage? Money? Just name it, and we will be more than happy to support you.¡± ¡°...¡± Kathryn basically blocked Davey¡¯s only way out of this mess. Her offer was something that regular nobility or royalty would never be able to refuse. As she had more information than he expected, Davey decided to put an end to this situation. He asked directly, ¡°Actually, does Her Highness even know about this document?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ About that¡­¡± ¡°See? I knew it.¡± It was true that Aeria was an attractive princess, but Davey decided that he wouldn''t be able to fulfill Kathryn¡¯s expectations in this current situation. Davey ripped the offer right in half and said calmly, ¡°Is there a reason for the Princess to be desperate for an arranged marriage? Offer this to me again when she actually wants it, not anyone else.¡± ¡°Wow¡­ So, is the rumor true?¡± Kathryn asked. ¡°Rumor?¡± ¡°Um¡­ It might be quite a rude question, but¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t ask the question if you already know the answer.¡± Kathryn was stunned, but her expression soon gave way to a beautiful smile. ¡®What is she so delighted about?¡¯ Without hiding it, Kathryn giggled out loud. She put out her hand for a handshake and said, ¡°Well, alright. I personally like to take care of things immediately, but it¡¯s good to take it nice and slow at times. However, I ask you to take good care of Her Highness.¡± ¡°Hm¡­¡± ¡°If you do that, His Highness and I will become your allies. This allyship is separate from His Majesty.¡± Kathryn smiled playfully. ¡°Our adorable Princess Aeria is not interested in anyone other than you right now. All she can see is you.¡± Kathryn spoke cheerfully and slightly informally, and that got Davey feeling more comfortable. ¡°If it is really a problem¡­ Even a mistress would be fine. His Majesty would go crazy, but having a lot of wives isn¡¯t illegal, and even His Majesty has more than seven wives.¡± Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. Davey found it ridiculous that Grand Duchess Kathryn and Crown Prince Alberth were determined to partner him up with Aeria even if he chose to take her as a mistress. However, he couldn¡¯t do anything about how much they truly cared for Aeria. ¡°A mistress¡­ It doesn¡¯t seem like a good arrangement for either of us.¡± ¡°Oh my, I didn¡¯t know you are such a romantic. If so, I can¡¯t force you. Aww, our poor Princess Aeria¡­ Boohoo.¡± Kathryn even pretended to cry. She really was a difficult woman for Davey to handle. ¡®A mistress¡­¡¯ Davey scoffed. He had experienced what unresolved jealousy could do when one had too many wives, so he would never find a similar arrangement acceptable. It was right for him to decline everyone as firmly as possible until he wanted to talk about righteousness and find a way to change the customs of this world. ¡°Sorry for wasting your precious time,¡± Kathryn said. ¡°No, that¡¯s alright. I should be satisfied since I¡¯m meeting the empire¡¯s famous hero,¡± Davey replied. ¡°Do you really think so?¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± Kathryn¡¯s expression changed all of a sudden, like a beast eyeing its prey. There was no way Davey wouldn¡¯t be able to recognize the thirst in her eyes. ¡®Well, it¡¯s actually a good thing since I needed someone¡­¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do it,¡± Davey spoke. ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°Sparring. Isn¡¯t that what you wanted to do? Let¡¯s do it, since I also want to feel your power myself, Grand Duchess.¡± Kathryn¡¯s eyes opened wide like she was surprised. She then nodded her head and said, ¡°Then, please.¡± * * * The sudden visit of the Lyndis Empire¡¯s Princess Aeria and Great Duchess Kathryn Carabella, along with the news that Kathryn Carabella had requested Davey for a sparring session spread far and wide. Soon, a large crowd showed their faces at the dueling stadium located behind the seigneur¡¯s palace. There was Winley, who had been learning magic, Yulis, who had been teaching her, Elder Goulda, the dwarf who had been overseeing the festival, and Yuria Helishana. On one side, Davey could even see Rinne and Red and Blue Ribbon, who were both pulling Rinne¡¯s cheeks in delight. He could also see Myuu giggling and smiling with them. ¡°Your Highness. I sent away all the helping hands in the area. I also activated all the shock-absorbing artifacts as well.¡± ¡°Good work. Make sure to keep your distance.¡± ¡°Yes, sir!¡± Amy, who nodded and scuttled away, stared at Davey with sparkling eyes. ¡°Your Highness! Please win!¡± Davey silently nodded at Amy, who pumped both her fists and cheered him on cutely. Then, he kicked the nearby wooden sword up to his hands. The durability of this wooden sword was no joke, since it was made from wood that he had obtained from the large branches that Yggdrasil had pulled up from the ground the day before. Thanks to that, Davey didn¡¯t need to make use of a metal rod to prevent it from breaking. ¡°I heard that you use magic, Your Highness,¡± Kathryn commented with a giggle. ¡°I¡¯m confident that I can take most of your attacks, so you can attack all you want.¡± Davey smirked, then threw the wooden sword on the ground. ¡®This woman doesn¡¯t know what she¡¯s up against. If you want, I guess I have no choice but to show you something almost supernatural.¡¯ Davey scanned the training weapons stand, then picked something without hesitation. ¡°Hm?¡± Kathryn had a curious expression when Davey said, ¡°Let¡¯s go with this.¡± ¡°Huh¡­ That is¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s a balance patch.¡± Kathryn¡¯s smile deepened when Davey provoked her with a grin. The weapon he chose was none other than¡­a handheld fan. It was a pretty big one. 1. A reference to George Gordon Byron¡¯s famous quote about becoming famous overnight. ? CH 186 It was strange to call a handheld fan a weapon. If anything, it was more of an everyday tool that people used to cool themselves down in hot weather. It wouldn¡¯t be used to harm another person, not usually anyway. This particular handheld fan was more durable than one would expect, because it had monster leather attached to a hard Orc wood skeleton. ¡°A fan? Are you saying that you are going to fight with a fan?¡± Yulis asked curiously. Davey nodded. ¡°Huh¡­ This is yet another fascinating scene.¡± ¡°Wow¡­ How is he intending to fight with that?¡± Winley stared at Davey in confusion. She couldn¡¯t understand what was going on. The handheld fan was not heavy nor was it sharp. It wasn¡¯t shaped like a longsword or spear either, and its durability was limited by its structure. By using it, Davey looked like he was going to be crushed by a single blow from Kathryn. Kathryn smiled even wider. She would normally be angry during such a situation, because it could be assumed that Davey was belittling her. However, she wasn¡¯t angry at all. This only fired up her desire to win even more. Flap!! Davey swung the fan open and shut it closed. He put one hand behind his back and tapped the fan on his chest. He said, ¡°A handheld fan is a difficult weapon to learn in the first place.¡± A lot of techniques with the handheld fan that he used were created by Davey himself. He didn¡¯t really follow his teachers¡¯ methods. Since he already knew how to handle mana, a method he created was the current fan-held magic he possessed. ¡°Well, then. I will take the first attack.¡± As her smile disappeared, Kathryn Carabella put her bare hands on the ground. She stared straight at Davey from a similar position to a [Crouching Start]. At the same time, her tail started wagging like she was trying to distract Davey. In complete silence, her tail wagged like it was measuring a signal before it stopped completely. This was her attack signal, which only appeared for a split second. Kathryn Carabella was a fighter with destructive power and lightning-fast reflexes. She was a monstrously strong beastfolk warrior with power comparable to an entire army. Although she didn¡¯t have knuckles, her main weapon of choice was her hands. An exceptional Fist Master¡¯s blow wasn¡¯t something that would be weakened just because of the absence of knuckles. Kaboom!!!! The situation that soon unfolded utterly shocked the entire crowd. * * * ¡°I¡­ I should stop her¡­¡± Aeria El Lyndis mumbled anxiously. She looked pale, as if she had seen a ghost. Kathryn Carabella, the foxy Grand Duchess, had taken on a rather famous stance. This was actually the position that gave her the nickname of ¡®the Fox¡¯. It looked strange and ridiculous at first glance, but it was an attack where she instantly charged into her opponent using powerful momentum; it was not something to be underestimated. In fact, it was so strong that many Master-level knights had been defeated before they could even react. Furthermore, it was also true that Grand Duchess Kathryn was strong enough to stand alone against an army. ¡°Um¡­ Sorry, but shouldn¡¯t we stop them?¡± Aeria asked Amy as she glanced at her. She couldn¡¯t hide her anxiety about the duel at all. Rinne, who was standing nearby, shook her head. Yulis smiled and asked, ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we be worrying about Grand Duchess Kathryn rather than Sir Davey?¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± Aeria, who was surprised by that comment, mumbled in disbelief. ¡°I¡­ I know that His Highness has outstanding magic abilities. However, doesn¡¯t magic require a long time to prepare? And they are also in close proximity, and mages must have mage-specific supporting equipment¡­¡± Suddenly, Aeria widened her eyes when Kathryn¡¯s tail stopped wagging. ¡®She¡¯s going to charge right into him!¡¯ When Aeria, who couldn¡¯t shake off her concerns as she had seen part of Kathryn¡¯s overpowering routine, was about to shout¡­ Kaboom!! Aeria heard an explosion alongside a loud crashing sound. ¡°Ouch¡­ What is¡­¡± The crowd gasped loudly. ¡°Oh my¡­¡± ¡°What just happened¡­¡± Kathryn was crushed to the ground, even though she had the first attack and had been in the position to charge forward at any moment. On the other hand, Davey simply fanned himself calmly. How could Kathryn be the one on the ground? No one managed to catch what had happened. All everyone could see was the fact that Kathryn, who twitched and moved slightly, was flat on the ground. ¡°Oh my¡­ What just happened¡­?¡± Yulis mumbled in surprise. He appeared to be much more shocked than usual. Winley also could not hide her fascination and shock as she stared at the stadium. She muttered, ¡°I couldn¡¯t see anything. It definitely seemed like Big Brother did something, but¡­¡± Kathryn had been mercilessly crushed into the ground, lying on the stadium floor. She slowly got up with a groan before staring at Davey with her head tilted. ¡°I¡¯m going in again.¡± Her playfulness was nowhere to be found. She slightly crouched into a low position before moving again with a tense face. Right now, she was serious and determined not to be taken down by the same attack twice. Kaboom!!!! Then, another huge explosion took place. The crowd gaped as they saw Kathryn fly in the air and land on the ground once again. ¡°What in the hell¡­¡± When everyone became silent at the unbelievable sparring that took place in front of them, Kathryn suddenly rose from the rubble. Kaboom!!! However, she was lying back on the ground before she could do anything. 68. They Were Just Unlucky, That¡¯s All. ¡°Ow ow¡­¡± Kathryn quietly moaned in pain. Getting up with a frown on her face, she no longer had the initial desire to win. She muttered in bewilderment, ¡°What¡­ What happened¡­¡± We are bit.ly/3iBfjkV, find us on google. The outcome of the sparring session surprised everyone. Grand Duchess Kathryn Carabella was the attacker, but she was the one who ended up injured. The Lyndis Empire was the eastern continent¡¯s most powerful empire. They were known to have the most Swordmasters and archmages. Kathryn Carabella was respected and acknowledged as a powerful individual among the empire¡¯s famously powerful people. Even though she commanded no knights, soldiers, or mages, she was powerful enough to be the strongest individual in the entire empire. She usually used martial arts to fight, and it was said that she could destroy thick palace walls with a single punch. The funny thing was that her strength actually relied on her speed rather than her destructive force. Her charging speed was so strong and fast that most Masters could not respond when it came to one-on-one battles. This was who Kathryn Carabella was, so her bewilderment at failing to strike Davey was understandable. After all, Davey had just stood there and not attacked her. However, the people who had been with Davey for a long time were not all that confused. They had seen what he had done before. They actually looked like¡­ [Of course, I thought so.] They all expected this. Kathryn, still extremely shocked, simply said, ¡°That thing you did just now¡­ You didn¡¯t use any mana.¡± Kathryn had noticed it the moment that she had been hit, so she wanted to understand what had happened. ¡°You have a good eye,¡± Davey replied. ¡°It wasn¡¯t a physical ability either. No matter how fast you are, your speed shouldn¡¯t go completely untraceable by me.¡± That would have been possible if one was considering doping, but there was no need to correct Kathryn on that. Kathryn smiled eerily with a tense face. Kaboom!!! Kathryn suddenly charged forward without warning, but she simply crashed into the ground again. The impact was so strong that a part of the stone floor cracked. ¡°Ouch¡­¡± Kathryn got up with a frown, then backed away from Davey. She stared at her hand silently. As she was an exceptionally skilled individual, Kathryn had a vague idea of what Davey¡¯s strange and unknown attack was. She mumbled, ¡°It¡¯s definitely not mana¡­ Very fascinating.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fascinating? Are you curious?¡± ¡°I would be lying if I said I wasn¡¯t.¡± ¡°You can keep being curious,¡± Davey said calmly. Kathryn looked dumbfounded. Davey closed the fan with a flap before pointing the end of it at Kathryn. He said, ¡°Since it¡¯s meaningless to just be on the receiving end, it is my turn to attack now.¡± ¡°Haah?!¡± Kaboom!!! Kathryn widened her eyes. She heard something bouncing in the air, so she threw herself to the side. At the same time, the place she initially stood at rumbled and was soon crushed. Davey used abilities that were almost next level, so he wanted to try it out and find out the extent to which it could be used. ¡°I can¡¯t defend against it because I can¡¯t feel it¡­¡± That was no surprise. Whether it was devil mana, holy power, or just regular mana, all the forces that existed in the world could be sensed upon their release. Even when it was weak, even the most secretive dark magic left a trace at the moment it was cast. However, what if the power was not from this part of the world? That was the kind of power within the handheld fan. The power accumulated within Davey¡¯s soul. This type of power was only given to humans who had a deep gray soul color. It was daoist magic. Kathryn stared at Davey with a solemn face before taking a breath. She said, ¡°This is far more than I expected¡­ It seems like I was being rude, Your Highness.¡± ¡°Please come at me with all that you have, and don¡¯t mind the people here.¡± At the same time, red mana flowed out from Kathryn like a waterfall. She had been hiding her true power during the sparring session, but she was no longer doing that. She now knew that Davey was far more powerful than she had expected. ¡°W¡ªWait! Kathryn!!¡± The person who was the first to notice the change was none other than Aeria El Lyndis, the Lyndis Empire¡¯s youngest princess. ¡°Stop it! Kathryn! That is too much to be used in sparring!¡± Ignoring Aeria¡¯s urgent shouts, Kathryn just stared at Davey with shining red eyes. Her tail was high up. ¡°I¡­ I have to stop¡­!¡± Abandoning her usual timid and careful personality, Aeria stood up urgently and tried running into the stadium. Pahh!! However, Davey pointed toward Aeria with his folded fan and stopped her even before she could move. ¡®Don¡¯t come in.¡¯ CH 187 It would actually be a problem for Davey if Kathryn didn¡¯t release her full powers. Davey had gone out of his way to accept the sparring invitation and he had pulled out his handheld fan not just for simple entertainment. Unlike other abilities, daoist magic had extreme limitations in this world; it was able to display a variety of powers, but its firepower was limited. As such, Davey had to dive right into it and compare it against a worthy opponent. Swish¡­ Kathryn slid one foot on the stone floor and took a breath. Wharp!! At the same time, Kathryn disappeared so fast that the air around her vibrated. ¡ªWow¡­ Her speed¡­ ¡®She¡¯s almost knocking on the level of the telekinetic blade.¡¯ Not all Masters had the same level of skills; Kathryn Carabella¡¯s movements of unhidden power were clearly above ordinary fighters¡¯. Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. For a swordsman, the level where one gained enlightenment and was able to take control of one¡¯s flow of power was the transcendental level of blade control. Kathryn¡¯s power could match Davey¡¯s and she was the first such person who Davey had met so far. There wasn¡¯t much of a difference, but her hard work was worthy of praise. Bong. Then, Kathryn, who suddenly appeared in a blur, charged toward Davey with a serious face. Kaboom!! At the same time, a giant shockwave flew toward Kathryn. Normally, she should not have been able to handle her own strength, so she should have been swept away by the shockwave. However¡­ ¡ªShe dodged it?! Kathryn dodged Davey¡¯s attack by an inch even though she could not see nor feel it. She didn¡¯t know that the attack was coming, but she had moved instinctively. Her movements were so instinctive that it was creepy. Paah!! Charging toward Davey in an instant, Kathryn swung her fist like she was not going to give him another chance to fight back. When Kathryn came toward him with a powerful and intense blow, Davey deflected the attack with his folded fan. He lightly flicked her wrist with it, but he kept being bombarded by attacks. The battle went on with Kathryn endlessly attacking Davey, who blocked every single one. Dozens of attacks and defenses went back and forth, exposing each other¡¯s vulnerabilities. Kathryn sustained more and more injuries as the battle went on, but she kept attacking without stopping. As if she had become a four-legged animal, she went behind Davey and spread her fingers out like she was showing her claws. Then, she charged in without missing her window of opportunity. ¡°Tsk.¡± Too much of something was never good. Like the genius of battle she was, Kathryn fought with everything she had after realizing that Davey was no easy opponent. Watching the attack fly toward his face in seconds, Davey quickly opened his fan with one hand and twirled it. He reached up with his other hand and¡­ Ring! With a clear sound, a small twig appeared out of thin air. The surrounding space rippled. On the ends of the black twig were small golden bells. ¡°Bells?!¡± If a handheld fan was a weapon specialized in defense, this charred twig was a weapon made for offense. Considering Davey¡¯s recovered strength, Kathryn was definitely strong. Since he could actually be in trouble if he joked around, Davey seriously prepared for her incoming attacks. [Scorching Hell-Fire] [Vermillion Bird¡¯s Blade] [True Scorching Flame] The flame of the guardian god burned the Earth and swallowed the Sun. Even the World Tree, which had near-perfect resistance to magic flames, wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand this type of power. Ring! A clear and beautiful bell ringing could be heard again, as if signaling the end of the battle. Then, the sparring session came to an end. Thud¡­ In the end, Kathryn¡¯s attacks could not reach Davey. Her fist, which blazed with bright red energy, was stopped right before it could land on Davey¡¯s face. Similarly, Davey¡¯s attacks didn¡¯t reach Kathryn either. The black twig with bells ringing stopped right in front of her stomach. Perhaps that was why the very weak flame held inside the bells merely dissipated into the air. ¡°Haah¡­¡± Both of their attacks were stopped before striking the opponent. However, there was still a clear victor and loser. Wheezing and gagging, Kathryn looked around and stepped back. She was drenched in cold sweat. ¡°Hup! Cough!¡± Kathryn collapsed to her knees, because she was no longer able to support herself. The emotion that momentarily flashed in her eyes was that of an overpowered prey looking at its predator. All of Davey¡¯s killing aura had been poured onto her without control because Davey had released it instinctively. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Davey asked cautiously while hiding the slight guilt that he felt. ¡°...¡± Kathryn, who was on the floor, glanced at Davey. Although Davey¡¯s attacks didn¡¯t reach her, Kathryn still felt like she had severely lost this battle. Unable to give Davey an answer, she simply stared at Davey like he was this unbelievable monster putting pressure on her chest. * * * ¡°Your Highness! Everything is ready!¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± In the dark room, there was a girl who silently stared at the white silver longsword in her hand. Upon hearing that urgent voice, she rose from her seat. Clink clang. Illyna usually didn¡¯t wear metal armor, but this time was different. She looked at her armor, which was said to be made of mithril and orichalcum, before putting on an arm guard and a helmet. It hadn¡¯t been long since her return from the Heins Territory, but Illyna felt like everything had changed completely. ¡®When did it become like this?¡¯ Illyna just stared at her hand silently, as if she did not have the energy to wipe the bitter smile off her face. She was about to stain her beautiful hands with human blood. ¡®This isn¡¯t why I learned swordsmanship. I didn¡¯t learn it to slaughter fellow human beings.¡¯ Complicated thoughts filled Illyna¡¯s head. ¡ªIllyna, get it together. The damage will get worse if you don¡¯t do anything. Don¡¯t think of them as people. Do what you think is right. Illyna just clenched her jaw even as Caldeiras advised her. She muttered, ¡°Caldeiras, it doesn¡¯t change the fact that I am slashing humans in the end, whether it be for the greater good or not.¡± ¡ªYou always said that the virtue of a knight is to protect the weak. And get it right; they are corpses. They are monsters, not humans. They are just a shell of a human being, that¡¯s all. The circlet on Illyna¡¯s didn¡¯t look like protective gear, but it had protection magic, so it was much more effective than any other armor piece. Dozens of knights wearing flamboyant armor pulled out their swords and saluted Illyna when she appeared before them. They all wore solemn and determined expressions. Illyna, who quietly glanced at the thousands of soldiers lined up behind the knights, closed her eyes for a while. Then, she slowly raised her head. The White Bird was one of the Pallan Empire¡¯s strongest forces; they were knight orders and soldiers who had pledged their allegiance and loyalty to her. They were also a prestigious army that was known as the best in the empire. ¡®What would happen if Davey was here? Everything would probably be resolved easily, no doubt.¡¯ Illyna thought for a second, but she found that thought to be shameless. There was no reason for Davey to take care of dangerous tasks because of his strength. This was strictly an internal problem of the Pallan Empire; as such, it was right for her to put an end to it. Illyna cleared her mind of all thoughts. Looking at the army, she said calmly, ¡°White Bird.¡± Illyna¡¯s eyes sparkled like she was making a determined declaration. ¡°Right now, all members will begin marching,¡± Illyna announced as she stopped the sadness from showing on her face. * * * ¡°Ahahaha! I was completely trampled like an ant!¡± ¡°Seriously! Why did you do that all of a sudden?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be like that, Your Highness. Take care of me, I¡¯m hurt.¡± Kathryn hugged Aeria and asked the princess to take care of her wounds. Aeria was flushed as she pushed Kathryn away. ¡®But¡­ Oh my! He was so handsome.¡¯ Aeria did not think that such a thing would happen. The Davey she knew had cat eyes that made him seem a little scary, but he was actually a warm-hearted person. He had cured her disease without any compensation and had saved her from assassins. He had even stopped her from trying to commit suicide¡­He had always given her help without asking for anything else. People said that men fit themselves into the world and women fit the world into themselves; Aeria couldn¡¯t help but feel her attraction grow for the charming prince who seemingly went out of his way to help her. Aeria knew that Davey was strong. She remembered what he had shown her in the Ordem Forest; he had rescued her with magic that seemed to cause natural disasters. She also knew that he had outstanding skills in the art of medicine. She knew that he had the stigmata, the symbol of holy power, and that he had the title of ¡®Saint¡¯. However, Aeria did not expect Davey¡¯s strength in close-range battle. Humans usually thought that if someone was good at one thing, they would lack at other things; in fact, Aeria thought that people who were good at everything didn¡¯t exist. When the prince she had feelings for was about to spar with none other than Kathryn, Aeria had been so worried and scared. Even the most skilled mages were at a disadvantage if they fought one-on-one battles in a small space unless there was a large difference in power. As such, she had been worried that even Davey may be in trouble this time. She had even wondered what she should do if he had gotten himself hurt; should she take care of him, or should she bow and apologize? However, those concerns had flown out the window once the sparring started. Kathryn was an extremely strong individual that remained undefeated even in an empire full of talented people. Watching Kathryn, who was unbelievably powerful, admit defeat, Aeria couldn¡¯t help but think about the battle. Then, she lowered her head as she thought about Davey, who did not back down and had calmly tried to counterattack Kathryn who was using her full strength. Then, Aeria covered her face with her hands and smiled. Everything Davey had done seemed charming and amazing, especially since she was in her honeymoon phase of infatuation. Suddenly, Aeria looked at her outfit like she just remembered something. ¡®What do I do?! What if he doesn¡¯t like what I¡¯m wearing? What do I do if this isn¡¯t pretty enough for him?¡¯ Kathryn, who was quick-witted, looked at Aeria in amusement. She thought that perhaps this was a good thing. CH 188 Bzzt, bzzt, bzzt! At the noise, a man¡¯s face appeared on the otherwise transparent bead. [How are things going on your end, Grand Duchess Kathryn?] ¡°There¡¯s more to him than I expected.¡± [Ho¡­ You¡¯re telling me that the Grand Duchess has grown fond of that prince?] The man sounded surprised by Kathryn¡¯s statement. ¡°Whether I like him or not, I have to admit to you the truth. At the very least, Her Highness the Imperial Princess would not get hurt if she¡¯s with him. He¡¯s someone that we must keep as an ally.¡± [I can¡¯t believe that the strict and meticulous Grand Duchess is saying such things. I was quite worried that he would abuse the deal that he has with His Majesty, but it seems like things went well.] Aeria had a lot of enemies within the Empire even with the protection of Grand Duchess Kathryn, Crown Prince Alberth, and Emperor Deorte, who was hailed as the Supreme Emperor. Due to the deep hatred and disgust towards beastfolk that the empire¡¯s citizens had, many still looked down upon her. That was why she required protection. [You suddenly appeared and asked for a spar, so he must have been unprepared. Aeria will probably get mad at you once she finds out. She¡¯s a kind and gentle child, but her temper is quite bad too.] ¡°I don¡¯t intend to pass this complicated problem to the princess. All she needs to do is experience pure young love. Whether the princess chooses to become a concubine or a legal wife, I will fully support her decision.¡± Kathryn smiled as she continued to speak calmly, ¡°But if things continue to drag on like this, then an accident might happen.¡± [With that wooden prince¡¯s personality and inability to differentiate beans from barley, it might really take years for them to develop feelings naturally.] ¡°The prince turned down my offer of engagement. I just nudged him a bit, but our strategy was too obvious for him. He¡¯s a careful person. Very meticulous and considerate.¡± [This¡­ Then our dear youngest must be having a hard time. Is there no other way?] ¡°I can¡¯t guarantee anything right away, but¡­¡± Lowering her gaze, Kathryn said, ¡°¡­how about sending an official engagement proposal to Rowane Kingdom? The prince might leave this opportunity behind, but I don¡¯t believe that the king would do the same.¡± Davey was strong. Having personally sparred with him, Kathryn was very confident of this conclusion. That was why they should not miss this opportunity. They had to keep a monster by Aeria¡¯s side so that those who targeted Aeria would not even dare to touch a single hair on her body. If they had to spark love between the two, then so be it. ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. We¡¯re backing this up, so I believe the Rowane Kingdom would view this political marriage positively.¡± Alberth, who was standing in the video, smiled. [You seem to like Prince Davey quite a lot.] ¡°Of course. I have never seen such a monstrously strong individual in my life before. If he did not stop towards the end, I would not be standing here and talking to you right now.¡± Beastfolk warriors always respected the strong, and Alberth believed that anyone who could beat Kathryn was worthy of high respect. That was why Alberth could not help but murmur in disbelief after hearing Kathryn¡¯s unexpected remarks. [I have heard all the rumors, but even you feel that way? Not just anyone, but you, the Grand Duchess Kathryn?] ¡°He did not even use the sword, which is his main weapon. That in itself already reveals the difference in our strength and skills¡­ That last attack was real and genuine¡­¡± Kathryn recalled the sparring session and couldn¡¯t help but shiver. Goosebumps rose all over her skin. Upon meeting Davey¡¯s gaze back then, Kathryn had felt a fear that completely froze her in place. To her, Davey¡¯s gaze had been that of an apex predator. She would only feel that way when going up against a true powerhouse that overpowered her. In fact, she had never felt this way in decades. [If the Grand Duchess says so then he must be no ordinary person. Where the hell did such a person suddenly appear from¡­?] ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯s a mere child. The way that he looked at me with those eyes¡­ he has too many untold stories for a mere child.¡± Kathryn gulped nervously. ¡°I don¡¯t want us to miss this opportunity. If he really is the kind of man that I believe him to be, then we can safely leave our Imperial Princess in his care.¡± Kathryn giggled before her smile turned grim. She tried to end the conversation. The surroundings were becoming more lively and cheerful, since the festival was about to officially begin. Aeria was already in the middle of preparing to enjoy the festival under Davey¡¯s guidance. It took quite a bit of time before the red and blue-haired twins got used to the two of them together. ¡®Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon.¡¯ Although their names were quite unusual, it was true that Prince Davey was raising them as his daughters. ¡®It doesn¡¯t matter since they''re cute, huh?¡¯ Kathryn believed that the children were not a problem, since Aeria liked kids. [However, the boy is very stubborn. Even if we send an official proposal, do you think it will work¡­] ¡°We need to create an opportunity to spark something¡­¡± Kathryn would make the impossible possible. From what she could see, the prince did not really dislike Aeria. The problem was that the boy seemed to look at Aeria as if he was looking at a cute younger sibling. Davey was a handsome man and Aeria was a beautiful woman. The two would definitely look good together, and even Kathryn was envious of them. ¡°Our Imperial Princess has a very enchanting and beautiful body. The prince just needs some persuading. If it were me, I would have already eaten Her Highness up.¡± [If you try to do something weird to my sister¡­you will not be spared. Don¡¯t even think about it.] Kathryn just waved her hand at Crown Prince Alberth¡¯s threat. She said, ¡°Come on, I am the Grand Duchess, the Flaming Fox. I learned how to catch a man¡¯s heart from my mother.¡± The hungry would never refuse a meal that was presented to them. ¡°It will only backfire if I drug them and lock them up in a room. I¡¯ll just give them a gentle push. There¡¯s a festival today, so there will be a lot of people.¡± Alberth shook his head. After hearing Kathryn¡¯s words and seeing her vicious smile, he could feel cold sweat pouring down his back. Then, all of a sudden¡­ [Hmmm? Is that true?] Alberth¡¯s expression hardened after hearing the sudden report. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± [I¡¯m sorry, Grand Duchess. We have to withdraw all of our plans. You have to escort Aeria back to the Imperial Palace right away.] ¡°Eh? You know how much effort I have put in just to create this opportunity, why are you saying that all of a sudden¡­?¡± [An envoy from the Pallan Empire has arrived. It seems like something serious has happened.] Kathryn¡¯s irritated expression turned ugly. She was already done cooking the rice but someone had just sprinkled ash on it[1]! *** ¡°Phew,¡± Aeria sighed, trying to calm herself down. She looked at herself in the mirror. Aeria had been waiting for this day ever since she had first met Davey. Regardless of all other concerns, she just wanted Davey and herself to get to know each other as a man and a woman. And if things went well¡­ ¡®A child in a peaceful home¡­ No. Did he say that they were called Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon? Since he has them, then it¡¯s alright to not have any more children, right? Then, with him and those two children¡­¡¯ Aeria¡¯s face immediately turned a bright shade of red, because she just thought of Davey playing around with the children in the garden and using her lap as a pillow. As if she had done something wrong, she quickly shook her head with an uneasy expression. ¡°You¡¯re truly beautiful, Imperial Princess.¡± ¡°Thank you. I¡¯m trying my best to look good in front of him.¡± Aeria needed to use her charms to capture Davey¡¯s attention. It was a bit sad, but she could tell that Davey was not attracted to her yet. However, even if that was the case, Aeria still wanted to stay by his side. Aeria had already grown fond of the scent of cornel cherry[2]. She was also very grateful that she had successfully established herself as one of the six greatest beauties in the continent after recovering from the dreadful disease. After finishing her cute and innocent make-up, Aeria donned a dress that highlighted her dreamy and curvaceous figure. And just in case something did happen, Aeria also thought of asking the maids to prepare lingerie for her. She could be an innocent beauty with a twist, right? The thought was a bit shameful, but Aeria was willing to do anything just to look good in front of Davey. Thinking about how Davey¡¯s scent would linger in the room once he came to pick her up, Aeria smiled right into the mirror. As soon as they were finished looking around the beautiful festival, all she had to do was hand over the gift that she had prepared. The gift was a pendant, one that matched with hers. She did not know if Davey would accept it, but she would be very happy if he had the same pendant as her. Clack¡ª ¡°Ah¡­ Kathryn?¡± Aeria looked over at her unexpected guest curiously. Although her ears twitched when she noticed that Kathryn had a grim expression, Aeria was unaware of the impending doom. She simply shook the hem of her dress with her free hand and, with more courage than usual, asked, ¡°Kathryn, how does my dress look? Do you think he¡¯ll like¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Your Highness.¡± ¡°What¡­¡± ¡°His Majesty has ordered that we return to the Imperial Palace right away.¡± Hearing those words, Aeria dropped the box in her hands. She felt resentful and was suddenly reminded of an old adage: If you¡¯re unlucky, your nose will break even if you fall on your back. *** Under the World Tree¡¯s instigation, the winds of war were slowly but surely blowing toward the Heins Territory. Also, due to the small incidents that occurred with increasing frequency, the entire Pallan Empire was thrown into confusion. This was unsurprising, since this had always been the case for nations with granaries in the mountains like the Herlo Mountain Fortress located in the Pallan Empire¡¯s southern region. In a huge conference hall, several men and women exchanged glances. The atmosphere was especially gloomy. ¡°According to the message sent by the Imperial Princess, the situation on the battlefield is dire. Her report states that all their energy and resources are being used just to maintain the defensive line. We must send reinforcements right away.¡± ¡°Goodness¡­ The White Bird is on the defensive?¡± White Bird was originally a small knight order. However, it had now turned into a huge division inside the Pallan Empire. It had a huge number of knight orders and soldiers who were under Illyna¡¯s command. Their prestige, solidarity, and shocking track record had long been a part of history. Needless to say, they were a strong and invincible force in the Pallan Empire. ¡°What on earth is that monster?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ This is the first time that I have ever heard about such a monster. Such a strong undead is practically unheard of until now.¡± It was a colossal undead dressed in an old robe. The monster had awakened from an ancient dungeon and had devoured a large area from their territories in just a few short days. In fact, the monster had not stopped and was still moving northwards as they spoke. ¡°I¡¯m telling you, how can that be a simple undead?! If it¡¯s using such a meticulous strategy¡­¡± ¡°The undead are using tactics and strategies. They ambush, lure, do a siege, and retreat.¡± Some of the nobles shouted indignantly. All of them thought that this was ridiculous. ¡°Let¡¯s all be realistic here. The crown prince had died in battle after setting out to subjugate this monster. This is no longer a simple skirmish.¡± This was now a war between humans and the monsters that had awakened from the dungeon. The voices of everyone present turned mute at those words. ¡°His Highness, the Crown Prince, was rumored to be extremely intelligent since he was a young child. He had distinguished himself as someone well-versed in tactics and strategies. Who expected such a clever prince to die in that battle?¡± ¡°We can¡¯t let this go. The enemy even resurrected His Highness the Crown Prince and used his body in this war.¡± The undead did not distinguish between humans or monsters in their troops. They brought back, resurrected, and absorbed everyone they had killed into their military force. The non-stop killing as the monsters advanced forward was like a nightmare in and of itself. 1. A saying about a work that was almost finished but it was suddenly ruined. ? Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. 2. ??? - Japanese Cornel Cherry, a tree that bears a fruit that turns red in winter. It is said that eating the fruit sans the toxic seeds, has a nourishing effect on the body and can invigorate men. ? CH 189 We are bit.ly/3iBfjkV, find us on google. ¡°Then, what if we used swords that are sprinkled with holy water and blessed by the temple¡¯s purification magic?¡± ¡°I heard that doesn¡¯t work at all. The temple¡¯s purification magic is being blocked by some sort of special power around the Undead¡¯s body, so it is useless. Also¡­¡± The Undead breathed out death poison, which was the biggest problem. The poison usually infected those who had been bitten and could be easily treated by purification magic. It could turn victims into the Undead, but it only took effect after the host was dead. However¡­ ¡°Things are different this time. The infected soldiers were still alive and well when they turned into the Undead. This is also the reason why two of our mountain fortresses have turned into the Undead¡¯s land already.¡± ¡°How?!¡± ¡°Furthermore¡­ The situation this time¡­ I heard that there¡¯s a monster commanding and ordering the Undead around.¡± ¡°A monster has taken command?¡± ¡°Yes. According to my investigations¡­the monster refers to itself as the Death Lord. Can you believe it? The Undead can speak!¡± Upon hearing that an Undead was capable of speech, everybody in the hall was smart enough to understand what that meant. Just as silence pervaded the entire hall, the man sitting at the head of the table said quietly, ¡°We have lost my big brother. On that battlefield, my precious younger sibling is fighting against our big brother¡¯s corpse with tears in her eyes. We don¡¯t know when the situation will be resolved, but we don¡¯t have the luxury to stand on the sidelines and just watch.¡± ¡°Prince Sullivan, what do you think we should do¡­?¡± ¡°We can¡¯t just lie down and wait for a beating. Fortunately, the Holy Empire and the Mage Towers have given us their word that they will come to our aid. The Holy Empire has promised to send two Saintess candidates and their 6th and 7th Holy Knight Orders.¡± ¡°Ho. As expected of Prince Sullivan. I¡¯m quite impressed with your keen insights.¡± The man continued to speak calmly but solemnly. ¡°Please always keep in mind that we cannot back down even though things will not be easy. Since these monsters dared to bare their fangs at our great Pallan Empire, then we have to kill every single one of them.¡± A gloomy and deadly air started to hover above the Pallan Empire, an empire that was said to be the symbol of prosperity and peace. 69. Participating in the War in their Own Ways. Initially delighted that Davey would be personally escorting her around the festival, Aeria El Lyndis was now apologizing to Davey profusely with tears in her eyes. From what Davey had heard, the Lyndis Empire¡¯s emperor had ordered them to drop everything and return back to the empire. In fact, Davey did not really mind that. This situation did not warrant any apology from Aeria at all. However, Aeria was the heartbroken one to have to break the appointment they had. Days went by after Davey appropriately consoled the crying woman and sent her back. Although there was a slight sense of unrest, the festival still was a great success and ended on a good note. Davey recalled the Lyndis Empire¡¯s Grand Duchess, Kathryn Carabella. She was a reckless and aggressive woman who did whatever she had the guts to say. It appeared that she had been testing to see if Davey matched the criteria that she had set for the person that Aeria El Lyndis, who she served, was interested in. Although he found Kathryn¡¯s methods to be impudent, Davey had let it slide. He had made use of that reckless challenge to test out a particular ability against someone with Kathryn¡¯s caliber and talent. ¡®We¡¯re going to war with the World Tree, so I have to make sure that nothing will go wrong with my daoist magic.¡¯ The World Tree had plenty of powers and authorities in her hands. If Davey could clash with her using the appropriate power, then he would be able to deal a lot more pain and damage to her with the greatest efficiency from the very beginning. There would always be many unforeseen circumstances, especially because there was a stark difference between a simulation and an actual battle. ¡ªThe World Tree¡¯s power is compatible with all of the attributes. No matter what you say, she has an advantage in that area. On the other hand, daoist magic is a power that exists in another world and is solely for humans¡¯ use. This means that it¡¯s a power excluded from the World Tree¡¯s control. Mana, holy power, and dark mana¡­ Any power that was given a name by the primordial will would have no effect on the World Tree, which was no stupid entity. She wouldn¡¯t stay still and get beaten when she could just go full power at the very beginning. That was why Davey found it necessary to use daoist magic. During his spar with Kathryn, Davey found that the efficiency of daoist magic would decrease as time went by. That realization brought him great frustration and irritation. ¡ªSo, what¡¯s your solution? In response to Perserque¡¯s question, Davey reached for an item inside his Pocket Plane. Since he couldn¡¯t grab and pull it out yet, his hand passed through the item as if it was just a hologram. The appearance of this item would definitely have a great impact in this world. In truth, the item really should not have that much of an impact, since it was just a tool. But since it was related to daoist magic, the item would definitely make its efficiency sky rocket. This was an item that could make Davey grin widely. This item was necessary for Davey to easily chop up the World Tree, who was very much compatible with all of the powers in this world. The problem was¡­ ¡®How do I even take this item out?¡¯ There was only one way to retrieve an item that went beyond transcendence and was under the restrictions of God¡¯s will. But Goddess Freyja, who was supposed to help Davey out, had been ignoring his prayers. In other words, she was a very superficial shrew who only sought Davey out if she needed something from him. Because of that, Davey¡¯s head was filled with curses and profanities toward her most of the time. However, that did not stop him from worrying. In the end, Davey decided to make other preparations, since he could not solve this problem immediately. He also had to strengthen his territory and increase their munitions and weapons as preparation for the war against the World Tree. Even though such preparation would not have much effect on the war, Davey still wanted to do so. This armed conflict would have bloody consequences. Once the war ended, the sense of hatred would be irreversible and inevitable. So, Davey had to do all that he could to prevent that from happening. Davey did not want to sacrifice innocent lives for useless ideals and goals. However, this war was unavoidable, so he had to do his best to protect his people as much as he could and subdue the enemies before even further damage could be inflicted on them. Davey did not intend to let a single one of his people shed blood and die in this war. Increasing his military force, strengthening the defenses, and creating weapons as well as buying and stocking up food were measures being taken to prepare for the worst case scenario. Among those things, food and rations were in scarce supply. The farming that they had done in this territory had not yet paid off. ¡°Hmm? Amy, didn¡¯t you report before that the merchant group buying rations and food supplies was supposed to arrive today?¡± ¡°That¡­¡± Davey, who came to sort out the supplies, frowned when he saw the rations. ¡°This amount is not enough. Contact them and tell them that we will buy everything that they can sell.¡± ¡°Actually¡­the merchant group refuses to do business with us. I tried to make another deal somehow, but¡­they said that it was an imperial decree given by the Pallan Empire,¡± Amy said uneasily. Davey paused. ¡°Refused? What is this nonsense?¡± ¡°That¡­¡± Just when Davey was about to urge Amy, who looked like she did not know how to report the matter¡­ ¡°I will be doing the report on this matter.¡± ¡°Aina?¡± ¡°Please. Please call me Jack.¡± Jack, or Aina, used to hide her existence extremely well. However, she recently started to show up more often. Of course, she was still disguising her true self as a human man. ¡°Sir Davey, are you aware of the events that have and are still transpiring in the Pallan Empire?¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t ask if I already know.¡± The dark elf Aina Helishana, who was still disguised as a man thanks to the necklace that Davey had given her, looked like she had expected the answer. She said, ¡°I¡¯m sure you know about the huge granaries located on the southern side of the Pallan Empire, right?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± The Pallan Empire¡¯s huge granaries were known to produce around 20% of the produce that was traded and distributed all over the continent. The empire¡¯s vast fertile lands were dedicated solely to the production of food and had long exported their own crops to many other countries. In fact, the Rowane Kingdom and the Heins Territory were both regular buyers of their exports. ¡°So, there¡¯s a problem?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The news that Aina had relayed was much simpler than what Davey thought. Basically, an invasion had started on the vast lands that produced and exported huge amounts of food. So, the question was which crazy person had left their common sense behind and attacked the Pallan Empire? The answer to that was none other than the Undead, the monsters known as the moving dead. ¡°Is the nation hailed as the continent¡¯s strongest empire unable to deal with the Undead?¡± ¡°They¡¯re not your regular Undead. From what I heard, the Undead are using strategies and tactics. According to reports, the Undead would use their numbers to lure, ambush, and retreat. Just like trained soldiers. Since they are a legion that did not feel pain, exhaustion, or fear, it is difficult for the empire to oppose them.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Simply put, the enemies are hard to deal with. Unbelievable, right?¡± ¡°No. I already know about something similar.¡± ¡°What an unlucky fellow.¡± ¡°What did you say?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± The question here was¡­were the Undead much more dangerous than the World Tree? ¡°I¡¯m not sure how much Sir Davey knows, but they are not normal at all. Because of that, the White Bird led by Princess Illyna de Pallan has been dispatched. However, their situation is not very favorable. All they could do is stop the enemies from pushing the defense line even further.¡± They were holding down the fort and not losing the fight, but they were also not winning. At first, one would find it unbelievable that the Undead, those mindless monsters, were using tactics and strategies and taking advantage of their numbers. They were even cooperating with each other. However, that wasn¡¯t an impossibility. ¡°Goodness¡­ I have never heard of any Undead having intelligence.¡± Aina also nodded after hearing Winley¡¯s shocked words. If everyone followed common sense, then it was impossible for the Undead to gain sentience and intelligence. However, that wasn¡¯t entirely impossible. If someone forcefully planted orders into their heads, the mindless Undead would become the most faithful and loyal servants. And there was only one existence that could make that possible. ¡ªA high-ranking necromancer. Necromancers had the power to command and deal with the dead. Their abilities were unusual, which made them different from the masses. Davey felt frustrated at the appearance of such a monster, who seemed like they had been waiting for this moment to awaken. A war needed soldiers, yes. However, military supplies couldn¡¯t be ignored. If their initial suppression failed, then there was a high chance that the war would spread and turn into a protracted war. That was why it was beneficial to prepare more food reserves than needed. Wasn¡¯t there a saying that said, Better safe than sorry? If the opponent was unusual, then they had no choice but to prepare more thoroughly than expected. ¡°The Pallan Empire did not say much about this matter?¡± ¡°It seems like they have already asked for help from other nations. Rowane Kingdom has decided to send support through vast amounts of weapons and some of their troops. Prince Baris will be the one leading the troops.¡± Davey never heard about this plan. It appeared that his damn father was trying to make Baris stronger by presenting him with this trial. Davey had to wonder how deep his father¡¯s affection for the Rowane Kingdom went for him to go that far. Of course, that was King Krianes¡¯ decision alone and it had nothing to do with Davey, who had already gone on a tangent with them. The only thing that mattered to Davey right now was his preparations for the upcoming war. The preparations that he was making in case of an emergency, was being hampered by these uninvited guests. ¡°Amy.¡± It did not take too long for Davey to make a decision. Amy, as if she had been waiting for Davey¡¯s call, answered briskly, ¡°What are your orders, Your Highness?¡± ¡°I will participate in this war too. If we¡¯re unlucky, our noses will break even if we fall backward¡­¡± Davey was already busy with matters related to the World Tree. What necromancer? Bastards who were trying to occupy the food warehouse that was supposed to supply his territory with food? It did not matter to Davey whether the opponent was a high-ranking necromancer or a Death Master. He was already busy enough, so they should stop getting in his way. ¡°I must pray for their souls.¡± ¡°They¡¯re really unlucky.¡± If they did not attack the food warehouses, then they might have had a chance at survival, but now¡­ Davey would cut down anyone or anything that got in his way, even a dragon would have to face his wrath. That was his decision. CH 190 Most of the continent¡¯s kingdoms were slowly getting used to peace, so they weren¡¯t going to just sit and watch when a near pan-national disaster suddenly appeared. Furthermore, it was not a fight between nations, but an invasion from the Undead, which were unholy beings. Massive plagues began going around, and the Undead were taking over major food sources. If the Pallan Empire wavered, others would soon follow. All the other kingdoms knew this for a fact, so they cooperated and began working together as one. The Lyndis Empire offered several supplies and Grand Duchess Kathryn. The Holy Empire offered the service of two girls, who were candidates to be the next Saintess, the 6th and 7th devout holy knight orders, and several soldiers. As for the other kingdoms, they gave the Pallan Empire numerous soldiers and supplies. In fact, Contas Magnus of the Contas Empire, a western force that had been keeping an eye on the Pallan Empire, sent over three Swordmasters who were part of the Royal Guards. To Davey¡¯s knowledge, this was the first time that so many kingdoms were coming together. Davey arrived at the Pallan Empire four days after deciding to participate in the war. He couldn¡¯t shake off an odd feeling, so he couldn¡¯t help but take action after gathering more information about the situation through Aina. The war was already ongoing when Davey arrived. The other participating kingdoms had formed a large force that would usually only appear during continental wars. The force had been assembled quickly because of the Pallan Empire¡¯s own battle prowess and the surprising news that the Pallan Empire¡¯s prince had passed away. ¡°With the passing of the crown prince¡­tens of thousands of Undead have already taken over. And that number is still steadily increasing¡­¡± After dying in battle, a lot of soldiers had been turned into the Undead. It didn¡¯t help that the Undead crawling out from the ancient dungeon, which was the origin of this problem, was already beyond imagination. Needless to say, this was a battle that would keep increasing and affect the entire continent. Before anyone else could get there, Davey used magic to warp directly to the command headquarters, which was located behind several mountain fortresses. It was also located behind Herro Mountain Fortress, where the war was happening. He grabbed Rinne, who looked around while sniffing their surroundings, by the arm. ¡°Stop! Where are you from?¡± The guards noticed that a boy, a young man, and a small girl in a robe were approaching them without any soldiers or servants. That was the reason why they were suspicious. Before Rinne could speak¡­ ¡°I was waiting for you. Welcome, Class-5 Yulis and Prince Davey.¡± Davey immediately glanced toward the voice, which came from a man dressed in fancy armor. Recognizing the man who stared at them with a soft smile, Yulis said, ¡°Ah, Prince Sullivan. It has been a while.¡± ¡°Haha, I apologize for the lack of hospitality. As you can see, the situation...¡± Yulis and Prince Sullivan conversed with friendly smiles. ¡°Nice to meet you. My name is Davey O¡¯Rowane.¡± ¡°I have heard many stories about you; although it is not yet fully acknowledged, you are the Saint who has been chosen by God. Thank you very much for your participation, Saint. My name is Prince Sullivan de Pallan of the Pallan Empire.¡± The young man introduced himself, then reached out to shake Davey¡¯s hand. He had longer and softer-looking hair than Yulis and had square frame glasses on. His soft smile gave off a warmth that was different from Yulis. ¡°I was curious who Illyna¡¯s new friend was, so I am honored to finally meet you,¡± Prince Sullivan said. ¡°Oh¡­ Yes. Is Illyna alright?¡± Davey asked. ¡°That stubborn¡­ Sigh¡­ She is refusing to return from the frontlines. Now, come in. There are already people from all over the continent who have arrived.¡± As Prince Sullivan spoke, Davey pulled Rinne¡¯s arm as she looked around. Rinne looked like she wanted to leave at any moment. The headquarters was surrounded by seven or eight mountain fortresses, which blocked the enemies. Behind the headquarters was a natural fortress that blocked the only route leading to the Pallan Empire¡¯s capital. A large army and hidden modern weapons could be found at each mountain fortress, which shielded the command center that was behind the frontlines. Davey entered the headquarters. He could see numerous soldiers, knights, and mages who had come to help. ¡°That is the symbol of the Holy Empire. They seem to be part of the holy knight order. Oh, the mages over there have the symbol of Coloned, the Blue Tower, which mainly studies the water attribute,¡± Yulis explained the different groups in the headquarters as he walked with Davey. ¡°It¡¯s the first time in my life I am seeing such a diverse army in one room. The number of people aside, it is difficult for different organizations to come together for one common purpose.¡± Although everyone had joined forces for the first time to deal with a common enemy¡­ ¡ªHumans will fatten their pockets even in a situation like this. It was exactly as Perserque said. Dozens of eyes turned to Davey and Yulis as they entered the barracks, where the commanders had gathered. ¡°Class-5 Yulis.¡± Of course, as Yulis was the famous genius mage and youngest elder, many people knew about him. On the other hand¡­ ¡°Who is that boy?¡± ¡°Yes. I have never seen that person before. If he has the authority to attend the operational meeting of the leadership¡­¡± There were only a few people who recognized Davey, whose name was only somewhat known. They might recognize him if they were told the name, ¡®Davey O¡¯Rowane¡¯, but there weren¡¯t many who knew his face. Furthermore, Davey had shown up with an emotionless girl who stuck out like a sore thumb. Whether he liked it or not, he was bound to attract attention. From those who recognized Davey, one said with a chuckle, ¡°Hahaha! Prince Davey, we meet again. It seems our paths are quite intertwined, right?¡± Everyone¡¯s attention was drawn to Davey again as Kathryn, the amber-haired woman, approached him with a mysterious smile. She spoke to Davey like they were close. To bother him, she was going out of her way to introduce him. Davey wanted to believe that this wasn¡¯t Kathryn¡¯s motive, but he couldn¡¯t help but be suspicious. He was unsure of Kathryn¡¯s true nature. ¡°Grand Duchess Kathryn, did everything go well?¡± Davey asked. ¡°Of course. I didn¡¯t imagine that I would be dispatched to such a situation, ahaha! Anyway, I didn¡¯t think I would see you again this soon; perhaps this is destiny?¡± Kathryn asked. Davey smiled bitterly. ¡°Please do not try to feel me out with remarks that could cause unnecessary misunderstandings. If you rub me the wrong way, I might just tell your commander.¡± ¡°Hahaha, you can¡¯t do that. My commander is such a cute person; how could you make such a person cry?¡± Although women¡¯s rights weren¡¯t in the gutters in this world, it wasn¡¯t the best either. It wasn¡¯t easy for a woman to have the social position that Kathryn held, especially in a world that was full of societal expectations and traditions. ¡°What a bummer. You are so charming that I would just eat you up if it wasn¡¯t for Her Highness.¡± ¡ªAh¡­ She nailed the last nail in your coffin. ¡®This damn woman. I knew she would do this.¡¯ Support us at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. Davey couldn¡¯t help but sigh as he watched the crowd murmur amongst themselves. ¡°Take your unrelated chit-chat somewhere else. Do you think we are joking around here?¡± A woman spoke up in irritation. She wore a look of dissatisfaction as she said, ¡°We are gathered here for the survival of the continent. If you are going to discuss trivial matters, leave.¡± Grand Duchess Kathryn grinned at the cold criticism. She commented, ¡°Oh my, it seems that the Saintess candidate is quite frustrated.¡± With a smile, Kathryn rose from her seat and knocked on the table twice. Kaboom!! Then, she charged toward the Saintess candidate so quickly that no one had a chance to stop her. Shwing!! Boom!! The woman who was wearing a simple white uniform with antique gold embroidery did not flinch even as Kathryn charged toward her. ¡°Stop, Grand Duchess. If you harm the Saintess candidate beyond this, we will consider taking action from the official position of the Lyndis Empire.¡± Kathryn was stopped before her attack could land, but she wasn¡¯t stopped by the Saintess candidate. She was stopped by the female knight who stood behind the potential Saintess. ¡°What?¡± Kathryn glared at the female knight with a smile. ¡°If you want a war¡­¡± ¡°Stay in your place. Do you think someone like you can drive a wedge between the empire and the Valchas?¡± ¡°You bitch¡­¡± ¡°Quit your bullshit. How dare you get in my way, you nameless bitch. Did I seem like someone that something as lowly as yourself could talk to?¡± It was an extremely huge insult; however, Kathryn changed her tone and continued smiling. She simply said, ¡°Assert your dominance elsewhere, kid. If the Holy Empire and whatever else protecting you flies out the window because you can¡¯t see how things are being run here and keep acting out, there will be nothing left to protect you.¡± The female knight standing between Kathryn and the potential Saintess went pale as an intense killing aura surrounded her. The sudden burst of aura was so intense that everyone close by was terrified. ¡ªEven if she suffered a ridiculous loss against you¡­ It was clear that Kathryn was one of the strongest people on the continent. What made her the most difficult to face was her determination and calculative nature hidden under that playful smile. The fiery battle ended with the Holy Empire¡¯s loss. ¡°...I will apologize for speaking overdramatically, but I believe that you must view this situation more seriously, Grand Duchess Kathryn. We are not here on vacation,¡± the Saintess candidate said. She stared at Kathryn and did not back down. With an eerie smile, Kathryn nodded and said, ¡°Then, you should refrain from that condescension. To be honest, this was beyond rude; I had to stop myself from killing you.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Since His Highness, Prince Davey, will be Her Highness¡¯ husband, he is now basically the same person as Her Highness, the one who I have pledged my allegiance to. You should all be careful of your tone.¡± Davey glared at Kathryn with squinted eyes. Kathryn had ended the dispute with one grand declaration. To Davey, she was inciting trouble and fabricating things without considering the consequences. ¡®What should I do? Should I tear everything up? Should I rip everything to shreds?¡¯ Perhaps Davey¡¯s thoughts were sent straight to Perserque, who quietly sat on his hand and shook her head. ¡ªForget it, you should just suck this up this time. No one will understand even if you did something, and you will just be disliked by all. ¡®God damn it, that psycho woman is laying down the groundwork for everything.¡¯ Davey murmured bitterly in his head, then slowly sat down beside Kathryn. He didn¡¯t really have a choice, since there weren¡¯t many seats left. ¡°Now, everyone has gathered. I am Sullivan de Pallan of the Pallan Empire. Although I am lacking, I have been given the position of Chief of Staff for this battle,¡± Prince Sullivan said. Among the silent crowd was Grand Duchess Kathryn from the Lyndis Empire, Alice, one of the two potential Saintesses from the Holy Empire, mages from wizard towers including Yulis, alchemists who were dispatched to technology advisors, and council members of the Coalition of Disease Control, who were in charge of taking care of the plagues that were happening due to the war. There was also the Slaughtering Army, the direct subordinate of the Contas Empire, the hegemonic kingdom of the western continent and the rival of the Pallan Empire. It was almost impossible for each kingdom¡¯s main forces to gather in one place, but it seemed like no one was complaining. They understood the importance of this gathering. Of course, naturally, there was still some butting of heads between people. ¡°First of all, you should have heard of the current situation. The people who have heard this news first should already know that this is no light matter. This battle is important to us all and not just the Pallan Empire.¡± ¡®That¡¯s because you will be the next target if we are defeated.¡¯ CH 191 Sullivan was stating simple facts: if they had to fight, they should fight with all their strength to prevent the battle from spreading to other lands. ¡°The details haven''t been announced to the public, but the Undead surpasses 100,000 in numbers. There have been too many victims because we didn¡¯t properly deal with it in time.¡± ¡°What did you do? How did the situation become so bad?¡± ¡°What do you mean? Sir Galio of the Slaughtering Army, do you think we were playing around when we sacrificed our soldiers to increase their army?¡± ¡°You never knew. Ahem!¡± It was a natural provocation from someone of the Contas Empire, which had a bad relationship with the Pallan Empire. However, unlike the knights of the Pallan Empire who stared at Sir Galio coldly like they were about to pull out their swords at any minute, Prince Sullivan did not react to the provocation at all. Prince Sullivan said, ¡°An astonishing number of 50,000 Undead have crawled out of the ancient ruins, and that number is still increasing. Furthermore, 20,000 residents were sacrificed before the army arrived. And the other 30,000¡­¡± ¡°Monsters¡­¡± ¡°Undead monsters¡­are quite difficult to deal with.¡± Right now, high-rank monsters were charging toward the army without rest. They were also difficult to deal with, since they had seemingly forgotten what pain and fear were. ¡°There are seven mountain fortresses surrounding the places that the Undead army had taken over. And that has been desperately stopped by the White Bird, the Pallan Empire¡¯s army. I assume you all know that my younger sister is commanding the army, desperately fighting on the frontlines.¡± ¡°This doesn¡¯t seem like the right answer¡­ To hold out and fight when a fallen soldier only ends up joining the Undead army,¡± one of the wizard tower¡¯s mages mentioned cautiously. ¡°That¡¯s correct, but if we retreat, how will we stop the movement of the Undead army?¡± ¡°That¡­¡± ¡°Right now, Illyna de Pallan, my younger sister, is maintaining the situation in such a way that she is blocking as much access as possible rather than direct conflict. We are requesting help with that situation, and we must take them by surprise to put a quick end to this war.¡± As Prince Sullivan gave his speech, people began to voice their agreement. ¡°However, rushing over in a disorganized fashion will not work. As such, I have decided to divide the group up and assign them certain roles.¡± The people from the Contas Empire raised their hands and declared, ¡°The proud Slaughtering Army of the great emperor will lead. We will stab scimitars through the enemies¡¯ skulls.¡± ¡°With their support, the Blue Tower, Green Tower, and the Red Tower will provide firepower. A war like this will require massive assistance with regards to firepower,¡± the wizard towers suggested. The Holy Empire quickly said, ¡°I will go in place of Lady Lena, the other Saintness candidate who will remain here, and provide overall assistance. In addition, I will form a separate team of holy knights and put a stop to this battle.¡± Davey just crossed his arms and sat back. He calmly watched everyone step up like they wanted to solidify their authority by accomplishing something great. ¡ªGrand Duchess Kathryn is staying silent. ¡®She¡¯s probably thinking of something again.¡¯ ¡°What do you want to do, Sir Davey?¡± Yulis, who was standing near him, suddenly asked with a smile. ¡°To be honest, I am a little surprised that you decided to participate in this.¡± ¡°Why do you think of me as garbage?¡± ¡°Ahahaha, I am not sure.¡± Davey couldn¡¯t help but click his tongue at how Yulis was staring at him like he knew the answer to his own question. ¡°Alright. You have come alone without any soldiers, Sir Davey. You will be of great help as you possess a stigmata, but it would be necessary to select people to protect you in case¡­¡± Prince Sullivan said. Davey mumbled disappointedly, ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°Put me on the frontlines. I came to slaughter; I have no intentions of playing a war game.¡± Davey had to clean the enemies up as soon as possible and leave with restored food supplies to his territory. Having heard Davey¡¯s statement, everyone looked dumbfounded. The others would have to make a fuss about how this was a continent-wide crisis and prepare a careful strategy; that was the more effective and realistic option. However, Davey didn¡¯t care about any of that; all he was focused on was decapitating that unlucky necromancer fella as soon as possible. There was no need for him to hide his powers if he was not going to do anything terrible enough to start a new war. He actually thought that it might be a good thing if he took this opportunity to make a flashy debut so that the opponents would not view the Heins Territory as an easy target. Of course, there were a lot less people who took Davey¡¯s proposal seriously than he expected; some scoffed, saying he was being ridiculous, and others whispered that all the praise had gone to Davey¡¯s head and he was being too arrogant. That was when¡­ ¡°No. I have heard many stories about you, Prince Davey, but all battles have roles that are more suited and effective for each individual,¡± Alice, the Saintess candidate who was staring at Davey, said cautiously. As Davey turned and glanced over, Alice stared at him with a cold expression. He could only feel jealousy and envy from her gaze. ¡°I heard that you have outstanding abilities in the art of medicine and recovery, is that correct?¡± ¡®Look at this girl.¡¯ ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Listening to Davey¡¯s confident answer, Alice frowned slightly. She and the others had a hard time believing it even though Davey had the evidence to back it up. Alice, who was beating around the bush, stared at Davey calmly and said, ¡°We are more than enough for the slaughtering of evil. So, I think it will be more effective for you to stay back and take care of the many plagues affecting the soldiers who are being transported back.¡± ¡°Are you trying to claim territory right now?¡± ¡°There is an agreement for our church to take care of the Undead. Please remember this.¡± Alice was basically saying that Davey, who was considered to be a Saint, was not part of the Holy Empire. Therefore, he should focus on his medical skills and stay back to cure diseases. Fighting the war and healing the injured were both crucial aspects, but it was clear that this was some stupid tug-of-war regarding power. ¡°Can you handle it?¡± Davey asked. Alice tilted her head in puzzlement. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°The necromancer that is marching forward; they don¡¯t feel like an ordinary one. Do you think you can handle them?¡± Alice smiled coldly. ¡°If everyone here combined forces, even the Demon Lord won¡¯t stand a chance. And please be careful of your remarks. It is true that there are many grand stories about you, but your remark right now sounds so arrogant. It is as if you can get rid of that monster¡¯s army at once.¡± The reality was that even the strongest Swordmasters would lose their power against tens of thousands of soldiers. Alice was telling Davey to judge the situation before acting like he was the strongest in the room. ¡°What will you do if that is true?¡± ¡°That is amusing. I do not want to joke around with you, Prince.¡± ¡°And do I¡­¡± As soon as Davey spoke, the air in the room went cold. ¡°Look like I am joking?¡± Yulis looked at Davey, who made the atmosphere in the room go south, like this was expected of him, and Kathryn looked at Davey like this situation was amusing. However, Alice, the Saintess candidate, just glared at Davey as she grit her teeth. ¡°We will be able to slaughter them without your help. Do not forget that this is the Pallan Empire, not the Rowane Kingdom. Do not think you can do anything you want just because you are powerful and a prince.¡± Their confidence came from the possibility that they would be able to slaughter their enemies. It could be seen as arrogance, because they did not truly understand the level of power their opponent had. If the opponent was truly an overwhelmingly powerful being, they wouldn¡¯t be able to propose such a thing unless they wanted to commit suicide or something. Of course, their disbelief in Davey even with the stories and information also played a big part in their decision-making. As Alice spoke, Davey silently glanced at Prince Sullivan, who was the battle¡¯s Chief of Staff. ¡°I agree. Like the rumors say, you may be of great help if you participate in the battle, Prince Davey, but the injured soldiers are also precious lives. I think it is wise to save them if we are able to. As such, please remain here and treat the soldiers; we will be in charge of fighting,¡± Prince Sullivan said. At last, Davey nodded. It was fine, whether it be a war with the World tree or a bothersome necromancer; whoever irritated Davey and bothered him would definitely die. However, he wondered about what he should do in this crappy situation. Thankfully, he did not have to think about it for long. He smiled as he glanced at the status window in front of him. He suspected that something would come up if such a big event was happening, and a deal that perfectly fit this situation was just offered to him. ¡°I will stay back. However, as a doctor, I will not ignore the sick. I will treat the soldiers.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Thank you? You know you¡¯re going to regret it, right?¡± Davey asked. As Prince Sullivan stayed silent, Davey went on to say, ¡°I am warning you that I will do nothing even if those damn Undeads swallow the Pallan Empire or the continent whole unless I receive your apology and acceptable compensation.¡± Thud!! The pressure of death, which could not be obviously noticed by the others, slowly creeped over. ¡ªHuh?! Death Fear?! The place where the battle is happening is pretty far from here, but why?! If these people could not even sense the enemies¡¯ monstrous kind of power, the result of this battle was obvious. * * * ¡°Ballista!! Shoot!¡± With Illyna¡¯s command, dozens of thick and long iron spears flew up and covered the sky. Pshuck!! As the thick arrows rained down on them, the Undead that slowly limped over to the fortress began gathering at once. The monsters and humans that had turned into the Undead flew back upon being penetrated by the iron arrows. They couldn¡¯t even defend against the attack. Several dozens of the Undead were ripped apart with each explosion, but they kept swarming toward the army. It was as if their numbers simply kept increasing. ¡°Your Highness!!! You must leave!¡± ¡°Your Highnessss! The east door of the mountain fortress is about to fall!¡± ¡°The west door has fallen! Reinforcement! We need reinforcement!¡± The mountain fortress was a mess as the hundreds and thousands of Undead restlessly climbed up the fortress walls and made their way in. Illyna roughly ripped out the flimsy hair piece that held her hair together. She ground her teeth before yelling, ¡°What about the additional soldiers of each kingdom?! Why is there no news of the reinforcement that is on their way here?!¡± ¡°Currently, a large force has been formed at the command headquarters. They have departed, but they will still take a long time to get here!¡± A quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled. ¡°Damn it! I will lead the army! I am not going to lie and say that nobody is going to die! But you have to fight with your life on the line! If you die, take five of those bastards with you!¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness!¡± ¡°You have to kill more than five Undeads before dying! Do you understand?!¡± ¡°Understood!¡± Illyna quickly swung Caldeiras to slash the flying Undead and clenched her jaw. Then, she flew through the sky and stared at the Wyvern, which grabbed and threw soldiers onto the ground. She could also see the giant skeleton soldiers riding them. The giant skeletons wore the uniform of holy priests with the holy knight order¡¯s chainmail. They were seemingly boasting their status of having been a part of the Holy Empire. These monsters did not set foot on the battleground once; they appeared at the beginning of battle but did not fight, disappearing from view after wandering around the battlefield. ¡°Something is off¡­ It¡¯s making me anxious.¡± Illyna could feel the monsters¡¯ power through her skin. She also noticed the eerie clouds transforming this tropical region into an extremely cold one. Her kingdom knew the Undead as slightly dangerous beings that had escaped from an old dungeon, but Illyna, who had been in battle for a long time, could tell that the monster controlling the Undead was far superior than these skeleton knights. ¡°Adjutant!¡± Illyna called out to a man who swiftly slashed the Undeads. When he came over, Illyna added, ¡°Tell Big Brother Sullivan! Tell him to request for Davey¡¯s help at whatever cost necessary!¡± If the monsters appeared to be servants of one true commander and were already as strong as Masters, this was no light matter. Illyna thought that if this opponent was as strong as the giant dragon she had seen during the Alpha Reinforcements¡¯ battle, this war may just be a game to that monster. Even though she felt shameless for always asking for Davey¡¯s help, Illyna could not ignore the soldiers giving up their lives by the minute; war was a horrendous thing. CH 192 70. The Prince Who Created Miracles in the Treatment Center, and the Deceased of the Ancient Ruins Who Called For Blood. The Undead could not be negotiated with. Lower-rank Undead were given commands by a superior being, and that was all. Perhaps those who had become the Undead after dying as human soldiers had bitter resentment too. In the end, when faced with such an enemy, the only thing that was left to do was a bloody battle. The Undead were marching toward the Pallan Empire¡¯s capital, constantly threatening the mountain fortresses along the way. They were not going to stop until they all died or their true commander, which gathered and controlled them, was gone. Knowing that for a fact, the allied kingdoms immediately made their way to the fortresses after their meeting and deciding their course of action. The proud-looking soldiers stood as sharp as knives, and they stared at each other with great hostility as if wanting to rip each other into shreds. However, they showed restraint and kept in line. Davey found it quite amusing that the soldiers here were so hostile with each other when their true enemy was elsewhere. It was natural for the soldiers to act in such a manner; since such a large force would be able to slaughter the enemy at any time, the compensation that came later on was bound to be a sensitive topic to all the kingdoms. However¡­ ¡ªThe problem is that the enemy out there isn¡¯t a monster that will be easily slaughtered. The terrifyingly cold air that Davey had felt during the meeting was definitely Death Fear, which was an ability only a high-rank necromancer would have. Death Fear was a pheromone that necromancers used when controlling the Undead. Its range and intensity increased depending on the necromancer¡¯s ability. It was a problem that the Death Fear was intense enough for Davey to have felt it from a whole battlefield away. Only one level of power that Davey knew of could do such a thing. And if his speculation proved true, the troops would be the ones being slaughtered, not the Undead, as soon as they decided to unleash their potential. ¡°Hm¡­¡± Davey, sitting on the spire, looked down at the soldiers confidently leaving the fortress gates. Then, feeling a gaze, Davey turned and saw a woman in an antique combat robe. She sat on a horse and was staring at him. She looked to be in her early twenties, and she was someone from the Holy Empire who could receive a stigmata. Even though she was at a distance so far that Davey couldn¡¯t be seen, she was still silently staring his way. ¡°They say that jealousy makes people ugly.¡± Even an idiot could tell how the woman felt about Davey. She was jealous of the fact that Davey had received God¡¯s love. That was the only emotion that she displayed, since she cleverly hid everything else. After all, she was no idiot. She lowered the veil to cover her face before leaving the fortress gates on a horse, no longer paying attention to Davey. Davey turned away without hesitation once Alice and the holy knight order left with countless soldiers and knights with them. ¡ªIt feels like your warning was quite mild, considering the person that you are. Perserque asked Davey as he stared out the window. ¡°Oh, I just thought I needed to change my priorities.¡± ¡ªPriorities? Davey silently activated the status window. ¡ªSave those in pain from the disease. 0/20,000. A deal had arrived. The problem was¡­ -T¡­ Twenty thousand? It seems like too many¡­ ¡®It won¡¯t be easy, but the conditions are a little vague. It¡¯s completely doable.¡¯ The condition Freyja, the Goddess of Wine, had proposed was a vague one about saving those who suffered from diseases. It wasn¡¯t specific to the war. Perhaps she knew that Davey wasn¡¯t going to just quietly adhere to her deal even if she had a strict condition for it. Still, the deal appeared to respect Davey¡¯s decision no matter what he decided to go with. * * * The ancient monster¡¯s energy of death was said to transform and strengthen the origin of many diseases. That was besides the decomposition process of turning dead people into the Undead. ¡°Eehh¡­ Ehh.¡± ¡°It hurts¡­ It hurts.¡± That was the reason why most of the groaning soldiers who were transported to the headquarters on gurneys were affected by traditional diseases rather than diseases caused by the poison. ¡°Hey! Bring more painkillers!!¡± ¡°We need to operate here! Is the disinfection of surgical supplies not done yet?! Hurry up and get moving!!¡± ¡°Wake up! Damn it! Please open your eyes!¡± The treatment center was a different kind of warzone. It was almost like hell. Horrible odors that Davey had never smelled before surrounded the entire place, and the center was full of soldiers complaining about their symptoms. There seemed to be hundreds of civilians and soldiers that suffered from various diseases. ¡®Yeah, this warzone is different from the one where spears and swords fly through the air.¡¯ ¡°Hey! Stop blanking out and get a move on!! Do you want to die?!¡± ¡°S¡­ Sorry!¡± The treatment center, where rough language was exchanged, had painful moans and groans drowning out urgent shouts. ¡ªTreatment centers are always so horrendous. ¡°In some sense, this is also a warzone.¡± This was not a war about how many one could kill. For a doctor, this was a war against time to save as many dying patients as possible. Davey estimated that there were about two hundred patients; however, there were people who succumbed to the diseases and were taken out on gurneys as cold bodies. ¡ªThat uniform is definitely¡­the Coalition for Disease Control. ¡®Yeah, and the treatment is quite good. It makes sense that they are in-charge, as they are a continent-wide medical agency¡­¡¯ ¡ªBut you don¡¯t really trust them. Perserque chuckled and gave Davey a reality check. Davey and Perserque had once seen the unbelievable acts that Count Lington had done in the past. There was a saying that one slip-up could ruin hundreds of good deeds; there were people like Baron Gorneo in the coalition as well, but even his dedication did not sway their opinions by much. That was because Lington had caused great and almost irreversible damage. Perhaps that was why Davey had little faith in the Coalition for Disease Control. ¡°Hey, you! Who are you and why are you here? Everyone here is working hard, so please don¡¯t block the way and move!¡± People could usually infer someone¡¯s rank by looking at their appearance, such as uniforms and a clean face that showed they had never suffered a day in their lives. To be fair, Davey had undergone rough training back in the Hall. However, he had been a mere soul at that time, so there were no scars left on his actual physical body. The fact that this man could speak to Davey in such a manner despite Davey¡¯s status as nobility or royalty meant that the coalition¡¯s prestige wasn¡¯t completely gone yet. If that wasn¡¯t a reason, then he was a good doctor who had a good understanding of the urgent situation and believed that his patient was his first priority no matter who Davey was. It seemed to be the latter. The man quickly ran off after shouting at Davey. He had a great mindset as a doctor. The people of the coalition were so desperate to save these patients, so perhaps Lington was the odd one out. However¡­ ¡°They are lacking a manual, which is the most important thing. If they keep going like this, seven out of ten patients will die.¡± There were many problems, such as the failure of treatment, the worsening of the diseases, and some others. However, the most serious one of all was that the diseased patients were all suffering from a version of the disease that had been transformed by the death energy. Patients were bound to die right away if the original treatment method was used. The Coalition for Disease Control was a large organization and as such, they had multiple medical staff with lots of experience. The problems were the amount of time required to treat one patient and that the number of soldiers being transported over kept growing. Even the most experienced medical staff could not examine dozens of people at once. That small gap kept growing and growing, steadily worsening the situation. ¡°Damn it!! Wake up!¡± Thud!! Thud!! A man forcibly began CPR on a cold, stiff man whose heart had stopped. However, the deceased just remained on the bed without any movement. ¡°No! No, you can¡¯t die, man!¡± A soldier screamed sadly at the death of his comrade. The doctors suffered from shame. They were unable to save the patient even though it was a simple disease. When you''re just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡ªDavey, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s the right time to sit back and watch. At Perserque¡¯s comment, Davey reminded himself of the oaths he had taken in front of Hypocria when having learned medicine from her. ¡®All of you shouldn¡¯t try to die in front of me. You should desperately endure the injury or disease before you even die. Die fighting, as I can revive everyone.¡¯ Between a doctor and a patient, the triangular relationship that would emerge was an obvious one. ¡°N¨CNo! You can¡¯t die like this! Hold on a little bit longer! You can live!¡± Three or four soldiers who had simply been declared dead were being carried out on gurneys. ¡°Move.¡± ¡°Hm¡­ Huh?!¡± Not wanting to complicate the situation, Davey organized all the thoughts in his head and pushed away a doctor who was crying out to the unresponsive patient. It was cardiac arrest: as the transformed bacteria had entered the soldier through his exposed wounds, he had failed to endure the disease that caused hemorrhage and threw off homeostasis in the body. Nobody would usually die this quickly, but the disease had been mutated by the death energy and was progressing as Davey expected. ¡ªThis incredible skill of transforming diseases is so wicked. The doctor who Davey pushed out of the way was not a council member. He was an ordinary doctor in the coalition. ¡°Who are you?!¡± The man who was in despair suddenly shouted at Davey¡¯s sudden actions. The man tried to grab him by the neck, but Davey ignored him and touched the unresponsive patient with his fingertips. Then, he cast a simple magic spell after releasing his mana. [Shock] Buzz!!! For a second, blue light enveloped the surroundings. Rattle!! The dead man flinched and moved away from the ground. However, Davey did not stop there. He cast another shock spell. [Shock] Bzzzz!! Hypocria, the Goddess of Medicine, had no magic abilities, but Davey did. Her art of medicine was incredible, but with such a different situation to deal with right now, Davey had no reason to continue administering traditional treatments. Pazzz!! With another flash of lightning, more and more people began staring at Davey. The doctors of the coalition initially tried to stop him, but the consecutive flashes of light attracted the attention of the other doctors and conscious patients. ¡®You¡¯re still not going to come back alive, huh?¡¯ Davey moved his hand to the deceased man¡¯s neck. He was changing his course of action. Davey was obviously a doctor, but he was different from his teacher. [7th level Holy Magic] [Sanctuary] Boom!! Getting rid of the death energy surrounding the treatment center, Davey created a huge holy space that contained an overwhelming amount of holy power. His actions had gone unnoticed by everyone else. ¡ªDavey!! He moved!! His heart moved! Perserque¡¯s eyes sparkled. Without hesitation, Davey opened his inventory and pulled out a small leather case. He hadn¡¯t pulled this out ever since returning from the Hall. He pulled out an arm-length needle and punctured the patient¡¯s body before anyone could stop him. ¡°Hey!! What are you doing?!¡± One of the doctors who came back to their senses ran towards Davey and roughly grabbed his collar. Davey¡¯s gaze was still fixed on the patient. As he put pressure on the patient¡¯s stomach, he began counting down. ¡°Three¡­ Two¡­ One¡­¡± Then, Davey ordered the doctors quickly, ¡°Get me some ice. Get me as much as you can. And you two over there, boil as many clothes in boiling water as possible. You, only administer painkillers to patients who exhibit the symptoms I clarify for you.¡± The doctors frowned. ¡®Of course, it¡¯s probably hard to believe me since I just showed up out of the blue.¡¯ Davey had no choice but to abuse his power and rank for this. Clank! Davey frowned. He aggressively pulled out the mithril pass from his chest pocket and threw it at a man near him. ¡°What are you all doing?! Move!!¡± CH 193 Administering medical care required quite a lot of professional knowledge and experience. Of course, the doctors of the Coalition of Disease Control had a level of pride that went beyond a regular doctor. Davey looked half the doctors¡¯ age and had just butted in all of a sudden, so the tension of the situation was expected. However, the disharmony would only last if he was mere nobility with nothing to offer but eagerness. ¡°This is¡­a confirmation pass from the empire¡¯s Royal Palace. I¨CI¡¯m sorry, but who are you?¡± ¡°The First Prince of the Rowane Kingdom, Davey O¡¯Rowane. I really want to believe that you people won¡¯t give me the obvious answer.¡± ¡°Huh!¡± The doctors would know of Davey, who had a major influence in their field, if they weren¡¯t idiots. Even if they didn¡¯t know the details, they should know that Davey was the genius prince who had found the cure to a disease that even their coalition had failed to do so. They were also aware that Davey had the one and only stigmata. Realizing who Davey was and seeing how he had done acupuncture, an art that was now huge in the medical field, the doctors all widened their eyes in shock. Davey¡¯s frown became harsher when the doctors just gaped at him. He snapped, ¡°Are you done?¡± ¡°P¨CPardon?¡± ¡°One more person has died. How many people do you intend to kill?¡± ¡°Y¡­ Yes!¡± After evaluating the situation, most of the doctors shouted and moved. However, some of them still stood around like they were trying to stop Davey. They knew of Davey¡¯s reputation, but they probably still saw him as a rookie who was half their age and had half their experience. Their gaze was not driven by jealousy, though. Professional and good work couldn¡¯t be done without pride and passion. Just like art, medicine required one¡¯s passion to grow and be executed well. And just like most jobs, a level of intelligence and professionalism was required. As soon as the doctors realized who Davey was, they began to move quickly and efficiently. Davey pulled out a normal acupuncture set he often used from his Pocket Plane, organized it, and closed his eyes. To save twenty thousand people, Davey knew that curing everyone in the treatment center wouldn¡¯t be enough. However, that didn¡¯t matter; the details of the deal was to save those suffering in pain, not recovering the damage caused by the necromancer. ¡ªTens of thousands of people may die from this, Davey. War is an insane thing; one slip-up could cost thousands of lives. Perserque spoke to Davey with a frown. She was very disgusted by war and all that it brought about. ¡ªTell me. I am on your side, so I cannot just let this go. This situation will result in too many sacrifices. I can¡¯t let you do whatever you want. You should know that there are many other good ways to fulfill the deal without needing to do this. As Perserque presented a logical opinion, Davey nodded and said, ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡± The world was truly unfair. Davey held strength and power, but he would be criticized when he did not use that strength and power in favor of others. Funny, wasn¡¯t it? ¡°However, there will be much more serious catastrophes.¡± When it came to unexpected situations, Davey¡¯s instincts had a way of being right on the money. There was no effect without cause; he would be stupid to expect anything less when huge events kept happening in a span of mere months. ¡ªOnes that are even more severe than this? How¡¯s that possibility linked to this war? Davey didn¡¯t like the idea of thousands of people being unnecessarily sacrificed in a ridiculous tug of war of power. Thinking about it, he stated, ¡°I have to establish my power from the beginning.¡± ¡ªThat creepy smile again! The necromancer that had awakened from the ancient ruin would not be able to go on further than this. As for the Slaughtering Army, they would fail to kill the enemy. Criticism and condemnation were going to fall on the people who were in charge of this situation, and all Davey had to do was play politics and benefit from it; that would make things easier for him in the future. * * * There was a difference between a Saintess and a Saintess candidate. Both Alice and Lena of the Holy Empire were Saintess candidates, so they weren¡¯t the same as Davey. They had the absence of a stigmata. A Saint or Saintess candidate was only considered for the actual role. Boys who were blessed with a large amount of holy power from birth became part of the Holy Empire, so they could be nurtured into a potential Saint. Girls would be nurtured as potential Saintesses. That was how Alice grew up, since she was blessed with a large amount of holy power. However, she did not have a stigmata. As she had devoted her entire life to receiving a stigmata, she couldn¡¯t help but be jealous of Davey, who had been chosen out of the blue. It was she who had served God in the holy land of Valchas, the Holy Empire, and it was she who had studied and spread the word of God. It was also she who had practiced the teachings of God. Alice had endured all the hardships and done things she didn¡¯t like or want with a smile on her face. She truly couldn¡¯t understand why a prince from a small kingdom who had been unconscious for six years and had barely any contact with God had been given a stigmata. God had given a boy like Davey a stigmata and hadn¡¯t answered Alice once in her twenty-five years of devotion, so Alice¡¯s frustration had hit its limits. That explained why she had acted the way she did. Due to her position as a Saintess candidate, Alice had to remain objective at all times. She was only a candidate, but that position still had some authority and recognition. However, she did not want to act objectively earlier on. Thinking that Davey¡¯s position as Saint should have been hers, Alice was frustrated that some random kid had stolen her rightful place. The other Saintess candidate had accepted it as the divine will, but Alice could not understand it at all. ¡®Oh, Goddess Freyja, why are you not answering me when I serve and pray to you with all my heart?¡¯ Alice, who was reverently praying inside the quiet tent, slowly rose up. She heard rustling from outside the tent. She could smell the intense odor of death from the surroundings ever since arriving at the mountain fortress. She was so close to the battlefield. ¡°They are ready for the meeting, Saintess,¡± a holy knight reported to Alice. He called her a Saintess and not a candidate. Not correcting the holy knight who served her, Alice said stiffly, ¡°Those who refuse to obey God will surely be taken care of by me.¡± Alice¡¯s firm expression did not look like it was going to loosen anytime soon. * * * Davey already started walking on a tightrope, so he had to see it through to the end. He wouldn¡¯t be able to last long if he caused a scene without thinking it through. However, he could take advantage of the situation and screw everyone over if he carefully caused a scene. What Davey had learned in the past was that he should carefully plan out his actions if he had decided to go rogue. He had to drag things on for just the right amount of time, and the enemies had to be kept away at a certain distance. Shwoop!! Pahh!! Whether it was a warp spell or teleportation, Davey needed to know the coordinates of where he was and where he wanted to go. Those were basic requirements. If Davey was being honest, one of the most dangerous magic to explain was teleportation; for example, if the place he teleported to was in the middle of a cliff, it would only take moments for him to become a crushed body between densely packed rocks. Teleportation magic worked by the molecularization of one¡¯s physical body. Warping consisted of folding up the entire space and moving the person to another location. As such, warping was more stable and had less of a rebound effect than teleportation, but that didn¡¯t mean that it was so OP that one could just ignore the importance of coordinates. There was one big benefit to warping. If there was something present at the chosen coordinates, warping would push it away and even penetrate it depending on the caster''s power. Although, it wouldn¡¯t happen if the caster¡¯s mana was worthless. So, how was Davey able to warp to a place he had never been to before? There was a simple and unexpected answer: a mana gate. Specifically, it was the fact that there was a firmly shut mana gate present in the city that Davey was trying to go to right now. A mana gate utilized predetermined coordinates that were entered in advance and the transportation portal was left open for a long period of time. As such, there was no reason for Davey to work hard if the coordinates were already predetermined. Crack¡­ Crack¡­ If Davey had to come up with a disadvantage¡­it was the fact that the location he could move to was already chosen. After all, he was using the coordinates from a mana gate that had already been taken over. ¡ªOh my¡­ You are reckless. The world is nothing to you, huh? You think that you are invincible and nothing is going to be able to hurt you, huh? ¡°Hey, what are you talking about? I can act this recklessly because there is something watching my back.¡± If an overwhelming strong opponent that even Davey couldn¡¯t deal with were to appear, perhaps an opponent like the true World Tree¡­ If Davey were to fight a monster that was as powerful as the World Tree or an opponent who went all out, he would have no choice but to use his one and only card up his sleeve. ¡ªWhy did you accept the World Tree¡¯s battle so recklessly if the World Tree is so strong? ¡°Because I can deal with the World Tree with a cheat.¡± If his initial plan didn¡¯t work, Davey could use the only attack-type dark magic he had learned from Rho Aias. She had mostly taught him dark magic as a defensive tool rather than an offensive one, since she extremely disliked him harming another person with dark or devil magic. In the end, Davey had practiced by himself the attack-type spells that Rho Aias had taught. There was also magic that Rho Aias had taught Davey as a form of protection. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. There is no way I will die.¡± ¡ªHmph! Do you think anyone is worrying about someone like you? You always do whatever you want. Neither logic nor common sense works on you, you nuisance. Davey felt a sense of deja vu. Crack!! ¡°Ahhh¡­¡± Alongside dozens of skeletons, the Undead began gathering toward Davey, who was the only living being present. They were drawn over as soon as he was discovered. The Undead, who had been wandering around the city without any command, did not hide their hostility toward him. ¡°The city has become fully dead now.¡± There was not a single survivor in this wicked city; no sense of life could be felt, and all Davey could see was destruction. Shwing. Davey retrieved Red and Blue Ribbon from his Pocket Plane before sliding them into their sheaths, which were along his waist. Afterward, he reached into his Pocket Plane again and pulled out his staff, the Transcendence¡¯s Demise. ¡°Capture them seven times and let them go for seven.¡±[1] Davey had to do one thing right now: he had to draw out this fearless necromancer who hid in the ancient ruins. He wanted to beat the crap out of the necromancer, who was probably amused by the situation and enjoying the war. Twirling the staff in his hands, Davey slowly activated his devil mana. His devil mana vibrated intensely, as if scolding him for using it so late and telling him to hurry up. As he released it, a dark and cold energy quickly overwhelmed the death energy that surrounded the place. [The Dead are bound to gather toward light.] Davey, who mumbled quietly, moved the Transcendence¡¯s Demise and tapped the floor with it. [And they will begin yearning for the light they cannot reach.] Even though Davey did not verbalize the incantation, his will flowed out of him easily. The incantation sounded more like a poem than a spell. Soon, his will erupted before him and lit up the surroundings. [I am your commander.] Crack! ¡°Euhhh¡­¡± The Undead who initially gathered together with great hostility toward Davey¡­stopped moving. Then, with a grin, Davey looked at the skeleton closest to him and raised his right hand. We are bit.ly/3iBfjkV, find us on google. Crack. At the same time, the skeleton raised its left hand to meet Davey¡¯s right hand. Clap! With that high-five, Davey playfully raised both arms and shook them. At the same time, the skeleton with empty eye sockets threw down its weapon and did the same. ¡°Twinkle twinkle little star,¡± Davey sang. Craaackk!! The skeleton couldn¡¯t sing along, since it did not have vocal chords. Its jaw creaked open noisily. [Red Ribbon can sing it better!] [Blue Ribbon wants to sing, too¡­] Since it was a children¡¯s song, Red and Blue Ribbon began vibrating in their sheaths. They wanted to sing too. Normally, Davey would play with them, but unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t right now. ¡°I didn¡¯t intend for this, but how can I refuse when you offer?¡± ¡ªYou fraud. ¡°I will take all of it. Let¡¯s go boys, grab your weapons,¡± Davey addressed the Undead. The Undead slowly grabbed their weapons. They surrounded him once more, as if to escort him. ¡°It just has to look like an unexpected rebellion to the necromancer.¡± It didn¡¯t matter to Davey whether hundreds of the Undead died or not. To him, this was a simple way of obtaining tens of thousands of workers that would work for him in the dark. 1. This strategy refers to the psychological tactic used by Zhuge Liang, a Chinese military strategist from the Three Kingdoms period. It is a way of making the enemy impressed and therefore follow someone by capturing them seven times and letting them go seven times. ? CH 194 71. Keep Fighting, But Don¡¯t Die. ¡®One, two.¡¯ The Undead¡¯s eyes, which shone with a maroon light, gradually changed to show a different color. Their eyes were blue now. The Undead had great resentment and evil, but that could be changed according to the will of their commander. Davey had gotten rid of the Undead¡¯s fierce hostility toward the living and had instilled blind loyalty. Davey¡¯s control spread abnormally quickly, because he had some help. Although the staff was normally used with elemental mana, devil mana was ultimately also a type of mana. The staff was slightly less effective with devil mana, but its overall ability wouldn¡¯t drop from a legendary level to an ordinary one. In a short period of time, Davey could see thousands of Undead taking over the city and hundreds of new ones coming under his control. The dominance of the high-rank necromancer was strong; however, even that powerful dominance was bound to weaken as the number under his control decreased by over a hundred thousand. ¡°You seem like you need weapons.¡± The Undead were mostly empty-handed. Those wielding weapons were using abandoned and broken ones. As for the skeletons, they were holding bone swords that had seemingly come from their own bodies. Davey didn¡¯t think the skeletons would be of much help as their basic stats were low and even their weaponry was lacking. ¡®It¡¯s not good to just march in with overwhelming numbers alone¡­¡¯ After some thought, Davey said, ¡°First, let¡¯s divide you up. All the ones who turned into the Undead because you were infected or died recently go over to the right. The rest of you, move to the left. I¡¯m giving you five seconds. Move!¡± The Undead began moving at the simple command. They had no intelligence nor reason to analyze or defy the controller¡¯s command; they simply existed and acted blindly when given a command. Watching the Undead part like waves, Davey could clearly see just how many people had been sacrificed and brought back as the Undead. ¡ªThe infiltration is no joke¡­ This is much more than I expected. ¡°Well, since it happened out of the blue, you can¡¯t blame them for the number of Undead skyrocketing. Hey, all the monsters and animals go to the left.¡± Once the animals and monsters assembled to the left, Davey stared at the human-like zombies and skeletons. Then, he snapped his fingers. Whoosh!! At the same time, two black magic circles expanded and covered the surroundings. Pshhh!! Rattle!! As the magic circles spread, some of the Undead fell to the ground as if having lost their strength. These people were victims who had been turned into the Undead after being infected by diseases caused by the takeover. Davey didn¡¯t need their help as well; they were constantly suffering in endless pain without being able to enter the cycle of reincarnation, because their souls were still under control, so they weren¡¯t of much use. Davey was only satisfied after dissolving the magic that formed the Undead and helping the freed ones enter into the cycle of reincarnation with a revival magic circle. That was a magic spell that required devil mana. The Undead had lost their lives in this awful situation, becoming monsters that couldn¡¯t die despite not being fully alive. It didn¡¯t sit right with Davey that there was no one who would mourn their deaths. Even if they had never seen each other before, he could not ignore their sorrowful faces as a necromancer who interacted with souls. ¡°Everyone, get on it. Your painful memories will all be gone once you are on your way to reincarnation. I¡¯ll pray for you, so you can live a better life next time.¡± The black energy flowing out of Davey slowly enveloped some of the Undead. Then, the off-white figures working around him dissipated into powder at once. All the spirits looked different, but they expressed one shared emotion. [Thank you.] It was gratitude. Although dark and devil magic were both developed as weapons for war, it didn¡¯t change the fact that the ability still stemmed from pure research and the desire to save people. There was no such thing as a power that was purely good or evil. Davey watched the city become silent as countless Undead disappeared instantly, then glanced at the bone fragments they had left behind. He commented, ¡°Oh, right. Let me borrow your bones before you leave.¡± Crack!!! The still bones floated into the air together and rotated to create sturdy spears, swords, and shields. This was the best choice under current circumstances, so as to increase the power of the Undead, who had poor weapons. ¡ªAren¡¯t there too few of them? Is the situation going to be okay? ¡°It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s not like I made the Undead anyways.¡± All Davey had to do was capture more of the Undead if he needed more people. The Undead were running rampant everywhere, so he could get more of them at any time. Davey put on a robe and a plain mask that covered his entire face. He had prepared this outfit in advance. Thud!! At the same time, the Undead began moving like they were going to execute Davey¡¯s will for him. ¡°Run and don¡¯t stop. Destroy everything you can see.¡± Davey already had a destination in mind. * * * Thump! Thump!! Davey began to see a messy but consistent march. The pathway leading from the mountain fortress to the large forest where the ancient ruins existed was crowded due to the Undead¡¯s march. ¡°About twenty thousand of them¡­ I was right; it¡¯s just testing the waters.¡± The Undead¡¯s numbers increased even at this moment. It was clear that their numbers would keep growing even while the allied army would only grow tired. ¡ªThat is only natural since they have not fought against a high-rank necromancer before. Perhaps the allied army not knowing that they would only be more disadvantaged as time passed was to be expected. ¡°Yeah.¡± This was going to be the first battle after the allied army¡¯s participation. They would fight at a significant disadvantage, because the allied army had to abandon their comrade as soon as they were bitten or cut. This was not the case for the original Undead. ¡ªBut they must have made preparations for it, since they already know about that. Unless they are idiots. ¡°Let¡¯s ignore them.¡± If Davey engaged in guerilla warfare with the Undeads that he controlled right now, he could destroy the allied army and delay their advance. However¡­ ¡°There¡¯s no reason for me to do that.¡± ¡ªIf you can save lives, it is better to save¡­ ¡°Perserque, I told you; there¡¯s a good chance that this kind of thing will keep happening.¡± ¡ª... ¡°If I don¡¯t display my prowess from the beginning, such incidents will keep happening. This isn¡¯t just a warning to that Saintess candidate lady.¡± ¡ªIf that is what you want. Previously, the Undead had separated into groups to repeatedly invade different mountain fortresses. In fact, the 20,000 Undead that Davey was staring at were also going to one of the eight mountain fortresses. They confidently advanced forward as if they were unstoppable, feeling completely relaxed. Davey silently turned away and began moving toward the one who had created and was controlling all the Undead. He would have needed to go through the bothersome process of breaking into the ancient ruins if they were inside, so it was somewhat of a relief that they were not. A few hours had passed since Davey had embarked on this journey. He ignored and passed the entire Undead army that was beyond his control. He and his own Undead army could soon see a giant tower in the vast forest of rotten trees. The tower was well camouflaged from a distance, so Davey only noticed it when he got much closer. ¡ªThis place was originally a plain, not a forest. ¡®The forest was probably artificially created. This place is filled with giant trees of the living Deceased. We¡¯re going to be strangled to death by a branch if we just go in there.¡¯ The necromancer had chosen this region for war and it became the land of the dead. ¡ª[Necropolis], a 7th circle spell that can amplify a necromancer¡¯s power, the core, by more than ten-fold with its existence alone¡­ ¡°Are they waiting inside? How arrogant.¡± It seemed like the high-rank necromancer already noticed that Davey had taken a few thousand Undead from his army of a hundred thousand. The necromancer also opened the path leading to them as soon as they realized that Davey was coming this way; it was almost like they were taunting him, telling him to come if he dared. ¡®Then, how could I not go?¡¯ Advancing the Undead army with a flick of his hand, Davey took a step forward. At the same time, he felt a weak vibration run through him. A creepy voice rang out in the forest. ¡ªHow dare you come here so brazenly when you have stolen my army, you rookie necromancer? Although it is only a part of my army, I will compliment you on stealing control over them. The voice could not be heard, since it was delivered through the will. It made Davey feel like his mind was going to be taken over if he didn¡¯t focus. ¡°I have to solve this as soon as possible and go treat the patients.¡± Rinne, who had accompanied Davey here, was remaining at the treatment center in place of Davey. She was a golem, so she picked up on information very quickly. She was probably treating patients according to the manual Davey had left behind without trouble. 1924/20000 The number grew quickly, which was a good indication of progress. However, Davey had come to the battlefield to accelerate the situation, because it would take weeks to fulfill that quota at the current rate the war was progressing. It was a relief that treatment given by Rinne or even the doctors of the coalition who had received Davey¡¯s teachings were included in the deal. ¡°Do Liches these days not show their face even when a guest has arrived?¡± Davey¡¯s voice wasn¡¯t loud enough to be heard from the tower, but he didn¡¯t think for a second that the necromancer wasn¡¯t listening. With his mild provocation, some devil mana that had been spread all around the necropolis began to dig into Davey¡¯s body; the necromancer¡¯s irritation had come alive to penetrate him. Pahh! However, Davey¡¯s devil mana grabbed the foreign devil mana entering the body and ate it up like it had been waiting for this moment. If he accurately understood what his devil mana was saying, through both devil mana merging together, it would be saying¡­ ¡®How dare you crawl in here when you have such an inferior density?!¡¯ The devil mana was quite simple to understand. Clunk! Clank!! The necromancer began releasing part of his main army. They came to the conclusion that Davey could not be stopped with a simple taking-over of the mind. Dozens of Undead poured out of the large holes on the sides of the huge stone tower. Not only that, but giant Undead monsters or armed skeletons also began running out of the large door on the necropolis¡¯ lowest floor. Screech!!! Bone Wyverns that boasted their huge size and giant skeleton knights who rode them suddenly appeared. They were all Death Knights powerful enough to release [Aura Blade]. ¡ªApproximately fourteen Death Knights at Master-level¡­ There are many more than was reported. And there are a lot of Undead giant monsters that would require dozens of people to defeat just one of them. Davey, you¡¯re going to be wiped out quickly with your army. ¡°Then, we should strengthen our side too,¡± Davey said calmly. He pulled out Blue Ribbon and twirled it in his hands. He stared directly at the tower before saying, ¡°I will tell you my goal before I enter. I don¡¯t know who you are.¡± Screech!!! The Death Knight that was riding the Wyvern swung its sword at Davey as the beast jumped down from its high vantage point. It knew that Davey was the one leading the opposition army. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you want or why you are playing this game of war.¡± The heated and sharp [Aura Blade] slashed across the air, threatening to bisect Davey. However, he pulled out Red Ribbon with his free hand and lightly slashed the air in retaliation. Crack!! At the same time, the Bone Wyvern lost its balance. Its tough skeletal wings had been cut in half. Then, Davey jumped toward the falling Death Knight and stepped on it. Shwooo!! Crack! Although they did not have the skills of a Master, they were high-rank Death Knights. Blocking the skeleton¡¯s counterattack with ease, Davey pierced its face with Blue Ribbon and crushed it into the ground. Even if they were a Death Knight, they would not be able to withstand Blue Ribbon, a sword that held the power to destroy the authority of immortality and had an advantage over demon-types. Davey lightly shook his hand and retrieved Blue Ribbon after easily taking care of a Death Knight. Pshhh!! Crushing the Death Knight, who immediately collapsed on the ground in pieces, Davey pointed his sword at the additional ones that were charging toward him. He said, ¡°If you want to conquer the continent, then bring it on. I can only tell you to do whatever you want.¡± It was the alliance who had rejected Davey¡¯s help and chose to get all defensive. ¡°However, it will be a completely different story if you are taking over areas that have what I need.¡± ¡ªWhat are you trying to say, intruder? Davey felt the necromancer¡¯s voice grow a bit wary, as if they had noticed Blue Ribbon¡¯s threatening level of power. ¡°As of right now, you will move according to my intentions. Stop this war game and fight to the death¡­until I grow tired from treating patients and collapse.¡± ¡ªNonsense! ¡°But if you do not, I will find out where you are.¡± Whoosh¡­ ¡°And I¡­¡± As Blue Ribbon floated and slowly moved through the air as Davey¡¯s voice trailed off, a white light of holy power burst out from his fingertips. ¡°I will crush you in any way I want.¡± [8th level Holy Magic] [Blessing of God] Whoosh!!!! The Undead who followed Davey began to tremble as a wide area of holy magic spread out from Davey, who was in the middle. Some of the Undead began burning in flames, unable to withstand the divine luminosity. It was funny to use holy magic here when both his army and the enemy¡¯s were the Undead, who were extremely weak against it. There were always more convenient methods, just like how Davey received God¡¯s curiosity rather than love. [Daphne¡¯s 9th level Final Holy Magic] [Repent] The desires of the Undead were Davey¡¯s; therefore, his repentance would be theirs. There was no better reinforcement for his army and no worse debuff for them. If their basic stats were lacking, he just had to buff them to match up to the opponent¡¯s. Ignoring the rapidly changing atmosphere, Davey cast an additional spell. [8th level Holy Magic Attack] [Rod of God] A quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled. Following Davey¡¯s fingertips, a white flash of light fell from the sky. CH 195 Slash!!! Baaaang!!! With holy power, the Rod of God dropped like a huge chunk of material that was similar to tungsten[1] from somewhere within the stratopause[2]. Davey wished that he could summon something from space itself, but that was only possible with the help of a Saintess at Daphne¡¯s caliber. Of course, even if the Rod of God only fell from the skies, the holy magic that it carried could not be underestimated. ¡ªThe Rod of God?! Impossible!!! ¡°What do you mean impossible? You should definitely find a way to expand your horizons.¡± With dazzling white light, the Rod of God struck down like a bomb and slammed against the necropolis. It had five shots. The first shot shook the walls that surrounded the necropolis. Thuuuuud!!! The second shot deformed its structure. Thuuuuuuuud!!! By the third shot, the walls surrounding the necropolis were completely destroyed. The remaining two shots destroyed the barrier. Once the skill ended, the entire area was left overturned. Part of the huge stone tower even got destroyed. Davey had easily smashed apart the barrier that had been hindering his advance. Although the barrier was already broken, it seemed like Davey did not have the ability to recover his holy power in a short period of time. He had used up so much of it to destroy the strong barrier, which had been created by an 8th class necromancer. [What I need is your permission, not your almighty power, as well as your mercy. Close your eyes and count to 300, I will take care of everything.] ¡ªYou¡¯re a crazy bastard! You are trying to negotiate with a God! Perserque was shocked by Davey¡¯s audacity. Davey ignored Perserque. He spread the fluctuating holy power bound under God''s will without using any force. With the help of God¡¯s will, the force of holy power, which was a fragment of God¡¯s power, would be amplified. Based on the unique system of classification of holy magic that Daphne had created, 8th level holy magic was only slightly behind Repentance. This meant that almost all of Davey¡¯s holy power had been depleted after he had used the [Rod of God] to create that huge shockwave. On top of that, the rebound effect was completely terrible. Davey felt a wave of nausea and fatigue washing over him. He only countered that strange sense of emptiness within him by circulating the other powers that he possessed. Creak, creak, creak, creak! Davey reached towards the collapsed Undead, whose bones were clacking and creaking. The Undead under Davey¡¯s control seemed to have received God¡¯s benevolence and had been classified as those who had been forgiven. In the end, they could accept the effects of holy power. They did not resist and fought against the holy power, so¡­ [Strength] [Agility] [Hard Skin] [Iron Bone] The Undead under Davey¡¯s control would be able to receive all of the advantages of holy power, which was the strongest buff system in the world. Davey squeezed out the remaining holy power in his body and planted it in the Undead¡¯s body. Then, he looked at the gigantic tower that was collapsing from the ability that he had used. Davey¡¯s holy power had been completely depleted. All that remained in his body were the devil mana, elemental mana, his spirit power which could be linked with the other two forces in his body, and his daoist magic, which was deeply rooted in his body. However, for the time being, his daoist magic did not have much use against other beings except for the World Tree. Vwooong¡­ vwoong¡­ vwoooong¡­ Davey thought that it was high time that he went back to the basics. He reached out towards the floating Red Ribbon before grabbing it and lightly sweeping it down. [Kyahahaha!] Red Ribbon laughed loudly, as if tickled by Davey¡¯s grip. Her laugh made Davey feel relaxed and comfortable. ¡ªDavey! Bang! Because of the holy magic that Davey had unleashed, half of his opponent¡¯s power was restricted. However, this was the necropolis and a master-class Death Knight would be far from helpless in this place. Davey immediately raised Red Ribbon and blocked the large bone sword that flew straight towards his neck. Even if they had the same Swordmaster class [Aura Blade], not all Swordmasters were the same. None of the existing Swordmasters would be able to keep up in this situation. The bastard¡¯s sword stuck to Red Ribbon¡¯s blade. With that window of opportunity, Davey dragged him closer and made him lose balance. Slash!!! Once Davey grabbed the bastard¡¯s head, he immediately used Blue Ribbon to slash the Death Knight¡¯s armor with her terrifying sharpness. Creak, creak, creak, creak! Another Death Knight, whose immortality had been severed, began to fall apart. ¡°Advance,¡± Davey ordered the dazed Undead, who seemed to be intoxicated by the sudden influx of power. The Undead under Davey¡¯s command began advancing toward the necropolis. ¡ªIntruder, you¡¯re a necromancer¡­ How can you use that horrendous holy magic¡­ ¡°Curious?¡± ¡ª¡­ ¡°Then, remain curious.¡± However, Davey knew that his enemy would never be able to understand. Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump! Slash, slash! The Undead pouring out from the necropolis and the Undead under Davey¡¯s command began to clash. The loud grating sounds and thumps rang loudly in Davey¡¯s ears as countless Undead marched forward and collided. There were quite a lot of dangerous and high-ranking Undead among the enemy¡¯s forces, but they burned and collapsed with every passing second from the holy power that spread in the area. As for Davey¡¯s Undead, they remained unaffected. The situation was very similar to when someone with underwhelming specs fought against someone who had plenty of buffs. Since infection was impossible between both Undead forces, all of them fought until their bones were completely broken. The smaller Undead even went so far as to gang up against a gigantic Undead. As for the gigantic Undead, they simply smashed all of their enemies apart. Davey ignored the hell that was unfolding in front of the necropolis. He approached the stone tower with Red Ribbon in his hands. The tower walls looked fragile, since the tower was a relic of the past that had been created by magic. On top of that, the barrier that stopped Davey from entering the stone tower had been completely smashed from the Rod of God. However, that did not mean that Davey¡¯s path was free from obstruction. ¡ªKihihihihihihihihihi! The moment Davey stepped inside the dark tower, countless specters flocked at him from every corner. Davey did not use Blue Ribbon. Instead, he stretched his hands toward the specters. After all, physical attacks did not do any damage and only magic would be effective against them. The specters that were flying towards Davey stopped in their tracks and began to fight each other. ¡°Oh. That¡¯s one rare Undead. Let¡¯s share the good things.¡± ¡ªPetty little thief¡­ Fine, come. Come if you can. This is a labyrinth created by this Death Lord¡¯s body. Even if you break it, you will still be stalked and devoured¡­ ¡°Why would I go through the trouble of weaving through a labyrinth? I plan to break everything apart.¡± For Davey, nothing was more comfortable and easy than bulldozing his way through the walls of the labyrinth. He planned to do that until the walls couldn¡¯t repair themselves anymore. Well, there was no way that the Death Lord would tell Davey that there was an illusion trap installed in those walls. It would show Davey hallucinations and illusions the moment he broke the walls, which would try to repair themselves. Either way¡­ Ignoring the furious voice, Davey looked at the source of the deception and swiftly cut down the walls. He commented, ¡°Blue Ribbon is not a picky eater.¡± The labyrinth was obviously a very dangerous maze with its self-repairing walls and illusion traps that could confuse whoever that tried to break it down. However, all those tricks were useless in front of Blue Ribbon. Perhaps the enemy felt a huge sense of crisis especially after Davey continued to ignore their furious screams. It didn¡¯t help that the resistance he faced only gradually grew stronger. It was also safe to say that none of the Undead could stop Davey and gang up on him here. After all, most of the Undead were busy fighting until they turned to dust outside. Davey, who started from the lowest floor of the stone tower, soon arrived at the top floor and was greeted by a huge space. In the center was a gigantic throne, which was occupied by a three-meter-tall creature covered in dark robes. Looking over, Davey said, ¡°Someone from the Giant Tribe?¡± ¡ªYou knew of the Giant Tribe, intruder? The being continued hurling unhindered and indescribable verbal abuse toward Davey up until a few moments ago. He finally found it useless to do so. Rising from the throne, he was clearly three meters tall. It was a strange height, because he was too tall to be considered human and was too short to be considered as a monster. ¡°This is my first time seeing a giant in person. I have only ever seen giants in illusions.¡± ¡ªI see. It seems like the giants eventually fell to ruin, huh? The aura surrounding the being grew darker and colder as he stood up from his throne. His bright red eyes shone from within the empty sockets of his white skull. The Undead bastard in front of Davey was an Undead Lich. Its identity did not surprise Davey, who didn¡¯t know the Lich in this world. ¡ªHow dare you come all the way here, intruder. Although your methods are shameless, it is thanks to your abilities that you were able to break through those traps. Tell me your name, unknown and nameless monkey. ¡°It¡¯s rude to ask for someone¡¯s name without saying your own first.¡± ¡ªI am Grell. ¡°Nevermind! I don¡¯t want to hear it!¡± ¡ªDamn bastard! Dark Hole! Baaaaaaaaang! Once Grell snapped his fingers, a tremendous amount of dark energy surged toward Davey. At the same time, Davey immediately waved his hand and created the same Dark Hole to offset the attack. Although it looked like a simple black sphere, Dark Hole was a 7th circle dark magic. It was a lesser version of Black Hole and only looked like a simple black sphere. It carried a tremendous force that could distort space and rip it apart upon contact. In fact, the entire space twisted and turned from the collision of the spheres. Even Davey and Grell were pushed back by the impact. ¡ªNot only can you take my Undead away, but you can even use holy magic and [Aura Blade]¡­ And you can also use 7th circle dark magic? Grell murmured. His eyes flashed with a bright red light. His face was without flesh and skin, so he appeared to be expressionless. However, his gaping mouth clearly betrayed the shock that he felt. ¡ªImpossible! No such being exists in this world like that!!! Grell¡¯s confusion was to be expected. It was nigh impossible for a being to silently cast magic while operating various powers inside their body. The amount of talent alone, on top of various problems and complications, would have made it impossible for someone to achieve what Davey had achieved. However, Davey had no reason to clarify anything to this Undead Lich. All he did was to dash forward and dig into the bastard¡¯s defenses and try to attack again. As their fight grew in intensity, their surroundings began to get affected. *** Piiiing¡­ A bright red sphere flew out alongside a sharp sound. ¡®Damn it!¡¯ The Elder Lich that called himself the Death Lord, Grell Orfan, could not stand the weakness that suddenly erupted within him. With his current speed of recovery, he could not even summon his original strength. After all, he had just awakened. He had not yet recovered his entire strength. ¡ªCry of Fear! The moment Grell uttered the magic spell, a horrendous and grating scream escaped from his mouth. It was loud enough to make one¡¯s ears bleed. Cry of Fear was a high level attack that could easily make someone bleed through their ears and eyes before causing them to collapse. However, for some strange reason, the puny human being in front of Grell did not look a tad bit flustered. The human even stretched out his hand and cast an unidentified black magic. Although Grell had been learning and using dark magic for hundreds of years, he was clueless about some of the magic that the young boy used. ¡ªUrgh?! Grell tried to stretch out his hand and cast another wave of magic. However, he instinctively pulled back his arm. He flinched. Slash! At the same time, a red aura blade and blue aura blade cut the space where Grell¡¯s hand had been. The boy was strong. The boy was so extremely strong that a logical explanation was clearly impossible. At first glance, Grell¡¯s opponent was just a young human being. Grell knew that humans would stop aging once they have undergone metamorphosis. However, he had confirmed the boy¡¯s flow of mana and understood that it was impossible for the boy to have undergone metamorphosis. The human boy looked like he had undergone a process similar to metamorphosis but it was incomplete. The boy was a mystery to Grell. He was a monster with many hidden skills and secrets. That was why Grell felt both shocked and curious at the same time. Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original. Metamorphosis was a process that would automatically occur once someone had reached the limits of their talent. Grell had to wonder if the boy¡¯s talents were earned only through hard work and learning so he could not completely metamorphosize yet. That was the only thing that Grell could not understand. The boy obviously wielded a great power that was on par with his own. It was proven by the fact that the boy could cast the same 8th circle dark magic that Grell had cast. For Grell, it was very surprising to see a human who could rise to this level and break common sense. However, the most shocking thing was how the boy casted his magic. [Silent Casting] So far, the monstrous boy in front of Grell had never chanted a single spell when casting magic. It was like the system and the rules of the world had given all of their affection and favor to this one boy. 1. Tungsten is known to be one of the strongest metals on earth. ? 2. The layer between the mesosphere and stratosphere ? CH 196 Grell immediately discovered that he could not keep up with the boy¡¯s silent casting. The boy was simply faster than him. If they were competing based on magic alone, then Grell might have more room to breathe, but¡­ In fact, they had been fighting for quite a long time now. Grell Orfan had been learning magic for 300 years. He, as a genius of his time, was very proud of himself. He knew that the knowledge that he had gained as a mage after 300 years of non-stop training and learning would not be inferior to anyone. However, this battle was different. The boy¡¯s magic unveiled a different magic system, one that was far different than the magic that Grell knew. On top of that, the boy did not restrict himself to using just magic when dealing with Grell. The boy would use his sharp and menacing swordsmanship, which could easily cut through Grell if he so as let his guard down for a moment. After using the swordsmanship, the boy would then use high-ranking magic and dig through the gaps in Grell¡¯s defenses. With one careless mistake, Grell would easily meet a tragic end. Aside from swordsmanship and magic, there were other aspects that worked to the boy¡¯s advantage as well. With all of those factors working in tandem and being commanded by the boy, Grell was easily driven into a corner by the various forces that defied common sense. The most horrifying fact was that the boy could use a top-ranking holy magic to neutralize the barrier that had protected the necropolis. Grell knew that the boy had scraped up all of his holy power to summon that skill. Yet, the boy was still fiercely pushing him back as if he did not care about the rebound effect that could occur anytime now. When someone used up all of their mana to the point of complete exhaustion, they would only be awaiting death. That outcome was due to the fierce rebound effect that would take place afterward. By the time that realization hit him, Grell started to doubt whether he could even defeat the boy if he managed to call for all of the Undead. Of course, the situation would not really improve even if he did that, since he couldn¡¯t use most of his original power, the source of his dark mana. In the end, Grell had no choice but to admit that the boy in front of him, the very same boy that he could not define with common sense, was stronger than him in terms of rank and diversity of power. ¡®I need to figure out his identity.¡¯ Aside from his own greed, Grell was distracted by the mission that he had been given. Although his master did not exist anymore, Grell still acted as if Dark Lord Deian was still alive. Besides, the desire to uncover the boy¡¯s secrets also overwhelmed Grell. Dark mages and ordinary mages were not that different when it came to their desire to learn new things. Their obsession with the new and curious could be seen as a mental illness in severe cases. ¡®I¡¯m an 8th Circle Mage! Even a 9th Circle Mage would not be able to escape my eyes!¡¯ Grell escaped the boy¡¯s ferocious attacks before reaching out his hand and using his entire body to stop the boy. At the same time, he cast the invisible Soul¡¯s Hand. Since he could not figure out the boy from afar, then he should just get close enough to figure things out. ¡ªBastard, I will see everything that you have with my own two eyes¡­ However, Grell¡¯s voice trailed off, and a very short silence ensued in the surroundings. Elder Lich Grell Orfan¡¯s gaze trembled in disbelief once he saw what was hidden within the boy. In the end, all he could see was a simple and sturdy wall. He was greatly shocked by the sight. ¡°No need to be so shocked. When the mana inside the body reaches transcendence, its mere existence alone will leave behind a devastating aftermath. That¡¯s why it has the habit of covering itself up, you know?¡± The 8th Circle was a level that was divided into three stages. The same was true for the 9th Circle. ¡°These are the words of a mage who has reached the transcendental circle, so you should listen carefully. Magic starts at the 8th Circle. So what if you can force the mindless Undead to carry out your orders? A Death Lord? Was that crazy? No, this is crazy.¡± Grell Orphan collapsed in a daze. He could no longer hear any of the words that the boy uttered. Smash!!! At the same time, the boy grabbed Grell by the head and slammed his face on the floor. The boy said, ¡°Fight as if you¡¯re desperate, but don¡¯t kill any of them.¡± Grell Orfan, the giant Lich who called himself the Death Lord, could not remember anything after that. That was the moment when he lost consciousness. *** ¡°Saint! A patient with a contagious disease appeared!!! Everyone is showing the same symptoms!!!¡± ¡°Rinne, doing repetitive labor. Trying to stop the desire to run. Acting is not working. Rinne gives it a very low rating.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡±N¡­ No. Let¡¯s hurry and carry out treatment.¡± The doctor who approached to give the report saw Davey¡¯s frown and looked suspicious. He thought there was no perfect person in the world. As someone who had fantasies and felt great hope towards the Saint who had appeared with a genuine stigmata, he couldn¡¯t help but shake his head at the boy¡¯s occasional strange behavior. However, he had to admit that the boy¡¯s medical knowledge was undeniably remarkable. In fact, everyone had been left confused by the great mutations being displayed by familiar diseases. The changes were so drastic. The records that they have accumulated so far were of no use and all they could do was monitor each and every patient¡¯s situation very carefully, then try to treat them one by one. If that was the only consideration, then it would be a huge weight off of their shoulders. However, there was a problem. The medicine that they administered worked perfectly for one patient but caused dire symptoms on another. Someone even died in pain after coughing up mouthfuls of blood. The doctors had all been trapped in a terrifying situation when the young prince had appeared in front of them. The boy not only suggested a disease classification method to the doctors of the coalition, but he also gave an unexpected manufacturing method of the medicine that they should administer to the patients. Of course, some of the doctors had protested that they should not administer untested drugs. However, the protesters had been silenced within just a few hours of the treatment being administered. That was because every single person who had received the drug showed signs of improvement. Ever since the boy had shown up, the patients who survived kept increasing from the dozens to the thousands. And the most shocking part was that no side effects had appeared at all. The doctors had nothing to worry about. ¡ªI can see why Baron Gorneo, a member of the great coalition, almost burst a vein while singing praises about Prince Davey¡¯s achievements. The doctor finally realized what his senior Schuzrum, one of the high-ranking doctors, spoke about earlier on. However, putting aside Prince Davey¡¯s extraordinary skills, his personality was a bit unusual. If left alone, the doctors would catch Davey staring blankly at one place for a long time. Whenever a butterfly appeared within sight, his gaze would chase after the butterfly. That was not all. He would sometimes even speak in a strange manner. The doctors could see that this was Prince Davey¡¯s shortcoming. Although it was not that bad, it was still enough for them to see how unusual his personality was. The doctor, who guided Prince Davey to the treatment center, could not help but frown at the terrible stench of blood and the loud groans ringing in the facility. Although the doctor was very proud to be a part of the medical practice, he never felt good about having to witness people suffering in pain. ¡°Prince Davey?¡± ¡°The efficiency is low.¡± The doctor looked at Davey in astonishment. He wondered about Davey¡¯s tone of voice and what the comment of low efficiency referred to. The other doctors, who frowned at the situation without administering treatment, all rushed forward when they saw Prince Davey. ¡°Prince Davey! Please check on the patients! They are showing a completely different set of symptoms, so we can¡¯t move them carelessly on our own!¡± ¡°Please help us!¡± The doctors were no longer wary of Davey. In fact, they never left his side whenever he appeared. Now, most of them knew that Davey could do more and only wished that he would make miracles in front of them. But despite the doctors¡¯ urgent requests, Prince Davey remained silent. He chose to observe the situation around him first. ¡°We have to look at them first.¡± Davey was expressionless, but everyone could tell that he was pondering deeply. Moments later, he furrowed his brows after seeing the patient nearest to him. ¡°Declining pulse. Temperature imbalance. Bio-signals are reaching very dangerous levels. Searching for countermeasures¡­¡± Then, Prince Davey, whose eyes had grown wide after looking at the patient, suddenly turned around and ran out. ¡°An opportunity to escape.¡± ¡°Prince¡­ Prince Davey?!¡± Everyone fell silent when Davey ran out. It looked like he was running away from the patient. Some doctors simply said that even Davey, who was a Saint, would not know everything. ¡°What the hell?! Are we really helpless without Prince Davey?! We have to do something!¡± After one doctor shouted in exasperation, the others began to move. However, they soon stopped in their tracks when a familiar boy¡¯s voice rang out from the treatment center. ¡°Everyone, stop! We will change the treatment method! Separate the patients showing the same symptoms based on their temperature and the condition of their pupils! I will distribute the medicine¡¯s manufacturing method right away. Move quickly! Before more get infected!¡± ¡°Prince Davey?¡± Davey spoke in a way that was completely different from before. Previously, the doctors could not even detect the slightest inflexion in his voice. But now, they could do so very clearly. This sudden change baffled the doctors, but the harsh and loud voice that he used prompted them to move quickly. ¡°You, over there!¡± ¡°Yes? Yes!¡± ¡°It¡¯s my first time seeing you here. Which group are you in?¡± ¡°Eh? But we were just together a while ago?¡± The doctor said with a crumpled expression. He could tell that Davey really did not recognize him. Prince Davey simply continued with his reckless and overwhelming attitude. He asked, ¡°Which group are you a part of?¡± ¡°M¡­ Medicine production!¡± ¡°Alright. Prepare the medicine as it says here. Bring it to my tent once you¡¯re done.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Do you want me to repeat myself and have dozens of patients die? Or are you going to tell me that you understand what I have just said and will get things done as quickly as you can?¡± ¡°Huh?! I¡¯ll go now!¡± The doctor had been lounging around, so he was very flustered by the sudden order. Shaking his head, he started running. In his mind, he still thought that there was really no perfect being in the world. *** The giant Lich, Grell Orfan, was the main culprit and Davey¡¯s target of subjugation. Davey¡¯s fight against Grell did not take as long as he had expected. A fight between two high-ranking beings would not really last for days. Most fights would end in moments, because one being would be stronger than the other. In fact, Davey¡¯s opponent had underestimated him greatly. This gave Davey an added advantage, so he managed to beat Grell, brainwash him, and instill one command in his head. ¡°Rinne complains that the job is very difficult. A greater reward is highly valued,¡± Rinne demanded proudly with both hands on her waist. Davey decided to let Rinne be demanding, since it was an unusual task. It was also hard to imitate him and work on his behalf. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll buy you some refreshing ice cream later.¡± ¡°Ice cream! Rinne values this highly!¡± ¡°Ah, yes. How¡¯s Baris?¡± ¡°Baris and Rinne¡¯s disciples are completely overwhelming the opponents. He wants to go to the frontlines and is blooming perfectly there.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°Light strikes at the human¡¯s vital point. Can cause the opponent to lose consciousness. Can easily make opponents faint. Rinne values this technique highly.¡± ¡°Good job.¡± Yulis and Illyna could easily manage by themselves, so Davey did not have to worry about them. However, Baris was different. Baris had a strong sense of justice, so he would march forward and slay the enemy from the frontlines upon judging the urgent situation. ¡°Davey, how was the thing that you have to deal with?¡± Rinne asked carefully. ¡°It¡¯s fine. We will receive news about it soon.¡± Rinne tilted her head in confusion. Shocking news from the frontlines began to spread in the headquarters. It was about how the Undead corps, who seemed like they were playing a game of warfare before, were charging forward regardless of their losses. The Undead were showing off their might and battling recklessly. On top of that, the Death Fear energy increased, causing even more mutations of diseases among the soldiers. In the end, many soldiers had to retreat. They were complaining of illness and could no longer serve on the battlefield. While the allied forces were reeling from the shock of the Undead corps¡¯ sudden riot, Death Knights and other powerful Undead were joining the fray. They all charged forward. Of course, the mainstay of their corps were spirit-type monsters like specters but¡­ Lich Grell Orfan, the one who referred to himself as the Death Lord, began to take action himself. The allied forces¡¯ retreat was inevitable. After all, they could not fight properly. They feared being bitten or hurt before dying a painful death. In the end, the allied forces suffered a crushing defeat. Reports about how White Bird, the troops that Illyna personally commanded, lost three out of the eight mountain fortresses at the same time also reached the headquarters. There were also reports about a disagreement between Princess Illyna de Pallan, the commander of White Bird, and Prince Sullivan. The disagreement had come about from the allied forces having forced their way in and staged a counterattack. In fact, the Undead corps¡¯ sudden offensive could be said to be just a matter of time. In the meantime, it would be more beneficial to the allied troops to reduce the number of victims as much as possible. And sooner or later, these people would finally grasp the situation that they were in and realize that time wasn¡¯t on their side. Then, they would run to Davey to ask for help. Just like what was happening now¡­ ¡°Davey.¡± The first to approach Davey was Illyna, whose beauty shone through her bloodstained armor. She was immediately followed by the allied troops¡¯ staff officer, Prince Sullivan. However, Alice, the Saintess candidate, was nowhere to be seen. ¡°We need your help, Prince Davey.¡± ¡°And so?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear the news?¡± ¡°Words don¡¯t have feet but they do cross continents. Isn¡¯t it all thanks to your speech that the headquarters¡¯ morale has reached an all time low?¡± When you''re just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°That¡­¡± ¡°And so, is there something that you want to say to me?¡± ¡°Please help u¡­¡± ¡°No thanks,¡± Davey answered firmly and without any hesitation. CH 197 Everyone at the command headquarters of the battle had been, of course, completely confident that they would win. What broke the headquarters¡¯ deadly, cold silence was someone¡¯s painful moans. ¡°Keugh¡­ Those cowards. How dare they gang up on us¡­¡± It was Duke Alla, one of the captains of the Contas Empire¡¯s Slaughtering Army who had come to help. He seemed so furious from the humiliation and anger that he could possibly crush anyone who approached him. ¡°We lost a huge number of soldiers¡­in one day.¡± The first battle with the Undead army was not difficult; to be honest, they gained a victory against 20,000 Undead. However, the battle had been so easy that it felt almost disappointing. The Undead had charged into the allied army thoughtlessly, giving up their battle tactics and falling into every trap that the allied army had set. They kept advancing. Perhaps that was why the allied army¡¯s confidence shot up through the roof as the battle progressed, because the situation since the first battle had become completely different than before. Everyone had praised Prince Sullivan, the Chief of Staff who led the war, and Alice, the Saintess candidate who displayed outstanding holy magic. The fact that Davey could potentially be the strongest among them didn¡¯t matter to the allied army; the important thing was that they had survived the battle and the people who had led them to a great victory were in front of their eyes. Of course, as things had been going well, the allied army¡¯s attacks had become unhindered and they had even made a plan to switch up the situation. They did nothing else but defend. They actually partly succeeded; they had repaired the mountain fortress and had taken back some small territories that the Undead army had been occupying until then. Everything had gone well up until this point. Illyna, who had experienced a different battlefield, had raised her concerns that they should be asking Davey for help, but it had been seen as nothing but a jealous tantrum to the people who were already touched by the power of Prince Sullivan and Alice. That was when Alice had blatantly criticized Illyna. ¡®The reason so many people died was because of your incompetence. I acknowledge your gift, but you are too young to understand the act of killing something.¡¯ It only took a moment for Illyna, who had been stopping the Undead from leaving the mountain fortress, to be seen and treated like a useless princess. This had left her dumbfounded. Alice, the Saintess candidate, was clever; in just a few days, she had quickly established her own support in the alliance after predicting the state of the war and the success of this slaughter. Illyna, Yulis, and Grand Duchess Kathryn of Lyndis, who was in conflict with Alice from the start, weren¡¯t included in her group. As such, she had made everyone spread out in little groups to protect their own regions through Prince Sullivan, who she had joined forces with. As a result, no one was left to raise a concern about her decisions. Just like that, everything had been going according to Alice¡¯s plans. She was being praised with a more superior title. ¡®I will stand in the frontlines. Now is the time, the opportunity, when the Undead¡¯s attacks are stumbling. I will be at the front, condemning those who reject the course of God.¡¯ Alice either did not value her life or she was brave enough to sacrifice her life for the cause she believed in. Afterward, it hadn¡¯t taken long for a separate Slaughtering Army to be created. They had joined the holy knight army and a few exceptional people, all led by Alice, the Saintess candidate. However, the allied army had no choice but to watch their plan collapse in front of their eyes. A second before the Slaughtering Army could leave, they heard a loud horn, which had been an urgent request for rescue from each mountain fortress. The Undead had attacked all eight fortresses. The Undead usually poked around and only tested waters. They did use strategic battle tactics, but the allied army had been able to defend against them. After all, they had low basic stats. However, it only took moments for the situation to change completely. The necromancer had begun increasing his attack power all of a sudden like playtime was over, and the allied army had begun engaging in defense. They believed they would be able to win again as they had already won once, but they had been played for fools. In the end, the army had no choice but to drop their plan. They had to spread out to protect each mountain fortress. Except for the three fortresses commanded by Illyna, who was familiar with the battlefield situation, Grand Duchess Kathryn, and the one where the alliance¡¯s main army was located, three other mountain fortresses had been taken over by the Undead in one day. There were injured soldiers, screaming and crying out in pain. Even Alice¡¯s holy power was not enough to cure them all; she could only alleviate some of their sufferings. It didn¡¯t take long for the confidence of the alliance to plummet. * * * ¡°I will be frank with you; please help us.¡± ¡°I said that I don¡¯t want to,¡± Davey replied firmly. Prince Sullivan¡¯s eyes widened for a split second, because Davey had declined so calmly and quickly. He said, ¡°Sir Prince Davey.¡± ¡°Your Highness, the unique role of each individual is important in a war. Surely, you know what this means.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I asked to be sent to the frontlines from the start. If the alliance wasn¡¯t stupid, they should have known that I did not make that decision just to heighten my prestige. But now you ask for my help because the opponent is strong? Do I look like a tool that you can just take out and use when it¡¯s convenient for you?¡± ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t a part of the alliance in the first place. I came here of my own accord to help out.¡± As Prince Sullivan stayed quiet, Davey went on to say, ¡°You were the one who said you didn¡¯t need my help. You stashed me in the back and told me to do nothing but treat patients. How could you just flip a switch and ask for my help as soon as you are at a disadvantage?¡± ¡°Many are hurt and dead¡­¡± ¡°And many more will get hurt and die. No matter how large the alliance¡¯s army increases to become, the Undead¡¯s force will not weaken unless you find a way to cure the Undead¡¯s poison.¡± Prince Sullivan could not refute anything that Davey was saying. ¡°I originally came here for the food exports, but that has become meaningless now. All I have to do here is to treat patients and spread the teachings of Goddess Freyja.¡± Davey could get food supplies at a later time if treating patients was the most important means of dealing and preparing for a war against the World Tree. ¡°Prince Davey, wait!¡± Prince Sullivan got up quickly and shouted, ¡°I understand. I was foolish. Please help us. I can no longer overlook this situation where people are dying.¡± ¡®And you are still trying to persuade me with this right now?¡¯ Davey, who sighed, stared at Sullivan coldly. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s say that I will help. However¡­¡± Prince Sullivan¡¯s eyebrow twitched when Davey grinned and said, ¡°Why is the person responsible for this not showing her face at all? Who does she think she is?¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°Saintess candidate Alice. Is that woman the Pope or something? I don¡¯t understand why she is so inflexible.¡± What reason did Alice, the root cause of this problem, have for not even showing her face here? ¡°Tell Saintess candidate Alice to stop being so condescending, since I¡¯m done letting her be this arrogant.¡± Although Davey was an honorary Saint, his rank was a lot higher than her even at the Holy Empire in terms of hierarchy. But what? She could tell Davey to hurry up and demand for his help now that she needed it? Davey felt no need to treat a woman who knew no respect and common sense with logic and sympathy. ¡°W¡­ Wait!¡± ¡°Rinne, the Chief of Staff of the alliance is leaving. See him out.¡± ¡°Are you allowing Rinne to draw blood if he refuses?¡± ¡°Get him out since I will be busy treating patients.¡± ¡°Hm¡­ Rinne thinks highly of Sir Davey¡¯s decisiveness.¡± Davey turned away without hesitation and walked past Prince Sullivan. ¡°Prince Davey!¡± Prince Sullivan, who was staring at Davey silently, quickly called him again. ¡°Do you have more reasons to sway me?¡± Davey asked. ¡°There are soldiers dying, even right now. It will keep happening if you don¡¯t help.¡± Davey scoffed at Prince Sullivan¡¯s words; now, he was trying to put pressure on Davey by using public opinion. As Sullivan stared at him confidently and completely unaware of Illyna¡¯s frown deepening from anger, Davey replied calmly, ¡°I joined the alliance, but what power do I have to defy you, when I have been demoted away from the war per the orders of the Chief of Staff?¡± ¡°I am the Chief of Staff. Past commands are unimportant, so right now¡­¡± ¡°And people aren¡¯t just dying there. People are dying here as well.¡± ¡®Once I go, they won¡¯t be able to save all the patients being rushed to the treatment center.¡¯ ¡°I am doing my job perfectly¡­¡± Davey¡¯s voice trailed off. As Prince Sullivan¡¯s expression grew dark, Davey added, ¡°But it seems like the people in the frontlines are not. Sigh¡­ Who do we fault for this¡­?¡± * * * ¡°Why are you not saying anything?¡± Davey asked. Illyna, who was getting her arm treated, roughly threw the circlet she wore on the ground. She snapped out of irritation, ¡°Say anything? What difference would it make? You want me to say something earlier on, even when I know just what you are like? Don¡¯t forget that I am also incredibly angry. I might just go crazy.¡± The war was costing Illyna dozens of lives a day. ¡°Whose side should I be on? If it is for the empire, it is right to request for your help. But¡­is that the right thing to do? You are not part of the empire. You¡¯re just someone who has come to help. But what happens if we silence all their opinions and make them do whatever we want? What happens next¡­?¡± Illyna stared at Davey firmly and added, ¡°This time, it will be you. It could be others in the future. And that boomerang will come back to me later on.¡± ¡°Hm¡­¡± ¡°The most irritating thing is the fact that Saintess candidate Alice, the cause of this situation, hasn¡¯t even shown her face here. You know that?¡± Illyna spoke about the situation like it was all ridiculous. ¡°The empire has to accept the Holy Empire¡¯s decision about necromancy or dark magic. That is an agreement. That is why we are just watching Saintess candidate Alice¡¯s tyranny, but this isn¡¯t right. To prevent something similar from happening again in the future¡­¡± Illyna trailed off. Then, she got up after Davey finished treating her arm and pulled down her sleeve. ¡°We have to establish power when we have the chance.¡± ¡°How feisty.¡± ¡°So Davey, I¡¯m asking for your help. I don¡¯t know what you are trying to do, but after you¡¯re finished with that and the problems regarding different interests are dealt with¡­¡± ¡®Please help¡­ I will give you anything if it is in my power.¡¯ Unlike others, Illyna¡¯s desperate pleading was full of worry. She couldn¡¯t help but worry about her soldiers, who were fighting this war right now. * * * The Undead¡¯s attacks became stronger and stronger. At first, the high-rank Undead that initially stayed back to watch were starting to attack. Then, the other Undead¡¯s aggression began to rise. This situation probably frustrated Illyna the most. She had led her subordinates, who were like family, and had kept the fortress safe, sacrificing her own people along the way. She had thought everything would work out as long as she held on for long enough until Davey got here. After all, she knew that Davey had monstrous power that was unexplainable by common sense. Although the enemy was strong, they had never shown power as strong as what Davey had displayed. In fact, she had closely analyzed the situation to successfully keep the fortress safe. She had done whatever they could to defend against the Undead¡¯s attacks. But then, these people who called themselves the allied army had messed everything up. As the Undead attacked like they weren¡¯t playing around anymore, three of their fortresses had been overtaken. Illyna was bound to be frustrated, since the administration of the alliance had trolled them hard when they had fought with their lives. To Davey, it didn¡¯t really matter what happened. If he hadn¡¯t gone to provoke the Undead, the allied army would have kept sending troops in due to the false hope they had been given. They would not have realized that they were being sent to their deaths. The damage would not have been as extensive as the first huge loss, but it would have amplified a whole lot more upon the continuation of the battle. They would have forced unending sacrifice, saying that it was a holy war. However, the allied army, who were no longer able to fight recklessly, were now retreating without resistance. The Undead had become more powerful after Davey¡¯s provocation. Perhaps that was why the deaths were unexpectedly decreasing compared to the first battle, with the allied army¡¯s retreat. Between fighting the enemy, who they had assumed to be easy, and immediately retreating after realizing that the enemy was dangerous, it was obvious which situation would yield more casualties. Of course, as avoiding battles did not stop diseases, the number of soldiers being transported to the treatment center after being exposed to diseases kept increasing. ¡°Additional patients! All of them have a nasty skin disease!¡± It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°Move all of them to ward 1. We will head over as soon as we are done here. Rinne.¡± ¡°Rinne, waiting for orders.¡± ¡°Go assess the situation and do preliminary treatments if you can treat them with the information I have given you.¡± ¡°Roger that.¡± Rinne flew with the wings on her back and waist after giving Davey a cute salute. She attracted a lot of attention, because she was a different kind that no one had seen before. As expected, the command headquarters¡¯ treatment center was extremely busy. ¡ªThe number of casualties decreased as their attack power increased¡­ This is a result I didn¡¯t expect at all. ¡°I brainwashed them a little.¡± Davey had cast a spell on Grell Orfan, the 8th Circle Elder Lich: he had erased a certain amount of persistence, implanting the need for stronger attack power and hostility. Thanks to that, the Undead were much more powerful than before but did not follow the allied army to the ends of the Earth. As such, the allied army could retreat without a big problem if they ran away as best as they could. The headquarters were going mad over the continued loss, but Davey just sat back and watched the situation in amusement. They would grow anxious and worried as the Undead kept taking their land. It was also quite entertaining to see the reputation of Prince Sullivan, the Chief of Staff of the alliance, and Saintess candidate Alice gradually fall. A week after their attacks grew stronger, the Undead took all eight mountain fortresses that were protecting the breadbasket. It was unknown why they tried so hard to take the eight fortresses, but the allegiance could tell that it was out of necessity. In the meantime, Davey was focused on the extremely busy work of treating patients. Many soldiers who had been exposed to diseases were transported over in a never-ending stream. Thanks to that, Davey was well on his way to fulfilling his deal. 15,323/20,000. The number was only about a thousand a week ago, but now, the deal was almost 70% fulfilled. Not only did Davey¡¯s own patients count, but all treatments he had given and were administered by others also counted. There was an extreme decline in casualties, but the number suffering from diseases skyrocketed. With the current situation, it would only take four days for the war to be lost. The deal with Goddess Freyja would come to an end, and Saintess candidate Alice, whose position and power was very weak right now, would demote herself from not being able to take the external pressure. A lot of people had reached out to Davey, sneaking in a request for help, but he had denied them all. ¡°Damn it¡­ This war is completely screwed,¡± mumbled one of the soldiers who survived while leaning against the wall. ¡°How is it not? This damn thing. Even if we try to fight, we are destined to die the moment we are bitten or cut by a sword with a poisoned blade. How are we supposed to fight?¡± ¡°What did the Saintess candidate even do? She can¡¯t do anything. What can she do other than curing us a little bit and giving us a little energy with her holy power?!¡± ¡°I know, right? I bet even ordinary priests can do that, too.¡± Public opinion regarding Alice grew extremely negative. She didn¡¯t intend for that, but she was suffering the consequences of having promoted herself extensively. Hoot!! ¡°The allied army is returning!¡± The Undead had continuously advanced to the point that the allegiance was forced to retreat to the command headquarters, the furthest place away from the frontlines. It was obvious that the Undead¡¯s next target was where Davey was at: the headquarters¡¯ treatment center. Davey had come up with something to keep Baris, who he was most worried about, here. He also didn¡¯t have to worry about Yulis losing his life, since Yulis was assisting with firepower in the back anyways. Clang¡­ Clunk¡­ Davey was quietly stretching alone outside the treatment center. He could see a group of the holy knight order approaching him with silent footsteps. Then, he could see a face that he hadn¡¯t seen in a long time. It was Alice, one of the Saintess candidates. ¡°I cannot understand someone like you.¡± ¡°It must be a coincidence because I really cannot understand people like you, Lady Alice.¡± Davey grinned. Alice slightly frowned as she said, ¡°Do I look like I am joking? How can a demon like you receive the stigmata¡­¡± ¡°I thought I told you¡­¡± Alice went silent. ¡°To go play tug of war somewhere else.¡± CH 198 72. The One Who Possessed the Stigmata and the One Who Did Not. As soon as Davey faced Alice straight on, the holy knights stood in a single line behind her. They all had stern expressions. They looked like they were trying to protect her from Davey. ¡®She rejected me when she didn¡¯t need me, but look at her now.¡¯ Once the situation did not look good for her, Alice turned the situation around to put herself at an advantage once again. She wanted to be able to order people around. It was quite a cunning move. In fact, if Davey actually were to slip up and play the wrong move here, it was clear that the arrows of criticism would fly his way. As such, there was a need for him to be absolutely clear. ¡°People are dying every single day, but you would rather watch because you are too stubborn. If that is not demon-like, what is?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it too brazen of you to say that when you threw the solution out the window to protect your petty pride? I did say that I would help if you just apologized,¡± Davey pointed out. Alice frowned. ¡°Your role is to simply support me with your large storage of holy power. You are arrogant just because you have received the stigmata. It hasn¡¯t even been a year since you have learned holy power. On the other hand, I have been learning holy magic ever since I was five! Did you think that just because you received the stigmata, you would be able to do everything, even things that I could not do?¡± ¡°Man¡­¡± Davey couldn¡¯t help but sigh in frustration as Alice wasn¡¯t getting the point at all. ¡°To be honest, I really resent Goddess Freyja! If I was the one who received the stigmata and not you! If I had become the real Saintess! People would not have died like this!¡± Alice shouted. Davey silently tapped the pommel attached to the end of Red Ribbon. Shring!! It only took seconds for the holy knights to wield their swords. In the blink of an eye, there was a confrontation between Davey, who was holding Red Ribbon to Alice¡¯s neck, and the Holy Knights, who pulled out their swords seconds later to stop him. ¡°Get it right. That¡¯s why you weren¡¯t able to become the Saintess.¡± There was no limit to how many people could receive a stigmata. ¡°Me receiving the stigmata is not the reason why you weren¡¯t given one.¡± Alice simply didn¡¯t get a stigmata because she wasn¡¯t good enough. ¡°There has always been only one Saint or Saintess in every era. What do you know?¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean only one person can fill that position. Then, what do you know about Goddess Freyja?¡± Alice flinched at Davey¡¯s question. ¡°The sayings of that almighty God? The Bible? How do you know that those things were by God or another human being?¡± A benevolent goddess? ¡®That¡¯s hilarious.¡¯ From the beginning of time, Goddess Freyja did not give any teachings to humans; all she did was spread power and grace so that living beings could pave their own way. ¡°What makes you so great when you don¡¯t even know even the most basic things?¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t that go for you as well?¡± ¡°I also don¡¯t know whatever Goddess Freyja is thinking.¡± ¡°That is blasphemy. As expected, you are a part of an intolerable cult. A faithful believer does not compromise with demons. There is no way I will ever ask for your help.¡± ¡°That is what you believe. However, the longer your army defends the fortress, the more isolated you will be,¡± Davey said. Alice scowled. * * * 19,025/20,000. Davey only needed about a thousand more people to reach his goal. ¡°Prince Daveyyy~¡± As Davey turned toward the woman rushing over to him while calling his name, the woman smiled cutely and handed him something; it was slightly tough bread, but seemed to have been made through hard work. ¡°Eat this while you¡¯re working.¡± ¡°That¡¯s alright, Saintess candidate Lena.¡± ¡°Nooo, you can¡¯t! People need to eat in order to move, no matter how hard-working someone is!¡± Lena dragged out the end of her words out of habit, one that made Davey feel much more comfortable with her. Saintess candidate Lena was the other one from the Holy Empire. She was placed back here with Davey due to Alice¡¯s decision. Alice claimed that Lena was naive and inexperienced. Lena smiled and held up the bread in front of Davey¡¯s mouth, like she was hurrying him up to eat it. She giggled when Davey chuckled and took a bite. She then said, ¡°I am so happy to see patients no longer in pain, thanks to your presence. I definitely prefer smiles over tears.¡± Aside from the potential benefits, Lena genuinely felt pride and delight in treating people. To be honest, she was better suited for the Saintess position than Alice in terms of personality or potential power. She was definitely different from Alice, who only cared about her honor and stomped over others while arrogantly believing in her talent. Davey wanted to engrave a stigmata onto Saintess candidate Lena if it was up to him, but he wasn¡¯t that almighty. ¡°Most of the urgent patients have been treated. I will look after them for a while, so go and rest a little bit.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not that tired anyways.¡± ¡°No! Go and resttt!¡± Davey stepped back, slightly taken aback by Lena¡¯s liveliness as she pushed him out the door. When Lena waved her hand like she was saying goodbye, Davey asked out of curiosity, ¡°They are probably starting to defend the outer palace right now. Aren¡¯t you worried at all?¡± ¡°We have to do what we have to do. If I could, I would go and treat the soldiers myself, but¡­ I can¡¯t even stop the energy of the Undead with my abilities.¡± Davey silently nodded at how Lena did her job without complaining, no matter what happened. ¡ªIt¡¯s almost done. ¡°I just need a little more.¡± This uncomfortable confrontation would also end the moment Davey fulfilled his end of the deal. That was when¡­ ¡°The¡­ The West Palace has been taken!! They have ordered us to prepare to retreat!!¡± One soldier urgently ran in and shouted. With widened eyes, Lena exclaimed, ¡°What?! Weren¡¯t the doors on the west blocked by Alice?!¡± ¡°This is not the time! Escape the palace through the back gates! If the outer palace was taken, the inner palace wouldn¡¯t last long. It¡¯s only safe here for perhaps a couple of days!¡± ¡°W¡­ What do we do?¡± Looking at Lena, who was flustered and incapable of hiding her worry, Davey called out, ¡°Saintess candidate Lena.¡± ¡°Yes¡­ Yes?¡± ¡°Keep treating patients.¡± ¡°What do you¡­¡± ¡°The Undead will never be able to reach here.¡± The attacks would continue anyways, and Davey could not allow this place to be taken over before he met the 20,000 mark. It irritated him that Saintess candidate Alice was more incapable than he had expected, but it wasn¡¯t a bad idea to light the flame of disharmony by showing the people who were suspicious of him what kind of mistake they had made in the beginning; the more Davey stepped up, the weaker Alice¡¯s position would become. Lena widened her eyes even more when Davey patted her on the head. Davey had done that unconsciously, because he had a habit of patting Amy¡¯s head too. ¡°Um¡­ Uh¡­¡± ¡°My apologies,¡± Davey apologized. ¡°N¡­ No, that¡¯s alright. Are you going to the battlefield?¡± ¡°Yes, I will just help out a little bit and go back.¡± ¡°Be careful. Oh, please take this.¡± After saying that, Lena pulled out a small cross and handed it to Davey like she realized what he was trying to do. It was a cross artifact with quite a lot of holy power. She then said, ¡°I pray that you may have God¡¯s blessing.¡± ¡°This is a great object. Thank you.¡± Davey smiled. A quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled. Lena showed a bright smile in return. * * * The Undead rushed in endlessly. The Death Knights and Wyverns, which were flying and throwing soldiers out of the fortress, continually attacked. The west doors of the fortress were completely wrecked as the huge mudworms went underground with the Undead in their mouths and spat them out upon resurfacing. As the soldiers were inevitably marked to become an Undead if they were bitten, the situation at the west doors was chaos. Nobody kept to the usual defense tactic where they would just keep their distance. ¡°Ahhh!!!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to die!¡± People screamed. The soldiers who got bitten quickly turned into the Undead and roared at those who used to be their comrades. This was obviously the worst possible situation, but Saintess candidate Alice who was protecting the west doors only shouted the same thing repeatedly. She yelled, ¡°Do not retreat!! There is no compromising with demonic beings! This is a holy war! Retreating here means that the continent is giving in to the demons!!¡± Alice, who was shouting fiercely while releasing her ineffective holy power, ran into the battlefield herself. She held onto a bloody sword in one hand and a small cross in the other. ¡°We must retreat! Saintess candidate Alice!!¡± Prince Sullivan, the alliance¡¯s Chief of Staff who was with Alice, urgently grabbed Alice after shouting for retreat. Alice simply shouted as if she had developed an obsession. ¡°What if we run away here?! Where next?! Is it the inner palace?! Is it going to be the capital of the Pallan Empire?! Or!! Is it going to be the entire continent?! We must defend here!¡± ¡°I am the Chief of Staff of the alliance!! We were incredibly supportive of your decision per the agreement with the Holy Empire, but stop this overreach!¡± Alice¡¯s obsession did not subside even as Sullivan shouted in protest, and the situation was getting worse. Watching the allied army in the west get pushed back, Davey reached his hand into empty space. Then, he pulled out Longinus, the divine spear that was in the shape of a cross, and mumbled quietly, ¡°It¡¯s obvious what will happen if you give a girl like that a stigmata. You cannot do that. You understand me, right?¡± It wasn¡¯t much of a prayer. Basically, logic did not work on those whose beliefs were twisted. Holy power began to vibrate from Davey¡¯s fingertips. The allied army was doing everything they could to protect the other palace gate, but it was certain that the west gates would be broken through if the situation went on like that. Crash!!!! As if putting the last nail in the coffin, a hole opened in the palace wall as a part of it collapsed. A huge monster had charged right into it. Then, the Undead pushed through the hole. Davey clicked his tongue as he watched Prince Sullivan, whose face was beginning to darken at the truly devastating situation, and Alice, who was gritting her teeth and shouting to fight back. He muttered bitterly, ¡°This is why zealots are bad.¡± ¡ªIs it okay if you do this right now? ¡°This place can¡¯t be taken before I fulfill the deal. The two of them will become even more isolated if I pretend to at least do something.¡± After saying that, Davey straightened the cross and spread his hands. Whoosh!! At the same time, a huge magic circle appeared beneath Davey¡¯s feet, and dozens of intertwined light rays began shooting up from the ground. It soon looked like dozens of dragons were ascending into the sky. ¡°...¡± ¡°That is¡­¡± The atmosphere completely changed as soon as Davey¡¯s skill began to display its overwhelming power. As the rays reached up high, everyone fighting the war turned to glance at Davey. Then, their eyes widened at the almost breathtakingly intense holy power. On the other hand, the Undead stopped what they were doing and stared at Davey as if they were drawn by his control of his Undead. ¡°Let¡¯s fire this big-time,¡± Davey said calmly. He locked onto the west doors, the dwindling doors of the east and north, and the south. As if a giant hand that had gone through resistance finally reached its destination¡­ Shing¡­ [8th level Holy Magic] [Rod of God] The Rod of God, a spell that had been nothing but a nightmare to Grell Orfan, the 300-year-old Lich, began falling from the sky like bombs. Crash!!!! Boom! The Rod of God eradicated all evil things that it touched, wiping out hundreds and thousands of the Undead with each destructive flash of light. The effects of the spell spread throughout as the Undead pushed into a confined space where there was no room to avoid it. ¡°What is¡­ This is¡­¡± Prince Sullivan stared at Davey with wide eyes, surprised by the unexpected situation. The soldiers who were fighting blankly stared at Davey, who executed that skill brilliantly. In just a moment, a silence so quiet that nothing other than the Rod of God¡¯s explosions could be heard. Davey didn¡¯t need as much output as when he had broken the barrier surrounding the necropolis, so he split the five pillars of light he had previously used into dozens of rays that rained down. The rays of light fell like heavy rainfall and didn¡¯t stop until each and every Undead in the area was burned to the ground. Of course, the Wyverns also burned up as well. The rotting flesh of the Undead, who had nowhere to escape, went up in flames and disappeared in the air. Only ash was left behind. Even if they were Master-level Death Knights, they weren¡¯t reinforced enough to withstand 8th Level holy magic. Blankly watching the situation turn around in an instant, the soldiers looked at Davey after the last ray of light burned half of the huge monster that had broken the palace wall and made it disappear. Davey watched them, then turned away without hesitation. ¡°That¡¯s enough. Let¡¯s go; we¡¯ve shown them enough.¡± As he left the battlefield, Davey saw faces of disbelief and bafflement. He also saw Alice, who could not hide her extreme jealousy toward him. CH 199 No one had achieved that level of power or knew exactly what that was, so the pillars of light only looked like a brilliant flash of light in their eyes. Boom!! Crash!! Large explosions took place one after another. Rod of God was an attack-type holy magic spell that brought about a large amount of holy power, which would all fall from the sky. It didn¡¯t have much physical power on its own, but it was still powerful as an 8th Circle attack-type holy magic spell. At the moment, it was safe to say that no one in the Holy Empire could use holy magic above the 7th level. The only possible person was the previous Pope, who was rumored to be living in seclusion after giving up his position to the current Pope. Needless to say, there were very few people who could use holy magic above the 7th level in the Holy Empire, a nation with so many priests. Therefore, it was unbelievable for many people to see an 8th-level holy magic spell be cast in front of their eyes. It was quite a scene to see all the Undeads, regardless of size and participation on the battlefield, go up in flames upon being exposed to the light. Everything was wiped out in moments. In the end, everyone could not take their eyes off Davey. ¡®I¡­ Yeah, let¡¯s say that I stole the show.¡¯ Davey was fine with the attention, having established a presence in the middle of the battlefield. Without hesitation, he gathered back the sluggish holy power as he stared at the Undead army that he had just wiped out. The situation had been overturned before, so the allied army would be successful in defending the Undead even if Davey didn¡¯t do anything. Saintess candidate Alice protected the west gates. Davey wasn¡¯t loyal to her, so he did not come to defend the west gates for her. In fact, he didn¡¯t share a good relationship with her at all, and that was the reason why he had stepped up to help. Davey, whom Alice was in most conflict with, had helped her with holy power. This act completely weakened her position. Davey could tell from the moment he saw Alice that she was jealous and frustrated that he had received a stigmata without any hard work. Alice, who had worked to become the Saintess ever since she was born, had probably put in a great amount of effort; she would have studied theology and worked so hard to increase her mastery in using holy power that she got migraines. On top of that, everyone¡¯s expectations of her would be higher, since her holy power probably developed much faster than Saintess candidate Lena, and she would have tried hard to meet those expectations as well. Despite having worked so hard, Alice still did not receive the stigmata. Instead, some random person she had never heard of did. Who wouldn¡¯t be jealous in this situation? Furthermore, it was known that there would only be one Saint or Saintess in the world each time. It wasn¡¯t like Davey did not understand Alice¡¯s despair of having her life goal robbed. He could have then let it go if it was jealousy shown in a cute, harmless manner. However, in this case, Saintess candidate Alice had misunderstood the gravity of the situation. ¡°Hurrah!!!!¡± The soldiers¡¯ cheers echoed from the distant west gate, directing their praise toward Davey. Looking at the situation, Alice, who was already blinded by jealousy, would only grow even more jealous. ¡°She doesn¡¯t even know that her situation right now is a test. Idiot.¡± ¡ªIsn¡¯t it impossible for that woman, Alice, to become the Saintess? ¡°Everyone is born with a unique amount of holy power.¡± When he returned to the treatment center, Davey could see a brown-haired woman praying as she watched the soldiers who were being carried in gurneys. She did not have the beauty of Saintesses written in books; her hair was a common brown color and so were her eyes. Her appearance was not one that would draw eyes in a crowd, but her heart shone brighter than anyone else¡¯s here. ¡°And currently, the kids who are picked as candidates for Saints or Saintesses have been born with an unimaginable amount of holy power.¡± The real challenge was to pass God¡¯s test and win her love, even with the large amount of holy power they already had. [Listen carefully, Davey. Get it in your ears because I¡¯ll only say it once. There is no God; God does not exist.] This was what Daphne, the first Saintess, had said to Davey. Davey knew Daphne as an immoral Saintess, but he still did not expect her to outrightly deny the existence of the God she served. [However, the will of God exists. We are not talking about a single being. For example, holy power. Davey, where do you think holy pow¡­ Hey, pay attention, you damn bastard!!] It was true that Daphne had beaten Davey, who had spaced out thinking about the affair between Death Lord Rho Aias and Bow Lord Apollo. ¡°Everyone has to pass the test and get God¡¯s love before receiving a stigmata. Both saintess candidates Lena and Alice have passed the first test.¡± The first test was being born with a huge amount of holy power. However¡­ ¡°They completely diverge in the second test.¡± -Is it the talent of using holy power? ¡°No, it¡¯s their preparation.¡± Holy power was lazy, and that laziness only grew the nicer the owner was. Of course, if holy power became lazy, there was no way that its progression speed would be fast. Davey was probably not the only one suddenly reminded of a similar situation; it was quite funny. ¡ªNow that I think of it, I heard that Lena¡¯s progression of holy power is slower compared to Alice¡¯s¡­ ¡°I think a Saintess of this time will be produced if they are left like that.¡± Davey thought about the fact that Lena¡¯s development of holy power was slow although she had been born with a Saintess-level amount of holy power. ¡ªConsidering that, you really are an irregular. The record stating that only one Saint or Saintess during an era would remain unchanged if Davey hadn¡¯t shown up. However, things were different now, so no one knew exactly what would happen in the future. ¡ªThen, isn¡¯t it just impossible for Alice to be Saintess from the beginning? The fact that her holy power is active means that she is just untalented. ¡°I told you that in order to see someone¡¯s true self, one has to be given power or hardship. Goddess Freyja had given them two different projects: she had given one power and authority, and put the other through hardships.¡± ¡ªWhat a cruel God. ¡°True.¡± One of them shone bright even amid hardships, and the other one eventually floundered in the swamp of power where they could do anything. ¡°It¡¯s impossible for them to become Saintesses until they realize it themselves and repent.¡± The lack of talent could be made up by the stigmata anyways; the quality and amount of holy power didn¡¯t matter to a Saintess candidate in the first place. ¡°Oh! Prince Daveyyy!¡± Lena, the young Saintess candidate, spotted Davey and ran toward him. She dragged the ends of her words. Davey smiled. ¡°Were there any problems?¡± ¡°Did you see that just now?! Huge pillars of light just fell from the sky!¡± ¡°Oh, that.¡± ¡°Yes! The holy power was so concentrated that it gave me goosebumps! Do you think God descended down here?!¡± As Davey avoided her glance, Lena persistently tried to meet his gaze. ¡°Did¡­you do it, Prince Davey?¡± ¡°I thought the army would be taken over if I did nothing,¡± Davey answered with a bitter smile. Lena clapped her hands like she was delighted. ¡°Oh my¡­ Are you Goddess Freyjaaa?¡± Davey put his hand on Lena¡¯s head as she had asked a weird question. He asked, ¡°Do I look like a woman to you, Saintess candidate Lena?¡± ¡°Hm¡­ Without your sharp eyes¡­¡¯ Davey chuckled at Lena¡¯s weird response. * * * The alliance had successfully defended the headquarters. Although the Undead had charged in fearlessly, Grell Orphan, the Elder Lich, had retreated upon realizing that there was no benefit to continue fighting. They had been bombarded with attacks, after all. Now that the alliance could take a breather, another topic was brought to their attention: it was the discussion of competence. Saintess candidate Alice had sacrificed many men trying to fight the war efficiently. Of course, sacrifices were bound to happen as their opponent was the Undead. However, Davey had shown everyone the most unrealistic and miraculous outcome, and his help had been rejected by Alice from the beginning. This caused people to wonder that maybe the war could have come to an end with far less casualties and damages if Davey had fought in the first place. The origin of the rumor? ¡°Good work, Aina.¡± ¡°Please call me Jack,¡± Jack¨Cno, Aina Helishana, mumbled calmly. She sounded slightly dissatisfied. Thanks to the secret plan, Alice¡¯s position was weakening by the minute, and people even began shouting to resign her from her position. They felt that she viewed human lives as nothing more than a fly¡¯s. ¡°I will not fight like this anymore. I tolerated this because I had no reason to intervene in the battle of pride between the two, but I have no intention of sacrificing my soldiers because of the Saintess candidate¡¯s stubbornness.¡± One of the older male knights of a middle-sized kingdom showed his dissatisfaction. However, that was not it. ¡°Well, good. Same thing for the Lyndis Empire as well.¡± Grand Duchess Kathryn, who had defended one side with a near-perfect tactic, also said the same thing. Her suggestion was a straightforward one, considering that she had stayed silent until now. It truly only took moments for Alice to lose her power as she had created conflict with a lot of people. Alice, who was sitting silently while staring into space, could not say anything. She remained quiet even while facing the alliance commanders¡¯ strong backlash. The only ally she might have had was Prince Sullivan from the Pallan Empire, but even he did not help her this time. Perhaps he was angry at how Alice¡¯s orders to attack had gone too far. ¡°Saintess candidate Alice, this is an absurd battle that started because of your pride. Take responsibility and solve it. Because of your pride, the soldiers of my sister and the alliance and countless innocent people have died. I will no longer defend you.¡± As Prince Sullivan nailed the last nail on her coffin, Alice just mumbled monotonously, ¡°Eighth level¡­ Light¡­¡± Upon realizing the holy magic spell that Davey had used, Alice turned toward him with a blank gaze. She looked in his direction, but her eyes were as empty as a void. ¡°...has abandoned me.¡± With that, Alice slowly got up and approached Davey. She said quietly, ¡°Pri¡­¡± ¡°Take your apology somewhere else.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I did not come here to fish for praise.¡± Alice remained quiet. ¡°I think an entertaining story has spread to the Holy Empire. Don¡¯t you have to go back?¡± Normally, Alice would have been quite surprised by Davey¡¯s response. However, she simply nodded calmly. ¡ªShe doesn¡¯t look so good. We are bit.ly/3iBfjkV, find us on google. ¡®That is none of my concern.¡¯ Just as Davey said, Alice was the one who had chosen to play politics before getting dragged down to rock bottom. She was the one who had messed with him first, so Davey had no reason to sympathize with her. The Holy Empire had lost their own people as well, so there probably would be a lot of people who were going to tear Saintess candidate Alice apart and drag her down from her current position. ¡°I have conditions.¡± Davey no longer paid attention to Alice. He proposed two conditions. ¡°I will accept. Tell me.¡± ¡°First¡­¡± Davey gave two proposals, both of which got easy agreements. As this was happening, Alice got ready to return to the Holy Empire per their summoning. She stared down at the holy knights who were escorting her with eyes showing nothing but a sense of hopelessness. Then, her gaze turned toward a black-robed giant, the one who had killed the holy knights inside the tent. ¡°A soul that has started to become corrupt; its corruption is so pure that its power far exceeds mine. It is suitable to be the master of the core that my lord has left behind.¡± ¡°You are¡­?¡± Alice should be surprised at the fact that the enemy that she should kill was inside the command center, but she simply replied monotonously. ¡°Follow me. You will not receive the love of God, but I can make you similar to God. You can kill that despicable human being, and you can reach the level of a demigod that you so yearned for.¡± Alice lowered her head. She had reached out so desperately, but God did not answer any of her prayers; God had let that demon boy take everything from her. ¡®Why is this happening to me?¡¯ She smirked as a realization dawned upon her. She muttered, ¡°I believed in the light. I lived my life according to it.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°But now, the light¡­¡± Grell¡¯s robe slipped down as he lifted his hand above Alice¡¯s head. His frail, bony hands were exposed. ¡°Has betrayed me.¡± Whoosh!! With a burst of black energy, Alice¡¯s eyes turned black. ¡°You will soon become my desires. I cannot win that demon, but my lord will come back to life from your presence. Remember this: his name is King of the Dead Deian. He has lived a life incomparably longer than mine, and he is the one who drove First Saintess Daphne to death.¡± The Lich, who could never give up on his lord, and the Saintess candidate, who had failed to overcome the test and fell apart¡­ It took just a moment for them to disappear from the command center. CH 200 73. The Difference Between the Card Everyone Has Up Their Sleeves. Alice had to acknowledge the fact that she had underestimated Davey¡¯s capabilities. No, she was actually a little flustered because of how unexpected his actions had turned out to be. Grell Orfan, the giant whom Davey had confronted, had used a dummy to direct Davey¡¯s attention somewhere else for a second before sneaking in here alone. When Davey had noticed that bastard, Saintess candidate Alice was already gone and Grell Orfan was very close to disappearing. ¡®I can stop him if he hasn¡¯t disappeared completely.¡¯ ¡°Who do you think you are to come crawling in here?¡± Whoosh. With a breeze, the end of Blue Ribbon was bursting with blue energy. Davey used it to aim at Grell¡¯s spine and pierced through it. ¡°You¡¯re too late, morta¡­¡± Grell¡¯s voice sounded like metal pieces grinding together. It was definitely normal for Davey to not be able to do anything to stop Grell if the transportation magic was almost activated. However¡­ ¡°Keugh?!¡± Blue Ribbon yanked Grell out of the other dimension and cut his spine in half. Even his robe and all were split into two. It was like Blue Ribbon didn¡¯t care about him at all. ¡°Keugh?! H¡­ How?!¡± Grell¡¯s gaze trembled in confusion. He flailed around on the ground like he was in pain. Normally, the Undead could not feel pain, so having their spine severed wouldn¡¯t cause them to feel much pain. However, Grell was screaming in genuine pain. This was because Davey had used Blue RIbbon to slash him. Half of a Lich¡¯s body was composed of devil mana, and Grell was a demon-type. On top of that, Blue Ribbon had destroyed his external heart, which was his origin of life, with that single attack. The connection to his life vessel had been destroyed. It was impossible to directly break the life vessel, but it was possible to destroy the link. ¡°Kheagh!!¡± Davey returned Blue Ribbon to the sheath and stepped back a moderate distance. He watched as Grell¡¯s severed body moved on its own and tried to attach the different parts together. However, the body was in a state where recovery was impossible; most of his life had been sucked out of him. ¡°Damn it.¡± Grell¡¯s red eyes flashed as he glared at Davey. After murmuring a curse word under his breath, he muttered, ¡°That sword is no regular sword, is it? My connection to my life vessel was just severed.¡± ¡°Then, you should die right away. Why are you still alive?¡± Davey asked disappointedly, but he already knew the reason why. ¡°Kehehe¡­¡± ¡°Did you have some ginseng or something? The amount of mana you have has increased quite a bit.¡± Grell replied to Davey¡¯s question with a burst of crazy laughter. He declared, ¡°Kehehehe¡­ You will definitely regret not killing me back then. Be afraid, mortal! For the immortal will soon come.¡± ¡°Now that is something I will see for myself.¡± ¡®That damn immortal or whatever.¡¯ There was no such thing as immortality in this world; even the will of Goddess Freyja, which was known as the divine will, was exchanged every few million years. Since their last encounter, Davey could feel that Grell¡¯s mana had increased by at least thirty percent. It might seem like a small amount, but¡­ Considering that he was a Lich at the 8th Circle level, it was definitely not a small amount; he was just unlucky. It didn¡¯t change the fact that he was close to a continental catastrophe. ¡°I took over eight mountain fortresses, and reclaimed all the sealed life vessels that had my power. I was struck because of your deception, but don¡¯t think it will be the same the next time we meet.¡± [Blue Ribbon is not strange!] Blue Ribbon pouted and complained, but her voice could not be heard by others right now. ¡°I know more necromancy and curse magic spells than you think, so struggle, mortal. I will show you the real power that an immortal truly has,¡± Grell boasted confidently. Davey stared at Grell nonchalantly before saying, ¡°Okay, okay. Have your expectations up since I will show you something different next time.¡± Even the most exceptional Lich had a limit to the number of life vessels they had. If Davey were to sever Grell¡¯s connection with his life vessel every time he had a fatal wound, this bastard would eventually die even if he was close to an immortal being. High-ranking vampires always came back to life by keeping the core of immortality within their bodies. On the other hand, beings such as Liches put their origin of life in a container and stored it outside their bodies; these were the life force vessels. Normally, Liches made their hearts their life vessels, but there was no reason for it to have to be a heart. ¡°Anyway, I didn¡¯t think she would end up corrupted so easily,¡± Davey mumbled quietly, no longer paying attention to Grell. ¡°She will be the most important medium for my master¡¯s resurrection.¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to use a Saintess candidate as a medium?¡± ¡°Darkness only gets darker as light becomes brighter. A Saintess who corrupted herself is a rare specimen. I saw the emptiness, anger, and defeat in her heart.¡± ¡®What useless things you are looking at.¡¯ Grell joked around nonchalantly like the anger he had before had disappeared completely. Most of his body had crumbled into dust, but there wasn¡¯t a hint of urgency in his voice. Alice was going to be able to resurrect the darkest being because she was the brightest¡­ The situation was quite amusing. It was basically a law that shadows were bound to get larger the brighter a light grew. ¡°I will give you a present. I imagine it will be difficult for mortals like you to endure such hardships.¡± ¡°I refuse.¡± Snap! Even though Davey firmly refused, Grell still went on to snap his fingers with his remaining hand. Then, a large amount of power began to vibrate, and the bones maintaining Grell¡¯s body disintegrated into powder. He would probably try to resurrect himself by scraping together things that would support a new body near his other origin of life. The only signs of Grell¡¯s presence was the dust that flew around. It wasn¡¯t like Davey didn¡¯t know where Grell was. It also wasn¡¯t like anything would happen to him if Davey slashed him right now; Grell had beat him this time. Davey began to feel a little irritated. ¡°This shitty bastard¡­ You want to see who has the better card, huh?¡± If Grell¡¯s hidden card was coming from his master, Davey planned to utilize whatever skills he had to crush him again and again. ¡®Capturing seven times and letting go seven times too.¡¯ Although, Davey was going to kill Grell instead of letting him go. ¡®Alright, let¡¯s see who has more hidden cards up their sleeve.¡¯ * * * Davey actually had very little interest in Saintess candidate Alice¡¯s change. It also wasn¡¯t important how she felt about him or what kind of trials she had experienced to try becoming a true Saintess. What was important to him was that Alice had slowly become corrupted from not being able to endure God¡¯s trials, and the fact that she had betrayed them as Lich Grell Orfan had convinced her to. ¡ªIf something serious happens because of her¡­ ¡°Don¡¯t think about it too much; nothing is going to change whether we worry about it or not. If Alice is still human, I will at least take care of her as a human being according to the rules¡­¡± And if Alice had become something outside the boundaries of a human, or had gone through changes similar to that, Davey would have no choice but to take care of her as a monster. Without hesitation, Davey retrieved his sword and quickly made his way to the place where he could hear huge explosions. ¡°Ahh!! My arm!! My arm is frozen!!¡± ¡°Damn it! Tie a thick rope around the ballista! Pull him down!¡± Desperate shouts and painful moans; cries of help pierced Davey¡¯s ears from his surroundings. The headquarters had become utter chaos, with soldiers struggling with deep wounds and the cold. There were also stiff soldiers who looked like they had died on the spot. Whoosh whoosh¡­ Then, a shadow large enough to cover the skylight began moving and roaring. ¡ªRoar!! ¡°Its volume is no joke.¡± ¡ªIt has no vocal cords, but it still roars so well. It was a huge Undead dragon about thirty meters tall. Although it only had bones and barely any muscles, it was a flying dragon that was much larger than the size of Wyverns, which were called the ¡®Prince of the Sky¡¯. And unlike Wyverns, which didn¡¯t have arms, this dragon had arms like the ones from fairy tales and it also had claws on the ends of its feet. It looked like it could crush everything. The Undead dragon had no skin or muscles at all, but its features were so clear that Davey could tell what kind of monster it was. He muttered, ¡°Wyrm Wyvern¡­¡± A Wyrm Wyvern was the largest predator of the Wyvern family, and it grew about four to ten times larger than a normal one. If Wyverns were called the ¡¯Prince of the Sky¡¯, this one was an extremely rare being known as the ¡®King of the Sky¡¯. In fact, it was so rare that it was called a subspecies of dragons, and it was so strong that it could shoot breaths whenever it wanted. Simply put, it was just part of the Wyvern family, since it was too powerful to be classified as a Wyvern. It was a relief that there was less additional damage as its breath was ice-type and not the regular fire-type. ¡ªIt has been a long time since I have seen it as an Undead. It is so extremely rare that I have only seen it once in my lifetime. The Undead dragon was extremely strong. It was known to have no enemies as no one could go up against it, even though its physical strength was incomparable to that of Wyverns. Its bones could not match up to dragon bones, but it was still tougher than most metals. It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV. However, it seemed like the people around Davey mistook the Wyrm Wyvern, the extremely rare organism, as a dragon instead. This was unsurprising, because something that big with the image of a dragon reminded people of those from fairy tales. ¡°D¨CDragon¡­¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe it¡­ One ice breath and hundreds of people¡­¡± The people instantly became ice statues, completely frozen in their running position. Dragons were at least one hundred meters in size¡­but there was no way for these people to know that. Davey quickly walked into the commanders¡¯ tent, where people were all drawn to the Wyrm Wyvern¡¯s appearance. In the tent was Prince Sullivan, who was staring at it with complex thoughts in his mind. ¡°How was the situation?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Prince Davey, you came.¡± ¡°It seems quite funny to me.¡± ¡°A¡­ A dragon has appeared! An Undead dragon! I knew that it was another damn level, but what is¡­¡± Prince Sullivan let out his anger without hiding his frustration. ¡°I have never seen a monster like that before. It is a few times larger than Wyverns, and one breath froze hundreds of people. Right now, Grand Duchess Kathryn, Duke Alla, and my sister Illyna are keeping it out of the fortress by occupying its attention, but¡­ I don¡¯t think they are going to last very long either.¡± It was true that Wyverns and Wyrm Wyverns were very different, including their levels of power; it wasn¡¯t called a type of demi-dragon for no reason. ¡°A dragon¡­ Does that look like a dragon to you?¡± ¡°Tough bones that can withstand sword energy and this nasty breath¡­and an overwhelming presence and size¡­ What is it if not a dragon?!¡± Davey kept quiet. There was no reason for him to correct Sullivan. That was when Grand Duchess Kathryn shot away from the headquarters¡¯ gate and stomped on the Wyrm Wyvern¡¯s back. Her attack had incredible power. However, none of their attacks landed. After all, they had never fought against anything that flew and was so big in size. ¡°Prince Davey. Can you treat the ones who turned into ice statues?¡± Sullivan had asked whether Davey could treat the soldiers, not kill the dragon. Thinking back, he realized that Sullivan always acted like he wanted to rescue as many people as possible. ¡°I can, but there will be more casualties if the monster shoots another breath. Let¡¯s take care of it first.¡± ¡°But it is difficult to strike it if it does not come down to the ground. It is dodging dangerous attacks and attempts to catch it by flying up high.¡± The Wyrm Wyvern had a strange pattern. It was also very strong, like a raid boss. Boom!! That was when Kathryn, who was attacking the Wyrm Wyvern with everything she had while on its back, lost her balance and fell. ¡°No!!¡± Prince Sullivan shouted. The angry demi-dragon that was infuriated by Kathryn opened its jaw and bared its teeth at her. It wanted to finish her off. ¡°Prince Sullivan,¡± Davey called out. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Please prepare to advance. I think we are going to have to leave this place and raid that bastard¡¯s location¡­¡± ¡°What does¡­?¡± ¡°And let¡¯s take it down to the ground first.¡± Prince Sullivan¡¯s eyes grew wide. ¡®Actions rather than words.¡¯ Davey left the tent through the opening on the side and quickly shot up into the sky. He charged through the fearful soldiers who were shooting useless arrows at the Wyrm Wyvern. Boom!! At the same time, a boat horn began ringing through the surroundings. Boom!! [Gnoass, I give you my request.] [I accept the contractor¡¯s request.] ¡°We are going to advance. I will stand in front and destroy everything that stands in our way, so let¡¯s just bury that bony chicken first.¡± Everyone was in shock after seeing the Wyrm Wyvern that looked like a dragon, so Davey was going to summon his soil giant. CH 201 The soldiers had taken a breather after the war entered a lull period for a while. After all, the Undead had retreated. Now, they couldn¡¯t take their eyes away from the horrendous battle scene. The soldiers¡¯ comrades, who had pledged to return to their kingdoms alive until a little while ago, coughed up blood and screamed for their lives. However, they ended up becoming Undead and their necks were ripped apart. If it was simple close combat, without the Pallan Empire¡¯s defense positions and modern weapons, the soldiers at the headquarters could also be limping and raging against the living. In the end, the surviving soldiers among the countless casualties felt extreme hatred for the monster-like being who made this mess and resentment toward Saintess candidate Alice. They had heard the story of how she had pushed Davey away after a simple conflict. At first, the soldiers were skeptical. They didn¡¯t think a war could drastically be swayed by a single person. However, they heard a rumor that Prince Davey had just appeared out of nowhere as the west gates were about to be taken and had burned every Undead down by himself. To be honest, it was an absurd story; as such, most of them thought that it had been exaggerated or something. However, their opinions were changed completely as a great being¨Ca huge bone dragon that shot out an extremely cold, icy breath¨Cbegan attacking the fortress. * * * This monster could not be taken down by one person. Its bones were so tough that it could barely be cut by a Swordmaster¡¯s sword energy, and it had an icy breath that froze everyone upon contact. Everyone acknowledged that it would be too difficult to face the Wyrm Wyvern alone, so no one did anything stupid. Although there was no conversation between them, the vixen Grand Duchess Kathryn Carabella of the Lyndis Empire, Illyna de Pallan, the leader of the White Birds and princess of the Pallan Empire, and Duke Alla, the captain of the Contas Empire¡¯s Slaughtering Army, began to attack together. The three powers of the empires had joined forces. They took action not because of their position, but because they wanted to step up and minimize the amount of damage as much as possible. Instead of killing the Wyrm Wyvern, they grabbed its attention and directed its attacks outside of the fortress. As a result, there was no huge damage except for the Wyrm Wyvern¡¯s unexpected breath when it had first appeared. Of course, part of the headquarters¡¯ gates was destroyed as the monster flew around, but there weren¡¯t huge numbers of casualties except for the few hundred people during the first attack. The soldiers hoped that one of them would distract the Wyrm Wyvern and then take its life. They couldn¡¯t see another cold breath flying toward them, so they felt a sense of relief. Grand Duchess Kathryn, who kept kiting and distracting the Wyrm Wyvern as her flame-like hair and tail flashed, was a surprisingly powerful person; she was swift and strong with overwhelmingly powerful attacks. She made people wonder how a living being could be this strong. She could have been afraid of the Wyrm Wyvern¡¯s sudden appearance, but she kept up with her intense attacks. Following her, Illyna and Duke Alla attacked and supported her actions. Watching the trio, the oblivious ones probably thought that the trio could potentially win against the Frost Wyrm Wyvern. However, that was an ignorant thought. With a huge roar, the Wyrm Wyvern took advantage of a very small window of opportunity and swatted away Grand Duchess Kathryn with its tail. Kathryn, who could not react to the sudden attack, was exposed to additional attacks, and looked like she was definitely going to be struck. The moment everyone¡¯s eyes grew wide and jaws dropped, Al, one of the soldiers who protected the headquarters, felt something pull him back. A dissatisfied voice said to him, ¡°Move.¡± Davey then mumbled, ¡°Gnoass, I give you my request.¡± A huge arm made of soil suddenly shot up from the ground. It grabbed the Wyrm Wyvern by the tail, wings, and entire body to crush it into the ground. And¡­ ¡°Oh my god¡­¡± ¡°What is that¡­?¡± It was so natural, as if something had popped out from beneath the ground. A huge soil giant, which was larger than the Wyrm Wyvern, had appeared. [Rest well, little being who has been denied providence.] The soil giant planted his fist in the monster as he spoke with a loud, mighty voice. The Wyrm Wyvern shot a breath at the soil giant reflexively¡­but the soil giant¡¯s fist, which was hot and red, created a huge amount of vapor as it touched the icy breath. The Wyrm Wyvern¡¯s head was crushed. However, the creature was able to withstand even a Swordmaster¡¯s attacks; it struggled desperately as it didn¡¯t die instantly. However, the giant hand that was constricting it tugged it even closer to the ground. Boom!!!! Thud!! Heavy punches fell down onto the ground one after another. The soil giant shattered the Wyrm Wyvern by repeatedly hitting it with fists that leaked red lava. The hot liquid engulfed the Wyrm Wyvern, which gradually lost strength and went limp. ¡°Prepare for battle. We are going right now.¡± Al, the soldier who stared blankly at the soil giant, widened his eyes when he heard Davey speaking from beside him. Davey was still a young boy, but his eyes made him look quite intimidating. But what was most surprising about him was that he had just summoned a soil giant. Although Al couldn¡¯t be sure, he had seen it for himself and he had a feeling that it was true. ¡°Oh!¡± Then, Al, who was staring blankly at the boy¡¯s back, realized that he had seen the boy¡¯s face somewhere; his eyes widened when he remembered who the boy was. The boy was the Saint who had saved Al, who had been dying from a mutated version of the cold. He was the prince with a bad personality who had treated Al with consideration even though he spoke very coldly. It was Davey O¡¯Rowane, who was better known as a Saint after receiving the stigmata. And now, Davey had just begun working on the battlefield as Saintess candidate Alice had stopped him from participating earlier. Furthermore, he was the person who had solely stopped the west gates from being broken through. Al had thought that the story was just exaggerated, but it hadn¡¯t been at all. The monster barely had a scratch even when three powerful individuals, including Grand Duchess Kathryn, who was one of the strongest fighters in the continent, all attacked it at once. Yet, it vanished as bone fragments in just a few minutes once Davey had attacked it. On top of that, the boy who had made it all happen was acting very calmly. He appeared to be used to this kind of thing. ¡°What did I just see¡­?¡± It seemed like Al was not the only one who thought that way. * * * ¡°There are very few of them now. I didn¡¯t think they would become this weak compared to the beginning.¡± ¡°They dug their own grave.¡± As Davey walked into the commander¡¯s tent nonchalantly, he could feel a lot of eyes on him. ¡°Did everyone enjoy their lunch? I¡¯m going to be having dinner in hell.¡± Davey made a joke, but no one responded. ¡°Can I¡­ask you a question?¡± A man asked a question and slowly raised his hand in the intense silence. ¡°Yes, tell me.¡± ¡°That soil giant who crushed the huge Undead dragon a little while ago¡­ Did you summon it, Prince Davey?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the Earth Spirit King. Amazing, right?¡± Davey replied playfully. Everyone looked completely shocked. ¡°A spirit¡­ How¡­¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t he use holy power from receiving the stigmata?¡± Prince Sullivan tried to silence the murmurs by clearing his throat uncomfortably, but he was unsuccessful. Perhaps it was because Davey had just calmly dropped a mindblowing piece of information. Everyone was basically saying how ridiculous and terrifying the revelation was. Moreover, they wondered if Davey was really human. Whatever it was, they all looked like they had a hard time believing Davey even after seeing it with their own eyes. ¡°Then¡­the spirit was¡­¡± ¡°Let¡¯s leave it there. I saw on the way here that more than half the soldiers were blown apart¡­¡± Davey¡¯s voice trailed off. Sullivan dodged Davey¡¯s glance and said softly, ¡°I am ashamed to say so, but yes. The enemy was much stronger than we expected.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re not complacent? ¡°That is!¡± Sullivan flinched at Davey¡¯s question. ¡°I told you from the beginning, didn¡¯t I? I told you that it was going to be chaos if you underestimated your enemy. But you chose to ignore everything that I said and did whatever you wanted.¡± ¡°B¨CBut there was nothing we could do about that; the people who have gathered here aren¡¯t just any ordinary people, right? Please try to understand with a generous heart.¡± The alliance tried very hard to appease Davey with a kind smile. However, Davey had to get one thing straight. He said calmly, ¡°Just have some faith if you can¡¯t get a grasp of the situation.¡± ¡°Prince Davey!¡± ¡°I will give you some information that you should know about.¡± We are bit.ly/3iBfjkV, find us on google. ¡°...¡± Some of the men were about to shout in protest, but Davey ignored them. He went on, ¡°Then, I will start with a short briefing because we do not have much time.¡± ¡°Briefing?¡± ¡°To explain the situation.¡± Davey then jerked his chin toward the map on the wall. He said, ¡°The guy is a necromancer who is at least at the 8th Circle. Did you know that?¡± Everyone began to murmur again. ¡°Probably not. And it¡¯s not like the 8th Circle is common, either.¡± ¡°Of course. The best mage in the continent is at the 7th Circle. Who could have thought they were at the 8th?¡± ¡°The enemy is not considerate of our situation, Sir Yulis,¡± Davey said. Yulis smiled bitterly. ¡°But why are you mentioning that now¡­? The reason you are saying that is¡­¡± ¡°I am just saying that you should keep it in mind. Let¡¯s move on. This is related to what we have to do now.¡± Davey then pointed to the eight fortresses that had already been taken over. He asked, ¡°Necromancer Lich overdid himself to take these eight fortresses. Do you know why?¡± ¡°He is playing a game of war¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re wrong. If he wanted to keep playing this game of war, he would not have pushed through this foolishly. He would have carefully tested the waters and given us false hope.¡± The man who cautiously opened his mouth lowered his head. ¡°For some unknown reason, he has lost his composure. As a result, he went out of his way to capture all eight fortresses.¡± ¡°Why¡­do you think he did that?¡± ¡°The life vessels. It is the source of life and power to Liches. You know something about them, don¡¯t you, Prince Sullivan?¡± Davey smiled at Prince Sullivan, who avoided his gaze but nodded. Sullivan said with a sigh, ¡°Sigh¡­ Yes. There are great magic stones at each fortress that serve as protection. I never imagined that they would be their life vessels¡­¡± ¡°People often imagine the life vessels to be a heart made up of muscles, so your misunderstanding is not surprising.¡± ¡°Then why are you telling us this?¡± Illyna asked Davey in a formal manner, since this was a public meeting. ¡°What this means is that we are going to have to kill him seven more times if we want to end this endless slaughter.¡± ¡°Kill him¡­seven times?¡± Davey nodded at those who stared at him in confusion. He said firmly, ¡°Yes, exactly seven times. We do not have much time.¡± ¡°Why seven times? If what you previously said is true, it should have eight life vessels.¡± ¡°Yes, seven times,¡± Davey said calmly and flicked one of the fortress models. ¡°Because one just died in my hands.¡± ¡°Hup?!¡± Everyone stared at Davey in shock. ¡°How is the preparation for going into battle coming along?¡± ¡°We have enough supplies, but¡­the soldiers¡¯ morale is unbelievably low. It¡¯s gotten a little better now that you are here, but¡­¡± ¡°Please gather all of them. We will go into battle as soon as their morale is boosted.¡± ¡®Telling people white lies is one of my specialties.¡¯ Was logic necessary in raising an army¡¯s morale in a war? No, the only thing needed was empathy and mob mentality. Walking out of the tent, Davey mumbled into the air, ¡°Jack, go gather some reliable people whom I can use as wingmen.¡± Laying out the groundwork was essential. * * * Why did captains give speeches to their soldiers before going off to war? Morale was the one thing that affected soldiers the most and affected them the quickest. Davey had been using the aspect of morale to his advantage. The effects of the buff magic cast by holy magic were amplified by the strength of the recipients¡¯ determination and faith. This was also why Davey had gathered his soldiers to give them speeches. For this war, countless soldiers were involved and the combined force was incomparably larger than what Davey had seen before. For the buff magic to continuously be running for at least everyone in the frontlines, Davey had no choice but to increase the efficiency as much as he could. Standing on the headquarters¡¯ wall, Davey took a step forward as he looked down at the fifty thousand soldiers who were lined up outside. He said calmly, ¡°At first, the army had a hundred thousand. We kept losing people, and now, only forty to fifty thousand of you can still fight. I understand you have gone through a lot. Are you afraid?¡± His voice definitely reached everyone. ¡°I am going to be honest. That guy is a catastrophic monster at the 8th Circle. There is a high chance that he has a few more of the flying dragons that attacked the fortress a little while ago.¡± ¡°...¡± If it was going to lower their morale whether Davey liked it or not, he was going to try and use it to his advantage. Instead of anger and futility, he was going to instill morale and unity. Hearing their silence, Davey added, ¡°A little while ago, the Lich, the enemy we have to slaughter, has infiltrated this city by using the Wyrm Wyvern as bait.¡± Surprised voices started to ring out. All fifty thousand men began to murmur, their voices becoming as loud as a market. ¡°Everyone shut up.¡± The crowd went completely silent when Davey harshly criticized them. He said, ¡°I am not the leader or Chief of Staff of the alliance, so I am in no position to lecture you or anything.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°However, I will make one thing clear. Saintess candidate Alice who was leading you and fighting against the enemy had noticed and attacked the person who infiltrated the fortress, but she lost.¡± Davey continued as the soldiers remained quiet, ¡°And she has been kidnapped by him.¡± The Saintess candidate had fought with her life to protect the army but lost, and was now kidnapped by the enemy. It was quite a familiar scenario. It was true that public opinion about Alice was negative, but it was something that Davey could use in a way. Was public opinion about Alice going to become better if she returned alive? No way. Once the war came to an end, the Saintess candidate named Alice would already be dead. It wasn¡¯t going to be difficult to promote a dead person to the highest rank and give them a crown. ¡°Are you going to just take it lying down? When we have a way to win?¡± ¡®I will use you to boost morale.¡¯ ¡°Pack your bags if you are afraid; I won¡¯t stop you. But stay here if you want to win. Who is the person standing in front of you?¡± ¡°You are the Saint!¡± ¡°The Saint!¡± Some people shouted. ¡®Mm, yeah.¡¯ Right away, Davey thought that it was a good idea that he had planted a few wingmen in the crowd. Once the first person started to scream, everyone else quickly joined in. Davey then stopped the crowd from shouting any more and said, ¡°Yes, you will experience a different war than what you have seen before. You are welcome to stay if you want to come back alive.¡± It was going to be impossible for everyone to come back alive, but it was better for them to die while fighting. Then, Davey pulled out Longinus, the divine sword that was in the shape of a cross. He held it up high like he was waiting for something. Then, a bright light flowed out of the weapon and began embracing the soldiers who stood at the frontlines. CH 202 The bright flash of light, a light akin to God¡¯s blessings, that burst out had caught everyone¡¯s attention. However, that was just a trick. Davey would be out of his mind if he tried to put a buff on each and every single one of the tens of thousands of soldiers who stood in front of him. As long as he did not get caught, this trick would work on the soldiers. The soldiers looked at the flecks of light that fluttered down around them. They thought that God had truly bestowed his protection upon them. This was the placebo effect, which was a psychological effect that could make someone who only had sugar believe that they had truly eaten a medicine that could cure their disease. ¡°The human body is truly amazing.¡± ¡°The hell. How many people have you deceived in such a short time?¡± Davey looked solemnly at the girl who asked him this question as he imparted a saying, ¡°As long as you don¡¯t get caught, it¡¯s a skill.¡± ¡°Goddess Freyja might have gotten something in her eye when she gave you that stigmata.¡± ¡°There are no rules saying that only one person can receive a stigmata.¡± After hearing Davey¡¯s words, Illyna flicked her braided hair and immediately followed right after him. She asked, ¡°Ah, are you really going to charge forward like that without setting up any sort of countermeasure? I know that you¡¯re strong, but you''re in charge of the lives of many. You have to think about it more carefully¡­¡± ¡°Illyna.¡± Illyna¡¯s eyes widened when she saw Davey turn away from her. ¡°This will be the last time.¡± Davey¡¯s short answer forced Illyna to go silent. She did not ask Davey about why this should be the last time and why he was running out of time. She simply tugged at his sleeves, which she had never done before, and said softly, ¡°Then¡­please do me one favor. We still¡­haven¡¯t recovered my brother¡¯s body.¡± Davey definitely knew which brother Illyna was talking about. Illyna was talking about the Pallan Empire¡¯s crown prince who had led the first subjugation in hopes of destroying the Lich, Grell Orfan. ¡°We have to find my brother¡¯s body. Find him and¡­deliver the news to the Crown Princess and arrange a state funeral for him.¡± Davey just covered Illyna¡¯s face, which expressed a rare look of weakness, and pushed her away. ¡°Stop worrying about useless things. Also, you have to stay.¡± ¡°What?! No way!!!¡± Illyna screamed. Davey grabbed Illyna by the wrist and rolled her sleeves up. He saw that her arm was riddled with bruises, which were a result of necrosis in the muscles and the veins. This was a side effect commonly seen among people who have already exhausted their mana and forcibly summoned some more. Thankfully, the situation was not that bad yet. Davey could tell that there would be no scars left behind as long as Illyna got treated. However, if Illyna still stubbornly continued to fight, then her arm would be littered with ugly scars, the tell-tale signs of necrosis. ¡°You think you can fake it by walking around and showing that you¡¯re well in front of someone who has learned medicine, huh?¡± Davey said, turning Illyna¡¯s face blue with his words. Then, he added, ¡°Go to the treatment center before I kick you out.¡± ¡°Kyaack!¡± Illyna stepped back after shrieking in Davey¡¯s ears. Davey sighed. ¡ªIs it really necessary to drive her out so forcefully? ¡°You have to scold foolish pushovers sometimes to make them aware of the situation.¡± ¡®Gnoass, you still there?¡¯ [I¡¯m all ears, Contractor.] ¡°Get ready. I¡¯m giving you permission to go wild and use all of the spirit energy stored in my body the moment I give the signal.¡± Davey¡¯s spirit energy could be recovered by using the other forces within him and converting them into spirit energy. Due to that reason, Davey could be said to have a lot more spirit energy than the other forces in his body. However, it also has the slowest recovery rate. The enemy was the Undead, and Davey had the Spirit King. Davey wanted to see whose side had the bigger advantage in terms of force. Thud!!! When you''re just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. The soldiers were shocked when a huge earthquake shook the ground. A gigantic figure made from earth stepped forward, opening a path for the soldiers. ¡°Prince Sullivan.¡± ¡°¡­Ah, yes! Men! Forward!¡± Thud!!! Prince Sullivan drew his sword and shouted, ¡°The Undead dared to cross our lands and make our families suffer! We may have been beaten by them so far but today will be different! Today, we will be the ones¡­to gain victory!!!¡± ¡°Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!¡± Perhaps Davey and the giant made out of soil reminded the soldiers that they had a strong ally backing them up. The soldiers who previously looked defeated were suddenly energized, their morale reaching an all-time-high. ¡°It seems like you¡¯re quite used to increasing people¡¯s morale, huh?¡± Prince Sullivan, who was following Davey on horseback, commented. However, Davey wore a bitter smile on his face. His answer was a murmur. ¡°Don¡¯t let your guard down. I simply showed you that there¡¯s a possibility of winning, I did not strengthen you or give you more power. Even if your number reaches a hundred million or you believe yourself to be strong enough, it¡¯s not strange for anyone to die on a battlefield.¡± Their enemy was not a 7th Circle necromancer but an 8th Circle necromancer. What their enemy had shown them so far was a simple command of the Undead. If Grell Orfan chose to get serious about this matter, then the allied troops could suffer tremendous losses and casualties even with the numerical advantage. Davey could probably wield similar magic as the 8th Circle necromancer. But if Grell decided to do so, he could condense his power and annihilate them on the spot with an attack. That was why Davey decided to give it his all and kill the bastard. Davey nodded quietly to himself, murmuring his plans to himself. *** Lich Grell Orfan¡¯s red eyes glowed sharply as he looked at the allied troops entering the grand canyon. He muttered, ¡°So, you came to dig your own grave.¡± What Grell saw was a bunch of flesh bags willingly and courageously stepping into the lion¡¯s den. ¡°But, I don¡¯t see the bastard among them.¡± Grell was referring to that monster, the monstrous bastard who had left him feeling numb. Although the monstrous boy had told him that he was a mortal, someone like him, who was hiding the great unknown in his body, could not have obtained that much power during his time as a mortal. If that boy was around, there was no assurance that Grell and his Undead would win. But Grell could not sense the boy¡¯s mana at all. Grell thought that the boy was headed somewhere else. Although anxious about whatever catastrophe the boy was going to cause, he ended up shaking his head to clear his mind. After all, Saintess candidate Alice, who was integral to his plans, had already entered the center of the sanctum where his great liege would be reborn. As long as his liege was reborn, Grell did not care what was taken away from him. Grell did not know where Davey had gone, but he was sure that this foolish decision had cost Davey the lives of tens of thousands of people. These men would be killed without knowing what happened to them. ¡°Death is the only ending for those who have forgotten and left behind their fears,¡± Grell said calmly as he raised his hand. Fwooooooosh!!! Darkness flowed out from Grell¡¯s fingertips to create a huge black hole that twisted the air in the surroundings. Even though Grell had been beaten by that monstrous boy, he was still an 8th Circle necromancer, a powerful being who has never been seen on this continent. ¡®I will definitely show them the extent of my powers!¡¯ The darkness swirled above Grell¡¯s hands until it created a gigantic sphere. Without saying anything, Grell grabbed the sphere and crushed it into nothingness. Flash!!! Once a flash of black light burst out, something unexpected happened to the allied troops that were marching in a straight line toward the canyon. Tens of thousands of Undead appeared out of nowhere, as if they had been waiting for the troops. The Undead began breaking down the walls of the canyon to get to the allied troops. ¡°Everyone dies upon getting bitten. No matter who you are, you will not be able to escape death.¡± The allied troops should have chosen to avoid a frontal confrontation with Grell and his forces. After all, Grell¡¯s forces may be weak by themselves, but their bites could lead the allied troops to their deaths. ¡°M¡­ Men!!! Prepare for battle!!!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t panic!!! Nock your arrows!!!¡± The allied troops¡¯ response to the unexpected ambush was a calm one, proving that they had come here with their own countermeasure in hand. However, petty tactics would not work against Grell¡¯s trap here. Grell Orfan once again created a flash of power. He poured the remnants of that power into the staff in his hand. Then, he tapped his staff on the ground with a shout, ¡°This is the land that my liege once ruled. How dare you enter this place, measly humans! It seems like you''re quite courageous!¡± Thud!!! As a pale light spread alongside an earthquake, the allied troops and the Undead clashed. Thump, thump, thump, thump!!! Pandemonium unfolded as the shocking number of Undead and humans fought against each other. Grell Orfan looked at the battlefield silently. He already knew that this would happen. He could see how his own troops were overwhelming the allied troops, whose physical strength was only at the basic level. Grell even took advantage of the fact that they only needed to graze the enemies to win. He would win as long as his enemies could turn into allies the moment they were bitten. The winner of this frontal and head-on battle was way too obvious. There were a few strong ones who could bring out an [Aura Blade] but one could not expect any great effect from them at all. ¡°Foolish ones¡­¡± After hearing the terrible screams and shouts as the slaughter continued on, Grell Orfan finally thought of ending this fight all at once. Once his preparations were complete, he tapped his staff on the ground¡­ Thunk¡­ The cliffs surrounding the grand canyon began to shake. The surroundings were all of nature, but there were secrets hidden in this place that even humans did not know of. This was the place that had been used by the dragons as their tombs for hundreds of years. And over time, many bones had accumulated in the area. Crack!!! With a loud crack, the ground shook terribly. Thump!!! With another loud sound, cracks began to appear on some of the canyon¡¯s tough and hard rocks. Thud!!! When the crack finally spread far and wide, the cliffs collapsed to reveal the huge figures of the beings that had been dormant beneath the ground. The beings were the ultra-cold Frost Wyrm Wyverns. It was not just one or two, but dozens of Frost Wyrm Wyverns flying over the skies and casting great shadows on everyone on the ground. It was a very spectacular sight. ¡°It seems like they could block at least one of them.¡± Grell¡¯s red eyes followed the giant monsters, which were Frost Wyrm Wyverns, that had risen to the skies. He muttered, ¡°It would be hard for them to survive without any cover the moment dozens of monsters fired their breaths at them.¡± The most efficient way to get rid of the allied troops would be for the Frost Wyrm Wyverns to release their breaths on them. Also, Grell did not really care how the allied troops would stage a counterattack from this attack. Thud!!! Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!!! One of the giant wyverns that was tens of meters in size suddenly gathered a black current of energy in its mouth. The Frost Wyrm Wyvern¡¯s breath shot straight toward the members of the allied troops who were not participating in the battle. Baaaaaang!!! The attack¡¯s low temperature caused mist and vapor to rise up from the ground, covering the view of the canyon. Obviously, the scene below could not be seen but Grell, whose eyes had turned green, could see what was happening inside the mist and the vapor very clearly. ¡°Aaaaaaaaack!¡± ¡°Save me!¡± The allied troops¡¯ soldiers screamed in terror as the Frost Wyrm Wyvern¡¯s breaths broke their formation and froze them all. The situation was obviously to Grell¡¯s advantage. So, why was Grell Orfan feeling some strange sense of deja vu? It did not take too long for Grell to find out where the strange sense of dissonance was coming from. The soldiers screamed as they got swept away by the Frost Wyrm Wyvern¡¯s cold breath. Those who were unaffected kept fighting desperately to stay alive. The breath attack was only for a moment, but the entire fight between the Undead and the allied troops had lasted for quite a while already. If that was the case, then Grell should have already sacrificed a lot of his Undead. However, none of the Undead had been disposed of. To be exact, none of the Undead had perished under the hands of the allied troops. The short and intense feeling of deja vu was enough for Grell¡¯s instincts to determine that there was something dangerous here. ¡°Did you enjoy the 3D surround sound and display?¡± ¡°Heuk?!¡± Grell Orfan, who was about to turn around, was shocked by the figure who suddenly appeared in front of him. However, his reaction was too slow. The strange red and blue swords that had once killed him pierced through him once again. He fell to the depths of the canyon. ¡°Keuaaaaaaaaaaack!¡± Grell shrieked loudly from the pain that tore through his soul after being struck by the sword. He also saw the entire allied troops disappear from sight. It seemed like all of the opponents that he had seen so far were just mere illusions. And¡­ Thud!!! As the allied troops disappeared, the ground beneath their feet slowly started to shake. That was when a giant made of earth appeared together with hundreds of smaller clay giants. The being had a momentum that weighed down the surrounding air and made the dozens of Frost Wyrm Wyverns look shabby in comparison. ¡°All of those soldiers¡­were just an illusion? That¡¯s impossible! The mana needed to maintain that kind of magic is something that you can¡¯t handle¡­!¡± ¡°If we¡¯re talking about the simplest method, then you are certainly correct.¡± Grell screamed as if his judgment of the situation was correct. However, shortly after that, the earth giant slammed its fist toward the Frost Wyrm Wyvern. This time, it was not the fake trampling of the Undead from before. It was the true abuse and trampling from the allied troops. CH 203 The crouching earth giant, which was around twenty meters in height and around 4~50 meters in width, slowly raised his body from the ground. He did not care about the Frost Wyrm Wyverns that towered over everyone else. His yellow eyes flashed as he took a huge step forward. Thud!!! A massive earthquake erupted, changing the surrounding terrain. A Spirit King was the source of nature. As such, they had great control over their own attributes, their power reaching as far as their eyes could see. Since Gnoass was the spirit of the earth as well as the origin of the land, no territory existed that was not within reach of Gnoass¡¯ powers. Any and all land was Gnoass¡¯ territory. Even a strong existence at the level of a swordmaster would have a hard time against Gnoass. If it was the power of Gnoass¡¯ main body, then it would definitely reach the level of a grandmaster. However, the power that a Spirit King could use in the middle world obviously had certain limitations. Still, the basic specs would not disappear and would still be a cut above the rest of the beings in this continent. ¡°It¡¯s really sucking up a lot of spirit power.¡± A huge amount of spirit power had been siphoned off of Davey, making his head spin. After all, a large amount of the spirit power that he had stored in his body was decreasing at a very rapid rate. Most of the power that Gnoass displayed and used was derived from the spirit power stored in Davey¡¯s body. Naturally, the more Gnoass went on a rampage, the higher the consumption of spirit power. A gigantic Frost Wyrm Wyvern roared as it flew over and scratched Gnoass with its sharp claws. However, Gnoass immediately raised both hands and grabbed its wings. His forceful grip rendered the Wyvern helpless. When the Frost Wyrm Wyvern shrieked and struggled fiercely, it attracted the other Wyverns¡¯ attention. The other Wyverns quickly aimed their muzzles toward Gnoass¡¯ head and fired their freezing Breath. ¡°Stop playing around and finish it quickly. Do you think my spirit power is infinite?¡± [I¡¯m not trying to be funny!] Gnoass¡¯ yellow eyes flashed briefly when he heard Davey¡¯s grumbling. Crack, crack, crack!!! At the same time, another arm popped up from Gnoass¡¯ back and grabbed the Frost Wyrm Wyvern¡¯s snout behind him. He then proceeded to snap the wings of the Wyvern in his hand before slamming it down to the ground. Just like that, a gigantic Undead that was almost forty meters in size collapsed helplessly under Gnoass¡¯ hands. ¡°Urk¡­ Death Swamp!!!¡± At that moment, the hard and solid earth beneath Davey¡¯s feet suddenly turned into black tar and aimed to devour him. [7th Level Holy Magic] [Purification] Death Swamp was a dark magic of the 7th Circle. It was a spell that could create a swamp of death that corroded everything at a rapid rate. Davey instinctively used holy magic and casted Purification. Even if it was purely by reflex, the casting was done a bit too late. It was only for a very short moment, but he frowned upon seeing the metal on his shoes had melted. ¡°What¡¯s this? Are you telling me to fight barefoot?¡± Davey tried to complain, but he really could not bring himself to do so. This all happened because of his own carelessness. When Davey turned his head, he saw the bastard whom he had just pulled Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon out of. He muttered, ¡°You¡¯re not dead yet?¡± Davey thought that Blue Ribbon¡¯s power to cut off and destroy immortality would kill the bastard in a single blow since it was a direct hit. It seemed like Davey had underestimated the guy. ¡°You got me once. Do you think you¡¯ll get me another time?! I don¡¯t know how you have the Spirit King under your command, but if you let it run wild like that¡­ You are going to struggle to maintain the Spirit King!¡± Just like what the bastard screeched in Davey¡¯s ears, Davey needed a lot of power to let Gnoass run wild like that. ¡ªIt¡¯s really too much for you. Davey needed a lot of time to recover. However, because of the circumstances, he had no choice but to overuse the power that he was releasing. Even if Davey had a mana ring specifically optimized to help him release the greatest power, his body¡¯s endurance would still face its limit. ¡°That¡¯s true¡­¡± Davey opened his eyes slightly as he moved his now slightly heavier body. When the bastard opened his eyes and picked up his staff that was emitting black energy currents, Davey said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what you like¡­¡± Swoosh¡ª Bang!!! ¡°So, I prepared everything. Hey, where will I use them if you¡¯re already terrified?¡± ¡°Crazy bastard! How dare you try and bluff your way out?!!¡± ¡°It¡¯s a bit hard to believe, right? To be honest, I¡¯m also someone who defies common sense.¡± Bang!!! As if he was trying to stage a counterattack, Grell shot out black bullets from his body. The black bullets easily moved at the speed of light. On top of that, they were so sharp and cutting that a simple metal bullet could never compare. The effects of the bullets were ridiculously shocking. ¡ªHe reinforced the 3rd Circle Death Bullet? Considering the force behind that attack, it seems like the power has reached around the 6th circle¡­ That¡¯s a bit abnormal. Dozens of bullets flew swiftly and tried to pierce through Davey, who evaded the attack by kicking around the surrounding terrain without hesitation. The constant firing of the bullets eventually turned the area black, because everything rotted and decayed. If one bullet so much as grazed Davey¡­ Sizzle!!! ¡°Oh my.¡± ¡ªDavey?! Just then, one of the black bullets nicked Davey¡¯s sleeve. His clothing began to corrode, turning into black powder. Not only that, but it also affected his forearm, leaving a scar on his otherwise fair and spotless arm. ¡ªHurry! Use Purification! ¡°There you go.¡± Sizzle! As if it had been waiting, the holy power in Davey¡¯s magic moved and began to burn away the death energy that tried to encroach upon his body. The pain that followed was quite considerable, but it was truly nothing. After all, Davey had gone through many things during his training back in the Hall. ¡°Paralyze!¡± ¡°Confuse!¡± ¡°Blind!¡± Not long after, curses¡ªa trademark of those that dealt with dark mana¡ªbegan to pour out. The use of the curses was to slow one¡¯s opponents down, so one could use an attack magic and finish them off. Davey turned dizzy. In fact, even his vision was starting to blur, so he couldn¡¯t avoid the black bullets that were flying his way. The bastard was strong. Simply looking at the extent of his power, Davey could tell that Grell Orfan was in the transcendental realm. He was a being on par with Shandra Minea and the vampire that Davey had met during the Rowane Kingdom¡¯s rebellion. So far, Davey had only met two transcendental level beings. However, compared to Pace, who had only reached that level due to temporary doping, and Shandra Minea¡¯s clone that had lost all sense of reason, Grell Orfan was far stronger. This was because Grell Orfan was a true powerhouse who had reached the 8th Circle. In fact, compared to the stupid mosquito who had only thought of using pure force to suppress and hold Davey down, the Lich currently in front of Davey was freely casting dozens of hidden attacks and abilities. Even if people were on the same level of power, the force that they could exert would drastically differ depending on how the individual used their power. Except for holy mana, Davey had recovered all of his mana and had reached the 8th Circle. The Lich in front of him was also on the 8th Circle, but was also ridiculously strong. ¡°I¡¯m a bit touched.¡± Thwack!!! So far, Davey¡¯s enemy had made moves that were still within his acceptable range. ¡°If you truly want to threaten me, you should have dragged the World Tree¡¯s true body.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t make me laugh! The giant tree that supports the world is life itself, it¡¯s not something that an existence like you can handle!¡± Even before Davey had reached the Master level, he was already able to deal with Master-level beings. If someone at his level could push him back, then it would be better for him to just bite his tongue and kill himself. ¡°Keheok?!¡± Of course, it was only natural for Davey¡¯s body to start corroding from the onslaught of magic. However, it shocked the Lich that Davey was able to escape the rain of attacks intact and could still jump at him. ¡°Let¡¯s see if you can still endure this.¡± Davey did not trust that the Lich would answer his questions. So, as soon as he reached out to grab Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon, he immediately cut down the huge staff that was swinging to counter Red Ribbon¡¯s attack. ¡°What?!¡± Davey could tell that the staff was made out of a very tough material. If Blue Ribbon could cut down anything that had transcended the laws of nature, then Red Ribbon had abilities on the other end of the spectrum. After stabbing the Lich successfully, Davey immediately stabbed him in the head with Blue Ribbon. ¡°Aaaaaaaaack!¡± A painful, terrifying, and desperate scream rang out in the area. Then, openly showing his hostility towards Blue Ribbon, Grell Orfan yelled, ¡°That damned weird blade!!!¡± [Waaaah!] The hilt of the blade moved slightly from Blue Ribbon¡¯s sudden outburst. She was seemingly ready to cry. ¡°Who are you calling weird? You crazy bastard.¡± Crack, crack, crack!!! The Lich¡¯s skull now had a gaping hole. It looked like Davey had spun his sword around after stabbing the Lich¡¯s skull. ¡®I¡¯ll stab you in your head as many times as the hilt of my sword moves!¡¯ Since the Lich had made several precautions against Blue Ribbon, he did not die so easily this time. He had fully disguised his preparations, so it was a bit hard for Davey to notice. After all, it was difficult to fish a needle out of a haystack. But if that was the case, then¡­ ¡°Guess I¡¯ll just have to burn everything down.¡± Thud!!! Crack!! After pulling Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon out of Grell Orfan, Davey summoned his cross-shaped divine spear, Longinus. He flipped it over before striking the Lich''s body. ¡°Argh?! What the hell is this¡­?!¡± ¡°Here, let me give you a present.¡± [8th Level Holy Magic] [Divine Flame Cannon (Upgraded)] Baaaaaang!!! White cannons shot out of Longinus¡¯ tip, going straight through Grell¡¯s body. Since Davey had decided to go all out, he would not spare any expense at all. Vwoooooong!!! The bastard glared sharply at Davey as the holy magic, a power that he couldn¡¯t disregard, began to pour out from the cross and embed deep in his body. Then, he stretched his open palm out toward Davey and shouted, ¡°Death Breath!!!¡± Baaaaaaang!!! The counterattack happened in a split second. However, Davey had no plans of losing this match. Most of the mana stored in Davey¡¯s body fought back without any hesitation, pushing him a dozen meters away from the Lich. ¡°Cough¡­ urk¡­ I told you, I will not be hit twice by the same attack. It¡¯s true, you¡¯re strong. But compared to your level of power, your output is declining,¡± the Lich mumbled as if he had noticed the strangeness of Davey¡¯s body. ¡°In the end, that¡¯s all you can amount to. You won¡¯t be able to kill me this time, bastard.¡± Davey, who slowly raised his body from his crouched position, opened his hands and said, ¡°Tadah! Guess what¡¯s this?¡± Above his palms was a sphere made up of an ominous black light. Blue Ribbon¡¯s power could destroy anyone, even if they had a decent amount of defensive magic slapped on their bodies. The only reason why the Lich bastard had survived was that he had a medium hidden somewhere in his body where he had directed Blue Ribbon¡¯s power to. It was a pretty smart move. However, it was a complete mistake on his part to forget that Davey was someone who could also use dark magic. ¡°That?!¡± Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°Dark magic. You¡¯re not the only one who can use it. Why are you trying to teach a fish how to swim, huh?¡± The Lich instinctively rushed towards Davey. Unfortunately, the black ball of light was unable to withstand the tight grip of Davey¡¯s hand and easily broke down. ¡°Aaaaaaaaaack!¡± The bastard, who had lost his protective layer, collapsed from Blue Ribbon¡¯s constant assault. The speed at which his body collapsed was faster than before. ¡°Now, there are only six more left.¡± The Lich¡¯s eyes swayed at Davey¡¯s warning. He screamed, ¡°Impossible! How can a Saint bearing the stigmata¡­ How can you use dark magic¡­ And how can you use spirit magic?!!!¡± Spirit magic was a lot more forgiving, so even those who used the sword and some kind of magic could still learn how to use it. The most ridiculous thing, if Davey stood in the Lich¡¯s shoes, was the fact that both holy magic and dark magic were coexisting in his body. Davey thought that the bastard in front of him would definitely love to learn about all of the elements and power hidden within him. Those thoughts lingered in Davey¡¯s head as he crushed Grell¡¯s skull with his hands. He spat out a short breath as he stood up straight. ¡ªAfter everything is over, you have to rest like you''re dead for months. If you don¡¯t listen to me, then I¡¯ll force you to do it. Perserque snapped coldly at Davey. She could not let go of what she had seen, especially after seeing the side effects that Davey had to endure from fighting with strong opponents. ¡°Perserque¡­ Have you seen an enemy take into consideration my situation before attacking me?¡± The short question made Perserque go mute. ¡°If I collapse, the entire Heins territory will be destroyed. The humans will die and all of the elves will be taken away.¡± ¡ªDavey! ¡°I don¡¯t have any grand cause like saving the world. I never intended to do that in the first place.¡± However, Davey was proud and had a great sense of dignity. ¡°I have to show them that they need to be prepared to get swept away if they tried to mess with me.¡± This was not about Davey¡¯s war with the World Tree. This was a warning to all the beings that hid and waited to strike at Davey once chaos unfolded. Davey was telling them: I don¡¯t care what you want to do, but don¡¯t ever dare touch me and my people. The moment the Lich collapsed, the remaining three or four Frost Wyrm Wyverns flew away in escape. Simply put, those who could not feel pain nor fear ran away and the bastard who had lost his life once again sensed great danger and immediately retreated to save his strength. ¡ªHow will you find the next one? He will not show himself to you so easily anymore. The bastard must have already realized that he was no match against Davey in direct combat. After all, he had already been hit once or twice in the same way. Davey could tell from the Lich¡¯s movements that he was trying to revive someone or something. This meant that he would have an advantage over Davey if Davey continued to drag things on. If the Lich was wise, he would never dare show up in front of Davey anymore. If that was the case, then¡­ ¡°I¡¯ll go and find him myself.¡± While breathing roughly, Davey slowly woke up the element mana that he still had hidden in his body and cast a warp magic spell in front of him. ¡°You better hide as best as you can.¡± Hum, hum, hum!!! ¡°I can see your head~¡± Baaam!!! An empty and solitary region appeared in front of Davey as his background changed. There was no place better than this, since there was nothing but bones here. It was also very far away from where Davey had been, so the Lich could reconstruct the body and recover. ¡°S¡­ Space transfer magic?! How did you find this place?!¡± ¡°Do you not know how magic works, punk?¡± Davey listened to the Lich¡¯s shock and horror. He never expected that Davey would be able to follow and find him right after his resurrection. Nevertheless, it was already too late for him. Slash!!! Davey slashed the Lich¡¯s head once again. He could not help but smirk when he saw the newly reconstructed bastard¡¯s skull get trampled on like this. Then, he said, ¡°Five more times left, right?¡± CH 204 ¡°D¨CDamn it!!¡± Grell¡¯s second death from a deadly crushing of his skull was in vain. The battle had an obvious conclusion from the start, with Davey having the advantage of attacking Grell right after the monster¡¯s resurrection. Grell did not have the chance to even pull himself together. [Contractor, the humans you are helping, they are already in battle. Blood and bone dust are falling on the ground.] ¡°What¡¯s the situation?¡± [Not even a headless beast could move easily.] ¡°Good work.¡± Lich Grell Orfan had to concentrate to control the Undead. As long as he was entirely focused on Davey, the alliance should be able to take back the fortresses without difficulty. Why wasn¡¯t Davey helping and casting buffs on them? He didn¡¯t need to, and he didn¡¯t have the luxury to do that either. Grell, who had disappeared without a trace after complete destruction, was going to seek resurrection in a place he deemed safe; if he had even been given a bit of time, the alliance would have suffered great damage. Necromancers were weaker during one-on-one battles but overwhelmingly powerful during large-scale battles. Davey had suppressed the OP skill where one would instantly become an Undead upon getting bitten or scratched. He had stopped the transformation of the virus within new victims. However, that didn¡¯t change the fact that existing Death Knights hadn¡¯t gotten any weaker. Of course, the Death Knights were weak enough to be taken care of by the alliance¡¯s Masters running around on the battlefield. Whoosh!! As Davey quickly lifted his hands up and spread out his fingers, dozens of translucent windows appeared in the empty space. On those windows soon appeared arrangements of unique letters that looked like codes. Davey was looking for coordinates. No matter how damaged, a diamond was still a diamond; Grell was an 8th Circle necromancer who could bring about catastrophe on the continent. He could recognize any peculiarities and make preparations against magic spells that he had never even seen before. Although, it was still undetermined if he could block the source of Davey¡¯s magic or not. Davey would only be faced with more trouble if he gave Grell time. He chose to ignore the warning that his powers were quickly running out and activated warping magic again. [Contractor, your body will not be able to take it if I take any more of your spirit mana.] ¡°Just move.¡± [Contractor.] ¡°Gnoass, I don¡¯t want to repeat myself. I want you to listen to me,¡± Davey answered calmly. Gnoass stared at Davey in silence, then slowly nodded. He began to dissolve his body and said, [The crazy student follows in the footsteps of the devil teacher; you two are both insane. Don¡¯t forget¡­ Yuriana, your teacher, only died because she had overused her power.] ¡°Gnoass, didn¡¯t you learn that the price of lying is your tongue?¡± Yuriana, the spirit empress, had died after living a long, healthy life. And yet, Gnoass was telling Davey that she had died from pushing the limits of her power. ¡®You have to be careful of who you try to trick.¡¯ [Damn it, you¡¯re quick.] Following Grell, who disappeared once again, Davey cast a warp magic and jumped through space; he could feel his surroundings change around him. Voosh voosh voosh voosh voosh!!! Davey soon arrived at a place that was full of dark smoke, which blocked his vision. This was a dangerous situation that limited what he could do, but he still found his location with relative ease. After all, he was receiving the necessary coordinates in real-time. Perhaps this was the true definition of an abyss; this darkness where Davey could not see an inch in front of him. To make matters worse, it wasn¡¯t just dark smoke but a nasty, poisonous fog. Shwoo!!! Thud! Thud!! Suddenly, bone-made spears that had blackened from the fog came flying at Davey. As soon as he dodged one, several more came flying in his direction. This was a surprise attack after Davey¡¯s senses were blocked. It was quite fascinating, but necromancers had eyesight that had some resistance to this poisonous fog. ¡°You¡¯re not going to be struck twice, is that it?¡± Davey scoffed. He thought that Grell would have prepared something else unless he was an idiot. Crackk!!! Each spear made for a strong weapon, but they were not directly aiming for Davey. They were meant to block his escape routes. Davey quickly slashed a bone spear that flew over to threaten him. Then, he jumped up into the air without hesitation. Pshoo!!!! The spears weren''t the only problem; the moment the bone spears collided with each other, a dark and dense poisonous smoke began to surround Davey. His surroundings became even darker than before. The poisonous smoke was so strong that even he would have been in trouble if he hadn¡¯t reflexively covered his mouth and nose, and held his breath. ¡ªUnbelievable. Such poisonous smoke would have taken out a Swordmaster instantly. ¡°Cough¡­ How nasty. How many dead bodies did he put into this?¡± Necromancers used a lot of different ingredients when they made their poison, but such a strong poison could only be made from corpses. The process, which used distinct magic from beginning to end, only gained efficiency when living beings were used. This meant that Grell had extracted poison by killing countless living beings before creating this trap. To create this one poison, he must have sacrificed countless lives of monsters, humans, animals, and other kinds. Of course, Grell did not specially create this to kill Davey. He probably just ran out of options and could no longer hold back on his attacks. Davey could not see Grell this time. With the Devil Eye of necromancy, he could only see a couple of inches in front of him with some clarity. It wasn¡¯t easy to find Grell Orfan when this place messed up his sense of smell, hearing, and vision. However, Grell Orfan did not know that Davey was tracking his exact location in real-time. ¡ªTo get rid of this fog¡­ ¡°Ignore it.¡± Not having to think for long, Davey was quick to take action. As soon as he dodged another rapid attack, he stomped on the floor and activated a magic circle beneath his feet. There was no reason for him to flounder in this trap when he knew Grell¡¯s location. The bone spears that were flying at Davey to block his escape routes were definitely threatening, but they weren¡¯t OP enough to follow him through space. Search bit.ly/3iBfjkV for the original. Davey¡¯s powers were starting to run out from his overuse of warp magic. He knew best that he was definitely pushing it, but he also knew that Grell had to die here. ¡°Damn it!! Does your mana never run out?! You¡¯re using warp magic again!¡± Upon coming closer to Grell, Davey could hear him shouting in shock. Grell wasn¡¯t far now; although his sense of hearing was paralyzed, Davey could still catch faint sounds. Of course, Davey could feel several layers of waves of magic coming from where Grell was. Grell was trying to do more than just slow Davey down, having activated many types of magic circles right where Davey was. From basic curses like debilitation, corruption, aging, and exhaustion, there were also curses that reflected physical and magic powers, sense control, and mental destruction. All of them were being activated by an 8th Circle mage, so they were very threatening. However, curse-type magic required time to come into effect after being cast. This was a reason why Grell was focusing his efforts on defense rather than attacking Davey actively. The problem was Grell had no idea what Blue Ribbon could really do; originally, the blade¡¯s power was not simply the destruction of the authority of immortality, but the power to cut everything, even things that did not physically exist. The destruction of immortality was just an additional power that came along with it. Voosh!!! Slice! ¡°W¨CWhat?!¡± The invisible waves of curses coming toward Davey were, logically, a power that would remain even after being slashed by a blade. In reality, aside from certain holy magic spells, there was no magic that could stop curse-type magic from coming at him. However, Blue Ribbon cut through all of the curse-type magic and mana-type attacks. Needless to say, this was a blade that defied all logic and common sense. Grell was shocked, but he was pretty smart. He instinctively cast whatever defense magic he could use to protect himself. However, Davey was going to make sure that he knew that he wasn¡¯t here for attrition. ¡°I refuse to engage in a battle of unnecessary attrition.¡± Crash!!! Longinus, the divine sword, floated into the air from Davey¡¯s grip and transformed into a long, thin spear. Although Davey couldn¡¯t deny the fact that Longinus¡¯ spear form was so simple that it barely deserved the title of divine spear, its powers were so strong that it was able to crush the clone of Shandra Minea, the transcendental being, into the ground. ¡ªDavey!! You are not the same as when you were in the Hall! Use your mana carefully! ¡®I have lowered the output as much as possible.¡¯ Davey also had no intention of dying due to an inability to control his own powers. [Divine Spear Longinus¡¯ Second Natural Ability] [Nuclear Spear] Crack!! As the several layers of defense spells cracked and collapsed, Grell screamed in shock, ¡°T¨CThis can¡¯t be happening! This makes no¡­¡± ¡°It does make sense!¡± Crack! As more life vessels were destroyed, Grell¡¯s physical body seemed to become tougher and more durable. It was as if his remaining power would all move into the remaining life vessels he had left. However, that didn¡¯t seem to matter. As soon as Red Ribbon¡¯s red blade slashed through Grell¡¯s arms, Davey brought Blue Ribbon¡¯s blue sword energy down to behead Grell in a brutal manner. Pshooo¡­ ¡°Blue Ribbon, should we study mathematics?¡± Davey calmly asked Blue Ribbon, who had turned into human form in his arms. ¡°Yeah! Yeah! Blue Ribbon can do it well!¡± ¡°Red Ribbon, too!¡± Perhaps a little jealous of the fact that Davey was only giving his attention to Blue Ribbon, Red Ribbon also turned into human form by herself and charged into Davey¡¯s arms. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s see. How many times do we have left?¡± ¡°Four timeees!¡± ¡°F¡­ Fo¡­ Four times!¡± Blue Ribbon jumped up and down while holding up four fingers, and Red Ribbon shouted quickly after stuttering for a while. Blue Ribbon giggled in delight, having answered the quickest. At the same time, Red Ribbon pouted. ¡°A living sword¡­ A divine sword, I see,¡± Grell murmured. He was flustered upon realizing that the two swords were something far beyond what he had imagined. ¡°What divine sword?¡± Davey firmly denied Grell¡¯s assumption. He declared, ¡°These are my children.¡± Davey had given birth to Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon by crafting them to life. He was raising them too. Nothing changed just because they were swords and their abilities were specialized in slashing enemies. ¡°Are you listening? Four times left,¡± Davey warned. ¡°Nasty kid¡­¡± There was even a hint of nervousness in Grell¡¯s eyes before he turned into dust a moment later. * * * Grell was desperate. Davey¡¯s continuous attacks gave him no time to control the Undead, and he was losing his life vessels at a rapid rate. Out of the eight life vessels he had originally split his soul into, only four were left. Grell resurrected inside the necropolis, where Davey had destroyed him once. ¡ªThere¡¯s a need to take a look inside the ancient ruins where he was sealed before. The necropolis was most likely the safest place. This was especially true since Grell was using his remaining energy to block all paths that led there. Molecules that were surrounded by a bright light began gathering together. Then, a huge skeleton of a giant was formed. Grell¡¯s body was made up of pure power, so its reconstruction was relatively easy. ¡°Nice to see you again.¡± As soon as he came back alive, Grell felt his jaw drop to the floor. Davey was already in front of him, waving and smiling. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry this up! Three more times!¡± Crack!! * * * ¡°Keugh?! G¡­ Go away!!¡± Grell, who had yet to fully come back to life, screamed and rejected Davey with every inch of his body. ¡°Hey, why are you being like that? I said that I¡¯m going to wait until you come back.¡± ¡°You evil bastard! A demon would be far less evil than you!¡± ¡°Man, how can two slaughterers such as us talk about good and evil? Is it about ten seconds?¡± After asking that question, Davey took out a specially designed watch and shook it in front of Grell¡¯s eyes. Grell was still reconstructing his body, so he was washed over by a sense of urgency. He said, ¡°L¨CLet¡¯s negotiate! I acknowledge your power! This thoughtless war of attrition and slaughtering is not good! I¡­ Yes, I surrender!¡± ¡°What are you talking about, slaughterer? Ten seconds is up. Is it two times left now?¡± Splatter!!! * * * What was the most effective way to crush someone? It was to pressure them with continuous attacks and give them no time to make any preparations. It was somewhat of a relief that Grell ended up not realizing that Davey had applied another type of [Re-fix Curse] on his soul and bones. He would have discovered that if given the time, but thankfully, the curse was far too advanced for him to figure out in an instant. [Re-fix Curse] was a magic spell with the unique language made by an actual Death Lord. Strictly speaking, Rho Aias, Davey¡¯s necromancy teacher, had already been strong before reaching the Hall. As for the other heroes, they had gotten stronger in the Hall. What this meant was that she had possessed monstrous strength even when she had been alive. ¡°The Death Lord is not weak enough for someone like you to take care of them. Oh, is there about thirty seconds left? How come your resurrection time is getting longer and longer?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t come near me! Damn you! Why are you doing this to me?!¡± Grell shouted fiercely, unable to hide his anxiety. He had seemingly thrown his former unwavering attitude out the window. ¡°What do you mean why? Is there ever a reason for battle?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve crossed a line! I showed my intent to surrender!!¡± ¡°Surrender?¡¯ ¡®Then, how do you explain the intense hostility written in your status window?¡¯ ¡°Haven¡¯t you killed humans who have surrendered to you?¡± ¡°...¡± It was all just wordplay. ¡°Now, that¡¯s one time left, right?¡± Davey said with a smile. Grell¡¯s face went pale. CH 205 75. I Will Not Turn Back and Regret It. Was he going to throw his final life away in vain, or was he going to reveal the card up his sleeve? It was clear that Grell was trying to keep Davey away from a certain place, even if it meant sacrificing his life. The reason probably had to do with the fact that Saintess candidate Alice hadn¡¯t been seen in any of the past places Grell had been resurrected at. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡± Davey¡¯s voice trailed off. He released his powers to find Grell¡¯s location before casting a warp spell. However, he immediately shook his hand and stopped casting when he saw the coordinates changing in a strange manner. ¡ªDavey? ¡°It disconnected, but he didn¡¯t do it by himself¡­ The mana is too irregular.¡± The proof was in the pudding; Davey could figure it all out with a single glance. Davey searched his surroundings, putting all the confusing pieces together and finding the coordinates of a safe space. ¡ªIs this possible? ¡°It is.¡± Ignoring Perserque¡¯s disbelief, Davey jumped dimensions to see that the entire forest had died. ¡ªThis is¡­ ¡°Where he¡¯s sealed.¡± Considering what Grell had said and done up until now, it was clear that this place and the whole area contained something huge. And that something was probably none other than the King of the Dead Deian, the immortal being who Grell absolutely worshiped. ¡°It feels completely different.¡± This being was something beyond Davey¡¯s imagination. There was a great feeling of danger, because it gave off a shockingly intense and deadly energy that was on a completely another level. Compared to it, Grell¡¯s energy was not threatening at all. ¡ªDon¡¯t go inside. This seems dangerous. ¡°So this is where he ended up running off to, huh?¡± This was already Grell¡¯s last life, so he was pushing Davey very hard and not going to stop at anything. Of course, it wasn¡¯t difficult for Davey to enter this place alone like Grell wanted. He did, however, wonder what could possibly be in the forest that stung his skin so much. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Davey knelt down on one knee and lowered his head, trying to hide his presence. If the number of Undead in the forest was similar to or more than what was outside, Davey would take a lot of time to get to his destination. If so¡­ ¡°It¡¯s undercover action.¡± ¡ª...You¡¯re going to kill all of them and then act like a secret ambush, just because nobody is here to witness it? ¡°I am not doing anything wrong. Plus, I plan on sneaking in this time.¡± Davey hid his presence and the sound of his movements, from his heartbeat to his footsteps. He even hid his scent. Then, he placed his twin swords into the Pocket Plane and slowly walked into the forest. * * * To Davey¡¯s surprise, sneaking in wasn¡¯t all that difficult. Perhaps Grell couldn¡¯t afford to focus on dealing with him, or perhaps Grell was simply very confident this time. Davey ignored the Undead and walked past them, soon arriving at the huge ancient ruins that was connected to the underground. This was the ancient ruins where Grell Orfan, the giant Lich, had awoken after being sealed; it was the epicenter and origin of this entire incident. Shriek¡­ Squeak! Davey began to see more Undead, which were also stronger than those he had met, as he walked deeper into the ancient ruins. He also saw Undead who were clearly beyond the capabilities of Grell Orfan. The most irritating thing was¡­ ¡°...¡± The flow of mana was a mess. The basics of casting a spell was to create something by one¡¯s mana and controlling the mana in one¡¯s surroundings. But what if the flow of mana was a mess, like in this situation? It was obvious that magic spells could not be cast properly. In the worst case scenario, the mana in the surroundings would collide and cause a huge explosion. Thud!! Davey, who arrived at the entrance, stopped hiding his presence and slashed the tough stone walls with Red Ribbon. Crash!! When the firmly shut stone gates fell to the ground with a big crash, Davey could finally see the strange situation inside. ¡°D¨CDamn bastard! So, you followed me even to this place!¡± Grell Orfan snapped. The first thing Davey saw was the wheezing giant Lich who was reforming his body in the middle of the large hall. ¡°You cannot go further than this.¡± ¡°If you were thinking about stopping me, you shouldn¡¯t have let me find out about this place.¡± Of course, it wouldn¡¯t have changed the fact that Davey was going to forcibly come here even if Grell did manage to hide this place from him. Grell¡¯s eyes shone. He stayed silent as Davey provoked him. Then, he began to move slowly. His behavior was so reckless that it was difficult to see it as the behavior of someone who was facing death. Releasing his death energy, he swung his spare staff and threw powerful attacks at Davey nonstop. He was seemingly trying to squeeze out everything he had in his last life. There were many ways to dodge the attacks or counter them, but there was a limit to blocking them all with the power Davey could release right now. He could see the ways to stop the attacks, but his physical body could not follow. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?! You can¡¯t deal with it that easily, huh?! Kehehehehe!¡± Grell shouted while cackling terrifyingly. Just like Grell said, every one of his continuous attacks was powerful enough to cause significant damage. Grell, who amplified his powers excessively by putting his life on the line, continued to put pressure on Davey. He was gambling with his life, harnessing the power he had gathered from losing his life vessels. As powerful attacks that could hit him if he lost focus for even just a second were being thrown at him, Davey threw Red Ribbon into the air and gathered mana in his empty hands. [8th Circle Magic] [Fire-type] [Prometheus] Crackle. As a blue flame burned on his fingertips for a split second, Davey threw the small balls of fire into the air from his fingers without hesitation. Boom!!! Then, the giant explosion engulfed the surroundings in moments. Davey looked for a small window of opportunity in the midst of the attacks that were filling the sky. And when he found it¡­ ¡°Red Ribbon, let¡¯s go.¡± Red Ribbon, who Davey had left floating in the air, automatically began to make a red flash of light. Crack!!! The end of Red Ribbon¡¯s blade charged into Grell in seconds and penetrated him, pinning him to the wall. Instead of stopping there, Davey raised Blue Ribbon up to his head and pulled it back. [Longsword] [Swift Withdraw] [Great Earthshake] ¡®I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re hiding under there, but¡­¡¯ Davey had no choice but to forcibly advance if Grell was going to stop him desperately. As soon as Davey¡¯s arm muscles twitched, blue energy flowed out and enveloped the surroundings. Then, Blue Ribbon turned three hundred sixty degrees into a vertical position and split the ground into two. A dense blade energy in the shape of a crescent flew towards Grell as it crushed the ground with an immense weight. Boom!!!! As Davey had made the decision to slash Grell, this attack was more powerful and destructive than any other attack he had shown during battle. * * * In mere seconds, the large hall went quiet. The outcome of the battle was already decided. Davey wondered whether this battle would have been this easy if it weren¡¯t for Red and Blue Ribbon, then confidently shook his head. The only reason he was at an advantage in this battle was that he had a sword that cut both the physical and the antiphysical; he would have been in quite some trouble if he had taken the normal route. ¡°Kehe¡­ Kehehe¡­¡± Slowly walking through the dust clouds, Davey approached the sound of eerie laughter. He soon saw Grell Orfan, the giant Lich, on the floor. Half dissolved, Grell growled, ¡°I curse your existence.¡± ¡°I will embrace your curse,¡± Davey said calmly as he crushed Grell¡¯s skull with his foot and pulled Red Ribbon out of Grell¡¯s chest. It seemed like Grell had closely dodged Blue Ribbon¡¯s blade energy, since he didn¡¯t die instantly. Of course, his life was disappearing since he had failed to dodge the attacks entirely. ¡°What¡¯s left for you if you do this?¡± To be honest, Davey was a little curious. Devil mana did have a bit of a violent personality, but its effectiveness depended on the person¡¯s heart. Even though it was dark and dull, it could be used to save numerous people and even protect them. However, Grell Orfan had destroyed everything around him as soon as he had woken up from the ancient ruins. ¡°What¡¯s left¡­ You¡¯re right, there is nothing left for me in the end,¡± Grell said calmly, then chuckled. It didn¡¯t seem like Davey needed to end Grell¡¯s life, since he was already dying a slow death. ¡°But the allegiance that I have pledged to my master still remains.¡± Grell¡¯s eyes shone for a second. Squeak¡­ An irritatingly loud sound rang out in the surroundings. It had come from the metal hinges of a huge wooden door that hadn¡¯t been greased in a long time. Splatter! Then, Davey frowned as something quickly pierced through his chest. ¡°...¡± ¡°Finally¡­ Finally, he has awakened! Everything will fall under his feet! He will destroy evil and wicked humans and everything will return!!¡± Grell Orfan shouted. Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original. The floor began cracking and collapsing. Then, an invisible energy from the explosion hit Davey and pushed him away by a few meters. Rustle¡­ Rustle¡­ Davey, who was looking down at his chest in the midst of the loud noise and the building¡¯s collapse, slowly raised his head. He heard the faint sound of footsteps. Then, he saw a woman in black walking toward him with an emotionless face. The woman had pale skin and a blue jewel embedded in her forehead. Davey had seen her before, but she had never overflowed with such a great power or been so immersed in evil. ¡°Are you crazy?¡± As the woman just stared at him emotionlessly, Davey asked calmly, ¡°Should I change the question? Saintess candidate Alice, are you out of your mind?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ My lord¡­ My lord, Deian, the King of the Dead! I have planned for your resurrection and waited for this day! Please punish this unfaithful one for failing to resurrect you completely!!¡± Grell screamed like a zealot. The woman slowly turned over to Davey, who could not read her gaze. Her eyes then shone for a moment. Splatter!! Once again, there was a horrifying slash. CH 206 Squelp! An eerie tear of flesh could be heard. Rinne''s tiny foot not only crushed the Undead''s damp skin, but also their tough skull. The sharp pieces poked her feet like blades, but they failed to leave even a scratch on her fragile pale feet for some reason. The Undead resisted with all they had. However, the girl was too powerful for them to handle, and they were slaughtered in seconds. ¡°Rinne, location secured. Command given to subordinates.¡± [Megatron, command accepted.] With a short mechanical sound, a huge golem that was standing behind Rinne reached into itself with one hand. It pulled out a small object and planted it in the ground where Rinne was pointing at. ¡°Rinne, requesting subordinates to brief the current situation.¡± [Sniper, reporting that the mission was successful.] [Juggernaut, tanking mission complete.] [Shadow, mission complete. Keheheheh.] Sniper, the golem specialized for long-distance firing, Tank, the defense golem, Juggernaut, the rapid-firing golem, and Puma, the agility-specialized golem that usually took part in secret missions, were reporting to Rinne. They were only about as powerful as an advanced Expert when they had been first created, but now they were stronger than Expert-level. ¡°Excessively frivolous, weighty¡­ Rinne does not appreciate this. Considering prompt modification.¡± The golems¡¯ voices sounded grating and weird, and the way they replied wasn¡¯t great either. They had been given this function to accurately and strongly reflect Rinne¡¯s opinion, but even she found it more counterproductive than useful. However, it assured Rinne to see that her subordinate golems of the fleet had notable operational abilities. Rinne proudly puffed up her flat chest and kept nodding in satisfaction. She said, ¡°Mission of integration complete. Ordering perfect defense until the sacred item is secured.¡± [Command accepted.] [Command accepted.] As each of the fleet¡¯s five captains reported, Rinne quietly stared into the dark forest. ¡°Feeling the flow of a large amount of energy.¡± Rinne pouted like something wasn¡¯t making her happy. She muttered, ¡°Rinne, analyzing that combat ability is very good. Rinne does not appreciate Sir Davey¡¯s lack of trust in her.¡± Then, Rinne lightly jumped onto Megatron¡¯s shoulders and said, ¡°Megatron, requesting your opinion on Sir Davey¡¯s trust.¡± [Meaning unclear; requesting clearer orders.] Rinne stared at Megatron like she had expected that reply. The Decepticon Fleet¡¯s magic stone golems appeared to have quite an exceptional artificial intelligence system, but unlike Rinne, they didn¡¯t really have the ability to think on their own. Most of their actions were dependent on newly added information, and so were their answers. Megatron was better than the other four golems, but it still could not problem solve as well as Rinne. ¡°...¡± Sensing that something was secretly approaching her in the quiet forest, Rinne held a bat in one hand and the energy sword she pulled out from the back of her hand in the other. She commanded, ¡°Megatron, prepare for battle.¡± [Command accepted. Activating electric chainsaw.] ¡°Rinne highly values Megatron¡¯s destructive actions. Ordering Megatron to not let even one of them reach the sacred item.¡± [Goal prioritized.] Soon, numerous Undead began to swarm to where Megatron and Rinne were. * * * Squelp!! Splatter!! Several invisible and odorless pillars pierced Davey and remained in him. The penetration did not hurt, nor could he see them with his regular vision. However, if he activated his Death Spirit Eye and carefully created a barrier of mana¡­ ¡ªDavey? ¡°...¡± ¡°Keh¡­ Kehehehe! My master¡¯s power has already been absorbed into your body! It doesn¡¯t matter whether you have an outstanding stigmata! You will not be able to handle the power of my master, who has reached the 8th circle!¡± ¡°The level of [Materialization]...¡± From the 8th Circle, the levels of power were no longer Beginner, Expert, and Master, but were divided into Perception, Absorption, and Materialization. This meant that the invisible pillars penetrating Davey right now was a power executed by someone who had entered the stage of Materialization. ¡°Oh, my master, I never thought I would see your power again. I am not going to regret dying¡­ Gurgle?!¡± Grell, who only had his head left, shouted like crazy. Suddenly, Grell flinched. His skull followed Alice¡¯s fingertips and floated up into the air. Noticing that, he said, ¡°M¡­ My lord. I have no regrets even if you take my life.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Grell, my loyal servant. I will not forget your sacrifice.¡± With that, Grell Orfan¡¯s gaze shook. He murmured, ¡°Everything is for my master¡­¡± Grell¡¯s last words were not of resignation or despair about his death. He expressed absolute delight that his master had resurrected¡­before disintegrating completely and dying. Normally, Grell wouldn¡¯t have disappeared unless his life vessels were destroyed. However, he was already barely holding on with the traces he had left in his crushed body, so he completely died after receiving a simple attack. The death of an 8th-Circle necromancer was quite in vain. ¡°Hm¡­ My palace is not in good condition.¡± The person speaking definitely looked like Saintess candidate Alice, but the voice that came out of her mouth was that of an old man. ¡°And¡­there is also the dirty servant of God,¡± Alice commented with a wave of one hand. Rumble!!!! As the ground was uprooted and something began emerging from the ground, Alice declared, ¡°Let the world know that the King of the Dead, the absolute king who you cannot dare look at, has returned.¡± The dead spirit that had come out from the ground moved around, then disappeared in a moment. ¡°Yes, have you come to stop my resurrection, disgusting servant of God?¡± Davey tapped the pillars that pierced through him and said, ¡°I don¡¯t care about your resurrection or whatever. My territory¡¯s food supply situation isn''t all that great because of your shenanigans here.¡± ¡°Ha¡­ You dared to stand in my way because of such trivial reasons.¡± Alice, now known as the old man, stepped forward. He was no longer amused. ¡°Well, alright. I will not take your life at this moment since I am in a good mood. Be grateful for my mercy and get out of my sight.¡± As he waved his hands at the completely destroyed ruins, the crushed walls and floor began to come together and rebuild themselves like they were alive. This old man was definitely powerful. Davey could clearly see the difference between Grell Orfan, who was at the Perception stage, the entry-level of an 8th-Circle mage, and someone who was at the stage of Materialization, the highest level of the 8th circle. He seemed more substantial than Grell Orfan, who had the grand name of the Death Lord just because he had reached the 8th Circle, but¡­ They were all the same to Davey. Davey became a little curious. He asked, ¡°Do you call yourself the Death Lord, too?¡± ¡°Death Lord? Ha! I have transcended such a trivial position a long time ago; I have become God itself from the moment I was able to see the flow of the world!¡± Perserque looked at the old man like he was pathetic, and Davey felt a headache coming on. He groaned, ¡°This one is worse.¡± It was quite funny how these guys were nowhere close to being a Grandmaster but were calling themselves the Death Lord. The power that Davey had gotten back was at the 8th-Circle, but this wasn¡¯t even half of the power he had at the Hall. Whoosh!! After provoking the old man, Davey felt an invisible power grabbing him and throwing him into the air. The old man only waved his hand, but he was controlling every inch of Davey¡¯s body. In fact, he was only using his fingers. He was showing Davey that it was extremely easy for him to throw a human up into the air. ¡°Be careful what you say, you dirty servant of God. One sentence could save a lot of lives. I am disappointed if your judgment is so bad that you can¡¯t even see who is the almighty here.¡± The old man took a step forward, continuing to say, ¡°Daphne, the Saintess who had tried to stop me, died in my hands. She was a substantial servant of God.¡± ¡°What?¡± Davey stopped smiling. * * * ¡°You killed who?¡± The old man scoffed at Davey¡¯s calm question. He declared, ¡°Has her name been forgotten after all these years? Saintess Daphne, that is the name of the servant of God whom I¡¯ve killed.¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t care about that. You were the one who killed that woman?¡± The old man stayed silent. However, his black eyes shone at Davey¡¯s incredulous question. ¡°With that kind of power?¡± Crash!! The invisible power holding Davey up in the air swung him toward the wall without any hesitation. He crashed painfully. Crash!! Crash!! The old man quickly followed up that attack by holding onto Davey and pressing him into the ceiling. Then, he slammed Davey against the ground over and over again. Infuriated by Davey¡¯s words, the old man snapped, ¡°Be careful of what you say, servant of God.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget that I can kill you with just the flick of my finger.¡± With that, the old man reached out his thin hands and muttered, ¡°Alright, I can¡¯t help it if you want to die. However, you will not be able to die painlessly. You will wander in deep pain for an endless amount of time, and I will make your soul disappear when your mind has been completely destroyed.¡± ¡°So, what is it that you want to do after going through all of this to resurrect?¡± Davey asked with his body limp. ¡°The extinction of disgusting human beings. This land has been full of dirty human lives for a long time. Now, it is time to end it. It seems that most of my loyal servants have been left asleep underground in these ancient ruins.¡± Davey forcibly twisted the invisible energy that was holding his body. He groaned, ¡°So cliche and no fun.¡± ¡®I thought you would have some interesting things to say since you¡¯re an ancient being.¡¯ ¡°You don¡¯t even have life vessels. Just die here,¡± Davey said. The old man¡¯s eyes shone. Saintess candidate Alice, who was holding his soul, would also be caught up, but it was safe to assume that her life had ended from the moment she had turned away from God. ¡°Mortal, I am the true Immortal. Do you really think you will be able to kill me because I do not have a life vessel?¡± ¡°Enough about that immortal crap.¡± ¡°An ignorant person who cannot tell the difference between Heaven and Earth must be punished.¡± [I sentence you to death.] The simple incantation affected the surrounding mana, which was moving all over the place and was stopping Davey from using magic. The mana then flowed into him, causing the invisible pillars to vibrate and engrave a nasty curse in him. ¡°The Curse of Death¡­ Be thankful for even witnessing such a curse.¡± Davey watched the curse slowly suffocate him. Search bit.ly/3iBfjkV for the original. ¡®Hm, surely I would die if I was ambushed with this.¡¯ However, the old man was, unfortunately, forgetting one thing. ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°Is it cool?¡± The Curse of Death had surely been engraved in Davey¡¯s body, but why wasn¡¯t it working? The old man took a step back as Davey walked toward him nonchalantly. ¡°Now, I¡¯ll tell you two things since it¡¯s no fun hiding everything.¡± Davey grabbed the old man¡¯s hand and placed it on the part of his chest that was not pierced with a pillar. He asked, ¡°Now, you can see it, right?¡± ¡°...¡± The old man was shocked into silence. ¡°You can now see who you are up against, and who is standing in front of you right now.¡± ¡°What is¡­ This¡­¡± Davey stared into the old man¡¯s confused eyes, then he opened his mouth to speak. ¡°The reason your curse is not working is simple.¡± Considering the nature of a curse, a lower level curse would become absorbed by one of a higher level and disappear. This was assuming that a higher level curse was at play. ¡°N¡­ No way¡­ A power like this cannot be in your body unless you are a God?!¡± ¡°There is a curse that a dark mage far beyond your power has put on me.¡± [Rejection of Flow] This curse allowed Davey to escape the flow of destiny. It looked like an advantage, but the price of this curse¡­was that Davey would always be an outsider who couldn¡¯t receive God¡¯s protection. He was completely disqualified from entering the ring of reincarnation where the soul circulated, and this was an additional condition: if Davey died before being able to accomplish achievements that would be enough for him to enter the Hall, his soul would disappear after being ripped to shreds, or he would wander the Earth for eternity. There was no way a simple curse such as the old man¡¯s would work on Davey when there was something like this on him. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m immune to most curses, you ass.¡± Even before the old man could move, Davey forcefully reached his hand over and grabbed the jewel embedded in the old man¡¯s forehead. Smiling as the old man struggled, he said, ¡°Let¡¯s see how long you hold out.¡± ¡°W¨CWait?! S¨CStop! I told you to stop!¡± ¡°Ah, whatever!!¡± ¡®You would only add to the confusion when you leave. Just die here quietly if you are going to be no help in the later battle with the World Tree.¡¯ [If you want to save your lost little lamb, you can interfere as you wish. I wish that you will be able to show your will through the will of your contractor and dealer.] [9th level Holy Magic] [Strengthened Body] [God¡¯s Index Finger] [Grand Holy Fire Ball] Once again, God¡¯s index finger crushed the old man¡¯s entire being like it had come down to earth. However, unlike before, a flash of light that had combined with God¡¯s will and synergized with the sacred item¡¯s power, which had been activated by Rinne, also fell onto him. CH 207 Lich Grell Orfan spoke too much. Davey was no idiot, so he already knew that there would be an opponent who was much stronger than Grell Orfan and had made preparations. However, the opponent turned out to be much more disappointing than he imagined. Hwaa!! The light illuminating the surroundings pushed away the power inside Saintess candidate Alice¡¯s soul, which was causing chaos. ¡ªThe last salvation of a lost little lamb. ¡ªI am not forcing anything, but there will be a luminous source of grace. As a person serving God who had been cursed and was rejecting the flow of the world, Davey knew that he would not be able to receive God¡¯s love even if he had received attention. The reason he had received the stigmata was not to make him a Saint, but for him to probably protect those who were loved by God. ¡ªIs this¡­the way to treat those who are truly loved by God? ¡®How troublesome.¡¯ Davey froze at what showed up on the status window that suddenly popped up in front of his face. He was speechless. ¡°...¡± ¡ªDavey? Davey couldn¡¯t help but frown. Saintess candidate Alice was returning to normal as the jewel embedded in her forehead began to break. She had declared that she was going to turn away from God, but the fragments of God¡¯s will that Davey had summoned were forgiving her and embracing her. Of course, there was no way that Davey¡¯s attack could have been at full power; the holy fire should have burned Saintess candidate Alice away without a trace. ¡°What is this? Is this how you are going to be?¡± Davey mumbled like he was complaining, but he received no answer. ¡°Hup¡­ Cough! Cough!¡± Alice moaned and rolled on the floor. Alice was definitely alive. Davey could feel no trace of Deian, the self-acclaimed King of the Dead, who had used her body as a host to come back to life. Had he disappeared? No way. Deian had reached Materialization, the final stage of the 8th Circle. Although he ended up that way because he had fallen into every trap that Davey had set¡­ ¡ªHe called himself immortal; there¡¯s no way he would die this easily. There were two possibilities: Deian had hidden so deep inside Alice that even Davey couldn¡¯t find him, or he had run away to another host. ¡ªAnother host? ¡°His power is divided. He wouldn¡¯t have been defeated so helplessly if he had his true powers.¡± Deian wasn¡¯t as powerful as the World Tree, but he was definitely threatening. If he had his original powers, he would be a pain in the ass that Davey would have to carefully prepare to block and kill. ¡°The enemy has resurrected, and I lost the one-time chance to kill the fragmented soul.¡± ¡®Selfish.¡¯ Davey could not understand, and he didn¡¯t want to try. After all, God couldn¡¯t understand him and was not trying to. All that existed right now was a simple deal. ¡ªHm¡­ How ridiculous. ¡°God is neither human nor a being for humans to worship in the first place.¡± The thing that people got wrong was the fact that Goddess Freyja was a god for humans. ¡ªNow that you mention it, there were some demons that worshiped Goddess Freyja as well. So? What are you going to do? To me, the probability that there is another host seems highly unlikely. Although he only had a fragment of his powers, Deian had managed to resurrect because his host was someone like Alice. Normally, there shouldn¡¯t have been any scenario where he could have woken up. Thud! Davey grabbed Alice, who was on the floor, by the collar and slammed her against the wall. Then, he stared straight at her as she looked around in a daze. He said, ¡°God abandoned you first?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°But that God made a deal to save your life, you know?¡± ¡°That is¡­¡± Beginning to understand the overall situation, Davey said calmly, ¡°Let me tell you something interesting.¡± Alice¡¯s eyes slowly began to regain focus. ¡°Positions like Saintesses or Saints are chosen from birth. Just because someone is stamped with a stigmata doesn¡¯t mean that they will become Saints and Saintesses.¡± Needless to say, Davey was just someone who had a trace of God even though he held the title of an honorary Saint. He was not a true Saint as he wasn¡¯t born with the love and attention from God. However, the woman in front of him was a different story. ¡°Cough¡­ What does¡­¡± ¡°Also, you and Saintess candidate Lena were blessed to become Saintesses from birth in the first place.¡± ¡®You expect a lot when you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth.¡¯ God had given the two candidates a test; there was a saying that one needed to either be thrown into hardship or given power to reveal their true selves. There were two Saintess candidates on this continent: Lena and Alice. In Lena¡¯s case, she was tested by being given hardships, and Alice, by being given power. ¡°What should I do? God has rescued you, but I don¡¯t want to.¡± ¡°Kill me. I have nothing left anymore,¡± Alice mumbled monotonously. Davey reached his hand toward Alice¡¯s face and released a bright blue flame. He was casting [Prometheus], an 8th-Circle fire spell: the size of his spells had been dramatically reduced due to the strange waves surrounding the area that confused his mana, but fire-type spells had the greatest firepower out of any other spells. Everything about it was different, starting with the size. ¡°Is there a reason for me to keep you alive when you want to die? I¡¯ll let you go with as little pain as possible,¡± Davey said calmly. Alice closed her eyes. Hwaaa!! However, the shitty things did not stop here; a flash of pure light enveloped Davey¡¯s hand and erased [Prometheus] like it was telling him that he couldn¡¯t do that. Davey couldn¡¯t help but frown at the holy power that was used by neither him nor Alice. This was a higher being¡¯s interference. ¡®Do not kill her. Let her live. Save her.¡¯ Although Davey did not hear a voice, the will was clear. The holy power he was able to have from gaining God¡¯s attention and dealing with her had caught up with him. Of course, he knew that he could not act selfishly as he had done a lot of things with that holy power, but he just could not understand. ¡°So fuxxing unbelievable,¡± Davey mumbled irritatedly and backed off. Alice, who was closing her eyes, slowly raised her head. ¡°But¡­ Why? Why are you saving me?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t ask me that. It¡¯s frustrating.¡± ¡°You silenced every prayer that I¡¯ve given until now! I desperately studied, worked, and practiced to meet your expectations! But why is the person who never even listened to me when I desperately called upon Him is making me more pitiable?¡± Alice was not shouting at Davey, but crying out toward a God who did not answer her. ¡°There is one difference between you and Candidate Lena.¡± Was it the ability and talent to handle holy power? No, that was wrong, since that wasn¡¯t a criterion required to be a Saintess. ¡°Then, what do you think? A beauty that stands out from a crowd?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°That¡¯s wrong, too,¡± Davey said. As Alice remained silent, Davey went on, ¡°From what I can see, Saintess candidate Lena will receive a stigmata pretty soon. However, now, it is unclear when you will get a stigmata. Find out the answer yourself. And, I think you¡¯re misunderstanding something big-time, but¡­¡± Davey grabbed Alice¡¯s collar and shook his hand in the dimly lit space. He said, ¡°You have received God¡¯s love every second of your life.¡± Alice was blessed by God in everything she did, having a sure-fire way to break through hardships. Unlike normal cases, where everything would go wrong with one screw-up, she had this insurance called God. From exceptional beauty to power that could save a lot of people, divine holy power, Alice did have a lot of forces helping her even without her knowing. The reason her soul and body had not been destroyed when she had accepted the soul of Deian, the King of the Dead, was because of God¡¯s blessing. ¡°If you want, there is a way to escape that trivial amount of love¡­¡± Davey said calmly, and drew a shape of an inverted cross on Alice¡¯s wrist. The inverted cross didn¡¯t shine or anything since Davey didn¡¯t really do anything, but it seemed like Alice knew what it was. It was funny that he was offering it when he had a stigmata, but¡­ ¡®I will do it if you want, Goddess Freyja.¡¯ ¡°There is a way to turn away from Goddess Freyja so that even she can¡¯t protect you.¡± ¡°That is¡­¡± ¡°If you do, all the love from God that you have received until now will disappear. The blessing and luck that have unknowingly protected you will disappear.¡± ¡°Why does that matter?! That blessing and light disappeared when you appeared!¡± ¡°What a joke.¡± Slap! A quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled. ¡°Kyahh!¡± Davey slapped Alice without hesitation and stared at her coldly. He snapped, ¡°Then, was it my indecisiveness that just saved you? Don¡¯t make me mad.¡± God was forced to overstep and intervene directly because nothing could be done about either God¡¯s blessings or the natural flow of the world. ¡°The reason why it didn¡¯t work out like how you wanted this time is simple.¡± It was because this was a test that Alice had to face without the blessing of God. ¡°The studying you have done up to now was to have the authority and dignity of a Saintess among humans.¡± What Saintess candidate Alice had to study now was how to interpret and embrace the divine will. She had been given everything, so she didn¡¯t know how it felt not to have something. ¡°Think carefully.¡± Davey pushed Alice into the cracks and scanned the broken space silently. ¡ªDo you think you can just leave it like this? Perserque asked Davey. It would be stupid to leave this place alone when Deian wasn¡¯t fully destroyed, but¡­ ¡°I don¡¯t want to really touch it.¡± After expressing how he felt, Davey threw himself into the cracks after Alice had completely disappeared. He took a step forward, then stared at the blue sky and the vast plains of the forest. He commanded, ¡°Rinne, run wild. Send this message to the rest of the Decepticon Fleet.¡± ¡°Rinne on standby. Combat ability is highly rated.¡± ¡°Burn the entire corrupted forest. It¡¯s too troublesome to purify it with holy fire.¡± Davey did not want to use holy power for a while from now on. Goddess Freyja was the one who had started it. There were traces of Deian left and he hadn¡¯t disappeared completely, but calculations aside, Davey did not want to intervene anymore. It was best to be separated from each other when angry. ¡®Okay, let¡¯s be separated for a while, damn Goddess. Do you think I won¡¯t be able to do anything without holy power?¡¯ ¡ªBut it seems like you¡¯ve received a lot of love as well. ¡°I don¡¯t know. It feels like the only love I received was going to the Hall.¡± Perserque would never know how hard Davey had tried to possess this kind of power. * * * Most of the Undead collapsed upon losing their master. They all returned to the earth after Grell Orfan¡¯s death. There still were Undead wandering around because they still had some strength left in them, but they no longer posed a threat to the allied army. The only problem was the Undead that King of the Dead Deian, who seemed to still be alive, had created: the Frost Wyrm Wyvern that had run away alive and the transcendental Undead with unbelievable power that were asleep under the ancient ruins. Whatever it was, it would cause chaos, but none of them had been seen for some reason. It was as if they had run away to gather somewhere else. The alliance was able to restore the mountain fortress without difficulty since most of their enemy had disappeared. However, they were struggling with the aftermath of this incident. They had to receive high-level purification magic or receive low-level purification magic intermittently for a long period of time in order to heal the land, which was corrupt with deadly energy. Publicly, Saintess candidate Alice had been kidnapped by Deian before returning alive. Regarding the best case scenario, Davey should have returned alone with the statement that Alice had bravely died in battle. However, she was now alive and protected alongside the other Saintess candidate. It would be too troublesome for Davey to do anything now. Although religion could sometimes be the pinnacle of unfairness, the one thing that the heroes of the Hall, who looked like they were going to destroy the universe, never thought to do was to challenge the authority of God. There was nothing more foolish and stupid than a creature attacking its creator; that was God and the will of the world. Davey rested his head on Perserque¡¯s lap, who had become larger, and relaxed as everyone else was busy dealing with the aftermath. ¡ªYour head probably looks like it¡¯s floating in the air to other people. Perserque said with a gentle smile. She was supporting Davey¡¯s head with her lap. Other people who could not see her could only assume that Davey¡¯s head was floating in the air. ¡°Let me pout for once.¡± Davey was overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness and disappointment. It had been a long time since he had felt this irritated and helpless. Bleep! ¡ªPurification of the corrupted land. ¡°I¡¯m not doing it.¡± Bleep! ¡ªPurification of the corrupted land. Exerting force. ¡°Try me.¡± Davey turned off the status window in irritation, but it illuminated once again. Then, what was written in the ¡®Notes¡¯ section of his status window changed. ¡ªPurification of the corrupted land. Dealing with the aftermath of the demons. ¡°I¡¯m not doing it. I¡¯m not going back for a while, so deal with it yourself.¡± Goddess Freyja had interrupted Davey at an important time. She knew about Davey¡¯s hot temper and that he wasn¡¯t going to let this slide, so why was she asking for his help now? Davey, who was scoffing, paused for a moment. He looked at the crazy deal made by the divine will. ¡°God damn it.¡± This was the reason why he hated working with guys who played in the big leagues. ¡ªWill unlock the four divine beasts with qi if purified. ¡°Losing is the same thing as winning¡­ Heh. I¡¯m not going to accept your deals unless I really like them.¡± Davey stood up and walked away. Watching him, Perserque mumbled like he was ridiculous. ¡ªLook at that flip-flop¡­ CH 322 The Manreb hero is coming back! Thirteen volumes and 20 episodes Shin-soo''s power is rumored to be clean and clear. Unlike evil-doers, Sasin-su is a creature that feeds on the good spirits of the world. In particular, it was safe to say that Yeoju, which Shin-soo has, was a collection of power. a creature like the life of a god, a cohesion of its power It was the magic pearl of Shin-soo. Because Cheongnyong Tombs usually have female liquor in their mouths, the female liquor tends to look visible, but no one sees the main character because the main character is usually inside. It was of course the other two yet to be born, Hyeonmu and Baekho, and Hwangryong and Giraffe, the central figures. Of course, yellow dragons and giraffes cannot be summoned from this land. As a result, Yeoju was the lifeblood of the god and was so important that it was called the source of its power. Even parents can''t pass it to them. When I asked for a female liquor, the Qurungi and the buldak instinctively flinched and withdrew from me. "You don''t use it now anyway. I''m not going to use your energy to save money. Leave it to me. I''ll call you more and give you back." That''s what you say. I wouldn''t give it away as easily as a child who''s already well-to-do. It was true that the existence of Yeoju definitely came heavy as even the masterpiece buldak, who was submissive to me, gave up face and acted cute, hesitated. But the difficulty without the lady''s wine was the same with me. "Do you see him here?" When I showed Layna to the two guys I was holding in my arms, the eyes of the two giant guys fell on her. "A warrior who saved the world. But the rules of the world make it impossible to live or die like this." Two new faces flinched at my words. I know that even if you have a violent temper, you are not a dead man for nothing. I comforted two of them and told them quietly, as if they were parents who told their children old stories. "He sacrificed everything he could for the sake of the world, and his existence itself was forgotten. It''s no use telling who it is, but at least you know I''m not lying." At my words, the Qurungi burst into tears and the fire chicken stretched out its beak and sniffed at Reina''s body. Then he looked at me with half-suspicious eyes, and soon they looked at each other and quietly retired. Uh-huh. It was the Cheongnyong Tomb that brought out the female liquor first. a masterpiece of the Four Dragon The basic traits of the head were brutal, but they were spiritual deities that offered the highest respect to those who sacrificed their noble lives. It probably stimulated their hearts by saving the world and disappearing alone. After summoning a small female liquor in her mouth, she made a golden female liquor in her arms, and a fire chicken that was put out to me with her beak, and I patted the beak and the scales of the beak without a word. "Thank you." It''s... Leaving the retreating boys behind with a subtle cry, I put two marbles in the air and finally put Raina''s body in the air. "Roar, Bres, load." It was not long before I spoke to Kureungi, and he looked at me as if he was surprised, and soon began to collect the blue-eyed thunderstorm in his mouth. "Shoot me when I signal you." It was not long before I raised one arm and spoke, and the face of the Qurungi turned complicatedly upside down, and soon he nodded quietly. It was not long before I, who launched the last magic line, began to penetrate Raina''s body, combining the power of magic and two female spirits, the power of the new Soo. As the bright lights of five colors began to seep into Raina''s body, as if something like a ghost were being absorbed while wandering around, her pale face gradually began to turn red. A human being but not a human being. It may be oppression, not salvation, that brings her back to life, who is no longer even human. But there were so many things to show even if she died again. Not to die like this yet. He was too sad to be forgotten by everyone. The God of the First, according to your wishes. [Checking out the last installment]] [9th-degree Eucharist] [Saving] Soon after, the last sexual magic came out, and Reina''s body began to be engulfed in the light. Later, I raised my hand so that I could shoot the brainstorm at any time. If you fail again... "It''s better to break the body than disappear." I can''t be sure of this anti-smoking softening. If it goes wrong, there is a high possibility that not only the body but also the soul of Layna, who holds onto the faint hope of living, will be destroyed. So Even a little twist had to break her body and take her soul out immediately. It was the same before, and this time again. Reina''s body, which is swimming in the light, and the wings that sprang up according to God''s will are fluttering. As if witnessing the descent of a sacred angel in person, Reina slowly unfolded herself, closing her eyes, as if she were a rising angel. And In the long-running work, I''ve already laid out dozens and hundreds of magicians everywhere to fix any problems as soon as they arise. Was it completed soon? As the light slowly penetrated, I slowly lowered my arms and shook my head at the Qurungi. "That''s enough. Now." It''s... At what I said, the Qurungi scattered the brain-crazy Bresse in the air. It was then. Boom!!! A white light fell from the sky and began to envelop Reina. Ferserk opened his eyes round to see if he was surprised by the unexpected results. In the first place, it was not me who made the wings on Raina''s back, but the goddess of Priya who gave it to me. She might have wanted a real angel to save Reina and spread her will. Although the beginning is made of artificial beings. With the blessing of the two gods, Reina began to turn into something complete. Soon after, The cloths that were covering Reina''s God began to crumble and appear in the sky and white clothes. And the light disappeared with the appearance of a symbol of God on her forehead. It was a different kind of power from the saint''s signs. Slowly she began to open her eyes. Very slowly. The Kureung and the Fire Chicken watched as they gulped down what was so nervous. It must have been a long time since the slow change took place. Soon after, Reina''s eyes, which slowly began to open, gave off a mysterious atmosphere with silver. Argh!! It was not long before she landed on the floor barefoot, and her back wings fluttered brightly. Then, it became a particle of light and disappeared like a scattering. Visibility and non-visualization were virtually no surprise. Looking around, including me, she soon looked down at her hand and took another step slowly. And soon she came up to me and looked up at me quietly. "I''m... are you alive?" "I told you. Hang in there with a desire to live." He''s good at holding out. In my words, she must have remembered her memories and what I said, but soon she shook her shoulders and bowed her head. Then, with one hand covering his mouth, he sat down and sobbed lightly. "I really thought that was it... ...but I never thought I''d see that good life again." "No one still remembers you before. All I can do is put you in a new body." "It''s okay... it''s okay... you remember... you remember me." "Really?" "Oh, thank you. Thank you. I''ll never forget the light you gave me." When I grabbed her shoulder, she was still sobbing with her head in her arms. Even though she was born as an artificial angel by the power of God, she is not emotionless. Wait a minute, I remember the heavenly beings have no feelings, but is this okay? "How about the fresh air that you drink again?" "I love it... ...how long has it been since I closed my eyes?" "A little over a month ago?" "......" At a guess, Reina''s smile came from her mouth. "What a ridiculous period." She, who spoke calmly, knelt down to me and looked down. "You showed me a very small light and saved me. Accordingly, I will keep the promise I made to you." My hand will be your will, my feet will be your horse. Until the moment this life burned down. I will follow you. Her words, which spoke calmly and solemnly swore, soon became a force and made an invisible cord between her and me. I don''t care what happens. After this She slowly raised her head and gave a bright smile. Illina, who was called one of the six most beautiful women on the continent, has grown mature. Of course, it''s hard to see her as the same person because her outward appearance has changed a little, but she has a charm that gives off a mysterious atmosphere and shakes the mind of reason. But I ignored her charm and ignored it. It''s probably only an amateur who cares about his work. "You know, you''re not human." "Yes... ...I feel the same way myself. It feels oddly different." "The Lord Priya will put his strength into your body and try to use you." "If it''s God''s will... ...and yours." "I didn''t mean it." The smile disappeared from her face at my words. "I don''t need it." "You can''t throw it away, so keep it. I''ll protect you." She nodded quietly at my words. "Where do you feel uncomfortable?" "No, not at all. It''s rather surprisingly light." I nodded quietly at the words. "I''ll have to stay here for a while. It''s not completely adjusted yet, and you have to stay away from me for a while to avoid the eyes of providence that make the world a reality." She tilted her head curiously at my words. "What does that mean?" "Not a big deal, stay here for a while. I''m sure these two guys will help you." She gave me a strange look as I pointed to the fire rooster and the cuneung. "If that''s an order." "Let''s check one last thing." She gave me a bright smile. But the smile was horribly distorted by the bombshells that soon popped out of my mouth. "Let''s face your past face to face." According to the Doppelg?nger theory, if two people are completely the same person, one of them must disappear. It is also a part that cannot be overlooked in any way. on the contrary, if there is no problem Her resurrection was meant to be perfect. I''d prefer to avoid the final verification. It was also an essential verification process for the simultaneous existence of Illinois here and the Illinois of the future, which came from other world lines. You''re meeting me?" I nodded at the sight of him asking with a very nervous face. "You don''t like it?" "No...... not really. I''m actually a little embarrassed... but are you okay? Even if I intrude into your life." "Don''t get in there, I''ll save you and that''s it. You take care of your own business from now on. It''s up to you to decide whether you''re going to live here, leaving Hines territory for the Palan Empire, not me." If you''ve already saved it once and are diagnosed with complete recovery, then it''s your responsibility, not mine. Meeting Illinois will be the final verification of the cure. "Your name is Reina?" "Yes, it''s a name I''m quite attached to now. And it''s the first name you''ve ever called me." I thought my personality was subtly twisted, but I wondered if it was because of my mood. Doctors are supposed to save patients, not responsible for their lives. Her face began to feel a strange stubbornness in what I said. CH 323 The Manreb hero is coming back! Episode 21 of the Thirteen 106. Unusual language. "Belial! You skipped another meal?" "......" a quiet forest cabin Although it is not a rare forest to be trained in the lungs, Belial continued to recuperate in a small forest not far from the palace with the help of Illinois. The man, who sat on the rock without a word and reached out his hand and sat down with the bird, did not turn his head even at the girl''s cry. Ignorance, as this has always happened since he was brought in the last few days, Illinois looked like nothing new. "Sigh... I''ll just talk to him." "Human Woman." a human woman Even though Illina had a name, he started calling her a human woman. "What is it?" "Since when the sun has risen..." "What?" The girl, Illina, frowned at the sudden question. "What are you talking about? This mana. When did the sun rise? Of course, the sun rises in the morning." "I see. Does the sun rise every time?" "Well, isn''t it?" "......" As the man who did not answer slowly stretched out his finger, a small lark flying in the garden quickly flew and sat on his finger. "There was no sun in my hometown where I was born." "Belliele, you said you came from a place that wasn''t here, right? Where are you from?" "Black Army." "Black servant? What is that? People. You have to make it easier to understand." At the grumbling of Illinois, Belial looked at the bird silently and remained silent. I thought the silence was frustrating when I was about to say something. Belial''s mouth slowly opened. The Ma people were banished from the land a long time ago. And he was trapped in a place where he could never come back." "......" "The Maas, who took their new home there, have been grinding their teeth for a long time for all life on the continent. A moderate like me is branded as a traitor to the race. The Black Army was a huge camp where such moderates were housed." hellish conditions, endless labor, terrible abuse. a miserable life environment that is rarely found in artificial horse-riding without even the sun It was the kind of place called the Black Legion. "This is a better place to live than that. But there may be so many dangers. I joined the advance team coming here because I won the speculation market. Although it is a terrible place, it is also my hometown." "...isn''t that a good thing? You came here from hell." "I wish I could go back." Illina was silent at the words. I instinctively noticed that I was kicked out as if I was being kicked out of my hometown, but I felt unsure whether I should sympathize with him or be wary of him. Iilina, he''s a sinner now, but he''s definitely a higher horse. It''s the top rank in terms of rank. You know, even the Ma people cry and laugh, but you''re gonna regret what you''re doing?] It''s kind of like that.'' [Really?] "I don''t think I''m letting him live because of reason, but I think one side of my heart keeps shouting to keep him alive.'' Caldiras remained silent at the words. It was Caldiras, who did not judge Illinois to have any special power. Although the owner of the Shingam has long accepted her as a contractor for the Shingam, she is only talented in the sword and not particularly spiritual. Nevertheless, the reason why Caldiras lent her divine power and helped her. Strangely, it was also because her senses fit well. [If you are] But why don''t you ask the man with Per for advice on this?] Illina frowned at the word "human." Never mind, what do you want from such a heartless bastard?'' You''re upset. You''re out of your lung tube training, but you don''t care at all.] Don''t you know he''s like that? I don''t care how that guy comes out in the first place. And, Davey, in his character, he''ll be cold-hearted when he''s judged to be hostile.'' Illina''s expression slightly hardened. ''There must be something.'' She wasn''t with spiritual power. But from a long time ago, she had a pretty good feeling. In fact, acting in accordance with her senses was a big result behind some big events. In the first place, meeting with Davy was a matter of such significance. "Well, anything else? Like a story about you." Illina, who sighed and laid down the baggage she had brought, put it on his side. "No." "Really?" "......" Illina opened her eyes as if there was nothing more to emphasize. "Is there any story about your human friend?" Illina turned her head gently to his question. "Human friend?" "Yes, the man who deals with the sword with magic and divine power." "Ah... ..Davie." Illina nodded at the words. "It''s a bastard." "You son of a... " "Why? What''s wrong?" "No. You seem to have a lot of faith in him." Illina frowned as if embarrassed by the unexpected remark. "Trust... ...trust... yes, trust me, you''re such a good-natured guy." While speaking calmly, he seemed to feel emotional. "Then what''s the use? He''s a brag, a bunch of pretensions, a quarrel, and he''s a vicious man who enjoys watching others cry." At Illina''s cry, Belial just listened silently. "To be honest, it used to be like that. I''m interested in his swordsmanship, so I''ve even brought him up with a Korean marriage question to learn." "So?" "What do you mean? I was cold-heartedly rejected." Belial tilted her head at the calm voice of Illinois. Whether it''s a human or a horse, I know that the aesthetic sense is similar." "Oh, really?" "You must be quite a beauty from the point of view of our mah people." "I don''t know. Rumor has it that he''s a dead man. Although it''s like that, it''s a good candidate for the groom because of its location and ability." Young, capable, rich, and strong. He has no qualifications for his status, and he is the only one who has been trusted by the two empires. "But she''s not interested in women. I''m not the type to sell dry wells." "Dried out..." Belial muttered quietly. "I don''t know if you already have someone in your arms, or if you really don''t care, why would I have to hang on to someone who doesn''t care? After all, that''s where it ends." Illina, who spoke calmly, reached out her hand. Then the bird sitting in Belial''s hand looked at Ilina without a word and went straight into Belial. "The animals are very good at following." "......" Quietly silent, he looked at Illina and Caldiras in her arms. "Master of the Shingam." "What?" "I heard that the new prosecutor has an ego. I thought you were going to yell at me to kill you." "Caldiras isn''t the kind of guy who just cries out to kill the mana." "It''s a little different." "The sword of the sword, the self of Caldiras, is known to be very ferocious for the Ma people. I heard that 3,000 years ago, when the self could be modern, he hated the horse race almost fanatically." At the words, Illina looked at Caldiras, but Caldiras said nothing until the end. "It changes over time." At Ilina''s words, Belial nodded silently. Then he staggered up slowly. "Catch the sword." "What?" Even our Ma people, who have been enemies for thousands of years, tend to acknowledge the sword. My family has inherited the independent sword technique created by imitating such a sword. Although I can''t teach you a proper autopsy. It''s not gonna help." "That''s enough. I''m not so stubborn as to confront a patient." Illina''s refusal slowly lifted Magi. At the same time, the surrounding air changes. "You need to know that even if you''re like this, you''re not in a position to worry about." Illina looked at him with a stiff look at the words. Then he seemed to be thinking for a while, slowly untangling the cloth wrapped around the caldiras and pulled up Manna. Along with the unique mana flow that appears when using a heavy sword, it is activated as if a mana bursts out of her whole body, and the green sword begins to be made with the tip of her sword. the symbol of none other than the Swordmaster It was an oracle. "Oorablade at a young age. The reincarnation of the sword itself. Are you the first?" "Exactly the second, because that son of a gun wasn''t just a sodmaster." "I''m curious how it works." Boom!!! With the horse, Illina takes a strong step. The ground on which her feet touched was broken for a moment, and her new brother shot into him like a shell. At the moment, the explosive weight was put on the sword, and the lower cut, which was applied, Belial calmly lifted the sword. Whaaaah! A tremendous sound of shock overturned the whole forest. "You''re quick-witted. No one knows that the sword that you combed down the middle bayonet will be destroyed." "Didn''t you say that? My family swordsmanship is a catch that mimics a heavy sword." He spoke calmly, took out the raised sword momentarily and scattered the balance, and walked the leg of Illinois. "Huh?!" At the same time, as I tried to grab Illinois'' neck, I turned and grabbed her arm and held her to the ground. Whaaaaah! However, the shock wave that followed soon forced Belial to step down after failing to achieve all the meaning. "In the midst of all this, you''re being considerate." "Don''t think that human chivalry is only human. Although I remained alone, my family had a family tradition of not bothering the weak, whether they were enemies or allies." "Thank you so much for crying!" She came at her with an irritated look. Belial meant that she was considered an overwhelming underdog. Boom! Boom! A tremendous sound of shock began to sound inside the quiet forest. Illyana and Belial poured an unhesitating attack on each other as if they were making a life-or-death decision under the guise of a rival. Although weak, Belial showed a superior horse-like force, and Illinois pressed him with unprecedented strength and finesse. [Ilina, what are you doing, forgetting you''re a patient?]] Illina, who naturally became interested in the battle with the strong, was surprised that she soon forgot that her opponent was a patient and wielded a sword. At the same time, Belial, who was wielding her sword at her level, was embarrassed when she suddenly stopped the attack and forced her to turn the sword. Whaaaaah! Eventually, Belial hit the heavy black ground and smashed the floor, and the impact knocked ill-balanced Illina over. Then, as if to support her, Belial reached out quickly, and he lost his balance and collapsed. Silence lasted for a long time on the behavior of the two men who collapsed in a delicate atmosphere. Then, after a short silence, Illina opened her mouth first. "Mi, I''m sorry. But would you please step aside?" Staring blankly at her words, he slowly stepped aside and stood up. "Excuse me." "Well, the Ma people are polite. You said we were enemies. You could''ve just killed him." "It doesn''t pay me to kill you." Speaking calmly, he took the sword. Although the confrontation collapsed in an instant, neither of them seemed to be dissatisfied with the fact. "Dining... you didn''t. I''m going to see you eat today. Don''t skip it." "Why are you so nice to me?" "Because of the persimmon." Belial was silent at Illina''s words. It was then. "Why, that was nice to see. Do we go on?" With an unheard-of voice, both Illina and Belial looked surprised and turned their heads. "Raina, take him down." "Belliele, I thought you''d still be a homage to the Ma..." For a moment. Before anyone could react, white wings flashed and flapped pure white feathers. Belial''s body, which was on guard in surprise, bounced off as if it had been hit by a huge pendulum. Following the situation in an instant, the black-haired boy who created the situation said to Belial leisurely. "Laina isn''t the half-dead body you used to know. Oh, you don''t know who this is, do you? CH 324 The Manreb hero is coming back! Thirteen volumes and Twenty-two episodes The face-to-face meeting with the Ma tribe was frankly quite surprising. It was a combination that exceeded everyone''s expectations that there would be a mahjong in black armor who was blocking the middle road in the resurrection dungeon of Knicks, the first rich man close to the king and the 9th circle black wizard, which took place. Although it is not completely impossible to understand, it is not completely impossible to understand because I suffered quite a fatal injury in the aftermath of my awakening at the time following the attacks of L¨¹nne and Catherine. Nevertheless, I had never thought that the wounded man would flee to the Palan Empire and be hiding. Ma, Belial didn''t seem to understand what I meant. For him, Reina would have been the first person to meet. As the former warrior Reina''s existence was deleted, some of his memories would have been modified, and it was obvious that he had already met Reina, the dying warrior at that time. He is the enemy in the first place. As he raised the power of abyss, his name was Belial. In terms of rank, it only appeared that he was a man of the upper horse race and a man of integrity named Belial. Belial, who bounced off in an instant, and Reina''s expression, aiming at a white-colored sword as if to subdue him, looked full of confusion, betrayal and anger. "I can''t believe you''re trying to frighten a powerless girl..." Now it''s hard to call yourself yourself, but for now, one of the enemies of this world line is crushing himself like a coward, so his eyes are bound to turn. It was also the only man in the Ma tribe who she acknowledged and paid homage to as a knight. On the contrary, Illinois seemed to have failed to grasp the situation with a blank face. Other than that, I was just watching the situation without saying anything. "What, what?" The most embarrassing thing was none other than Illinois. Looking blankly at me with bright blonde hair flying around, she took a step forward unknowingly and called my name. "Davie? Why are you here?"" Illina, who is asking me with an anxious face like a child caught doing something wrong, shouted in a perplexed voice without knowing why she was like that. "Why am I here?" "Yes! I wouldn''t have told anyone that I would be here..." Speaking calmly, I tapped on the collar. "That''s what I saw. I was wondering where you were going." Illina, who was following me and checking her collar without saying anything, made a questionable face. "Nothing at all." At the words, I ignored her and walked toward Belial, who was overpowered by Reina. "I''ve got a tracking spell in your body." "What, what?! Are you crazy?! Unauthorized use of magic in the bodies of the royal family?! Do you know that if you get caught, it''s not my problem, it''s what''s going to happen in the Palan Empire?!" "Oh, don''t mind that." Speaking calmly, I grabbed Belial by the collar as soon as Reina stepped back. "We''re already done talking about it. You don''t seem to know, but I''ve been talking to you for a long time.m. a long time." "Oh, my God... I didn''t hear that!" It also has a bugging function." "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" "Gura." Illina''s expression was embarrassment itself. It wasn''t actually a lie. Salivan, who had a private relationship with me after the outbreak of the Undeed in the Palan Empire, has made a proposal. Until the moment when Illina becomes a sodmaster. Secretly protect Illinois. The price was a large sum of money. I wasn''t in a big money-losing position in the first place, but it was hard to find a reason to refuse, so I got the suggestion and secretly planted a magic trick on Illinois'' body. Salivan, the new Crown Prince of the Palan Empire, certainly chose to protect his brother by hiding himself in the dark. It''s better to be hated by Ilina than to protect him from everyone''s hands. He was not afraid of being stigmatized and tried to protect his younger brother''s life. Was he able to deal with his brother''s safety with complacency simply for the sake of national prestige? Of course not. I smiled at Belial looking at me without a wordless. "It''s not like this, but I''m a guardian for now. I''m not very patient enough to keep a jerk alive in front of my eyes. You want to make an excuse?" Belial was silent to my question. I never thought of the problem with this guy. You don''t even know why he''s here in the first place. "You..." Only then did he open his eyes slightly wide as if he recognized me. "We''ve met before, haven''t we?" Originally, he never met me. But he couldn''t deny what I said. the presence of a hero, Raina This was due to the fact that the world''s rules began to erase its existence, creating an empty space. It was none other than me who filled the position. In fact, if you sum up the rumors on the continent, I am the one who solved the problem of the first Rich Knicks in the maritime country. In other words, it was not Raina but me who put up a fight between Belial, a black knight who guarded the Nicks'' beacon, and Catherine Carabella, the Great Fire Fox. "I see... ...he meant you." Belial looked at Illinois with her head in her head as if she understood. The training for the pulmonary tube must have ended. I wanted to see your face, so I came here. There''s a funny thing going on." I was smiling and talking calmly, but I soon wiped my smile and asked for Illina. "What should I do for him?" "......" "Just say it. Apparently you know you''re a dangerous mahjong. I can kill this guy right here with one word of yours." It was Belial who moved before I even finished talking. Although he lost most of his strength due to injury, he instantly created a black sword by pulling up a black maggi all over his body. He used a familiar sword to me to shake me off and widen my distance from me. Even though the injury was close to death, the sodmaster was a combination of speed and technique that could not be responded to. In fact, Illina did not react to his actions at all. It is clear that sodmaster is a really great situation. It is safe to say that it is a talent from heaven that will never be found again if it is just enough to become a sodmaster before the age of 20 through one''s own efforts, like Illinois. But that didn''t mean she was a complete warrior. It''s just time to become a master. In this sense, the reflective resistance of Belial, which already has more than a master-class force, was not an easy-to-understand class of movement. That''s it. Whaaaaah! "Large..." It''s a bell by Illinois standards. Sadly, I''m not a baby bird that just became a sodmaster. "I didn''t know there would be anyone who would fear the forbidden leaves of the greatest empire, but when I do, I try to keep the line as hard as I can." I, speaking calmly, grabbed Belial''s neck and put her in a giant tree once again, squinted at the fact that his condition was worse than I thought and scanned the whole body. "I''ve got a mess in my gut, and I''ve got a bad temperament. Don''t move. If there is one more shock here, you can clear the invoice as it is." I don''t hate horse-riding, but it''s not common to admit to the enemy. He kept vomiting blood at my words and sent me a weary look. "T... ...that''s ridiculous speed. Are we really human?" "If you want to doubt, you can do whatever you want." He stuck to silence at my question. Instead, someone else stepped up. "Leave it to me. Now I can completely deal with this shameless and insensitive man." It was Raina''s move. For a moment, Raina, who made a white dagger and pointed it at Belial''s neck, murmured threateningly. "......" At the same time, Bellier''s eyes, looking closely at Raina''s face, were small questions. It''s inevitable. Basically, it has changed a little, but Reina''s appearance is strictly similar to Illina''s growth. Although she changed her body a little to her taste when reconstructing it, the basic facial shape or feeling did not disappear. "You..." "I thought you were still the Ma clan who valued morality." Leena, who mumbled coldly, glared at him with a beam in her eyes. "No way, I didn''t know he was trying to force a woman weaker than me..." "I''ve never seen you." "I suppose so, but I''ve seen you sick and tired of it." Shivering, Reina pushed the sword further. "Davie! Stop it! He''s my patient!" then I could hear the urgent cry of Illinois. "Patient? These days, even if he''s a quack, he''s dropping a therapist on the floor?" "Don''t play with words! It''s just an accident in a fight! Are you going to keep playing with me?" I watched Belial without a word, but I relaxed my face without hesitation and retired. "Raina, put your sword away." "Yes." Reina, who was acting as if she would kill him right away, quickly changed her attitude and erased the white sword. Belial, who had been held in my hand, lost his support and collapsed and vomited a handful of blood. "Sodmaster. Congratulations." Illina turned her head to a calm remark and replied coyly. "Huh, you''re quick to notice..." "But it came out pretty fast. Seeing that you''ve gotten prettier, I think you''ve succeeded in getting rid of your old bones." "If anyone sees you wielding a sword, they''ll get it. And I don''t get a single compliments." Illina turned her eyes a little red as if she was feeling better at my compliment. You saw him wielding a sword and you crossed the wall yourself? You''ve had a fallopianosis? Do you think it''s the name of your dog? Usually, I can''t do that. When I pressed her head and stroked her blank head, she smiled unknowingly and fell from me in surprise after realizing her situation. Are you... are you going to treat me like a kid?" "Who treated you like a baby?" "...when I see you sometimes. I tend to think of everyone else as a child except you." I got caught. Illina, who glared at me with a subtle look, soon moved to help Belial. "Hey, how are you?" "......" Instead of answering, Illina turned her head to me as Belial remained silent. "Davie, can you save this guy? The existing treatment doesn''t make a big difference. I''ll make it up to you." "Hey, it''s the Ma clan." She is silent about what I say. "It''s not just the Ma, it''s the guy who was guarding the first Rich Knicks, don''t you know what I mean?" Illina slightly bowed her head to avoid eye contact with my words that seemed to throw acrimonious criticism. "It''s an alliance with vampires that you want to beat to death." Illina''s facial expression was subtly frowned upon the fact that she knew what I said. "I know that... I know, but considering Per... ...it''s not just a bad horse." Ah. Come to think of it, Illina knows you because of Caldiras.'' I did indeed. "First of all, it''s a step. regardless of being bad or not it is bad" "He, I know that, too! I know." I asked quietly at the sight of her expression of not knowing what to say. "Do you want to save me?" "At least I don''t want to pretend I don''t know a dying person. And... ...he doesn''t seem like such a bad horse." At the words, Reina, who was next to me, gritted her teeth. "I''ve had that kind of hell in my mind." Illina glared at Reina with her eyes lit up at her sarcastic remarks. Then he strode and faced Reina and got angry. "What are you? Who are you to pretend to know everything?" Laina smiled coldly at Illinois''s behavior, subtly raising her spirits toward Layna. Perhaps Reina feels like a human being who wants to advise her by hitting her cheek when she sees herself in the past. "The world is not as justice-filled as you think." "Thanks for the advice, but it''s up to me. I believe in my eyes." As if angry, Illinois took another step toward Reina. "Huh?" At that time, Illina''s face, looking at Layna''s face, began to turn into embarrassment. Although her face has changed a little, Raina appears to have aged a girl named Illina de Palan, who came from another world. Although Illinois is only seventeen years old, Reina is in her late twenties. There was a big difference, but there was no difference. "Eh... Davey. Who the hell is this guy?" Illina, who took a step back in embarrassment, hurriedly turned her eyes to me. CH 325 The Manreb hero is coming back! The 13th and 23rd episodes You have to be the most embarrassed. Illina, who was looking up at Layna as if she had lost her words, slowly tried to reach out and stopped. With a look of uncertainty about what to say and what to do, Illina kept looking at Raina and me alternately. Therefore, I threw a keyword as a confirmation. "Say hi. He''s very close to you." Illina''s expression was subtly frown at my words. "Someone close? Do I know him?" "Maybe you know best." Illina''s mouth was sulky because of her playful tone. "What the... what the hell is..." "Will you believe me if I say it''s you?" Illina''s eyes were slightly wide open at my words. Then, Veryl, who was watching it without saying a word, opened his eyes slightly. Well, let''s see how it comes out. "What... ..." "Fighter Reina. Illina de Palan on the parallel line. The commander of the 4th Division of the Last Resistance Army, the only one remaining alive, was defeated by Percerk, the demon king, who was revived after a plot by a vampire." Before Reina died, when she was drinking with me. She told me a lot of her stories. How lonely, painful, and sad all this time. Illina''s pupils trembled incessantly at the continuous explanation. It was well known that what I said was not a simple joke because she had been through me. "Lies... Oh, no." It was Illina who saw Reina in a confused voice. Reina, on the other hand, looked at me with a look of incomprehension. "Are we really allowed to do this?" "It''s okay. I''m doing it because I believe in it." Reina questioned my unexpected answer but said nothing more. It''s time for a bite. "He was seriously injured in the undead situation in the Palan Empire and taken prisoner and detained by the Mahan army, and suffered years of terrible torture and humiliation that could not be described in words." The trembling hands of Illinois turned pale as if they were going to break. "Shall I tell you what''s going on here?" At last, Illina''s eyes were reddened by my subsequent words. Then he looked at Reina with a look of realness. The manna in the air began to shake, but not a single person except me seemed to notice it. "All these words... are true..." Boom!! Then, Illina opened her eyes wide before she could finish and stopped. She wasn''t the only one. Except for Reina and me, the whole world felt as if it had stopped. "It''s... ..." "It will happen if you make a fuss about the past. Look, you''ve been wiped out. That won''t change." "......" "If you force yourself to remind me of your existence." Speaking calmly, I covered my mouth with one hand and spat out what was stuck in my mouth. It was a red-hot six-piece. The reality is that once you enter the 9th circle, you get closer to internal immunity, but even though you are in such a position, the impact was not normal. "We''re going to be regulated, aren''t we?" "Okay... are you okay?"" Surprised, Reina rushed to help me. "What are you doing?"" The scene of shouting urgently was the same enough to make me think that it makes sense even with age. "Never try to experiment. Even if it''s the moment you bring these facts up for the purpose of disruption..." You disappear from the spot. Raina''s face turned pale at a word without a lie. "Don''t commit suicide because you spent a lot of money on it." "Oh, my God... ...there''s no human being who can show that in this ignorant way!" "You know, here." Pointing at me and jokingly speaking, I soon reached for her. Curse is originally half made for good purposes. I''m sorry, but I''ll put a curse on your face. As long as I am alive, I will remain semi-permanent." "You''re not going to see me as Illinois?" "It''s similar, but I don''t think they''re the same person." This is not the only way to prepare. "If that''s the case, I wish I hadn''t made this face in the first place..." "It''s easy to say, and what did you do wrong to fix that pretty face?" She smiled dejectedly at my words. "If I had heard of this place, I would have fallen for it." "You don''t?" "Well, I''m willing to give you anything, body or mind, if you want, but I''m not as clean as you think. Honestly, I''m a little scared of men." "Do as you please. I hate doing things around here and there, too. Close your eyes." Whoo! And at the same time, the air currents surrounded Reina for a moment. When it was completely gone, I flicked my finger and slowly defrosted the hardened mana around. Once thawed, Manna soon began to slowly unravel the area, causing a chain reaction, and soon the hardened Illinois and Belial began to move again. "Davie, who the hell is this... ..uh?" And Illina, who had been absent-minded, has repeated the same thing to me as if the interim process had been deleted. To be exact, it stopped while doing it. Illina tilted her head as she looked at Reina with a questionable face. "Strange? I''m sure..." Reina''s face remained unchanged. However, no one saw her as the same person as Ilyna de Palan. I just looked at him as someone who looked a little alike. a perception curse This means that the 9-circle curse used for Reina has settled down properly. "What''s wrong with you? staring into a person''s face" "Oh, no. I''m sorry. It was rude. Oh, no, that''s not it. Yes! You! What makes you judge me like that? What do you know about me?" When Illina snapped at me as if she had been grumpy for no reason, Reina looked at me quietly. Then he shook his head quietly. "That was a slip of the tongue. Please forgive my rudeness if you were offended. Lady Hwang." Illina looked embarrassed at the calm tone that was different from her previous one, which had been subtly choked. "No, well... if you say so, I have nothing more to say..." Unlike me, who has a temperament to bite when the opponent''s tail is lowered, Illina did not like the meaningless division itself. On the contrary, all my attention was on that man named Belial after Reina''s work. "Raina." "Yes." "How many positions does he hold?" "Well, I''ve never had that much conversation. But I''m sure it was a very high position." "Really? Well, you know more than I thought." "What made you come all the way here?" He didn''t answer my question. Instead, they asked questions in reverse. "Come on over... ...man, do you mean you know where we came from?" "Did I look like a pushover enough to give you information without thinking?" Instead of answering, he remained silent, but he constantly looked at me. The eyes were more of a boundary than hatred or hatred. I`m just a failure in my mission anyway. I have no value as a prisoner. Although I thank you for treating me humanely without killing me, it''s just another matter." "That''s too bad. I was going to get the information out of the way if I got here." We look at each other through a quiet war of nerves. He was well aware that he didn''t touch Belial to be considerate of Illinois. "But before the prisoners of war, that human woman is like a lifesaver. Though the enemy is the enemy, he does not do anything stupid that cannot distinguish between grace and revenge." He said so, but he got up and said, leaving. "I''ll pay you back." I eased my hands lightly at the sight of him saying his words and disappearing. Then he slowly got up and looked at Ilina and snapped his hand clappingly. "What, what?" "What do you mean? You should do what you always do." After instinctively realizing what I was doing, Illina sprang up. Seureung! At the same time, he pulled out Caldiras and shuddered away from me. At the same time, it was so funny that his pupils were constantly shaking. "Well, you don''t have to do that, do you?" "I''m going crazy even if you do it for me. You can''t even pay for this anywhere." "Well, I know that!" "Then take it well, dude." Boom! Even before the end of the conversation, Illina, who had been overtaken by Reina and overpowered, struggled desperately in cold sweat. It is a desperate resistance for a brilliant blonde woman with a noble atmosphere. The scene where the future self was holding and overpowering himself in the past was a complete scene. Of course, I don''t know about it at all. Illina, who reached Sodmaster, was a strong contender. But Reyna was a warrior who had been out of that line for a while. Sodmasters can''t be a big threat to me. "It''ll only hurt for the first time. I feel better soon." The girl, Illina de Palan, seemed to have a miraculous constitution that made a person''s desire to massage just by looking at her. You don''t do it to others at all. If I knew the efficacy of your massage, I would bring a bundle of money. ''That''s my refusal. I don''t want to do it for you unless you''re this good.'' Wooddeuk... "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" The terrible scream was a bonus. * * * "You bloody bastard!" A white-haired man gritted his teeth looking at the huge laboratory that had been completely blown away. Perhaps because he was in a state of severe wounds as if his whole body had been burned, he made a murderous expression that seemed to tear and kill someone if he was caught. Everything was going well as planned. but It was time for final processing using materials supplied from Pandora''s area. What the researchers touched was a big explosion. It was a shocking and divine explosion. As a result, the body of the king was severely damaged, and half of the people who took him as a sacrifice became unacceptable. It was his intention to anger vampires, although the ignorant and absurd idea of repenting the hatred with divine magic is absurd in the important work of using human hatred as a source of sacrifice. It''s in the palm of your hand. In the first place, he was aware of their research and progress by simply supplying and receiving materials. It is questionable how humans can create such a ridiculous situation. As a result, he succeeded in doing such a thing. Thanks to this, he lost a considerable amount of time in the resurrection of the devil himself. "Not like this. It''s time to show the pride of the nobility." "If you''re ready, move." Angry vampires no longer opposed the war, and everyone gave their approval. The decision soon moved their long-prepared corps. It was also a moment of war. Only they didn''t know that. The fact that there is a secret association waiting to move with a large number of troops. CH 326 The Manreb hero is coming back! Thirteen volumes and Twenty-four episodes "Sigh... Sigh..." Her loose eyes, panting breath, hot cheeks, drooling from her mouth reminds her of a very obscene appearance, but sadly, her clothes were neat as if proving that no one had ever touched them. "What an amazing body." It is a mysterious body that has a strong desire to massage at any moment. The Swordmaster and the Expert will remain the same. If you look at the strength of your own strength, you won''t be able to break it with a machine gun from your previous life. That''s what transformation is. Human beings, the only race that can cross the limit because they have the most ambiguous power, undergoes self-evolution once they experience transformation. A soft skin, but a body that absorbed mana, when needed, was no different from being an extremely rigid shield itself. Let''s pull out a dagger without a word, strengthen my body and draw my fingertips... Cargagagagak... Rather than being cut by a knife, the reflexes made the blade hurt. "Oh, I feel it every time..." In your case, your body is more strange. It''s not usually that bad. No matter how hard a sodmaster is, he is not as ignorant as he is. Honestly, haven''t you had only one transformation? You''ll have to go through three or four more transformation periods if you''re not that ignorant? "What should I say..." It''s happened once before. When I survived in the desert. It was when I was sucked into the basement because I fell into something wrong. The man who was welcoming me at that time had thousands of teeth sticking out of his mouth with a giant sandstorm, and had the power and sharpness to pierce steel. I almost died at first. "I got used to it after I chewed it again." Well... ..I don''t think you can get used to wanting to get used to it. "The body will continue to strengthen. I was a soul back then. The power is being slowly applied to the body as it is all engraved in my soul." Didn''t I tell you before? The first thing that taught me was none other than the ignorant monster of the physical school. Hercules, a survival expert. "He''s simply a test of how strong a man can be." How hard was he actually? In her question, I took the last-ditch first-choice battle in the corridor as the best example. Not all heroes were as crazy as then. "I stopped your father from breaking the sea with my bare body. In the first place, the lunatic survival expert doesn''t have a shield or a weapon on his body." Oh, my God. It is impossible to know how large the sword was used to separate the sea. In particular, the heavy sword of the body is not a speed or technique, but rather a grandiose technique that focuses on destructive power. The reality was that there was virtually no hero except Hercules who took such a sword with no body. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." After covering Ilina, who was shivering and convulsing, with a blanket, I wiped my smile off and said quietly. "I have no one to listen to, so let me see you." I heard a sign outside the door. It was Belial. Later, I spoke to Persek through will. Persec, can you take a look at Ilyanna for a second?'' I guess it''s something she shouldn''t hear. ''I don''t care if you listen to it. I don''t really recommend it.'' In my words, Persec seemed troubled for a long time, then nodded and sat on the simple bed of the cabin. Yeah, she doesn''t have to stand by you in everything. "Yes." After saying so, I walked along with Belial without anyone listening in a long time. Belial followed me slowly with a wary glance, and by the time I arrived not far from the cottage that stretched out in Illinois, I had a light hand. Uh-huh. At the same time, Mu Young-chang''s Silence Curtain unfolded, and Belial looked at me without hiding his gaze that he was a little puzzled. "What do you want to say? Human." "We don''t have to be formal between us. I''ll ask you straightforwardly. Clarify the purpose of your coming here." "......" "Otherwise, whatever Ilina said, you''re dead here." without a smile Belial''s expression began to turn pale as a huge mana began to move. In the first place, he was seriously injured and was recovering. Even if he fought in a normal state, he would have known best that he was not the one to do anything if the power gap was significant. ...... "Silence..." Whoooooo! One of his arms fell off as soon as he finished talking. "Huh?" "You think I''m kidding, right?" When he smiles and asks a question, he steps back. It means that you won''t accept my smile. I opened my mouth again to him, who faltered and walked away without even thinking of rebelling. "The arm, if you don''t put it back in less than 30 minutes, you can''t put it on forever. Think carefully." "You''re crazy, as expected. Madness ate into the soul, not the body." I looked quite surprised at the unexpected comment. Come to think of it, I think there was only one of the mah people that Harres had ever realized that he was the only one who could guess my condition just by just looking at my condition. So "Was it Seop Melphrog?" "...that''s... how did you do it?" "I don''t know. Melphrog''s eyes make me aware of my condition. I''m sure it''s been a while. Is it a descendant?" "......" He clenched his teeth at my words. "You''re going to shut your mouth to the end." "Crazy." "Honestly, I''ve never told anyone." After remembering everything and living for nearly a thousand years, the human self cannot be intact. "I was a little crazy." Whoooooo! Soon the other arm was cut off in a flash. I asked quietly, although it seemed ridiculous for others to see him in a situation where he was being driven only by a simple sword. "What is your purpose? I told you I''m going to crush the vampire, but I don''t think you''re going to just cooperate with the vampire and turn this place into a mess." I have already done my best at the time of the death of my close aide, Nick." "The gold that Knicks had on you? He''s already been invoiced, so it won''t work." He avoided my eye at what I said. "The eyes are turning. Did you hit the nail right on the head?" "......" "Then what is it? I don''t think he''s particularly greedy. It''s a bit negative about the resurrection of the devil. The reason why the current rulers of the world sent you on foot is that it''s hard to say that they and you have the same purpose." I smiled as I was pointing out one by one. "If you''re a descendant of Melfrog, you can see the soul." Speaking calmly, I soon used his scattered arms to lift them up. Whoo! "How can anyone with the power of divinity..." Uh-huh. His arms began to cling to his body as if he were alive, and soon after he recovered enough to move himself, he sent me an incredible look. "What the hell do you... what do you know more?" "I''ve got a hunch. Melprague was a devotee of the Devil''s Persec. If the custom is still alive, all you want is not just the resurrection of the devil. It''s Persec''s comfort." His expression wrenched at my words. "Can I tell you more? The problem is, when that happens, there''s no reason for you to refuse when vampires try to resurrect the devil. I would have welcomed you if you had welcomed me." "I''m doomed..." But I refused. What''s the reason?" He looked at me like a monster with a haggard look on his face. "Even if he doesn''t listen to himself, you''re the only one who can find the devil''s soul, so he sent you. You''ve noticed something wrong. Isn''t that right?" He clenched his teeth at my words. "Vampires... ...the vampires have settled the demon King Persecrech''s spirit into the body, resurrected it, and are trying to do what they want." They can''t forget that Persek is not an idiot, but the devil who cried out for peace. Nevertheless, the reason for her resurrection is that she is the only demon with the absolute power to attract the mahjong. "So when the ban was lifted, you had a different idea. As soon as I knew who I was, I stood by him. Why?" Even now, if he could have run away, he could have run away. His eyes began to tremble with my eerie smile. "I think if you''re specifying the location of Persek''s seal, there''s only one. Somewhere around Ilyna, the owner of the Shingam, you would have thought that Persec''s soul was sealed." "The grace and resentment are simple excuses. Now, tell me. What do you really want?" "... ..to find the spirit of the devil. My eyes are sealed with the spirit of the devil. You can see it even if you do." "So?" "And so, he..." It protects the soul of the pure blood absolute, which is currently the only remaining, until the end of life. "I wish the devil''s resurrection, but I couldn''t let them take advantage of it. That''s why I used a human woman. She''s showing me her sympathy." Human relationships are very friendly and ugly to each other. However, at a time when everything worked out well, one thing could be said if I had to pick a strange point. Persec remained with me in a state of spirit. However, why did he not see Persehrk? The reason is "You. What''s your eyesight now?" "......" "I can''t control it when they come over here." I don''t know much about Ma''an itself, but at least I''ve had that kind of overload. The reality was that they were judging it that way. That''s why I don''t find her covered with scarves, even though I have Persec next to me. I have never spoken to anyone but myself. How the hell did you find out?" "I told you. I was in an environment where I couldn''t live in my mind. When you''re a nut, you usually don''t see anything." Do you know Tazza? They''re gamblers. They''re scammers at the smallest difference that most people don''t see. "......" "What people think. Sometimes I see it clearly, so I get it done on purpose. I''m really good at acting." I can make as many people as I want to protect, but I can''t make people who can understand me. also "I''m in a situation where I won''t be strange to disappear anytime." I spoke again quietly after silence. "I just took it, and I guess it hit you right?" "You''re crazy. There is no reason why Maan is called Maan if it is at that level of filming." At that, I grinned and blew in the commander''s mana under the overload that hung on his body. "You. Are you ready to die for King Perserk?" "Why should I tell you that?" "I''m going to get a sense of what I''m going to do in the future or not, depending on your answer." said he, snatched his sitting hand. "I don''t do a lot of useless investment. It''s normal to kill you on the spot, but if it''s worth your investment, you should keep it alive." I, speaking calmly, smiled broadly. Only one for everyone else. It is also a story that should not be told as much as the former king with silver hair who kept protecting me. The vampire''s plan is now too late to stop. "You. Let''s have a party with me." "What are you talking about?" "There''s only one thing that fits you and I. What do you say? Do you want to try?" He was silent at my question. "You''ll need a price." The quick-witted man seemed to have found something in a smile imbued with my madness. "Yes, I need a price." "What is it?" At his question I quietly told him the most important price. It was just one thing. CH 327 The Manreb hero is coming back! Episode 25 of the Thirteen 107. Hearing, saintly spirit. "Don''t approach me." With great vigilance, Illina glared at me and posed as if she would pick Caldiras right away. "Here we go again. "You wicked bastard! You humiliate a lady like that and you think you''re safe?!" "Well, not once in a while." She gritted her teeth with a calm remark. "No matter how good it is to be strong, I refuse to do this disgraceful thing!" She was so obsessed with improving swordsmanship that she would prepare for anything in return for getting stronger, but the shock of the aftereffects seemed to be hard to shake off. Her cry showed a firm resolution. "Do you ignore all the services you''ve offered to do so well?" "Be careful what you say. Davey, do you know if I''ve seen you for a day or two?" I got caught! "Actually, I just made it because I liked the taste of my hands." "You... ..profit!" Ignoring her in anger, I turned away quietly. ''Don''t forget¡ªit''s going to be a big deal. Never step forward." "......you''re not gonna tell me what''s going on?" I shook my head quietly at the sight of him asking with a complicated expression. "Trust what people say. It''s for you and the person who thinks you are the most important in the world." Then when I caught a glimpse of Layna, she turned away with a strange look. "Raina. Let''s go." "Yes." Illina, who spoke calmly, followed me and looked at Reina, tilted her head and shouted at me at the subtle hint she had felt. "Davie!" I turned my head to her shouting from behind. "Well, you know what? I don''t know what you''re trying to do. When it''s all over, can you free up some time?" "Time?" "Yes, there''s someone I really want to show you." She then dyed her cheeks slightly red. When she turned her head to such a fruitless figure and activated the magic, Persec, who was sitting on her shoulder and dozing, rubbed her eyes cutely. He''s in conflict. My heart became restless when I saw him face to face. Just be honest with me. I mean you. Aren''t you good at catching people''s minds? ''Well, I don''t know.'' Let''s go. Tsu-fang!! For a moment, the space was twisted and the familiar forest was revealed again. Later, I could see the peacock and the tomb of the Blue Dragon sitting quietly waiting for me, and a giant monster recovering from the blue light between them. "I''ve recovered a lot." [Humans] It''s been a while since I''ve been here, so I''m in a hurry.] "I have to take two of them." I''m amazed at the spirituality of these gods. For the time being, I can hold out on my own.] "Yes, that''s great. Fire rooster. Currrrung. Let''s go." Find all the hidden bases of mosquitoes and go to exterminate the last one. It''s not the same as exterminating all vampires that have been practiced before. I will reduce the size of the species to a large scale and nullify it. I said I gave Reina the nukes of the two nexus who were reconciled by light in my words. "Take these two guys with you. I have something for you to do." "If you''re an order. Even the neck of God." "Don''t be so harsh in front of the saints. From now on, Reina as men in action again." Then I took a large window out of the subspace and stuck it out to her. It was the new longinus, which was shaped like Unwol. Reina, who received Longinus without any vigilance, fell down with her eyes wide open. A pale face nearly collapsed, she instantly pulled Manna up, grabbed a spear, and looked up at me with a puzzled look. "This... this is the weight..." "Usually, it''s about 80kg, and you''re not the owner, so it''s about 300kg. You managed to hold it." "Are you crazy? This is a weapon?" "Nothing in the world can destroy that ignorant man. You won''t get a scratch. And, I think that''s better for you." A heavy sword is a sword technique that uses heavy weapons. If he is as talented as Raina, there will be no big difference even if he is not a sex sword. The sword made of Helixium, a metal of God, was the world''s highest weapon in terms of its strength, drawing tens of times the strength of Oryharcon, Adamantium, and hundreds of times the intensity of awakening. "I''m half asleep. You''ve made the power of the saints mistaken for a sword, so there''s no weapon better than this for you to use as a warrior." "What''s your purpose?" "The main character for the killing of the buoyant demon king." People are. Preparations must be thorough to prevent variables from occurring. * * * Beppel, a small estate in the southern Solbran kingdom of the west. The very small rural area, with only 200 Yeongji residents, used a small number of vigilantes to protect the security. "Father!" Yuri, a vigilante who was guarding an old wooden post, rubbed his sleepy eyes as he watched his son, who was learning to work under a hunting ground, running hurriedly to the land. "Oh, my God! draw breathlessly!" "hehehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." Yuri frowned sharply at the sight of her son running from afar and shouting. He is a very mature son. How can he boast to everyone around him that his son is such a mature and wonderful son? On the surface, he was quite blunt and cold-spoken, but his behavior was a little strange to Yuri, who was famous for her love for her son. "Father! Avoid it!" Yurik tilted his head and nodded to his fellow vigilante at the sight of him running from afar and shouting hastily. "Open the door for me. I don''t know what''s wrong with him." "That''s true. How can your son be so surprised?" "Well, there must have been a wild beast coming out of the mountain." Yuri, who opened the door of the table of contents with a smile and walked out, could see her son''s expression of getting closer quickly become paler. "No, dad! Close the door!" "What? What''s he talking about from the morning breeze?" "Oh... no!" It was then. As soon as my son freaked out and shouted as if he had found something. The glass could see a huge shadow from the sky. Then, his body, which raised its head along the shadow, hardened. Why didn''t I know? There are so many huge things. Not only Yuri looked at the sky with a blank face, but also the vigilantes who were guarding the goal looked at the sky. And most of them were of the same mind. Whispering!!! And As soon as the main character of the huge shadow flying in the sky dropped a huge roar, I felt the whole area of the ground shook. In the intense echo, Yuri could see something walking from the forest where her son had escaped. And He opened his eyes in dismay. What he saw was. It was simply an incalculable war of hell. Flaming... Then, as the hero of the giant shadow in the sky opened his mouth, red flames began to gather. Without a chance to avoid it, the fire hell was created in the land. * * * The ripple effect of this one sentence shook the entire continent in an instant. It was a tremendous piece of all time. Not a single kingdom has been destroyed by war since the Continental Union, formed under the name of the Three Emperors, signed an agreement to eradicate war. Those who had been out of the war for a long time were slowly becoming indifferent to the real danger of war. Meanwhile, the news of the collapse of the small country Solbran was enough to spread throughout the continent through the mouths and mouths of countless people. The events of the southernmost maritime city of the eastern continent and the Undeed Changshu incident in the Palan Empire did not cause much repercussions because they did not know how dangerous the enemy''s capture was, but this time it was different. the advent of the Black Dragon The army accompanying the dragon is a large army of hundreds of thousands, but the dragon, which turns hundreds of thousands of people into ashes at a time in Bresse, implies an unparalleled strength compared to the Frost worm before. There was only one direction they were heading. It was the eastern part of the continent. Their offensive of non-stop movement and random destruction posed a different level of danger than the rise of the undead of the former Palan Empire. And a few more days later, when a small small country headed east after Solvran was burned to ashes in another few days, the entire continent began to shake. Fortunately, the mysterious army of those who burned down the two countries stopped in the ruins of the kingdom''s capital as if it were to replenish their strength for a while, but the power was not going anywhere. Of course, the Three Kingdoms, which could never let the situation go, quickly held a central conference of the Continental Union and called in the king''s representatives of all countries who joined accordingly. Using the famous Lindis Empire air force, the kings and their representatives of each country began to move from all over the continent. And the fact remains the same in the Kingdom of Lounge. After Varys was elected as the king''s deputy, I was selected in the name of the saint to attend the United Nations Conference. "The King of the Louns! Prince Barris Allan and Prince Davey Allan are here!" "Come on, listen to me!" In a hurry I opened the door without hesitation and went inside. There were dozens of nobles and royalty with mixed expressions turning to me. "Honorless glory to His Majesty the Emperor." "Welcome, Prince Davy." an old emperor who welcomes me I can see Emperor Deord. And behind him, Katherine Caravella, the usually slow-smiling queen, waved quietly. "Ho... ..that boy is a troublemaker on the continent." Subsequently, a young man with brown skin sitting on the other side of the Emperor Lindis'' empire identified me with his arms crossed with an imposing expression. In addition, the youngest crown prince in the center, the new crown prince of the Palan Empire. Salivan was quietly welcoming me. "I would like to say hello to you, the twin dragons of the Lindis Empire, the little lions of the central Palan, and the Black Scorpion of the Western Continent." "Black-and-white-carved... ...who knows Jim''s stage name is rare in the Empire." He said it was interesting, but he couldn''t leave his hand still for a moment. It was a great appearance of the Western Contas Empire, which had a great sense of triumph. "I guess I''m the latest." I could see familiar characters sitting quietly on one side. the deputy king of the law from the Holy Land There was also Alice, who was a candidate for sex. She looked at me and bowed her head quietly to show her respect and then remained silent again. "Let''s start right away as it''s happening." Although it was a gathering of two imperial emperors and representatives of all the national federations on the continent, I spoke to them without hesitation, heading to the seat assigned to me. "I''ll check before that." It was then. The young emperor, Contas the Great, who was quietly watching the situation as if it were funny, glared at me and said, "Prince Davey the saint." "Yes." Have you predicted the situation?" "Well." He gave me a ridiculous look when I responded with a smile. As if the discomfort was at its peak, two bearded men behind Contas Daeje pulled out Shamshir to stop him, but he raised his hand and stopped him. "Don''t take Jim''s intelligence lightly. I understand that you have signed an agreement with the Crown Prince of the Palan Empire to fund the production of large amounts of weapons in Ammma-ri. Besides that, you invested a lot in the tower. Because of the mass production of the attack magic scroll." He''s got a great piece of information. "That means you''ve predicted and prepared for this, right? And there''s no promise from other countries." I bowed my head quietly at the word. Are these people picking a fight at an important coalition meeting? "The Great." "......" "What is the purpose of asking such a question?" When I asked him a question, a man jumped up. "Excuse me...!" Boom!!! However, the man, who was shouting in a hurry, collapsed under the light fist of King Contas. "Does Jim dare to cut in on what he says? Okay, go ahead." "That''s an obvious answer. It''s just a moderate estimate. It''s obvious. I don''t think the king would lie because it''s an unimaginable situation." "Your liver is swollen. Prince." People around me get nervous at the sight of the gentle anger is rising anger. I don''t think he''s judging the situation yet. "I don''t think he''s got all the status reports yet." I erased the smile when I smiled brightly. Those who knew me turned pale at the sight. It''s not that I don''t know what you mean to say to me. "If you''re trying to get me off the hook, do it after the meeting." If you don''t want to go behind, you''re the Emperor of Daeje High School. "If you have enough time for this unnutritive interrogation, I''ll help you get a little more urgent. I''ll give you a couple of sacred meteos for the Empire." CH 328 The Manreb hero is coming back! The Fourteen Books and the First Episode 1 Uh-huh. When the hundreds-meter-long dragon with huge silent scales fell asleep quietly, the nearby people carefully moved to their faces, fearing that the ferocious dragon would wake up. "What is the status of the dragon?" "Here you are, Grand Duke. As you can see, I fell asleep after eating enough." "......" A pale-skinned man bowed quietly at the question of a horned man who glanced at the dragon without a word. "This is just the beginning. Black Dragon can''t be satisfied because it hasn''t fully recovered yet." "Oh, no!" "But if you wait a little longer and a little longer, that Black Dragon will come back to life. Then I will kill all the hateful humans." The pale-skinned vampire smiled grimly at the horse of a horned man called the Great Prince. "Is there any possibility?" "I put all my life and death on this war. When the devil is resurrected, he can take the land back from those hateful men. Don''t forget that." "Yes." "What about the movements of the humans. The vampire quietly answered the man''s question of moving his steps again. "We have been briefed on the gathering of the nobility in the central Palan Empire. Maybe they''re trying to figure out what to do about this." "Yes, did you send the messenger? They''re idiots who will notice the status of the cannabis and vampires by themselves." "Yeah, I''ve got some unforgettable gifts. Don''t worry. Even if there was a monster, the messenger would finish his business safely." "Huh, it''s only human." The acting president, who made a mockery, grabbed the black jewel in his hand and walked again. * * * "Hey, you rude!" "How young and full of spirit! How can you say such a thing like that!" "You have to pay for what you sayings. Son of a saint! The atmosphere around me cooled down from the start due to the spread of the energy fight. Horror eyes fly at me from all sides. Varys sighed with one hand, pressing the temple with one hand, wondering if he had never thought I would directly refute the emperor of the Western Empire. It''s just that I''m not myself, but I don''t have such a good opportunity. "Don''t argue with Jim?" His act of talking nonsense showed an unpleasant look by the Lindis emperor, Deord Alindis. "Don''t forget the fundamental purpose of your present position, Conthas the Great." "Huh! The old man in the East is very much in love with the saint." "It must be the custom of the Western Empire to make a rough tongue of it. But your father wasn''t so arrogant to me either." He frowned at Emperor Deord''s remarks, which showed his displeasure. I`m sorry, but this is not the tradition of our Contas Empire. Emperor Deord, I respect you as an emperor and as an unarmed. However, I believe that anyone who is respected will understand why I made this choice." "... ...the clever one." Quite a few people responded to Contas the Great''s the Great. Obviously, if there was someone who had been preparing for this even before it happened and he had not given any word, it would have been a matter to take seriously. "Let''s get this straight. Prince Davey the saint. Long before this, you used a large amount of money to buy new weapons from the Palan Empire, custom-made and loaded them into warehouses within the Palan Empire. Other investments were made to airlift food and mass-produce attack magic scrolls on the tower." Contas the Great spoke quietly. "Oh, my God... it''s completely..." I think we predicted this situation." "Huh! Why didn''t you tell me this in advance!" There began to be a torch filled with discontent here and everywhere. It must happen that what I have done is known. In addition, whether you like it or not, the current questioning is something that you must go through once in the future. "That''s right! If I had predicted this would happen! If I had told everyone about this! The two countries wouldn''t have been burned down in a few days!!" knock, knock In an instant, when the situation turned like the hearing, the poor Salivan lightly knocked on the table. "Are you all having a joint meeting? Or are we holding a hearing?" "Prince Salivan! The same goes for the Crown Prince! If you know this, explain to everyone why you hid it!" Saliban''s expression was even more frowned as several royal representatives jumped on the momentum of the Great Contas. The problem was some of the yellow men present here. "Isn''t your brother still lacking the ability to tell the difference between big and small things?" "Because I''m so incompetent..." The feverish Salivan glared at them with a sharp look, but the princes only gave them a relaxed smile. "What are you doing?" I asked quietly when I saw them. "What?" "I''ve prepared a lot of things, just like the high priest said. You know, if you''really. What did you do while I was preparing like this?" "Well, what do you call that?! Son of a saint! Immediately, several furious aristocrats from other countries asked indignantly. "It''s already been quite a while since the crisis in the state of Felisty. After that, the Undeed of the Palen Empire and the Monsters Invasion of the Sea City of Valcas." It was for a moment that the crowd who were making a lot of noise about me kept their mouths shut. "Please answer the question. Were you an incompetent leader who never felt at all conciliatory while I was dealing with them?" "Wow, we don''t hear God''s voice! It''s the saint''s duty to hear it and let us know!" "Did you think the saint was the notification magic whispering into your ears? How can I tell you that I didn''t even get off? Do you want me to give you a lie?" "God, blasphemy!" "The blasphemy is what you want." Boom! "You''re a saint, but you''re not too rude! Is this the will of the Kingdom of Lounge?! Or is it the will of the Holy Land?!" "That''s right! Are you sure you can handle this kind of course." "Stop it!" Emperor Derart was indignant and mediated the surroundings. "Prince David. Don''t set the pace with their petty politics." No, Emperor Deport continued to fan me and supported me. "You''ve already seen three major events, and you''ve noticed that there''s some sort of power." I still can''t confirm whether one is related to vampires or not. Everyone was silent about my shifting steps. "If you''ve learned anything in the past, you should have prepared yourself for the future. First of all, is it wrong for the person who has prepared for the future because of anxiety Or," Was it the fault of those who cared about the state coffers, saying that it was not their job after three such incidents? "I can''t give you the least amount of my word!" When I laughed at the question, the royal family of great physique frowned. "As soon as. Ha...! As soon as possible. By the way," My eyes, which slowly closed and opened, flashed red momentarily. "Why do I have to deal with your petty incompetence?" "Hey, hey, hey! "Prince Manatrina, this is the situation. Are you sure you can handle it?" "I will never tolerate this rudeness. I want you to report to His Majesty right now..." At the words, I quietly took a small crystal ball out of my arms. At the same time, a cute little elf girl appeared over a self-operated crystal ball. [Davie.] "Emily, what''s the arrangement?" [Can''t let the Continental Crisis slide] The number of Elf soldiers is not that large, but the Nymphs and Ant sent reinforcements. I''m done preparing for the war.] From now on, we will turn the edge of the soldier`s spear. The destination is the Kingdom of Manatrinas." I start to look alarmed at what I say." Those who fight for the interests of their country are enemies, even though the enemy poses a great threat to peace on the continent is just around the corner. I''m going." My determined remarks began to resonate all over the place. However, none of the leaders of the three kingdoms came forward. Realizing that something was wrong, the prince of the Kingdom of Manatrinas hurriedly tried to mediate the situation by looking at the emperor and me of the three empires alternately. "Great, the Continental Warfare Convention..." "Round Kingdom will withdraw from the Continental Union as of this time. Honey, the Continental Union''s Convention on the Elimination of War has nothing to do with the Kingdom of Loun. Amelia." [Really...] You''re launching an attack on humans?] "The scariest thing in the war is not the strong enemy, but the incompetent allies. I''m going." [......] Amelia sighed at my words and turned her head. Soon after, he seemed to be talking to someone and opened his mouth again. Sinmok''s mother agreed with Davy''s opinion. From now on, I will move the Nimf, the Elf, and the whole army of the Spirit''s allies.] "Wait, wait!" When the Elves suddenly turned the spearhead, it was the prince of the Kingdom of Manatrinas that was embarrassed. He shouted at me with a pale face. "Hey, this is ridiculous! We''re fighting each other in a place of continental security!" "Same side? I don''t think you''re on the same side. He''s the enemy''s man." [Listen!] Everybody march. Destination is small kingdom of central continent! Manatranas! We must seize the kingdom and surrender as soon as possible! Don''t forget that I''m not a real human being, I''m a group of people who want to burn the entire continent!] Emilia, who ordered the advance as if she were listening, seemed a little uncomfortable, but he was flustered by a firm cry. "Who, who would argue about wrongs and make a life-or-death decision? De, Prince Daveyah! Calm down." "What''s wrong with you? This is what you want, isn''t it? It''s not that you didn''t hear who the enemy was. It''s the Black Dragon. In just a few days, a monster that devastated the kingdom is pushing in. Do you want to start with future interests that may or may not be in danger of the whole Daeruk falling into chaos?" Coooooooong! When the white sanctity burst out of my whole body, some opened their eyes to the pressure of the sanctity of being a saint. "Excuse me, please." "Stop, Prince of Manatrias, if you behave any more freely, the Contas Empire, one of the three pillars of the Continental Union, will not protect you." "The same goes for the Palan Empire." "The Lindis empire deals sternly." "Well, that can''t be..." I asked quietly, leaving behind the prince who collapsed with a devastated face. "Another complaint." "......" There''s no way there''s such a thing. The fools fell into the trap set by the leaders of the three empires. "There''s no disagreement. Our kingdom of Valkas will follow the opinion of our great benefactor Prince Davy, the great benefactor. Also, if Prince Davy were to leave the Continental Union, our Balkans would be equally hostile to the Kingdom of Manatranas." "...oh, when do we make such a life-and-death decision? Well, I was just wondering a little bit. Come on, calm down your anger..." They were caught trying to tear something apart. Most of the people who sweat and make excuses were the ones who bit me a while ago. "Prince David. That''s enough." Soon after Saliban opened his mouth quietly, I reconnected the crystal ball and called Amelia off the advance. There was not a single person who opened his mouth recklessly in a chaotic conference room that seemed to have been hit by a storm. Later I asked for Contas the Great. "Daeje, did you keep the entertainment in mind?" Then I stopped walking in the middle of the huge table. At the same time, he added slightly. "We can''t specify the location of the enemy, and we don''t know the purpose. You don''t know the power, and you don''t know where to start. That''s why we''ve prepared this for the Palan Empire, the central country where we can deliver weapons to the entire continent the fastest. I was worried about a possible or not conflict. Has that been answered, chief?" What I said made him giggle about what was so funny. "Hahahaha...hahaha! That''s great! That''s great! It''s more than I expected!" He wiped the smile off his face after shouting. "I recommend Prince Davy as the commander of the expedition." At the same time, Salivan and Emperor Deord added as if they had been waiting. "The same is true of the Lindis Empire." The Palan Empire is in favor it." Some of the kingdom''s characters were embarrassed as if they hadn''t even heard such a story, but there was no human being who had no fear of throwing opposition in a position in favor of all the Three Emperors. Didn''t you just watch the situation of the Kingdom of Manatranas in Ancho? "Prince David." He called me quietly. "Your insight is amazing. All right, I''ll admit Jim''s rudeness. Anything is fine. I''ll give you Jim''s neck." "Great, great!" "Stop it! You are born a man and don''t say a word with one mouth. How dare you people humiliate your king?" And he was satisfied with his face when he bowed slightly to me without hesitation. If this worked out well, he already knew what kind of blame I would find for preparing this in advance. So he boldly set fire from the start. Although it is apparently radical on the surface, it is definitely a decision to clean up the post-mortem issues. At the same time, the action to see how I deal with it is quite cute. But that remark was good. "You can''t hope for the consumptive act of cutting the king''s head. But it''s good if you tell me what you want." Have you heard of it? It''s a bomb parachute appointment. "Please appoint a commander-in-chief to replace me. The Emperor of the Three Kingdoms, led by the Great Emperor, must approve it. Raina, come on in." With my words that followed, the door of the conference room opened, and Raina walked slowly in, a beautiful woman who fluttered her sky-blue hair. CH 329 The Manreb hero is coming back! the second installment of the 14th volume. Yuck! Reina''s eyes widened at the beauty of the door, and everyone''s eyes were on her. She looked calm in the gaze of the royal family and even the royal family, who had a large wall, who seemed to shrink. Her life was too rough to be intimidated by the gaze of countless people. I glanced at Salivan as she appeared with a huge unwoldo wrapped around her back. It was because I wondered if my brother, who cares terribly about his younger brother, might recognize him. "Who is that woman?" However, there was no one who judged Raina to be the same person as Illina, as to whether the curse worked properly. "I''d like to say hello. This is Raina." "Laina...... do you have a last name?" "Yes." There was a buzzing cry around the firm answer. "A commoner in the world! The common people are now..." "You mean you''re going to make me commander?"" In the cries of the bewildered, Contas the Great watched Reina alternately for a long time. Then he lifted up his leg and hit the floor. Whoo! With an ignorant sound, the ground splits on one side and everyone''s eyes turned to him. "Stop! Her existence is not a lie. You fools It''s also oil-based that you can''t recognize a strong man who is far beyond the sodmaster." The fighters with high strength seemed to have noticed the power Raina had at once. To them, I may just be a strange creature that can''t feel anything, but Raina would be seen as having a large amount of manna and divine power in her body. "Who is she?" "I''m a hero called by God. Not only the military, but also the command of the troops, you have the ability to do nothing wrong." Everyone looked at her suspiciously at my explanation. That''s because her outward appearance, though in her twenties, looked too young. It was a long time ago that she became a sodmaster. She looked like a maiden of her flower-like age, with no change in her appearance because she suffered from a transformation. "I''m the one who took God''s weapon, the Longinus, to the cause. It''s my freedom to doubt my abilities." I, who cut off the conversation, smiled at Contas the Great. "I''m sure the high priest won''t say a word in one mouth, will he?" He giggled at what was so funny. "You were playing at the top of Jim''s head in the beginning. Did Jim bring the situation here with a thrust?" I didn''t answer his question. "That''s good. That spirit! I''ll buy you high! Did you say Reyna?" "Yes." I recommend you as commander of this coalition under the name of the Great Contas. Any differences?" "There isn''t." "No." Other countries that benefited from the good wishes of the three rulers of the Three Kingdoms, including the Duchy of Felisty and the Baltic states, voted in favor. The acting king of the country and the national miners, who had been very wary of my ever-increasing power, nodded quietly when they realized there was nowhere to retreat. It was a moment when a parachute commander was appointed without proving a single ability. "I can''t stand by this. Although the belated action caused the two countries to fall apart, there will be no more! I demand the Allied presence." "I''m for it." It was not long before I nodded quietly at Reina when the Great Godfathers voted by nature. Then he moved slowly and pulled the white flames out of one hand. "Prince David?" "Before that, I think you should all hear who the enemy is." Speaking calmly, I reached into the air in the middle of the conference room. Whoo! At the same time, something was caught in my hand and the surrounding space began to twist. "Oh, my God!" It was the screams of the unexpected. A pale-skinned man dressed in black in the air, which had not been seen before, was dragged out. "Huh?! hahaha!" "Chi, he''s an intruder!" "Have Your Majesty!" With the cries of the embarrassed, the guards who protected the kings pulled out their swords in unison. But I stopped their fuss with one hand and spoke quietly. "I had a hard time hiding. I won''t ask you what glory you''ve been hiding for." "Kuh...khhhh! Rain, damn man! How!" "Is that what you''" I put him on the floor as I said calmly. Then he lifted the box in his hand lightly. The contents of the box, which seemed to be a gift... "You''d better not see it." Some of what I said were already mouth-to-mouth as if they had seen the content and some of them looked suspicious. "What! What the hell is that?" "The head of King Solbran." My words moved a man with a pale face on the floor. Then he gave a strange smile. "Kkhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh The price against the noblemen of the night and the existence of the manatee will not be light." "Fa, the nobleman of the night?"" "The existence of a magical world." The man''s smile deepened toward the surprised. "The Great Prince of Mana, Astarot, has come here to condemn you in personally. And we must not forget that our great night nobles have begun to move to condemn you arrogant humans." "The nobleman of the night... no way. Vampires..." Salivan''s muttering surprised some. "Oh, ha! Everyone will die. No matter how many times you''ve come together, the results won''t change! Your resistance will die for nothing, and soon the demon king, who will open his eyes, will destroy you and return the land to its original master!" He shouted at me, exaggerating like an actor with an audience. "Davie All Right! How dare you to be arrogant against the aristocracy! From this time on, there''s nothing you can do! I will destroy you in the name of the Son of Man when the Devil is resurrected! All human necks in front of you." Whoo! A terrible evil spread throughout his curse. The men, weighed down by the spirit, opened their eyes wide and stopped, unable to breathe properly with their pale faces. Raina cut his hair with the undewoldo, which fluttered the golden air when the cloth was untied. At the same time, his body, which was slowly swelling like a bomb, began to contract again as if it had become flat for a moment. He was a man of considerable power, but the divine power of Reina sent the existence of such a spirit to the Lord at once. "The vampires and the Maas will march again soon. We don''t have enough time, so move right away. I''ll take command of the Central Allied Forces until all continents gather." Taw! Lightly shaking off the blood from Unwoldo Island, she turned around without hesitation and left the conference room. After that, I turned around quietly. "Prince Davy." It was then. Turning to a familiar voice, I could find Alice, the candidate for the saint, slowly approaching me. "Long time no see. Prince." "Your face has become quite comfortable." "Thanks to you, I thought a lot." Speaking calmly, she took a small cross out of her arms. "I''m sure you''ve put up a representative because you''re moving separately. It may be a poor thing for the saint. May God bless you in what you do." I, who received the cross without words without revealing my innermost feelings, smiled silently. "I heard the news. Rina''s the final candidate." "Yes, Lina was more noble than I thought. This is the last time I''ve been a candidate for a saint. From now on, he''s just one god serving God." She laid down all her powers and rights as a candidate for sex. Therefore, he seemed to have been very talkative at one time in Sungkuk, but he seemed to respect his choice. I''ve got to hand to you. A grin said she quietly. "I heard the rumor. He creates an academy that can teach everyone." "Where else did you hear that?" "In my dream, God made the first revelation. Ha...... a voice that I''ve never heard before that longed for." She said so and asked with a look of relief. "Even though I''m not good enough... ...I want to be a teacher of theology. If you come back safely in this war." "There is no reason to refuse." "Thank you." Alice was in some ways a great priest, and it was a matter of great fire in the past. She has become the last candidate for the Holy Woman with her ability. * * * Human movements were being reported in detail. The Vampires and Maasite allies began their advance by dividing several directions behind the numerous-scale main force. However, it was clear that despite the fact that it was an advance team, the number was a large-scale military corps with as many as 150,000 troops. Lower vampires, hematocrites, eroded monsters, and ferocious beasts from the mana. Although the heavy load on the way to the Tionis continent made it difficult to control the beasts, it did not weaken them. Their brutality remained the same, and they were at risk of biting the enemy at any time. Gorgon, a senior vampire who is currently leading an advance team to suppress human seizures, felt quite satisfied with the armour of the horse harness, which amplifies his strength. Wearing armor alone not only strengthens your energy beyond your original strength, but also follows your orders from brutal beasts who are hard to control. As many as 150,000 hearts. Nothing in the world seemed to be able to stop the army if every single one of them looked at threatening soldiers following the terrible number of armies. Besides, there is a presence behind them that humans are most wary and afraid of. Black Dragon Gargas. Originally a wise dragon.However, it looked like a dragon that was long exposed to the power of mana, weakened and eroded by reason. Even if it was weaker than the magical creature Dragon, called the magic bell, it certainly did not go anywhere. "Huh, 150,000 for a spy mission? It''s not funny that 150,000 people are so wary of a human being like that''s not funny." Mumbling coldly, he kicked Goblin hard on the back of his head as he walked with a vague gait nearby and murmured irritably. "I''m not the body to do this kind of spy mission! This body." It''s a good thing it''s been done. I''d rather push it like this and take those weak-kneed bastards down. If he makes a contribution, his master will look back on himself. There was nothing to be afraid of if it was not a small number but 150,000 troops and every single one of them was such a dangerous force. Laughing!! It was then. A goblin and a ghost wolf, who had left for a reconnaissance mission far away, quickly ran toward Gorgon. Gorgon had no hesitation in piercing Goblin''s head with a heavy hand. Kick! Gorgon, who pulled a part of his brain out of Goblin''s head, who had not even finished screaming, smiled grimly as if he had eaten a snack or chewed Goblin''s brain. "Ha... ha ha ha ha. At the very least, human beings, what would you do?" He was a vampire with an unusual power to eat his opponent''s brain and absorb his memory. So, although it was usually used for reconnaissance missions with monsters, Gorgon himself was confident that his abilities would only be limited to that extent. Although there is a arrogant human being who is concerned about his master in the opponent''s history, isn''t that human? He was a terrible aristocratic chauvinist. He was an extremist man who said that any race except the aristocracy was only inferior. "Move! You little bastards! I''ll let you eat the meat of the humans for dinner!" The original mission was to examine the enemy''s movements and tie their feet until additional troops came, but Gorgon had a different mind. With his armor-resistant self and this large force, he can defeat them at once. It was actually enough power. Thus, he did not stop the march itself, and he was able to find numerous human soldiers and cavalry watching him as if he were facing him in a large plain. "It''s going to be a boring war." I can''t believe you came here without fear. Gorgon was about to give the order to march, thinking so. "Hmm?" CH 330 The Manreb hero is coming back! The Fourteen Books and the Third Plenary Session 108. The Miracle of Pure White and the Rise of New Water. The other soldiers'' movements were clearly defensive. In addition, it is advertising that it will prevent the military, which is a mixture of 150,000 strong monsters, from the front. Without going crazy. The ridiculous behavior of humans, who appear fearlessly with a series of cavalry at the forefront, was likely to be done by a fool who did not even know the basis of the tactics. If the number is small, you have to think about slowly cutting it down in an ambush or a trap to block it from the front. What a ridiculous thing to do. Gorgon''s expression cooled with derision and contempt. "Ha! Not funny guys. You''re not afraid to stand in front of my forces? Ha! The number of troops was rather superior to the vampire side. The dominance of the actual number of people, which is about 40,000 to 50,000 at the most, was nearly double or triple that of vampires. Not to mention the level of soldiers pointed out by keen vision. It was qualitatively different from the army of vampires, who had been preparing for battle for a long time, and those cowards who crouched in fear and were busy looking around. the battle between the hobjjol and the well-trained armies of hell Gorgon expressed both irritation and surprise at the recklessness of fighting even though there was a perfect difference enough for even children to know the outcome of the fight. in a twaddle It was not long before a person riding a horse slowly walked out of the center of the human army. Then slowly, he took off his pitch. "Isn''t she a young lady?" Gorgon''s cry clearly recognized a woman with a sky-blue hair that took off her helmet. "I have no fear of trying to stop this army!" As the voice rang out without loudspeaker magic, the other side began to show considerable agitation. The feeling was a clear fear. The frightened soldiers are humming and afraid of each other. The stronger you push, the more scared you get. Gorgon approached the enemy''s army with his spirited steps. As if escorting him, the human agitation became immense as the giant minotaurs of the skin of Sakaman followed. "You''re trembling, are you afraid of me? Hehehehehehehehehe, I will! You''ll be scared! All the peace-stricken Neckats can do is scream and die helplessly!" Soon after, the soldiers began to whisper in their ears. "Oh, my God... What the hell are those monsters..." "How can I win if the numbers are already more than double..." From trembling young men to old men standing with resigned faces. How urgent it was, the soldier''s age deviation was a mess. Many soldiers were properly trained, but the number of soldiers who were conscripted urgently was overwhelming. "Human girl, you''ll also have to take a good look! Because of your stupid judgment, all the people who believed and followed you will be brutally torn and eaten! Four years will also be inevitable, Khhhhhhhhhhhh, don''t worry. I''ll suck the blood and kill you for as long as I''ve been dried and twisted myself!" As the red air began to flow through his whole body, there began to be a heavy flesh of evil around him. Despite this situation, however, she got off her horse with her pitching off and slowly untied the large unwalled cloth on her back as if she was not interested. "Listen, soldier." It was not long before I heard the voice of Raina, who untied all the cloth. "You''ll be afraid. You''ll be scared. Enemy numbers are more than our own. Each risk will be higher than any previous event." Gorgon slowly turned back to his camp and gave a cold sneer at her calm speaking. "Maybe all of you will die. But you can be sure that it''s not now." She continued, speaking calmly. "We have only one purpose. It''s for those stupid vampires who are so peace-stricken they can''t do anything." How frightening the resistance of mankind is. Speaking calmly, she slowly lifts the undulating moon. Boom!!! At the same time, a golden air stream poured from the sky, and huge forces began to gather around her whole body. "Hmm?" Alarmed by the stronger power than expected, Gorgon could soon hear her. "All men, have faith. In the name of the commander, I won''t let anyone die easily. Cut the opponent and kill him. That''s the only way to protect those who trust us and wait for us!" With a calm cry, she slowly raised the unwol-do high. Then he took a step forward. "God is with us. A noble man, empowered by the name of God, is helping us. We should not waste his efforts to protect humanity by himself." It was not long before she took another step in a calm voice. "All troops. Charge." Soon after, with her cry, the soldiers began to move slowly, fearful. They are enemies that will threaten the foundation of mankind, not the fight between humans. It means that if you don''t fight, you''ll die, but it''s the same. "Erex bee! Yeah, once, twice!" "If you die here anyway, you''ll be all searched! Let''s go!!" The feeling of killing and killing one more person who would rather die than running away for fear, which is half desperation, has spread strongly. Gorgon, the top vampire, didn''t know. That''s because of the existence of a dragon that has overwhelming power that makes them feel that it may really destroy the continent. Boom! Boom! Boom! The morale of the soldiers began to rise gradually, regularly hitting the giant Helveod''s spears. Even though there was nothing blocking the back, the soldiers on the human side began to march in line with each other as if they had struck a drainage camp. "All units! Spread your wedge-shaped camp!" It was not long before the soldiers began to approach her cry, taking the form of a single spear in perfect order. Gorgon turned his head away with a cold laugh. "Bite it, tear it apart. It is a shame to a proud aristocrat such as a fool who is being eaten." The lower vampires, who already thought they were winning, were not scared at all. Aside from the majestic advance of humans, the change in morale brought about by the confrontation between the fierce and relaxed vampire armies was certainly an overwhelming victory for vampires. But the change soon began to twist little by little. Boom!! A huge white wizard, hundreds of meters from the sky, began to emerge, led by Raina, the first warrior to rush in the lead. Gradually speeding up and shouting, the soldiers and cavalry rushed to the scene with their grim faces as if they had not found a huge magic line stretching out from the sky. And when the two armies reached the point of collision at any moment Soon after, pure white magicians made in the sky began to scatter huge pieces of light, forming dozens and hundreds. The truly horrifying divine buff magic soon became surrounded by all human soldiers, and soldiers who did not notice their change at once began to rush like men whose lives ran on alert and exercised superhuman power. Something''s wrong. Feeling it instinctively, Gorgon stepped back without realizing it and distorted his expression. This can''t be happening. I don''t know what that white magic pearl is, but I could see one thing for sure. If you don''t stop that right now, you''ll be in big trouble. It was about time for him to rush up his energy to prevent the activation of the Magic Circle. Yikes!!! Gorgon opened his eyes to the huge roar from the sky. A huge bird of flame coming down from the sky crossed the army of vampires exactly and inserted the ultra-high-temperature flame Bress directly. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" The unidentified buff magicians are marching fearlessly. In addition, a huge fire bird from the sky. And even before he shouted something out of the blue. Realizing that his body was overwhelmingly lightened, the fighting spirit began to burn surprisingly in the eyes of the human soldiers. "Dead!!!" "To protect my family!" "The saint and the warrior are together!!" with one''s cry Gorgon could see. The nettle-type attackers of human soldiers, who were less than half in number, immediately enter by pushing their own troops, who were proud, brave and ferocious. * * * "Are you all right?" I watched the situation quietly at the words of Alice, the sex candidate who led the priesthood to join the war. On the surface, it was a battlefield where the human side seemed to be at a disadvantage. In addition, he showed a sense that shook the psychology of the soldiers. "The sacred magic of the priesthood doesn''t reach all of this. I''ll join that line right now." "Keep an eye on it. The priests who are in charge of recovery should not get hurt. "Gender and Female Candidates for sex. "......" If a soldier gets hurt, the priest treats him, but if a priest gets hurt, there is no one to heal him. Alice was just silent about what I said. The chant of the enemy, Gorgon, made not only the soldiers but also the priests who were watching the situation from afar sicken. "Really... are you all right? Even if you''re watching from so far away..." "Oh, my God... I''m afraid we''re all gonna die." "I have to talk to the Holy Lady and the Holy Father and join the ranks." I was watching the situation, ignoring the murmuring words, and turned away when I saw Raina silently lifting Longinus and starting to move. "Alice, let''s get started." "What?" "We need to pave the way for a turnaround." I, who spoke calmly, clasped my hands strongly and closed my eyes. Boom!! At the same time, a white air began to burst out of my whole body. [To save countless innocent people, let''s make a half loan of grace on 36-month interest-free installments.] [Ninth Eccentric Last Vocalization.] [????? ??????(Sain Sanctuary)] Argh!!! A sacred area that makes the viewer''s eyes wide open begins to activate for a moment. "What the... ..." The priests looked at me with surprise when they realized that the power of the divine magic they saw in person was far beyond the level of the divine magic they knew. In response, I said after creating a passage that connects the place where the priests are and the plain where the soldiers fight. "What are you doing? I don''t want buffs. Get ready to use the recovery magic. Thanks to that Magic Circle, the healing magic used here will be activated there." I, speaking calmly, stretched my clasped hands out to both sides. In this war I never had to make a direct attack. That''s how you can get the most out of it. I''ll hang the buff for you. [Stress] [Hard skin] [Stone Skin] [Distraction] [Vital Pump] [Mana Convergence] The great white air of power began to spread, and the strengthened divine magic began to unfold throughout the area, which was declared holy. All altruistic buff magic in the sanctuary of God is amplified by more than double. [Lenovatio] [Reinforce the Mind] Restoration of physical strength and mental strength. [Devine Protection] Even a protective magic. Later, without hesitation, I activated the amplification magic that I often used to wipe out Goblin from the former Hines estate. Strengthen once again due to the sanctuary of God and amplify once more into the already active buff magic. Let''s see some divine magic. [Saint Gloria] As I always say, if there is a buffer that breaks common sense, the simple difference in the number of heads is meaningless. Fight and die, you can bring them all back. CH 331 The Manreb hero is coming back! The Fourteenth Book It was a moment when the situation turned upside down. Soldiers who once clashed with the huge, sacred firebirds that appeared to help themselves. I no longer fear the space where white feathers fly as if I were seeing a miracle of God. The old man, who used to be sarcastic, showed such great power that he has been working out for a long time. "Oh, you bastards! Even if I die, I''m coming with you guys!" The old man, who shouted and threw a helicopter at him, snatched the jaw of a huge dark wolf with his bare hands, twisted it to death, and swung the body of a huge dark wolf like a blunt instrument. It was too overwhelming to be seen as coming from the old man''s body. But hundreds of white magicians activated in the sky made it possible. "Ahem! Ahem! Ahem! The boy, who became a mercenary at a young age and participated in the battlefield, roamed around as if he were cutting everything when he was caught in an overwhelming body-enhancing buff after his skillful swordsmanship, which he had been training to fill his deficiency. The first wedge formation had long since disappeared. However, the battlefield was already so chaotic that it was meaningless. It was a disaster itself that many people fought with huge buffs on their backs. Boohoohoohoohooh!! The black minotaurs, who swept the human race with their hand-held blunt instruments with a huge cry, soon jumped up as if they had been fatally wounded and stepped back as if they were tired of the zombies. Just a swarm of ants! The result was obvious as long as there were far fewer numbers and each one was suspiciously human. "Hey, this is... this is ridiculous..." Moreover, the biggest problem was none other than the two. ...quadding!!! Dozens of people are swept away in half if they lose in a single batch. Reina, the hero at the forefront of the battlefield, was simply a terrible monster. Her presence of covering up the golden-white oracle-blade on Unwoldo Island ended at once those who questioned whether she was so strong. Yikes!!! And so did the giant firebird, like her, who roamed the entire battlefield and shook off its great grandeur. "Hey, this is ridiculous..." Gorgon stared blankly at the bird of flame, flying in the sky and turning the eroded Wyverns into ashes in an instant. It is not easy to kill each soldier. Their commander, the human woman, was a frightening strongman far beyond Gorgon''s expectations, and the bird of fire, presumed to be an unidentified Phoenix, unilaterally burned Gorgon''s army without harming humans at all. No matter how weak it is as an advance team, it was still not this one. Considering the level and number of powerful blood horse-riding and horse-riding monsters, it should never have happened. However, humans created this situation as if they had been waiting. "Hey, you guys!!!" Outraged, he threw a nearby man''s neck away. I am getting goose bumps at the power of the damn recovery, but if I die immediately, there is no way to save the recovery magic. "Dead! You punk!" "You''re dead! Which means, It was like saying that if you don''t die, you''ll surely survive. Therefore, it was a natural result that soldiers'' fighting spirit went up in real time. Gorgon, who had been cutting to death at random, soon swept away the crowds of vampires and took a step back when he saw Reina approaching. It''s not a fight with that crazy-powerful human woman. You have to run. Instinct calls for retreat immediately, but reason held it. He was the one who violated the order of the main force and made a first attack. And not only were they defeated, but they also led to a significant increase in their morale. Even if you live, the result of your return will be nothing but miserable disgrace and death. Reina, who came slowly toward Gorgon, who had been hardened, pointed at the end of Longinus'' spear at him. Then he spoke quietly. "That''s what my silversmith said." "......" "The empty cart is noisy. You''re pretty weak-kneed for a jaw drop." "Hey, you damn X!" Furious at Reina''s provocation, Gorgon left both reason and instinct to anger and quickly penetrated into her. Whaaaaah! Then he pulled out a huge sword and struck her and screamed like crazy. "Four years! I will tear you to death with this hand! I will tear him to death and drink blood!" Reina, who had taken his sword without saying a word at his onslaught, saw madness and pushed in, soon took a familiar step. Then he quietly blew up Manna and pulled her up. [Serious Prosecutor] [Breaking mountains] Boom!!! a sword of overwhelming weight Although it was made of spears, not of a sword, the weight of Longinus'' spear was overwhelmingly heavy, instantly cutting off Gorgon''s sword and splitting his body in half. It was so strong that there was a huge hole of several meters from where he was standing. After the death of a man who led a large army of 150,000 people, it was in vain. Of course, vampires who lost their heads had no choice but to be confused. Even the lowest-ranked vampires are more powerful than humans. But all of them could not withstand the power of the lunatic humans, who were engulfed in buff magic, and were swept away at random. In the meantime, their conductor died. I couldn''t help but feel hopeless. Even so, there could not have been surrender or retreat for vampires who had the pride of the nobility. Unlike the number of deaths and bloodshed, vampires eventually held out until the last one collapsed. Sue was nearly three times the battle, but as a result of hitting each other without retreat, one side was completely destroyed. Reina shook her head as she watched Longinus, who had been so ignorant and frightened that she couldn''t breathe and shake her head. It''s really incredible durability." Speaking calmly, she soon stood absentmindedly and slowly lifted the spearhead toward the soldiers looking at her. a declaration of victory At the same time, tremendous cheers began to burst from all sides. "Wow!!!" The soldiers'' morale soared as if they had been literally hit by drugs when the fight, which they thought would be absolutely defeated, became such an absurd victory. It wasn''t just a win, it was a plus for winning in an amazing way. "Long live the warrior Reina!!!" It was not long before there were some cries of praise from the soldiers. "Hurrah!" Originally, the person who provided the buff should be praised the most. As if to induce this situation on purpose, he only watched the situation as slowly as he could from the eyes of the soldiers. * * * Lady candidate Alice could soon feel how much he had done. The divine magic he used was the divine magic of a line she had never seen before. No, to be exact, I''ve seen the traces. When the events of the Duchy of Felesti broke out in the past. At that time, it was rumored to be a divine magic that broke out when the Iliana Empress Caldiras awakened. Alice had a good feeling of how rubbish it was. It was widely believed that the saint in front of him was a real exhaust monster. "Oh, my God... what did I see in that short time?" "Oh, God." An intermediate priest of the Priya Church, who had participated in the war to treat the wounded, spoke to Alice with an incredible face. "Oh, my God... ...is I seeing a miracle from God?" "What the hell is he..." "No matter how much you''re a saint, it''s really shocking." "I''ve been reluctant to follow Alice because she believes in her, but I''m really... ashamed of myself." He did not participate in the war games himself, but he turned the tables of the war by himself. The soldiers see it all as a miracle created by Raina, but the priests who were looking from the outside could tell. The man who really ended this war. It''s not the warrior Reina, but the saint David who was watching the situation from afar. How can he perform miracles that even the Pope of the Holy Land can''t do at such a young age? "Kuluck..." At that time, when Prince Davy slightly twisted his body, respect began to grow in the eyes of the priests. "Oh, my God... he doesn''t even take care of himself..." "Ah... God''s grace." In fact, I sneezed because of the dust, but it didn''t matter to the priests who were already wet. Is this really the true face of the saint who was rumored to be on the continent? I thought so, but there were also things I couldn''t understand. Leaving him alone looking at the war situation, the priests waited for Alice to lead them. And Alice, the sex candidate who was watching the situation without a word, slowly opened her mouth. "A saint is the recipient of God''s man." "But..." "And the more you love life, the stronger you are." At the words, the priests dazed and soon opened their eyes wide. Then he made a face that he was touched. "Oh, my God... then from him..." "How much do you love the world?" Even the Pope of the Holy Land gave up the power he couldn''t even imagine. Priests did not understand how absurd the divine magic used by a man named Davy was because they had never used it or actually had never seen it. I just thought it was amazing, amazing. "But I was really surprised. I can''t believe I''m going to reinforce every single one of those soldiers on this street." "That''s true. A saint who loves the world! prefer the depth and sophistication of the divine magic Focusing on the hidden mind, the priests began to kneel down and pray as if they had been touched by a god. "Ah... Goddess Priest. Forgive me for being arrogant..." "Thank you forever for your sublime..." "God will be with you..." Believe what you want to believe. Alice thought so. No matter how saint he was, his power was real and I could see how noblely he tried to be. I''m saying this over and over again. The illusion is the freedom of each person. "Cough, click" Why do you sneeze like that? "Someone must be cursing at me." It''s understandable. I''m sure by now she''s been chewing on you. They may be feeling betrayed and shuddering. However, for Illinois, it was better not to participate in the war. Because there''s nothing good about revenge? No way. Revenge is sweet, and achieving it neatly and finding the next goal is also life''s vitality. What do you call counseling? He meant that such words were not used as old words for nothing. But this kind of ignorant war will be hard to come. I can, but it was true that the more I was stranded here, the more advantageous that side would be. Looking back at the ruined plains with the Allies turning back with the victory news, I reached for numerous vampires, bloodshed, and beasts of the horse world who had fallen dead in the blood. If I had just moved in the name of a saint. It''s time to move as a black-and-white colonel. Taking out a small reagent from the subspace, I poked the reagent into the affected parts of several hematopoietic beasts and reached out quietly. [Revive] A magic different from the Spiritual Resurrection Magic that brings the undead back. It is an unfinished magic created before death by a commander who spent his life trying to save his dead wife. After all, he couldn''t use this magic to his wife because he had to live up to the expectations of his death. I don''t care what they look like to me right now. Boong!! As soon as the black mana penetrated, several blood horsehorses, which had become bodies like electronics with charged batteries, sprang up. Then he moves about with a ferocious air. They gathered quietly when they found me. "Go back to your homes." Go, bite everything and infect them. Don''t regard zombie apocalypse as a disaster for humans. I''ll assist you with your, your, your, your abyss biological virus. Originally, these viruses cannot exist in common sense. Like a virus that only responds to vampires and related hulmasters. Such a narrow-minded virus is something you can only see in movies, but it is less efficient and less practical. Above all, the truth is that the world''s rules can''t just leave such unconscious things unattended. But the life of the abyss I have is the life of the world behind the dog''s disregard for such rules. It was originally a method that I discovered while doing an experiment that I wanted to control at my own discretion by undetecting some of his flesh. The problem was that the undetected virus turned into a zombie virus. After collecting viral eggs in a reversed virus in the wake of extraterritorial forces, not the rules of the world, I transformed it into a surprise gift for vampires. There are still a lot of side effects and a lot of risks. It''s none of my business. With the rapidly disappearing hematoma behind me, I took out the crystal ball and tried to connect it. Davey, that black dragon. Reina, can he handle this? "......I don''t know because I haven''t seen it in person, but if he has real dragon-like power, it''s not possible." Like it or not, you''re gonna bump into it. "That''s why the world''s eggs are moving." It''s going to be a huge burden for Al, but it doesn''t matter if she''s there''s a dragon doesn''t matter. Ignacil, who was extinguished by me, was also the only thing that eventually penetrated and attacked the only weakness of being young. In this war, Reina should be praised as a leading figure throughout the continent. Her presence will receive the attention of all countries and every single one of her actions will have a great impact. That way, you can often use her methods on this side by side. Can''t you lower yourself? Monopoly of interest is an unexpectedly troublesome task. It''s a vicious and vicious way, but Reina has made every effort to be praised as a warrior. They will only be rewarded accordingly. "It''s me, Davey." [David] I''ve been waiting for your call.] "We''re all set up here." [They''re starting to move] We''ve put the virus in a surprise guerrilla operation in their path. Honestly, it feels a little strange. He seemed skeptical about the somewhat inhumane way of war. "The more effort you and the knights make, the more human beings on the continent can live. Then, please." [Okay] People on the continent don''t know the name of the Rhinforce Alpha Knights. Therefore, the Knights decided not to reveal themselves to the world, but to prevent them from being hidden. Moving in secret, interfering with their behavior. The virus is being introduced periodically by surprise. As a result, none of them appreciate their services. In the first place, it was their choice as a secret organization of the birth group. Originally, in my case, I was thinking of revealing the existence of last whiskey to the world. But I didn''t. It would be a moment for the noble Knights to be corrupted if material and political power began to intervene. "Davie, you bastard!! How could she do this to me?!" Illina, who was gazing at the empty cabin, nervously tried to swing a giant sword, not Caldiras, but stopped. Oh, my God! But her sword did not stop completely, so the tip of the luxury wooden table in her room was cut sharply. Nevertheless, she was bragging about her anger. Disposal of absenteeism and tardiness disposition It was like a bolt out of the blue for Illina. Suddenly, my brother released the prince from the palace and attacked the quiet cabin where Belial was. Illina, who regularly dropped by the cabin to get Belial some medicine, heard the news late. By the time she arrived, Belial had already fled. There was no reason to keep him around in the first place. When she first found him, she was in danger of dying right away, so she brought him in. Even if the injury was not completely cured, she judged that she would not die anywhere herself as long as she had more than Sodmaster-class power. However, he was a good friend of the story who listened to the story silently. He was a man who could be a good friend in a different sense from Davy. I didn''t mean to kick him out like this. The furious Illinois went to my brother''s to pick a quarrel with him about everything. And I could hear it. He visited Illinois after hearing that there was something disturbing enough to violate the imperial spirit. And there he said he actually found Belial. Illina rebuked the imperial dignity, and eventually she was imprisoned by the royal court. Of course, even though she escaped, Illina''s long experience with a psycho child allowed her to infer the true culprit of the incident. Davy O''Loon. This bad boy went to Saliban and told him everything about Belial. It made her unable to get away from the palace. Why did he do this? I couldn''t understand it even in retrospect. No, I couldn''t have known. It''s a device to get Belial to leave Illinois after the deal with Belial is made. In addition When I heard that the enemy was a vampire, I knew how she would turn out, so I tied her to the palace. Illina was just a girl who thought in the normal human category to infer such facts without a clue. Calm down, Illina. He was meant to leave anyway, wasn''t he?] "It''s not Belial that I''m angry! Davy''s son beat me in the back of the head. Why is he always so impatient with me?" Caldiras answered the cry with a clear air. I''ve heard it from Harres before. I have a preference like a child who likes to bully me. "......" The words hardened Illinois'' body. [Maybe that''s what Davey is like?] Illina blushed at the question. Then he shook his head. "Who, who accepted that you were interested in? I don''t care about him anymore." [Hmm......really?] "Yes" [I''ve told you lie is bad...] At the words of Caldiras, who breathed a sigh, Illina blushed her face as if she were a child who had been caught. She came carelessly, looked after her condition, and trained her lungs too hard, so in fact, there were some unpleasant things left in her body. Davy is. I noticed that right away. I made an excuse to say, "I don''t know what to do with my hands," and I solved it on the spot. Honestly, how much help did you get from him? He said no. She also shook her head when she tried to propose to him on the spur of the moment. As time went by, I thought it was okay, but every time I met him, I felt different and different, so I couldn''t shake off my complicated feelings. "Down! Down!" Illina, who was sitting annoyingly in a chair and savoring her car combatively, tilted her head at the sight of her exclusive girl rushing in. "What''s going on?" "So, did you hear that?" Snake, vampire! A monster named Vampire appeared..." The royal palace is rather quick to hear from. However, Illinois belatedly learned the news. "What... what do you mean?" When she jumped out of her seat and asked with a serious expression, the poet gasped and hurriedly brought up the story she had heard. Four days ago, two countries were overthrown at the southern tip of the western continent. a gang of black dragon-dominated monsters A full-time meeting of the Continental Union was held to solve the problem with the corps. He said he realized that his enemies were vampires and maids there. Later, they declared war on the entire continent to achieve their goals. In the lead, Reina, a beautiful woman with sky-blue hair that Davy brought, is a warrior. He said he was in the position of commander. Perhaps the reason she climbed up there with nothing was because of what Davy had done. More important than that was elsewhere. "Bam... Fire? Vampires came out in the sun?" The poet nodded as if she was frightened by the eerie question of Illinois. Boom! Illina immediately replaced Caldiras with a brooch and quickly ran out on the product. But as soon as she opened the door, she could see five or six knights and my brother blocking her. "Get out of my way, brother." "Iilina, I can''t get out." "You''ve been working so hard to keep the news to the palace late. Are you out of your mind to use state funds and talent for such a place?" "Don''t worry, I''m just playing my own money." "Let me go. I''ll join you right now." "White Bird was briefly transferred from my authority and sent to court. You wait here." "I''m going to fight too!!" Illina cried out. "Orabani... ..you know how my mother died..." Salivan sighed briefly at the words and approached her. Then he spoke quietly. "Are you going to waste Prince Davy''s efforts worrying that you might get hurt?" Illina''s body flinched at the words. "He seems cold-hearted, but he is a good man who always protects his own people. I''m going to ask you, Illina. Do you think it''s for a simple reason that Prince Davy, such a thoughtful and strong man, tied you up here?" "I''ll take care of my life." It was around the time when the cold-throwing Illinois tried to pass him. He also lost his mother. Think about why he stopped your revenge like that revenge." In short, when he passed her again, Illina stood there shivering for a long time before collapsing. Then he buried his head and started sobbing. How much have you trained swordsmanship to kill vampires? He even joined the Rhinforce Alpha Knights to find information about vampires. You want me to watch from afar without holding a sword when the vampire is out? "Davie... ...you''ve got the wrong. Caldiras, you said you could find out where he is if you wanted to." First of all, Per is sealed in his castle.] "Guide me." The destruction of the vampire was one of Illinois'' life''s goals in the first place. news of a landslide victory in the battle against the enemy advance team It would be great news for those who were anxiously waiting for the victory or defeat of the war. There were too many remaining enemies and too many unexposed ones to be considered to have actually taken a heavy toll on the enemy''s power. It was because of the existence of a black dragon that burned the top vampires, the Ma tribe, or the two countries at once, which were judged to be the greatest risk factors. Of course, the combined forces were not everything here now. At a time when large-scale forces are moving neatly under the agreement throughout the continent, the fact that it is a full-scale war of large-scale forces does not change. "That''s... that''s great. With Prince Davy here, this war... ...can''t possibly end in a landslide." "That''s right! God''s mercy on those special forces under God''s name..." "I am not the commander of this war. "Alice, the Holy Woman Candidate." "I don''t know that he''s not bound to such a trivial place." Her rebuttal shook my head. "You''ll see if you watch." She said nothing more about what I said. an undisclosed order of knights The Knights of the Reinforce Alpha, the last group of Whispe Knights, was moving with the determination of unprecedented continental intervention. They never go beyond their boundaries unless they are basically a crisis over the annihilation of the entire continent. In fact, they have long prevented the polar beasts, which are in danger of the survival of the continent in silence, from spreading. "Whoa... I''m nervous." Shivering, one of the twin sisters, Shire Lenda, held his spirit''s hand tightly. "Yeah... it''s the first time I''ve been out of the continent since I was a kid." "I heard the world is a really scary place... ...and now that I''m out here, it''s not much!" Alisa Patrick, who was watching the situation quietly at Damour''s words, answered quietly. "Damour, shut your mouth." "Hmm... just me." "Damour, if you say something, it''ll happen." "Laughing! That''s right." Damour frowned at Alisa''s calm rebuttal. But in the end, I couldn''t say anything. You don''t know that it''s actually karma you''ve built up by yourself. He''s rather timid. [Chuck! Group A. Answer me. "This is A team leader Alisa Patrick." This is Boris, the leader of the unit. Report the situation.] "We arrived safely to our destination. Sample virus injection is ready. Target target is being tracked." We''re starting operations now.] "Operation, let''s get started." Good luck to you. I hope you get back safely.] "Don''t worry. Teacher" A smiling Alisa heard Boris''s gentle voice from beyond the crystal ball. [Yes, don''t overdo it] Do you understand? "Don''t worry. We can''t make it as big as you, but if he''s prepared so hard, he can move accordingly." Alisa, speaking calmly, raised her hand to a small group of vampires and bloodmars that moved quickly across the ridge. "Everyone, please don''t let go of your tension. Let''s get started." Bam!!! Group A of the Alpha Knights of the Reinforce was a regular group of young boys and girls. However, they were children who passed the formal examination and became regular members, and were basically talented men and girls of their own age. In an instant, the spirit technique performed by the twin sisters of the Spirit Temple moves. The pre-soaked liquid medicine spread like a bubble and began to permeate quickly in the wind of Silaim, the intermediate spirit of the wind. Most of the knights have already seen and confirmed the efficacy of the virus created by an unprecedented new member of a monster named Davy. It doesn''t work for all living things, but the only virus that can only be found in the blood of vampires and vampires... "S, it''s a raid!" "Hold it! The humans!" As soon as the lower vampires, who were moving quickly and quietly, shouted out loud, the saint Pildir, who was holding a shield in front of him, dug in at a tremendous speed like a dump truck and hit a vampire in front of him. Although the current drivers of Group A are not lacking in skills, strengthened vampires cannot be killed at once. Careful not to say that it is to have killed by a ball all to death are well aware. As such, vampires now had a viability that exceeded their knowledge of the existence of vampires. But this time, the purpose was not to kill them. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" When a sharp sword penetrated and cut off a vampire, he frowned and pulled his arm back. At the same time, dozens of blood horses penetrated the knights, but the Knights of the Reinforce Alpha worked together as if they had been waiting and prevented their offensive. In the meantime, the wind of the water droplets of twin sisters still swept the whole country. "You rat bastards!!!" Vampires, who had a fever over the behavior of tying their feet without attacking due to absolute schedule, began to grind their teeth and exude blood. "Up to here! We''re in danger. We''ll retreat!" Soon after, when the horn was heard with a loud cry, the knights nodded quickly and began to retreat from them, covering each other, leaving behind what they were fighting. "Humans! You think you can survive this!" At the cry, the boy with a leech who was running away from the back row giggled. "I learned something from my classmates, you bastards! Get hit by the eyeballs of Hegg!" Whoooooo! With the words, he took a small scroll out of his arms, held it in his mouth without hesitation, tore it with one hand and threw it into the air. "I was told to say that when you use it!" Confucius says there is a light. I don''t know what Confucius says. [Magic to modify light properties] [4 Circle] [Stern Grenade] At the same time, all the boys and girls in Group A closed their eyes and blocked their vision with one hand as if they had been waiting. Poof!! With the sound of deafening, a huge light that seems to poke the eyes explodes. It''s actually a strong light. Besides, what would a vampire who is weak in the nature of light say more? "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" "Oh, my God, my eyes!" The vampires, who shrieked and faltered, rolled on the floor holding on to their eyes as they were burning. The fact was no different because it was a blood horse with vision. Has it been a long time since everyone closed their eyes and woke up? A vampire slowly opened his eyes and looked around with a frown. "Oh, my God! You ran away!" Starting with him, who seemed angry, those who regained their sight looked around, but none of the young humans who had taken them by surprise were seen. An infuriated by the fact that he was completely misled by the guerrilla war, a vampire began to vent his blood all over his body. "Okay! Damn you guys! Find him and kill him! Tear it to death and bleed it until it''s twisted!" On the contrary, some looked relieved. "Whew... how did you get your life fixed?" "If you take the power of immortality because of that damn human being, you never know when you''ll die." It is certainly not normal for a single human being to keep all vampires on edge. "I hope this war ends soon. The blood horse I was assigned to this time is finally starting to listen to me. He''s still weak, so I kept him in hiding until he grew up. We can go back after this mission." "Oh. That''s good news. I pray for you to grow more and make it a dashing blood horse." "Thank you for your kind words..." A vampire, who was speaking quietly, frowned slightly. "Why, but you." "......it''s not a big deal. It''s a little... weird." "Didn''t you forget to eat?" He shook his head at the question of his fellow lower vampire. "That''s not true. Is this mission actually a little risky? So I caught some mountain animals and washed the blood in advance in case they were hungry." "Then you drank too much. That''s a stupid greeting." "Even if you do..." While talking, he grabbed his stomach and bowed down. "Luck..." "Huh? Hey! What''s wrong with you?" A bewildered fellow sub-vampire shouted, patting him on the back. However, he couldn''t move easily and breathed out roughly. "You... you''really. He seemed to have felt something was wrong with his body, but he hardened his words. A fellow vampire, curious about the sudden silence, was about to help him. Yaaaah!! Suddenly, the vampire, who was bending his back, jumped up and bit off his fellow vampire''s arm. "Ahhhhhhhhhhh! He''s crazy! What''s wrong with you!" Surprised, he hurriedly pulled out his arm, but his arm was dripping with vampire-like blood, as if he had been stabbed properly. "Uh, uh, what did I... ..." "Hey. Are you crazy?!" "Oh, no! I didn''t do it on purpose!" "Ehhhuh..." "Mi, I''m sorry! I didn''t mean to put you through a lot!" "Look, you don''t fit well with the battle. Apparently, you''re upset because of stress, so let''s go home. If you get back to work, the mahjong will heal you." "Oh, you''re talking about that mysterious circus woman." "Yeah, yeah. Let''s go. A-ing..." The grumbling vampires did not know. Not only that, but most vampires are in the same situation. Reports from the Reinforce Alpha Knights began to come up. Aside from vampires who have continued to advance like rocks with eggs to keep me tied to the main stage, the fact that the Byeoldongdae is moving to all parts of the continent. Since we already knew where they were coming from, it was obvious that they would be on the road. I took control of the wind in the sky through the Qurungi and told the Knights of the Reinforce Alpha to raid them. In the meantime, they let go of the additional offerings. All they want is a hateful sacrifice. It''s selfish to think that most of them are criminals or people who cause big problems, but I was going to use them as they are. The first sacrifices were immediately used to destroy them, but doing more than that would only hamper the plan. I flicked my finger as I watched Reina move the troops to the main. It''s almost time for the news to come. Vampire Star Dongdae was planted with viruses. And the virus that would trigger it also seeped through the blood horse water that I revived with a rebib. Now The result will come out. "Oh, my God! Commander! She looked at me as if she had predicted the situation roughly at the sight of a messenger running toward Reina from afar. "Weird movements were observed in the" ship, vampire form! It''s like a civil war broke out...!" When she nodded, she quietly spoke to a general who was beside her without further consideration. "Ready to attack. I''ll push it in at once." At the same time, I nodded to her and turned around. "Where are you going?" "I''m leaving the army." "Ta, desertion?" "Do you think you can catch it?" She shook her head at my question. "I have no idea what you''re thinking. You''re the one." Then, when I moved to leave the unit, I declared my desertion to Alice, who came to see me. CH 332 ¡°Aachoo! Aachoo!¡± ¡ªWhy are you sneezing? ¡°Someone must be cursing at me.¡± ¡ªThat makes sense. Perhaps that princess is now cursing and chewing you out, no? Illyna must have felt betrayed by what Davey did. However, it was better for her to not participate in this war as much as possible. Because nothing good would come out for someone who was crazy for revenge? That was not it. Getting revenge was sweet. Fulfilling it neatly and finding one¡¯s next goal in life would add vitality to one¡¯s life. What was it? ¡®Sleeping on firewood and licking gallbladder¡¯[1]? That old saying was not there for nothing. ¡ªHowever, this kind of reckless battle will be hard to come by in the future. Davey could do this again and again. However, the more they stayed in one place, the more advantage they would hand over to the other side. He watched as the allied forces turned around and left, bringing news of victory with them. Then, he looked at the now ruined plain, stained with a sea of blood and littered with the dead bodies of the vampires, blood beasts, and the Demon World¡¯s demonic beasts. If Davey moved in the name of the Saint earlier, now it was time for him to move as the Arch Necromancer. Davey took out a small bottle of reagent from his pocket plane, poured the contents on the injured portions of the heads of some of the blood beasts, and stretched his palm over them. [Revive] A different magic to revive and turn someone into an undead from the Divine World¡¯s resurrection magic unfolded. This was an incomplete and unfinished magic created by a necromancer who worked his entire life to try to save his wife. Even though he tried so hard to create this magic to save her, he still failed to use it on his wife. Why? Because he died. Vwooooooong¡ª Davey did not care what the blood beasts looked like right now. The moment the dark mana shot out from his hand and dissolved in their bodies, the mangled corpses of the blood beasts sprang up like animatronics charged with electricity. They pranced around with ferocious momentum and energy leaking from their bodies before gathering in front of him and turning quiet. ¡°Go back to your home.¡± ¡®Go. Bite them and infect everything. Don¡¯t ever think that a zombie apocalypse is a disaster that only affects humans. I am going to send an express delivery of the special Abyss¡¯ biomarker virus just for you, for you, and for you!¡¯ Common sense would dictate that this virus, a virus that only targeted and affected vampires and the blood beasts related to them, should not have existed in this world. Such a selective virus was something that could only be seen in movies, and it was extremely inefficient and impractical. But above all, the reason why this virus should never have existed in this world was because the rules of this world would never leave such an unconventional thing unattended. However, the creature from the abyss that Davey had obtained was a creature that lived on the other side of the coin and was something that could easily ignore the rules of this world. Davey had found out about it while experimenting with the creature of the abyss and found that it could turn another into the undead. The problem was that the undead virus had turned into a zombie virus. Davey collected the virus reversed by the power that exempted it from the rules of this world and transformed it into a surprise gift for the vampires. The virus had a lot of side effects and was very, very dangerous. However, that was none of Davey¡¯s business. After watching the blood beasts disappear from his sight, Davey turned around and took out a communication crystal ball and tried to connect to someone on the other side. ¡ªDavey, speaking of that black dragon¡­ Can that child Reina handle it? ¡®¡­I haven¡¯t seen it in person, so I can¡¯t tell. However, if it has the power of a real dragon, then there¡¯s no way. But if that¡¯s not the case then she has a chance.¡¯ ¡ªThen, whether we like it or not, we will still have to face it? ¡°That¡¯s why the World Tree is making a move.¡± It was a tremendous burden for Al. However, with her presence, the dragon would not pose a problem. The reason Davey was able to defeat Yggdrasil was because he targeted its one weakness, its youth. But with Al, that weakness did not exist. In this war, Davey intended to portray Reina as the protagonist, garnering praise from the entire continent. Reina''s mere existence would attract the attention of all nations, and her actions would have a significant impact on the continent. If they continued using this strategy a few more times, Reina might be capable of accomplishing it on her own. Although it was unexpected, monopolizing the attention of the entire continent seemed troublesome to Davey. However, Reina had worked hard to gain recognition and praise as a Warrior, and she deserved the rewards she would receive. ¡°It¡¯s me, Davey.¡± [Member Davey! We have been waiting for you to contact us.] ¡°The preparations on our side are already done.¡± [Our side has already started to move too. We have been attacking them by surprise and using guerilla tactics to infect them with the virus. If I were to be honest, this feels a bit strange.] The man on the other side seemed a bit skeptical about the inhumane method that they were using in this war. ¡°The more the teachers and the knight order do their best, the more humans will be able to live and survive in the continent. So, I will leave it to you.¡± [I understand.] The humans on the continent were unaware of the existence of the Alpha Reinforcements Knight Order. That''s why the knight order decided to continue hiding and assisting behind the scenes. They operated covertly, obstructing the enemies'' path and planting the virus along the way. This way, no one would recognize their contributions. However, they had chosen this path because their secret organization was built for that sole purpose. Davey initially wanted to reveal the existence of Alpha Reinforcements to the world, but he respected their wishes and refrained from doing so. He knew that the noble and honorable knight order would quickly succumb to corruption if they became involved in politics and worldly desires. *** "Davey, you rotten bastard! How could you do this to me?!" Illyna fumed inside the empty hut, her body trembling. She hurriedly stopped her swinging hands, which had narrowly missed hitting the wooden table in her room. Luckily, it wasn''t Caldeiras. Swooosh! However, it was too late to stop the swing completely. She had cut off a corner of the wooden table with the sharp blade of her sword. Illyna continued to fume, anger weighing heavily on her chest. Illyna was caught off guard when she was informed that she was on probation. Her brother, who resided in the imperial palace, had suddenly sent his troops to raid the small and peaceful hut where Belial was staying. Illyna, who regularly brought food and medicine to Belial, arrived at the hut too late. By the time she got there, Belial had already fled. In reality, there was no reason for her to keep the demon by her side. She had brought him along merely because she saw him in danger of dying when she found him. Even if Belial''s injuries were not completely healed, she knew he wouldn''t die since he had reached the Sword Master level. However, she had grown fond of the demon. He listened intently to her stories, and she considered him a good friend. Belial had become a companion in a slightly different sense from Davey. Illyna never intended to let the demon go like this, so she was endlessly frustrated. She immediately confronted her brother and argued with him. Her brother claimed that he went there because he had heard that Illyna was harboring a foul being, which violated and tarnished the dignity and pride of the imperial family. And indeed, he found Belial there. In the end, Illyna was reprimanded for her actions that undermined the prestige and honor of the imperial family and was locked up in the imperial palace. Of course, Belial had escaped. However, thanks to the experience she gained after spending a long time with that crazy bastard, Illyna was able to deduce the true culprit who had brought her into this situation. It was none other than Davey O''Rowane. The rotten bastard had gone to her brother, Sullivan, and divulged everything about Belial. Because of that, she was now unable to leave the imperial palace. Why would that bastard do such a thing? Even after pondering deeply, Illyna couldn''t figure it out. No, she had no way of knowing the true reason. It was all a ploy to make it easier for Belial to leave her side after Davey struck a deal with the demon. They also planned to tie her to the imperial palace, knowing that she would immediately rush out upon hearing that their enemies this time were vampires. As a regular human, Illyna couldn''t infer such things, even with the clue in her hands. [You have to calm down, Illyna. Anyway, he¡¯s supposed to leave. Right?] ¡°I¡¯m not mad at Belial! It¡¯s Davey! That bastard hit me on the back of the head. Does that bastard get antsy if he can¡¯t torment and harass me for just a single day?!¡± At Illyna¡¯s cry, Caldeiras answered with a murmur, [I¡¯ve heard this from Ares before. He said that kids like teasing and bullying the one that they like.] ¡°¡­¡± Illyna turned stiff at Caldeiras¡¯ words. [Perhaps that guy, Davey, is like that too?] A deep shade of red appeared on Illyna''s cheeks at that question. However, she immediately shook her head and said, "Who said I''m interested in him?! I don''t care about that bastard anymore." [Hmm¡­ Really?] ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± [You always told me that lying is bad, but¡­] Illyna blushed even darker at Caldeiras'' sigh. She looked like a child caught in the act. For the full version, visit pawread dot com. Davey had casually visited her, but he immediately noticed that she felt uncomfortable in a few places after her intensive training. He used the excuse of wanting to touch her to give her massages, but he honestly did it to help resolve her problems. If Illyna were to be honest, Davey had helped her a lot. But when she wanted to repay him, he refused. In fact, he firmly rejected her spontaneous proposal. Illyna believed she had moved on from that rejection since a considerable amount of time had passed. However, she still felt a different kind of emotion every time she saw him. And because of that, she couldn''t shake off the complicated feelings she had for him. ¡°Your Highness! Your Highness!¡± Illyna, who sat in frustration on her chair, slowly placed the cup of tea in her hand on the table. She tilted her head in confusion as her personal maid rushed in urgently. ¡°Have, have you heard the news?! There, there are vampires! A monster called a vampire has appeared¡­¡± News traveled fast in the Imperial Palace. However, Illyna had received the news late. ¡°What¡­do you mean by that?¡± Illyna jumped up from her seat as she asked her maid with a serious look on her face. The maid gasped in shock and hurriedly relayed the news that she had heard outside. Four days ago, at the southernmost end of the Western Continent, a dragon and an entire army of monsters appeared and completely wiped out two nations. To address this army threat, a Continental Alliance Conference was held. During the conference, they discovered that their enemies were vampires and demons. They subsequently declared war on the entire continent to achieve their own goals. With Davey leading the charge, they brought forth Warrior Reina, a beautiful woman with sky-blue hair, and appointed her as the commander of the allied army. The reason why a woman with no notable accomplishments could attain such a position was probably because of Davey''s intervention. However, that was not Illyna''s primary concern. She was entirely focused on another matter. ¡°V-Vampires? The vampires came out in the sun?¡± The maid nodded with fear in her eyes when she noticed Illyna¡¯s strange fixation. Baaaang!!! Illyna immediately transformed Caldeiras into a brooch, pinned it onto her clothes, and rushed out. However, the moment she opened the door, five or six knights, along with her brother, blocked her path. ¡°Get out of the way, brother.¡± ¡°You cannot go out, Illyna.¡± ¡°You dared to meddle with the news that flows into the princess¡¯ palace. It seems like you¡¯re out of your mind to dare use our empire¡¯s funds and talents on something so trivial?¡± ¡°Oh, you shouldn¡¯t worry about that. I used my own money for that.¡± ¡°Let me out. I will join the war.¡± ¡°The authority to lead White Bird has been temporarily transferred to me. You. Stay here and wait.¡± ¡°I also want to go and fight!!!¡± Illyna cried loudly, ¡°Brother¡­ You obviously know how our beloved mother had died, so why¡­¡± Sullivan sighed lightly and approached Illyna. Then, he said quietly, ¡°Are you going to waste Prince Davey¡¯s efforts to keep you out of harm''s way?¡± When Illyna flinched, Sullivan continued, ¡°He might seem like a cold-hearted man, but he¡¯s a good man who protects the people that he holds dear. Let me ask you this, Illyna. Do you think that such a strong and powerful person like Prince Davey has tied you up in this place just for a simple reason?¡± "It''s my life, so it should be my choice," Illyna retorted, her voice carrying a chilly tone as she tried to pass her brother. "He, too, has lost his mother. Think about it. Consider why he stopped you from seeking revenge," Sullivan spoke briefly, passing by Illyna, who had come to a halt, and leaving her room. In the end, all Illyna could do was tremble and collapse on the spot. She curled up and sobbed pitifully. How hard had she trained with her sword just to kill those vampires? She had even joined Alpha Reinforcements to gather information about them. And now they were telling her to stay put, relinquish her sword, and watch as the vampires openly revealed themselves? ¡°Davey¡­ You¡¯ve got the wrong person. Caldeiras, didn¡¯t you tell me that you can find out Davey¡¯s location as long as you wanted to?¡± [Well, yes, since Per is sealed in his stigmata.] ¡°Please find him for me.¡± Destroying the vampires was Illyna''s lifelong goal, and no one would be able to stop her from achieving it. 1. a saying that refers to nursing vengeance and remembering the humiliation they suffered. ? CH 333 The news of the allied forces'' landslide victory against the scouting enemy unit was very welcome for those anxiously waiting to hear about the battle''s outcome. However, there were still many enemies remaining, some yet to be revealed, making it premature to claim significant damage to the enemy army. The high-ranking vampires, demons, and even the black dragon posed the greatest risk and could be considered the most formidable forces in the enemy army. In fact, the black dragon had burned two nations to ashes. It was the biggest risk factor in this battle and could be said to be the greatest force in the enemy army. Of course, the allied forces had not revealed their full strength and troop numbers. According to the agreement among the allied nations, large armies from across the continent were finally mobilizing. The fact that this was an all-out war between two sizable armies remained unchanged. "He''s truly amazing. With Prince Davey here, this war will probably end in a landslide victory," someone remarked. "That''s right! May God''s mercy reach those evil and wicked people," another responded. "I am not the commander and will not lead anyone in this war, Saintess Candidate Alice," Davey replied. "Please, I know you well enough. Trivial matters won''t tie you down," Alice insisted. Davey simply shook his head at Alice''s rebuttal. "You''ll know it when you see it." After hearing Davey''s words, Alice chose not to say anything further. *** The enigmatic and secretive knight order known as the Last Wisp Knight Order or the Alpha Reinforcement Knight Order had reached a momentous decision to intervene in the affairs of the continent, despite the unprecedented nature of their involvement. This organization had always refrained from leaving their own territory or taking action unless the continent faced the imminent peril of annihilation. In fact, they had covertly operated in the polar regions, preventing the activity of malevolent beasts that posed a threat to the entire continent. "Hoo... I''m feeling nervous," Shayir Renda, one of the twins, clasped her spirit''s hands, her body trembling as she spoke. "I understand... This is probably the first time you''ve ventured out into the continent since you were very young." "I heard that the outside world is really scary... That''s what I thought, but when it came down to it and we finally went out, I realized it''s not that bad!" Damur shouted enthusiastically. Alyssa Patrick, observing the situation, calmly advised the boy, "Damur, please keep quiet." "Smack... This is just how I am." "Damur, every time you speak about something, it always happens without fail." "Kyahahaha! That''s true." After hearing Alyssa''s calm response, Damur couldn''t help but frown. However, he knew there was nothing he could say in the end. He was aware that this was simply the consequence of his own actions. Besides, Damur was a very timid and cowardly person, so he chose not to argue with her. [Crackle! Unit A. Please respond.] ¡°This is Unit A¡¯s Unit Leader, Alyssa Patrick.¡± [This is Unit Commander Boris. Report your situation.] ¡°We have safely arrived at our target location. Preparations for the injection of the sample virus are complete. We¡¯re already tracking our target object.¡± [It¡¯s now time for us to start the operation.] ¡°Acknowledged. We will now start the operation.¡± It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread dot com". [May the tide of war be always in your favor. I hope for your safe return.] ¡°Please don¡¯t worry, teacher,¡± Alyssa said, a soft and gentle smile on her face. Boris, who was on the other end of the crystal ball, spoke with a kind and benevolent voice. [Alright. Do not overdo it. Understand?] ¡°Please don¡¯t worry. We might not be able to do something as big as Sir Davey, but we have already prepared as hard as we could for this. We only need to move according to the plan. We will be able to do it.¡± Alyssa raised her hand toward the small number of vampires and blood beasts that were moving quickly over the ridge and said, ¡°Everyone, stay vigilant and always be on guard. Let¡¯s start.¡± Baaaaaaaaam!!! Unit A of the Alpha Reinforcement Knight Order consisted of young boys and girls who had successfully passed the organization''s rigorous examination, making them official members of the order. These children were exceptionally talented and far surpassed their peers. The twin elementalists immediately tapped into their spirit mana, harnessing the power of the intermediate spirit, Syllaim, to rapidly spread the pre-prepared drug for easier infection. The virus, created by the order''s newest member, Davey, an unprecedented and unmatched monster, had already proven its effectiveness to most of the knights. This virus had no impact on other living beings and specifically targeted vampires and similar creatures, such as blood beasts, who possessed vampire-like powers. ¡°It¡¯s, it¡¯s an attack!¡± ¡°How dare these human bastards!!!¡± As the lower-ranking vampires attempted to move stealthily and swiftly, they suddenly found themselves startled and on high alert, shouting and scanning their surroundings. In that moment, Paladin Flidyr, his shield held firmly before him, charged forward with tremendous speed, barreling over the vampires in his path. The members of Unit A in the knight order were skilled individuals, but they were well aware that defeating even a single vampire would require great effort. These vampires had been enhanced and possessed a remarkably high level of resilience, surpassing the order''s knowledge of their survivability. However, their objective this time was not to eliminate the vampires. ¡°Keuaaaaack!!!¡± The vampire shrieked. He immediately stepped back with a frown, cradling the arm that had been slashed by the human enemy¡¯s sword. Seizing the opportunity, dozens of blood beasts launched an attack on the members of the Alpha Reinforcement Knight Order. However, the knights swiftly synchronized their movements, countering the onslaught as if they had anticipated it. Simultaneously, the twins continued to disperse droplets of liquid with the aid of their spirit''s wind, sweeping the entire area. ¡°These filthy rats!!!¡± The knights of the order adhered to a precise timing when engaging the vampires, solely focused on immobilizing their limbs. This action infuriated the vampires, causing them to grind their teeth and unleash their blood energy. "We''ll conclude it here! It''ll be perilous if we proceed any further! Retreat!" a resounding cry echoed, accompanied by the blare of a horn. The order''s knights nodded in agreement, swiftly withdrawing from the battle, using their swords to fend off the pursuing vampires. "Filthy humans! How dare you think you can escape this place alive!" the vampires bellowed in rage. The boy, wielding a massive mace, chuckled at the vampire''s outburst. "I picked up this trick from my comrade, you scoundrels! Heg will surely blind you!" Shwaaaa!!! With those words, Heg took out a small scroll with one hand, tore it apart with his mouth, and threw it into the air. ¡°He told me to say this when we do this! Just like the Lord said, ¡®Let there be light.¡¯¡± Although he did not know who the Lord was, he still faithfully uttered the words. [Light Attribute Modified Magic] [4th Circle] [Stun Grenade] At the same time, all of the children of Unit A closed their eyes and shielded them with their arms. Booooom!!! A light, a very blinding light, exploded along with a loud sound. And for the unprepared vampires, who were already weak against anything attributed with light¡­ ¡°Keuaaaaaack!!!¡± ¡°Keheoook! My, my eyes!¡± The vampires shrieked, clutching their burning eyes as they writhed on the ground in agony. The blood beasts, too, howled as they lost their vision. After enduring the searing pain and rolling on the ground for a considerable time, one of the vampires cautiously opened his eyes. What he saw made him furrow his brow. "Damn it! They escaped!" the vampire shouted, his voice brimming with anger. The other vampires, gradually recovering their vision, likewise realized that the humans who had audaciously launched a surprise attack were nowhere to be found. Fury emanated from the body of one vampire, seething over the fact that they had fallen victim to a mere guerrilla tactic. He snarled, "Grrrrrr!!! Damn bastards! The moment I find you, I''ll kill you! I''ll drink your blood until you''re drained and withered, tear you apart, and end your life!" On the contrary, there were those who appeared visibly relieved. ¡°Hoo¡­ It seems like we¡¯re able to preserve our lives once again.¡± ¡°Even if I received the power of immortality, because of that damned human, I still fear for my life every day¡­¡± It was completely unusual for a single human to keep all of the vampires on their toes. "I can''t wait for this war to end. The blood beast assigned to me this time has finally started to listen to me. He''s still quite weak, so I left him at the hideout. I have to wait for him to grow first. So, I have to go back there once this mission is over." "Ooooh. That''s really great news. I hope your blood beast will grow quickly and become a dignified and majestic one." "Thank you for the well-wis¡ª" The vampire frowned, his words trailing off. "What''s the matter?" "It''s nothing. I just feel a bit... strange." "Isn''t it because you forgot to eat your meal again?" The vampire shook his head at his comrade''s words. "That''s not it. I already know that this mission will be a bit dangerous. So, I caught some wild animals and cleansed their blood in advance just in case I got hungry." "Then, it''s most likely because you drank too much. What a silly matter, tsk, tsk..." "Still..." The vampire didn''t even get to finish his words. He curled in on himself, clutching his belly and groaning loudly. "Urrrrk..." "Huh? Hey! What''s the matter with you!" The vampire''s comrade shouted in doubt and worry, patting him on the back. However, the vampire''s intense pain made it difficult for him to move freely. He could only breathe heavily and manage to say, "I... I feel strange..." Then, as the vampire struggled to articulate his words, he suddenly stiffened. Just as his comrade was about to offer assistance, a piercing scream filled the air. "Kyaaaaaack!!!" The vampire on the ground abruptly leaped up and bit his comrade''s arm. "Keuaack! You crazy bastard! What''s gotten into you?!" Shocked, the comrade pulled his arm out of the vampire''s mouth. The distinct scent of vampire''s blood permeated the air, indicating a proper bite had taken place. "What... What just happened¡­?" "Hey! Have you lost your mind?!" "N-No! I didn''t do it on purpose!" "Seriously..." "I''m... I''m sorry! I never intended to harm you!" "Look at yourself. It seems you''re not fit for battle. Your stress has twisted your stomach into knots. Go back quickly. Once you return to the main unit, the demons there will provide treatment." "Ah, you mean that succubus who uses those strange and mysterious medical skills?" "That''s right. Hurry and go. Haaa..." However, the grumbling vampires remained completely unaware that most of their kind here were already experiencing the same sensation. *** Reports from the Alpha Reinforcement Order began to arrive, revealing that aside from the vampires assigned to keep Davey tied to the main unit, there were multiple special units moving across the continent. With knowledge of their origins, Davey easily deduced their intended routes. Riding on Rumble''s back, he took to the skies to monitor their movements and inform the Alpha Reinforcement Order where to strike. Meanwhile, Davey refrained from touching the enemy''s supplies, which only increased their available resources. Despite their status as criminals or individuals with a history of misdeeds, they served the purpose of being sacrifices fueled by hatred. Davey decided to utilize them as they were. Although he had initially used Repentance Terror to render their assets useless, anything more would jeopardize his plans. Observing Reina as she commanded the main troops to mobilize, Davey flicked his finger, knowing that the news would soon arrive. He was confident that the virus he had planted in the vampires'' special units had already been transmitted to them. Additionally, the blood beasts he had revived with Revive magic and infected with the virus would have surely spread it by now. The time for results was approaching. "There''s trouble, Commander!" shouted a messenger running toward them from a distance. Reina turned to Davey, sensing the gravity of the situation. "We''ve observed unusual movements within the vampire ranks! It appears to be a civil war!" reported the messenger. Reina nodded, unfazed by the cause. She quietly instructed one of the generals behind her, "Prepare for an attack. We''ll push them back all at once." Davey acknowledged Reina''s decision with a nod and turned to leave. "Where are you going?" Reina asked. "I''m abandoning my military duty," Davey replied. "You''re... deserting?" Reina questioned. "Why? Are you planning to apprehend me?" Davey challenged. Reina simply shook her head in response, stating, "I have no idea what someone like you is thinking." Davey also made it known to Saintess Candidate Alice that he would be abandoning his military duty before confidently turning away from the main unit and departing. CH 334 ¡ªGrr¡­ Graaaaa¡­ Theft is never good, try looking at [ pawread dot com ]. Hundreds of dozens of vampires howled and growled as they trudged around the area. The situation appeared utterly dreadful, as if the entire place was being terrorized by a large-scale zombie magic. However, these creatures were quite different from the zombies created by conventional zombie magic. Unlike the slow, light-sensitive, and mindless zombies, these peculiar monsters, resulting from the transformation of vampires into zombies, possessed lower intelligence. Moreover, they exclusively targeted other vampires and showed no signs of sluggishness. In fact, they were swifter, had sharper fangs, and were sturdier than ordinary zombies. The reason behind this disparity lay in the fact that the host of the transformation was not a human, but a vampire. The worst part? The symptoms manifested solely in vampires, leading them to attack their fellow brethren. This revelation sent shockwaves among the vampire community. Questions arose regarding the origins of these vampire zombies and how they became entangled in this predicament. It wasn''t just low-ranking vampires; even intermediate-ranking vampires would mutate and turn if they left the vampire bite untreated for an extended period. Once transformed, infected vampires could not revert to their original form and relentlessly sought out and attacked other vampires in their vicinity. Only by severing their heads could they be stopped. Furthermore, the virus responsible for this zombification was not exclusive to vampires alone. Even beings infused with vampire blood energy, such as the blood beasts, could be susceptible to zombification. As this relentless wave of zombification continued to spread, the main unit suffered significant losses in troops. From the vampires'' perspective, this event was both unforeseen and suffocating. They were beings who corrupted humans, animals, and monsters with their blood energy. Witnessing their own kind turning into feral zombies, relentlessly seeking to sink their teeth into their necks, was an unsettling experience that they struggled to adapt to. The vampires, who had never anticipated such a turn of events, were naturally flustered. However, their embarrassment stemmed from more than just the unexpected nature of the situation... ¡°Don¡¯t leave a single one of them behind!¡± Baaaaaaaaang!!! A colossal iron spear descended from the sky, triggering a massive explosion accompanied by a deluge of metal arrows. The high-ranking vampires, with their considerable power, could withstand such assaults. However, the situation grew increasingly perilous for the lower-ranking and intermediate-ranking vampires, as well as the blood beasts, who found themselves under relentless attacks of this nature. The sudden and bizarre zombie crisis, coupled with the relentless offensive of the allied human forces, made it impossible for the vampires to continue their advance. Despite their preparations for the war, these unforeseen changes forced them into a retreat. The allied human forces celebrated with a sense of jubilation as news of their consecutive victories reached them. Reina''s commanding skills, which had previously been doubted and questioned, proved to be remarkably astute and daring. With each battle fought, the humans managed to vanquish the vampires that held control over several fortresses, expediting the process of reclaiming the lost lands. Meanwhile, Davey, having openly declared his intention to abandon his military duty, ventured into a desolate location. "I have been waiting for you," a calm and quiet voice echoed through the area. ¡°The location?¡± ¡°It¡¯s over here.¡± The man, who blocked Davey¡¯s path, handed over a small piece of paper. ¡°Don¡¯t you have any regrets?¡± ¡°I have dedicated my life to the Demon Lord. There is no greater honor for me than moving and serving her.¡± Perserque raised her doubts and suspicions when she saw the man turn around after speaking without any hesitation. ¡ªWhat in the world did you say to him? Why is he so willing to help you like that? Perserque was unable to overhear the conversation between Davey and Belial, yet she had a strong conviction: the two men were collaborating towards a shared objective. It seemed somewhat amusing to witness two adversaries, a demon and a human, working side by side. However, the nature of their alliance was inconsequential. Belial, in particular, held no allegiance to the demonic race. They were creatures consumed by hatred, waging this war on their own terms. ¡°I will now tell you the current situation in the main unit.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± After sighing quietly at Davey¡¯s calm reply, Belial said, ¡°There are currently two high-ranking demons that have crossed over from the artificial Demon World to this place. It is very hard to cross over to this place, so the probability of success is very low.¡± Black Dragon Gargas and Belial, a sinner from the Black Slave Corps, had come here with great difficulty. "The lower-ranking demons may have relatively fewer restrictions to access this realm, but beings of considerable power require multiple restrictions to successfully cross over. Therefore, it is safe to assume that Grand Duke Astaroth did not arrive here with his primary form, but rather with a clone." Indeed, even lower-ranking demons faced certain limitations when traversing into this world. Originally, the demons had planned to widen the rift between the realms using the power of the First Lich Nyx and seize the opportunity to send the majority of their forces through. However, Davey and Reina''s slaying of Nyx had thwarted their plans. "Now, they are left with only one option. They aim to restrain you as much as possible while attempting to resurrect the Demon Lord. With the power of the Demon Lord, they can bring a vast number of demons to this realm with minimal restrictions. Moreover, they could utilize that power to address any threat you pose." To these demons, the existence of the Demon Lord Perserque was akin to a longstanding legend¡ªa supreme entity who would lead and command them. However, the reality was that Grand Duke Astaroth and the vampires had conspired together, seeking to manipulate Perserque should she possess differing views from their own. ¡ªIn the first place, someone who lacks the ability could easily get swept away by others¡¯ schemes and tricks. The problem was that they viewed Davey as an existence that was akin to a nuclear bomb. ¡°Other than that?¡± ¡°There is a weapon that the vampires have been preparing for a very long time. As far as I know, it¡¯s supposed to be a chimera, but¡­¡± ¡°That would not be a problem.¡± ¡°There¡¯s just one more thing,¡± Belial said. After some pause, he spoke with his eyes glinting sharply. ¡°They are not here right now, but there is someone who will participate in this war soon. They look like any other demon, but they are very bizarre individuals with a strange power dwelling within them.¡± Davey tilted his head and asked, ¡°A strange power?¡± ¡°It¡¯s called the Abyss. And it¡¯s the reason why our Demon Race is able to step foot in this land once again.¡± ¡°¡­There¡¯s nothing more, no?¡± Davey said, pulling out a small pill from his Pocket Plane and handing it over to Belial. ¡°This is a stimulant. It will allow you to hold out and endure for a while.¡± Belial chewed and swallowed the pill without any hesitation. Then, he quietly felt the power that began to surge in his body. He said, ¡°I¡¯ll contact you once the ritual starts.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see each other again soon.¡± Belial nodded quietly before disappearing. Davey also turned around without any hesitation and left the place. *** The atmosphere within the main unit''s camp was filled with jubilation, fueled by their remarkable winning streak. "Ahem, ahem... Just as I expected, my luck is truly exceptional," exclaimed Verran, a member of the Korn Kingdom''s ducal family, relishing his good fortune. "Young master, we have received word that you will be deployed to the front lines," a knight politely entered his tent, delivering the news. Verran nodded contentedly and remarked, "Going to war, huh? How could I possibly miss an opportunity to accrue accolades and earn merits?" With only his weapon in hand, he left the barracks, seemingly with no other thought than the exhilaration of battle. Verran''s older brother was initially designated to participate in the war, but Verran''s insatiable greed drove him to seize the opportunity for himself. Eager to gain recognition from his family, he dispatched his trusted right-hand man to handle the arrangements, allowing him to take his brother''s place. Unlike his older brother, a seasoned member of a prestigious knight order, Verran was a young and inexperienced rookie. Yet, through his cunning schemes, he found himself leading hundreds of troops as the representative of the Korn Kingdom. Fortunately for Verran, luck seemed to favor him at every turn. Whenever he teetered on the brink of defeat or faced imminent danger, he managed to escape unscathed or exploit a split-second opportunity to launch a successful counterattack. ¡®Perhaps I¡¯m someone that God truly loves!¡¯ Verran entertained the notion that he, like the two revered saintess candidates and the famous Prince Davey O''Rowane, was a chosen individual favored by God. His extraordinary luck in the war reinforced this belief, fueling his confidence and ambition. He imagined that if he truly possessed the favor of God, he would be bestowed with great power and influence. The thought brought a satisfied smile to his face. The remarkable abilities exhibited by Prince Davey and the priests, such as their buffs and healing spells, surpassed everyone''s expectations. Soldiers on the verge of death were revitalized, imbued with superhuman strength, and fought with exceptional skill against the strange and dangerous monsters. While these monsters posed a grave threat to humanity and the future of the continent, for Verran, they were merely adversaries standing in his way. His unwavering belief in his own luck and the potential favor of a higher power fueled his determination to overcome any obstacle in his path. In fact, with Prince Davey openly abandoning his military duty, the buff magic was not able to function properly. However, they were able to win their battles continuously thanks to some kind of luck. As Verran observed the vampires around him, he couldn''t help but feel a sense of superiority. To him, they seemed far beneath his own capabilities, almost as if they were too dangerous and difficult for others to handle. He marveled at how effortlessly his sword cut through their ranks, as if he had achieved a state of enlightenment in his swordsmanship. These thoughts swirled in Verran''s mind, fueling his confidence and pride. As he prepared to mount his waiting horse, Verran''s gaze fell upon a woman emerging from a nearby tent. Her sky-blue hair was carefully braided, and despite being past the age of marriage, she exuded a captivating beauty that defied time. In Verran''s eyes, she was not just beautiful but divine, a presence that seemed deserving of recognition among the renowned beauties of the continent. Holding a spear, the emblem of a warrior, she set off purposefully, heading towards her own destination. Intrigued by her aura and intrigued by the mysteries she held, Verran couldn''t help but feel a newfound curiosity and admiration for this enigmatic woman. ¡°¡­¡± Verran moved slowly, eventually stopping whatever he was doing. Verran''s admiration for Warrior Reina only grew stronger as he observed her throughout the battle. Her brilliance, strength, and divine presence captivated him completely. Despite her commoner background, the guarantee of support from the saint and the three emperors of the continent elevated her status to that of nobility. Verran couldn''t help but imagine a future where, if they emerged victorious in this war, Reina would receive prestigious titles such as count or even higher. In his mind, Verran foresaw countless suitors vying for Reina''s hand in marriage. Many would be drawn to her stunning beauty, while others would be enchanted by her formidable combat skills. Recognizing that Reina possessed the ability to release an aura blade, Verran surmised that she was likely a Sword Master or perhaps even higher in skill and status. To Verran, this revelation only fueled his determination to marry Reina. By doing so, he believed he would secure a lifelong companion whose appearance would remain eternally beautiful, thanks to the cessation of aging once one reached the level of a Sword Master. In his mind, marrying Reina would grant him not only a devoted partner but also a woman of timeless allure. ¡°Sluurrp¡­¡± Verran quietly followed behind Warrior Reina, who was walking somewhere solemnly. He had heard that the famous saint, Prince Davey, was nothing but an ordinary, unnamed, weak, and dying prince before he received his stigmata. As he slowly approached her, he tried to find a way to speak to her. Deep in thought, he nodded to himself. ¡®Hmm, that''s right. I''m more than enough to become her spouse. Although I haven''t made any contributions now, as long as the goddess would look at me properly and give me the same power as Prince Davey, then I will be able to make enough contributions in the future¡­¡¯ Verran firmly believed that he would naturally become a great being, the object of envy for every person on the continent. In fact, he was fully convinced that he would surpass even the saint, Prince Davey. His confidence stemmed from his exceptional skill with the sword, something he was highly confident in, as well as his extraordinary luck that had repeatedly aided him in this war. CH 335 Claaaang!!! The metal chains that had tightly bound the black scales of the colossal, slumbering creature were instantly released. ¡ªGrrrrrrr¡­ The black lid, adorned with the same black scales as the hundred-meter-tall colossal creature, gradually opened, revealing a pair of yellow eyes with razor-sharp, vertical pupils that gleamed with an ominous intensity. Gargas, the Black Dragon, was once a wise and rational being. However, after being corrupted and brainwashed by the demons, he lost his sanity and reasoning. The entire continent was well aware of the existence of this immensely powerful dragon. Gargas was the monster responsible for reducing two nations, including the Sorvlan Kingdom, to ashes in a mere instant. "Go. While we may not have precise information on the whereabouts of the human named Davey O''Rowane, if he is not within their main forces, it is the perfect opportunity for us to strike," Astaroth commanded. The immensely powerful dragon, Gargas, devoid of reason and consumed by violence following the incomplete transfer to the other side of the world, could not be controlled without the intervention of Grand Duke Astaroth''s power. Struggling restlessly, Gargas slowly shifted his yellow eyes toward Astaroth upon hearing his words. A low growl escaped Gargas'' throat as Astaroth entered his line of sight, causing Astaroth''s face to pale in response to the dragon''s ferocious and violent aura. Fortunately, Astaroth''s worst fears did not materialize as the Black Dragon Gargas, observing Astaroth in silence, unfurled his wings and took flight into the skies. "Ahem... Even though we have corrupted that wretched lizard, a dragon remains a dragon. Their resistance is quite formidable," Astaroth remarked, acknowledging the formidable nature of the dragon despite their attempts to manipulate it. Controlling the dragon in this manner was not their initial plan, as they would not have needed such measures if Gargas still possessed his sanity. However, since the dragon had lost his reason, Astaroth had no alternative but to exert control over him. Black Dragon Gargas, in his original state, exceeded Astaroth''s capabilities of control. Had the dragon''s power diminished? Yes, to some extent. However, his power still surpassed the threshold of what could be deemed a colossal calamity. In the humans'' arsenal stood the formidable monster named Davey O''Rowane, but on this side, they possessed the indomitable Black Dragon Gargas. Regardless of the outcome of this battle, the aftermath would be devastating for both sides. Neither faction would emerge unscathed from the clash. Grand Duke Astaroth observed the awe-inspiring sight of the colossal dragon soaring away. He then turned his attention to Gluttony, the high-ranking vampire leading their allied forces, and inquired, "What is the status of that peculiar virus?" "We are already addressing it. However, as we search for a solution, we have chosen to isolate and contain those who have been infected," Gluttony responded. "Bring forth all the high-ranking individuals and make preparations to advance. We must be willing to stake our lives in this all-out war. Instead of remaining idle, let them serve a purpose in this conflict," Astaroth stated, his words causing a sour expression to form on Gluttony''s face, as they seemed to undermine their pride as a noble race. However, Gluttony could not defy Astaroth. Astaroth possessed immense power and was an ally to the vampires, holding the upper hand in their relationship. Without his support, they would likely have continued hiding under their flawed leader, forsaking their thirst for revenge. "I comprehend," Gluttony acquiesced. Astaroth observed Black Dragon Gargas releasing his pent-up anger by creating massive blocks of ice and sheets of snow, inadvertently biting his thumb. A dangerous glimmer flickered in Astaroth''s eyes as he murmured, "Regardless of the war''s outcome, our victory is assured in the end. No matter how much you try to thwart our terrorism or how much you think you know, you wretched fool will not be able to prevent the resurrection of the Demon Lord." *** Reina had grown increasingly wary of the peculiar-looking boy who had been trailing her for a considerable period of time. Although there were young men from noble and royal families involved in the war, with humans from various nations uniting under the alliance''s banner, Reina couldn''t shake the feeling that this particular boy was different from the rest. The boy was leading the vanguard on behalf of the Korn Kingdom. However, Reina couldn''t fathom why the kingdom had entrusted such a young, seemingly naive, and immature boy with such a critical role. Despite her puzzlement, she chose to disregard his odd behavior and ascended the watchtower of the fort in silence, diligently surveying the state of the battlefield. The victory or defeat of this war would depend on how many cards they have hidden and could still take out. And those cards had balanced the disproportional scale of the fights that they had fought so far. However, if their enemies were hiding something again, then they needed to find a way to counter that and respond accordingly. Davey, who had revived Reina, had placed a significant amount of trust in her. Having declared herself as Davey''s loyal supporter, Reina was determined not to disappoint the trust he had bestowed upon her. After descending from the watchtower, Reina, known for her cold and distant gaze, turned her attention to the boy named Verran, who had been shadowing her. Verran, thinking he had gone unnoticed, was caught off guard by the sudden address and could only clear his throat repeatedly, attempting to compose himself. "Ahem! Ahem! It''s nothing! I just happened to come across you lost in thought," the boy stammered awkwardly, his eyes darting around as he approached Reina. "This is none of your concern, Verran of the Korn Kingdom. You have witnessed a side of me unbecoming of a commander-in-chief. Please excuse me," Reina dismissed the boy abruptly. With a turn, she emanated a chilling and silent aura, making it clear that she expected him to cease his surveillance. However, it appeared that Verran saw this as an opportunity. "Goodness. I never expected you to remember me, Warrior Reina," Verran spoke cautiously, maintaining a soft tone and a friendly smile on his face. Unfortunately for him, he had misjudged Reina''s thoughts and intentions. "I am currently the commander-in-chief. Please refrain from addressing me as if we are personally acquainted," Reina responded sternly, making it clear that she desired a more formal interaction. "Ah... I apologize for that. Ahem! Ahem!" Verran replied awkwardly, his face turning slightly flushed as he attempted to discern the meaning behind Reina''s gaze. In a quiet voice, he asked, "Why do you have such a complex expression on your face?" "It has nothing to do with you," Reina replied coldly, dismissing his concern. "I don''t think so. If something is troubling you, please tell me. Though I, Verran, am still young, I will do everything in my power to help you as someone who has been blessed by the gods." ¡®Loved by a god?¡¯ Reina thought, regarding Verran as if he was delusional. "You claim to have received the love of a god?" she asked skeptically. "Ah, you see, I haven''t shared this with anyone yet... but I believe that Goddess Freyja has bestowed her blessing upon me," Verran replied, his voice filled with a mix of excitement and uncertainty. Reina¡¯s eyes grew wide in shock. She immediately moved the soft and gentle holy power inside her body. However, even after checking with her divine power, she saw nothing special in the boy. ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like it.¡± "Ahem, ahem. Please listen. You see, I have had quite the luck on the battlefield. It felt like more than just simple luck after going through several life-and-death situations. I believe that God has favored and blessed me. Otherwise, there''s no other way to explain what happened, right?" Verran eagerly explained, his voice filled with conviction. Reina let out a sigh, thinking to herself, ''I''ve heard that there are all kinds of crazy people in this world, but...'' She regarded Verran''s claims of divine love as nothing more than his own misinterpretation. However, before she could respond and offer a warning, a calm and familiar voice interrupted their conversation. "What an interesting young man," the voice remarked, emanating a sense of calm and nonchalance. "Wh-Who''s there?!" Verran exclaimed, his eyes widening in shock as he frantically scanned his surroundings. Reina turned her head to see Davey, the protagonist of the rumors that had been circulating within the main unit, strolling casually toward them. "Sir Davey," she acknowledged with a respectful nod. "Any issues?" Davey inquired, his gaze shifting between Reina and Verran. Reina maintained her composed demeanor, carefully choosing her words in the presence of others. Deep inside, however, bittersweet emotions stirred within her chest. "Thanks to your efforts, everything is going well," she replied with a measured tone, offering a smile in response to Davey''s own. This exchange only served to further embarrass Verran, evident by the flush on his face. Though Reina paid no mind to his reaction, it seemed that Davey took notice. "You mentioned that you received God''s blessings?" Davey inquired, his curiosity piqued. "Ah... Yes! That''s what I believe!" Verran responded confidently. Davey regarded the boy with a smirk, shaking his head at his unwavering conviction. He warned, "You''ll come to regret those words." "Regret?" Verran questioned, his confusion evident. Davey could only chuckle, finding amusement in Verran''s perplexed reaction. It seemed that the boy had yet to understand the weight and consequences of his claims. Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°Get ready. The Black Dragon will soon make a move. I¡¯m sure you haven¡¯t forgotten it yet, right?¡± The atmosphere shifted abruptly as Davey''s words cut through the air. Reina couldn''t forget, for she carried a deep-seated grudge against dragons. It was not the Black Dragon, but a member of the dragon race that had inflicted a severe wound on her face during her escape from the demons'' stronghold. Rage and fury simmered in her eyes, fueled by the memories of that encounter. The dragon race had become her lifelong enemy. "I have prepared the trap," Davey continued, his tone unwavering. "All you need to do is deliver the final blow." Reina nodded quietly in response. *** Davey, in less than a month, had defied the very providence and rules of the world by bringing Reina back to life. While the circumstances of her revival were beyond comprehension, his intentions now were clear. Reina couldn''t help but sigh as she rode at the forefront of countless soldiers. Davey had long since disappeared once again. He had scattered magic throughout the area before announcing his intention to abandon his military duties and departing. It wasn''t that Reina didn''t understand what he was trying to do. Despite using harsh words and claiming that they would die no matter what, he was giving his all to ensure that not a single person would perish here. Reina believed that perhaps this was Davey''s kindness, an aspect unnoticed by those around him. "Due to some internal issue, our enemies will be highly vulnerable to our surprise attack. However, that doesn''t mean their numbers have decreased. Their forces are still growing even now. We must assume that victory will elude us unless we strike now." After her brief speech, Reina raised her spear and declared, "Let''s swiftly end this and return home. All troops, charge!" A calm smile graced her lips as she issued the command for her troops to charge forward. The soldiers responded with shouts, surging forward toward the vampire formation. However, their advance came to an abrupt halt as a colossal shadow fell upon them. Looking up, they beheld a massive creature, measuring a hundred meters in length, swiftly soaring through the sky. The speed of its appearance caught Reina off guard. She had anticipated its arrival in this war, but not this soon. Doubts filled her mind, suspecting that she and Davey had made an error in judgment. She attempted to order a retreat, and even the soldiers seemed paralyzed by fear in the face of the colossal dragon looming above them. "What are you doing? Press forward!" a voice whispered into Reina''s ears. Startled, she recognized the voice as belonging to Davey. "Carry out your duty as the dragon slayer. I have played my part from behind the scenes," the whispered voice persisted, audible only to Reina. "Follow my instructions, Reina." [God, please listen to my pleas. Lend me the power to subdue this wicked and vicious evil dragon.] "God, I implore you to grant me the strength to subdue this wicked and malevolent dragon!" Reina''s face flushed with embarrassment, yet she swiftly raised her hand and cried out. In response, immense chains crafted from golden light materialized from the heavens, ensnaring the colossal form of the Black Dragon, which emanated a menacing aura. "Look, golden chains!" exclamations of surprise rippled through the surrounding soldiers. However, Reina paid no heed to their astonishment. She focused solely on reciting the words whispered to her by the mysterious voice. [God, please listen to my pleas. Even if this young lamb of yours gets stuck in the devil¡¯s path, I will make sure to pay you back!] Reina did not know what it meant. She thought that it was better to just recite the lines first. Boom¡ª At the same time, the effects of the very, very strange prayer began to appear. Dozens of pure white meteorites began to rain down from the sky above them. CH 336 The soldiers, taken aback by the colossal dragon''s presence, were astounded by the sudden appearance of the golden chains. Their astonishment deepened as they witnessed ethereal white magic unfolding in the sky, accompanied by Reina''s quiet prayer and raised hand. Though the meteors that materialized above them were smaller in number and size compared to typical Meteor Drop Magic, they proved more than sufficient. "In the sky..." "Oh... by the Goddess..." Both the soldiers and their vampire adversaries gazed upward, their expressions filled with disbelief, as the pure white meteors began their descent. Some even dropped to their knees in prayer, recognizing the sacred and divine nature of the falling meteors. ¡ªRoaaaaaaaaaaaar!!! Black Dragon Gargas, who had lost his reason, could only struggle furiously against the golden chains that had suddenly appeared in the sky to restrain him. Clang, clang, clang, clang!!! Bang!!! Gargas fought fiercely, breaking numerous golden chains that bound him. However, the remaining chains tightened, pulling him down toward the ground and threatening to suffocate him. Search "pawread dot com" for the original. Bang!!! Simultaneously, small white meteors rained down from the sky, relentlessly striking his body one after another. Legends and myths surrounding dragons and their scales often contained vague and ambiguous information. However, the heroes of the Hall had always emphasized to Davey the significance of understanding the enemy, alongside self-improvement and empowerment. ¡ªA dragon¡­ It¡¯s really been a long time¡­ ¡°You must have seen quite a lot of dragons before?¡± ¡ªA few¡­ However, I don¡¯t know much about them. Perserque, who was watching the situation on the battlefield with Davey at a distance, said bitterly. ¡ªGargas, the dragon, had been an ally and supporter of my father. After my death and the downfall of the demon race, he must have departed from this place. The rest is history. Perserque continued to speak, unable to hide the bitterness that had bubbled up within her. ¡ªDavey, remember this well. While you may perceive the course of destiny, you cannot manipulate it to your liking. The grand current of fate will inevitably follow its intended path. Ultimately, you and I will become adversaries. As long as Davey remained alive, he would be the sole adversary facing Perserque. The issue at hand was that they had no means to combat this particular fate. ¡ªI will once again be the Demon Lord. ¡°Stop speaking nonsense.¡± ¡ªEverything will eventually come to that conclusion. If I meet my demise at your hands, the Abyss will lose its reason to meddle in this world, and the course of fate will no longer be distorted. Yes, only by doing so will you escape God''s judgment... "You should be quiet now," Davey said, grabbing Perserque and placing her in his pocket. He smiled calmly and gently as he looked at Black Dragon Gargas. "Can''t escape the flow of fate? That''s a well-known saying." The dragon scale was an invaluable treasure, comparable to the powerful magic Barrier. With the exception of the dragon''s inverse scale, it was said that all other dragon scales possessed the strongest 9th Circle defensive magic, capable of nullifying any magic up to the 7th Circle. Although Gargas had become a corrupted dragon, weakening his magical defensive power to the 5th Circle, he was still a dragon¡ªa being beyond the average wyrm-rank creature and a master of magic. It was said that he could withstand the onslaught of several 9th Circle spells. However, Davey paid no mind to that. He remained where he was, not moving forward. Bold actions required caution. They needed to seize the opportunity to quickly kill Gargas before he regained his strength and wits. ¡ªGraaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! The pure white meteors collided with Gargas¡¯ scales and turned them into dust. [Were you the one who did it? Really, you always show me something more incredible than the last time¡­] It wasn''t surprise that tinged Reina''s flustered voice, but rather a sense of novelty. After all, she and Perserque had witnessed Davey''s monstrous abilities during the incident with Nyx. They had seen him effortlessly overpower a 9th Circle Dark Mage with the sheer force of his mana. So, what she witnessed now wasn''t particularly astonishing. However, Reina had a mistaken belief. While it was true that Davey skillfully manipulated the holy magic, the source of the holy mana he used, or at least most of it, wasn''t his own. ¡°It¡¯s your power. Well, try not to die and your power will probably reach the 8th Class every 50 years.¡± Despite having the latest hardware, there was one drawback to this arrangement: the software was outdated. That was the only disadvantage they faced. Reina had been reborn as the sole member of the angelic race, thanks to the power of Goddess Freyja. Unbeknownst to her, her body housed an immense amount of holy mana, far greater than someone who had never properly prayed in their entire life. The magnitude of this holy mana was truly extraordinary. Thud!!! Thud!!! The meteors descending from the sky were not mere manifestations of mana, but rather massive clusters of pure holy mana. These celestial projectiles held a power that went beyond conventional magic. As for Gargas, the corrupted and demonic dragon, who had strayed from his true origins due to the influence of vampires that defied the divine, there was no alternative but to succumb to this overwhelming force. [Ugh¡­ I feel like I¡¯m losing my energy.] ¡°The only thing I have done here is to materialize the holy magic. Most of the raw material used is yours.¡± To be precise, Davey''s role was to assist in the execution of the skill. During his training sessions with his holy magic instructor, Daphne, she often utilized Davey''s own holy mana to launch attacks. She would exclusively rely on his holy mana and never use her own. This was a skill she had not been able to accomplish during her lifetime. However, spending an extended period in the Hall had transformed the Saintess into a formidable entity. The fact that Daphne could discern and manipulate the unique code and structure of someone else''s holy mana, appropriating it for her own attacks, seemed quite unfair. Yet, Davey could never forget the way she playfully overwhelmed him with a seemingly effortless stomp of her foot. How could such a seemingly light action have such an impact on a person? Well, the answer would become clear when her actions summoned hundreds of pure white meteors that would crush and overwhelm their adversaries. [Hahahaha! This is our God¡¯s Drop Kick. You XXX f*cker!] Davey had always wondered when drop kicks became capable of crushing opponents into flattened fish jerky. The sheer humiliation of being crushed like an ant by an overwhelmingly powerful attack was enough to ignite a burning resolve within him. He swore never to experience such a thing again. Naturally, if he had endured such a humiliating defeat, it was only fair to share that experience with others to alleviate his own frustration, right? Davey dedicated a significant amount of time to perfecting that technique after their sparring sessions. However, in the end, he failed to master it. [My holy mana? My body¡­ Hooo¡­ My body has holy mana?] ¡°You must have forgotten, huh? You brat, you¡¯re no longer human. You are a member of the angelic race. Angelic race. God¡¯s Servant.¡± [I am your sword.] There was a reason why Davey managed to resurrect Reina without encountering any difficulties, despite it being his first attempt. ¡°From now on, focus and give it your all in subduing Gargas. Leave the flow of the battle to me.¡± [Yes.] Without any hesitation, Davey turned his eyes away from the battlefield and looked at the girl who was approaching him. He commented, ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard.¡± ¡°Too many lives had been lost.¡± A hint of sadness could be detected in those words. ¡°The embers of war will continue to take away the hopes of many.¡± Despite the victorious streaks and the assistance of Davey and Warrior Reina, casualties were an inevitable part of war. Even in the midst of a post-apocalyptic situation caused by the zombie virus, the losses incurred by both sides were significant. Those who survived fought fiercely to secure their own survival, resulting in the loss of countless human lives. The Forest Alliance, led by Emilia and comprising elves, ents, and nymphs, waged their own war, bravely blocking and ambushing the vampires'' attempts to scatter their offensive. However, even they experienced substantial damage in the process. ¡°That¡¯s why we have to finish everything quickly and safely.¡± The more brutal and cruel a war was, the faster it would end. ¡°Now is the perfect time. Run as fast as you can and hit them from the sides. Once Reina moves to tie up Gargas, we will get the chance to exterminate them.¡± Emilia carefully untied the crown on her head after hearing Davey¡¯s words. Then, she looked up at him and said, ¡°There would still¡­be a lot of them left.¡± They were uncertain about the number of high-ranking vampires present. It was reasonable to assume that those who had received the power of the Abyss had reached at least the level of a Sword Master or higher, making them formidable adversaries. Their immediate concern, however, was dealing with the vampires who had resisted the targeted zombie virus. "Continue your tasks and advance forward. Focus solely on organizing the aftermath," Emilia commanded. "Please take care of yourself," Reina expressed her concern. "Thank you for your concern," Davey replied, a smile gracing his face. Emilia smiled back, turned around, and patted the Fairy Elk''s neck before mounting it. "Everyone has done an excellent job following my lead thus far. The enemies are currently in disarray. If we don''t take down the black dragon now, we''ll face even greater sacrifices in the future," Emilia murmured, drawing a small dagger. ¡®Although you don¡¯t like working and cooperating with humans, please endure it a bit more.¡¯ Despite not harboring any goodwill toward humans, the elven elementalists and archers fought alongside them. Their loyalty stemmed from their connection to the previous generation World Tree, Al, and their saintess, Emilia. Many of these elves had existed alongside the World Tree for generations, fostering a deep sense of allegiance. Davey left Emilia and her disciplined troops, who continued their march, and swiftly headed toward the areas where distress signals had been sent. After assessing the signals, he directed his attention to the location with the strongest signal, placing his hand inside his pocket plane. As the soldiers on the other side were effectively carrying out their duties, it was now time for Davey to focus on his own tasks. Holy mana gathered in his palm as he extended it toward Reina, who was exerting pressure on Black Dragon Gargas. Water droplets formed at the tips of his fingers, gradually taking the form of a beautiful woman. [Contractor.] ¡°What¡¯s this? You look quite troubled?¡± [¡­It¡¯s nothing. What¡¯s the matter?] ¡°Do you see that guy over there?¡± Ellaim''s eyes widened as she followed the direction indicated by Davey''s pointing finger. Her surprise was evident as she witnessed Dragon Gargas, devoid of rationality, restrained on the ground and utterly disoriented. [I see, he¡¯s a member of the dragon race¡­ He¡¯s also above the Wyrm-rank. However, it seems like he has less than half, no, a third of his power from before.] ¡°Go and help the humans to deal with him.¡± [I understand.] Davey left Ellaim, who responded calmly, and ascended to the highest vantage point. Despite the challenging situation without him, they had the Spirit of Water, who possessed immense holy mana, along with two divine beasts. It would be illogical for them to lose to someone inferior to even a dragon. The dragon race''s threat lay in their Breath and magic abilities. However, for a wyrm-rank dragon, these aspects were generally weaker and more manageable. Moreover, being devoid of reason, Gargas would be unable to utilize magic effectively, right? Ultimately, Gargas was nothing more than a resilient and formidable mass of flesh. Before long, a gigantic longbow emerged from Davey''s Pocket Plane. Observing this, Perserque could only mutter bitterly. ¡ªI wanted to see the Transcendence Demise one last time though. ¡°You sound like a pervert that wants to make love with magic,¡± Davey said, clicking his tongue. Then, he held the longbow tightly and pulled the strings without any hesitation. Not long after, fierce winds began to gather at the end of the bow. ¡ª¡­ Davey focused the power at the tip of the bow, taking aim at Gargas to test its strength. With one eye closed, he tightly gripped the string that held the brilliantly glowing arrow, crafted from dense mana rather than physical materials. [Distance, 1200] [Attribute, Demon] As an archer''s descendant in his previous life, Davey may not have been exceptional in archery, but he was confident in his abilities. He smirked, thinking, ¡®Let me show you the precision of a sniper''s shot from dozens of kilometers away, using a bow.¡¯ [Great River Death] [Light Expansion Gun] ¡°I¡¯ll take off a wing.¡± [Yes?] Davey paid no attention to Reina''s somewhat childish question and focused on releasing the bowstring. In a blinding flash of light, the arrow sliced through space, severing one of Gargas'' massive wings. It was a remarkable feat considering the distance of several kilometers between Davey and the dragon. "Now, onto the next target," Davey remarked calmly. Gargas was just one part of the equation. The high-ranking vampires were starting to disrupt the flow of the battle, and Davey knew they would be a formidable challenge. They had likely been waiting for the perfect moment to reveal themselves and fight with everything they had. That''s why Davey had chosen to abandon his military duties and position himself at a high vantage point ¨C to be ready for their arrival. CH 337 The Black Dragon was categorized as a Wyrm-rank creature? "Hey, punk! Huh?!" Crack, crack, crack! Orichalcum, renowned as the sturdiest and most unyielding material, was no laughing matter. It retained its exceptional properties, unaffected by any special circumstances, and possessed the ability to regenerate and restore itself continually. This remarkable quality was achieved by infusing the restorative abilities and unique powers of a dragon bone into the metal. Why was this being mentioned? Well, even if the punk currently before Davey had become a defective product, with most of the dragon''s body falling below the original standard, it still held numerous valuable parts. Davey didn''t want to discard anything. However, a single flash of Davey''s arrow effortlessly tore through the dragon''s wings, reducing it to mere bones. "You''re a Lord-rank being? Quit joking! Should I grab your wings and give you a round of applause, huh? How about I extract your teeth and put them to good use, huh?!" Thwack!!! Crack, crack, crack!!! The fluttering wing, which had previously remained partially intact, was now forcefully torn apart from the dragon''s body. ¡°I¡¯m still not done with you!¡± ¡ªWhat in the world are you doing¡­? "I''ve always wanted to give this a try," Davey calmly replied, noticing the incredulous look Perserque was giving him from the side. ¡ª¡­ ¡°Reina, take care of the other wing.¡± Davey swiftly turned around, his vision sharpening as he focused on the right side. The broader his field of vision became, the less likely he was to notice objects in close proximity. Nonetheless, it made no difference whether Davey could spot them or if they had already detected his presence. Thwack!!! Davey would have effortlessly peppered them with bullets long before they could reach his position. For Davey to utilize the Light Expansion Gun, the skill he employed to pierce through Black Dragon Gargas'' wing, his body had to endure an incredibly demanding load. This load came from the unique and independent technique known as the Eye of the Sky, crafted by the God of Archery, Apollo. The Eye of the Sky was one of Apollo''s primary techniques in Divine Archery''s Sniping. It was not an innate skill possessed by the elves; rather, it was an independent skill developed by Apollo when he had recently ascended to the rank of Bow Master. By imbuing his will into the wind, he could perceive distances far beyond anyone''s imagination and translate them into enhanced vision and eyesight. Davey''s head throbbed as a torrent of information flooded his mind through his eyes. However, he did not falter. His eyes, fixated on the swiftly passing scenery, gradually decelerated until he felt akin to an eagle gliding through the sky, searching for its prey. ¡°Let¡¯s get one guy first,¡± Davey said, spotting quite a few robed vampires running across the field. And as he honed his eyesight, he began discerning the level of their blood energy. They were all master-class vampires, ranking above the first lieutenant level. Their entry into the war had a high potential to completely tip the balance of power. The soldiers of the allied forces were, at best, ordinary soldiers who had received buffs from support mages and priests. Even if the vampire army''s forces weren''t exceptionally formidable, their basic foundations still surpassed those of ordinary soldiers. The ordinary soldiers had to fight for their lives just to stand on an equal footing with them. This was precisely why the experts and master-level fighters of the allied forces chose to focus on controlling the vampire army''s offense instead of seeking out the most powerful individuals among their adversaries. They aimed to minimize casualties and prevent a massacre of their alliance''s soldiers. So, what would happen if the high-ranking vampires joined the fray in a situation like this? It would undoubtedly present an arduous battle for the humans. Davey clenched his teeth as he witnessed the overwhelming might of the enemy forces. However, he composed himself, drew back the bowstring, and aimed his arrow at the heart of one of the high-ranking vampires sprinting across the field. ¡®Do you think it¡¯s more efficient to aim for the head?¡¯ This type of question was often posed during shooting training in the military. However, regardless of whether the shot hit the enemy''s body or head, they would still meet their demise. So, for Davey, it didn''t matter if he hit his enemy in the head. He wasn''t concerned about his scores like in FPS games. His sole focus was on striking his enemies. Even after a thousand years, Davey still vividly remembered the words his friend had shared with him. Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!!! In that critical moment, a gleaming golden First River Death sliced through the air, leaving an afterimage in its wake as it obliterated the upper body of Davey''s intended target. Whether he aimed for the vampire''s head or chest, it made no difference. The result was the same¡ªtheir entire upper body was shattered. Through his keen eyes, Davey observed the vampires'' reactions as they became flustered and panicked, swiftly bracing themselves for any potential surprise attacks. ¡®It¡¯s too late for that, bastards.¡¯ Thwack!!! Another vampire met a silent demise, unable to even scream, as they were struck by another lethal arrow. Although the shot didn''t have a significant immediate effect due to the vampires'' immortality, Davey realized something as he relentlessly delivered killing blows that shook them to their very core. With each restoration of their bodies through immortality, their power gradually diminished. The special troops, a unit that relied solely on power and strength, were fundamentally different from ordinary members of their race. If Davey continued his assault and weakened their power to the extent that they couldn''t control it any longer, then the situation would become...worth watching. ¡ªGoodness¡­ How far is your target? Perserque, poking her head out of Davey''s pocket, asked with a hint of curiosity as she shielded her eyes with one hand. The sight of the arrow''s vanishing flash, which traveled beyond the distant mountains, had left quite an impression on her. ¡ªI can¡¯t even see it. ¡°The distance is roughly around twenty kilometers.¡± ¡ªWhat? Perserque looked appalled when she heard Davey¡¯s words. "Apollo''s Divine Archery''s Sniping was initially designed for long-distance shooting. If shooting at a range of approximately one to two kilometers was considered sufficient to earn the title of God of Archery back then, then every elf would be hailed as the God of Archery." In reality, a sniper rifle equipped with a high-magnification scope could effortlessly reach distances of up to two kilometers. ¡ªThen¡­ How far can that playboy called the God of Archery shoot? "I don''t have a comprehensive understanding since that individual has resided in the Hall for thousands of years. However, from the limited information I''ve gathered, it appears that there is no limit to the distance he can cover." During the Hell''s Apocalypse held in the Hall, Apollo had employed this technique to playfully toy with and control Rho Aias. No matter what one did, things that were already on a grand scale would only continue to expand further. ¡ªThat¡­ Your teacher in dark magic, Rho Aias. You clearly said that¡­ ¡°That¡¯s right. She¡¯s a monster who could beat everyone except for one.¡± ¡ªI don¡¯t have to ask you how it went. I can already tell. As far as Davey could recall, it was during that time that the serene and mild-mannered Rho Aias underwent a transformative moment. It marked the inception of the creation of the only dark magic capable of planetary-scale destruction. "Dark magic, in comparison to conventional elemental magic, exhibits a significantly stronger affinity for destruction." Why? Because dark magic is inherently less pervasive than elemental magic. Davey had consistently stressed this point when discussing the Hall of Heroes. In essence, the Hall served as a gathering ground for the most exceptional creatures from numerous worlds. Thwack!!! Even while conversing with Perserque, Davey continued his relentless sniping of the enemy. However, he noticed the conspicuous absence of the chimera, the high-ranking demon, and the Abyss-related demon that Belial had warned him about. The vampires were overwhelmed by the astonishing display of destructive power unleashed by Davey''s relentless sniping. Their attempts at regeneration proved futile, and they eventually collapsed. The sheer force of Davey''s attacks was so immense that it would send their bodies flying even if they had cast shields or protective magic. The level of devastation surpassed that of a simple attack, especially with its ability to penetrate formidable defenses. However, this relentless assault quickly drained Davey''s energy. Fortunately, he had conserved his mana during his preparations. His current position was crucial for observing the ebb and flow of the war across the vast landscape, where numerous battles were being waged. Despite Reina''s exceptional skills, it was impossible for her to cover all the ongoing attacks scattered throughout the area. Suddenly, silence descended upon the surroundings. It seemed that, following a relentless barrage of shots from Davey, the vampires had opted to conceal their presence to the best of their abilities. They desperately attempted to hide their sense of being while fervently searching for Davey''s location. "Well, you''re all still within my grasp," Davey remarked with confidence. Thwack!!! In the midst of the deafening silence, another radiant flash materialized, rending the air as it surged forward. Having traversed a considerable distance, the arrow unleashed its devastating force, obliterating the upper body of a vampire in an explosive display. The vampire, determined to regenerate swiftly, initiated the process, but Davey swiftly drew his bow once again, unleashing a flurry of arrows. ¡ªDavey, enough! You¡¯re already sweating like crazy! ¡°I don¡¯t have much time left. Belial will soon contact me.¡± ¡ªBelial? What in the world are you guys trying to do? "The vampires are on the verge of initiating the ritual to resurrect the Demon Lord. Even if I manage to thwart their plans here, they will inevitably gather enough sacrifices to proceed with the ritual. In the end, the resurrection ritual for the Demon Lord will proceed. I''m not acting recklessly here. There''s a possibility that they may perform a ritual to ensnare your soul as well." Considering the involvement of the Abyss, it would be too perilous for Davey to prevent them from a distance. That''s why... "I must personally confront them and bring their plans crashing down myself." ¡ªDavey, I need to be resurrected as the Demon Lord. This is an established fact. You told me that you can see the flow of fate and avoid it, no? ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡ªBut I don¡¯t want that. I do not want to see you put yourself in danger like this. Davey didn''t inquire whether Perserque arrived at this conclusion out of concern for him or for some other motive. Regardless, the result would remain unchanged. "Let me be perfectly clear. Unless I perish, you will never become the Demon Lord." Flash!!! Upon hearing Davey''s statement, Perserque swiftly waved her hands, causing the dirt on the ground to fly towards his eyes. Naturally, Davey had no intention of allowing such an attack to hit him without resistance. However, as he skillfully dodged the ambush, he noticed the change in Perserque''s expression, which had turned serious. This novel is available on "pawread dot com". ¡ªDavey, it''s crucial that you be completely honest with me. The bond between you and me... But then, at that moment¡­ [Davey O¡¯Rowane.] ¡°I don¡¯t see any movements from that chimera.¡± [It¡¯s not yet making a move. It¡¯s with Gluttony, one of the vampire commanders. Perhaps they are waiting for you to come here so that they can take advantage of the gap and drive the humans away.] ¡°Let them do as they please. The ritual?¡± [I will hand over the coordinates using the computation method that you have told me.] To put it simply, it was extremely risky for Davey to trust the coordinates provided by someone who was considered his enemy. However, given the limited time available, Davey had no other choice. ¡°Trust will be paid with trust. Your loyalty and allegiance will be paid with faith and belief.¡± [¡­I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re just brave or plain reckless. The coordinates are¡­] After receiving the coordinates from Belial through the implanted communication magic, Davey swiftly stowed away his bow, Divine Bow Brionac, and retrieved Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon to fasten them around his waist. With his preparations complete, he contacted Reina and Emilia, informing them of his imminent departure. "I''m about to move. Please take care of the battlefield in my absence," he conveyed to them. [Please go ahead. I will never betray your expectations and let you down.] [I am only following my mother¡¯s will. Since my mother has accepted the plans that you have made, then I will also trust you and make sure to finish the rest.] This did not come as a surprise to Reina and Emilia, as they had already discussed this plan to some extent before. Following his conversation with them, Davey gently ran his fingers along the sheathed blades of his swords and whispered, "Red Ribbon, Blue Ribbon, let''s embark on a journey with Dad, shall we?" *** Upon receiving reports of their current situation, the vampire forces felt an overwhelming sense of frustration. The resistance from the humans proved to be far stronger than anticipated. Additionally, a mysterious virus had infected their lower-ranking vampires, transforming them into uncontrollable monsters and severely weakening half of their forces. This unexpected turn of events had greatly hindered their progress. To make matters worse, they were now being targeted by an elusive sniper whose range seemed boundless. Whether it was the high-ranking vampires, the intermediate and lower-ranking vampires involved in a special operation, the blood beasts, or even the demons, all of them had fallen victim to the sniper''s attacks. Their presence mattered little as the attacks could penetrate through any concealment. It was an absolute disaster. ¡°Damn it¡­ That monstrous bastard! What the hell is he?!¡± ¡°According to reports, more than half of the high-ranking vampires have been targeted and shot by the unidentified sniper. They should have tracked the source of the attacks and devised a countermeasure,¡± one of the surviving high-ranking vampires grumbled. He had managed to escape back to their hideout upon realizing the gravity of the situation. However, he was not alone in his plight. Many others in the hideout had faced similar circumstances. "But the sniper doesn''t attack this location," someone remarked. "No matter how powerful they are, they won''t be able to penetrate this underground ruin supported by solid bedrock." "We have made the remnants of the humans'' old civilization our home. We can''t tolerate this level of humiliation." The vampires sighed in frustration as they muttered to themselves. They had no choice but to endure the attacks from the Saint, the Warrior, and those human bastards until they could resolve the situation. However, despite the current challenges, the vampires remained confident about the outcome of the war. Their optimism stemmed from the belief that Black Dragon Gargas would soon regain consciousness and unleash his full power. As long as they survived, they believed they could turn the tide in their favor. A cold voice reverberated through the room, startling the high-ranking vampires as a two-meter tall giant approached with a composed expression. "The shooting has ceased. Move out.¡± "...Grand Duke." Olga, the vampires'' Grand Duke, appeared alongside the monocled half-vampire Paracelcius Milpieu. The high-ranking vampires cast nervous glances at Olga, feeling the weight of his presence. "Gluttony has issued an order. The humans possess greater potential than we had previously investigated. At this stage, the damage we will suffer is inevitable, regardless of the war''s outcome," Olga stated plainly. In other words, they could no longer prolong the situation. They would have to proceed with their plans, even if it entailed greater risks. The vampires nodded in agreement. "All of you, make your way to the underground cells immediately. Release the enhanced chimeras and proceed to the frontlines." "Understood." "Buy us some time. Once the Demon Lord awakens, victory will be ours." "Can the Demon Lord eliminate that monstrous human bastard?" "Indeed, that is possible." The vampires began to retreat at his words. Or at least, they attempted to retreat. "It should indeed be possible. As long as the Demon Lord is fully resurrected," a calm voice resonated as a blood-red hand emerged from Olga''s chest, clutching his heart. "The shooting stopped? Naturally, how could I shoot you if I''m already here to kill you?" Shock rippled through the faces of all the vampires present as they beheld the smiling human boy, his red eyes slowly lifting to meet their gaze. "Human monster! How¡­ How did you get here?!" CH 338 "Kghkk..." "Lord Olga?!" Davey paid no attention to the startled and terrified cries of the vampires surrounding him. He leaped down from the back of the man who stood over 80 centimeters taller than him. "Should I make myself taller? This form feels a bit outdated." ¡ªA height of 180 centimeters is not that short, Davey. ¡°I was just saying.¡± Thud!!! The vampires'' already pale faces turned even paler when they witnessed how effortlessly Davey took the life of their Grand Duke without them being able to react. "How? We didn''t even sense..." one of the vampires stammered, their disbelief evident in their voice. "You called me a monster? Well, in my eyes, you guys are the real monsters," Davey retorted with a jesting tone, emphasizing their fangs with his finger, which only served to worsen their already unpleasant expressions. Poof!!! But before the vampire could finish speaking, Davey had already passed them, his tone indifferent as he said, "Make sure to run as fast as you can and jump as high as you can." Time was the most crucial factor in Davey''s plan. If he failed to meet the deadline, his entire strategy would be twisted and shattered. That''s why he was taking his biggest gamble here. "Rinne, follow the manual closely," Davey mumbled briefly, attempting to take a step forward. However, he suddenly noticed a string of bright red blood under his feet, hindering his movement. "Heok... Kghhk! How dare you... Where do you think you''re going?" the gigantic man shouted angrily, struggling for breath. Davey turned his head slightly to glance at him while murmuring to Perserque, "Doesn''t he look quite muddy and filthy?" ¡ªDid you just say filthy? Fufu¡­ Although the man couldn''t hear Perserque''s voice, it appeared that the vampire had been provoked enough by Davey''s words alone. The provocation caused the blood restraining Davey to tighten even further. The droplets of blood dripping from Olga''s body coagulated into sharp spears, moving as if they were alive, following his commands to shoot straight toward Davey''s body. Baaaaang!!! However, Davey effortlessly deflected the first of the blood spears that nearly reached his body. ¡°Did you say your name was Olga?¡± ¡°Bastard! I won''t die yet! I will not die until we have achieved our race''s long-cherished desire!" Olga cried out, and the blood spears transformed into metal bullets aimed at Davey''s body, hurtling toward him at an alarming speed. Perserque appeared slightly surprised as she witnessed the bullets moving dozens of times faster than before. The velocity of the man''s attack was so menacing that it seemed capable of piercing through multiple bodies. It made Davey question whether the vampire named Olga had truly been critically wounded just moments ago. Shwaaaaa! Of course, that didn''t mean that Davey was foolish enough to be defeated by Olga. If he were to be bested by a single vampire like this, he shouldn''t have allowed himself to be in this situation in the first place. As a human with much to protect, there was a limit to how reckless and impulsive Davey could be. Davey''s eyes flashed as a tremendous amount of mana swirled around him, freezing the entire area and halting the blood bullets that hurtled toward him. All of Olga''s blood bullets and spears came to a sudden stop in mid-air. "Impossible..." Olga mumbled, his gaze empty as he stared at Davey. One of the blood spears trembled vigorously as Davey snatched it from the air. He turned to the vampire and remarked, "If you truly wished to stop me, you should have mustered all your forces." They should have united their strength to halt Davey''s advance. Assuming the stance of someone hurling a javelin, Davey wrested control of the blood spear from Olga and launched it back at him. The spear pierced through the vampire''s forehead, causing his body to collapse after sustaining another fatal blow. "That immortal ability of yours is incredibly vexing." Shwaaaaaa!!! In the end, Olga relinquished his resistance. He seemed to understand that he was already in a situation where he could not be revived, especially after witnessing a flash of blue, a power he knew could nullify his immortality, immediately following the blood spear. "You monstrous bastard... I don''t know how a bastard like you managed to find this place, but it''s futile. We have already completed all the preparations," Olga grumbled. "I am not someone who would cower and flee in fear of a trap when carrying out an assassination," Davey responded. Once someone set their sights on their opponent''s neck, fully prepared to deliver the fatal blow, there was no turning back. "Urk! When did an assassination turn into a massacre?" Olga questioned. Davey answered Olga''s query by calmly reciting his creed, "It remains an assassination as long as no one witnesses it." "You''re a crazy bastard..." Slash! As Olga''s head fell to the ground, Blue Ribbon''s afterimage reappeared. Whenever the vampires'' immortality was nullified, their heads would be severed. For high-ranking vampires like Olga, the result was death. Baaaaang!!! Davey could hear the murmurs of entities converging at the location where Olga lay motionless on the ground. With Blue Ribbon suspended in the air, he retrieved Odin''s staff, the Transcendence Demise, and closed his eyes in concentration. After a moment, he opened his eyes once more, activating his powers and channeling an immense amount of mana into his hands. Despite having already depleted a significant portion of his mana during the Eye of the Sky''s usage, he still possessed an ample reserve. His mana capacity had significantly increased since his previous encounter within the Divine Tree. A brilliant white flame materialized at the palms of Davey''s hands, spinning rapidly and emitting a high-pitched, grating sound reminiscent of a high-speed electric saw. ¡®This ruin is very tough and sturdy, no? It will not collapse completely.¡¯ ¡ªDavey! No! Think about it a bit more! ¡°Ah, I don¡¯t care. And if you keep thinking about useless things, then you will absolutely regret it, Perserque!¡± As the spinning circle within Davey''s heart aligned with the corresponding circle in his body, it felt as if a gear had found its rightful place. In that moment, the familiar yet incredibly unfamiliar sensation of the circle spinning in reverse started to manifest, accompanied by a distinct reaction. ¡°It¡¯s, it¡¯s that bastard!¡± ¡°He¡¯s going to use some kind of magic! Stop him!¡± ¡®It¡¯s too late, you f*cking bastards.¡¯ [Reverse 8th Circle] [Blazing Fireball] [White Nova] ¡®I¡¯ll strike no matter what. You have to think carefully about who you¡¯re trying to put in that shitty body.¡¯ Thud!!! Davey gently tossed the white flame onto the floor, observing as it detonated like a powerful bomb, obliterating the surrounding area. Satisfied with the destruction it caused, he calmly walked away, leaving behind the aftermath of the explosive flames. *** Baaaaaaang!!! Harnessing the power of dark magic, Davey conjured a massive pillar of black flames, laying waste to everything in his path. Unlike his initial arrival, when he operated in secrecy, he now strode confidently and openly, almost flaunting his presence to all who crossed his path. Perserque observed this change in his demeanor with curiosity, but Davey offered no explanation, leaving her to wonder about his motives. Bang!!! As the vampires seized the opportunity and charged through the crumbling wall, ready to launch a surprise attack, they found themselves ensnared by the black flames that clung to their bodies. It was a trap that had been triggered, engulfing them in fiery tendrils before they could reach Davey. ¡°Keuaaaaaaack!!!¡± ¡°I, I can¡¯t extinguish the flames!¡± The vampires let out agonized screams as they desperately tried to extinguish the flames that clung to their bodies, even resorting to pouring water and manipulating the air around them. However, the black flames persisted, mercilessly burning them. Undeterred by their suffering, Davey pressed forward, his demeanor composed despite the lackluster defense of the main unit. He moved through the pathways that presented themselves without a specific destination in mind, causing Perserque to appear puzzled by his seemingly inefficient movements. ¡ªSomething feels weird¡­down there, Davey. ¡°¡­¡± Davey''s eyes narrowed as he stepped into the expansive cavity indicated by Perserque. The sight that unfolded before him was a vast and seemingly endless underground space, shrouded in a dim, eerie blue-green glow. The source of this faint illumination remained elusive, making it difficult to discern the true nature of the surroundings. The underground chamber resembled a colossal base hewn from natural stones, with multiple pillars crisscrossing and intertwining around a central pillar. This intricate structure provided substantial support, hinting at its enduring construction over an extended period. ¡°Amazing! This smells so good. Ah, I found it too late.¡± ¡ªIt seems like they have been living here for a very long time. From what I can see, this is a building designed to cover up an underground facility. Perhaps it¡¯s because of the lingering power here that the vampires were able to escape pursuit. It dawned on Davey that this underground ruin had retained its functionality even after the passage of 10,000 years, much like the one beneath the Heins Territory. The latter had wreaked havoc, causing drought and decimating the entire territory despite the lapse of time. Therefore, it came as no great surprise to him. "Well, let''s refrain from engaging in futile endeavors from this point onward," Davey remarked, his tone tinged with a hint of resignation. Theft is never good, try looking at [ pawread dot com ]. He couldn''t help but recall the countless instances where his curiosity had led to the shedding of copious amounts of blood in those ancient ruins. The unexpected appearance of Hercules'' clone had surpassed his expectations by far, leaving Davey uncertain of his ability to contend with him should he resurface. Bang!!! Davey casted Fly Magic on himself as he slowly descended to the underground facility. That was when he realized the identity of the light. And when he approached that light, a black spear flew straight toward his forehead. Grab!!! Davey reached out toward the spear in reflex, snatching it from the air and trying to throw it back to the person who had sent it to him. All the while he was using his Fly Magic. However¡­ Crackle! The spear that had flown at Davey was not an ordinary spear. Before it could even leave his hands, a spark appeared on the spear and it turned into chains that bound him tightly. ¡°¡­¡± Two men emerged from the darkness, their hands clasped behind their backs. One was a young man with long gray hair, while the other donned a fedora hat and a trench coat. Silently, Davey cast a glance at the peculiar restraint that bound his body. This power... it felt strangely familiar, reminiscent of something he had encountered recently. It was the power to defy the providence of this world. He had believed that they could no longer traverse beyond, having already destroyed the crack that connected to the other side of the world. However, it seemed that belief had been nothing but an illusion. "Ah... The foolish human has arrived. I never expected you to venture this far without realizing you''ve been deceived." "Deceived?" "How can someone who has been lured in like a moth to a flame be considered smart, when you willingly arrived here without realizing it would become your grave?" taunted the enigmatic man, his face concealed beneath bandages. With an expression filled with curiosity, he advanced toward Davey. Sensing the presence of another person behind him, Davey remained undeterred. His focus was solely on the bandaged man. Thud!!! Thud!!! Gigantic men, standing over two meters and eighty centimeters tall, appeared and surrounded Davey. Like the man with bandages, they also wore fedora hats on their heads and trench coats on their bodies. They were not human. "Ah. You created them for me?" "The power of each and every one of them might not match yours, but..." If eight of them were to unite against him, the situation would change. These individuals firmly believed that Davey would no longer be able to use any of his powers in this place. Davey calmly gazed at the palm of his hand, his mana remaining still. As a result, everything the enemies had prepared to eliminate him began to manifest one after another. Bang!!! At the same time, seven of the unidentified assailants surrounding Davey raised their hands, tightening the seal on him with their strange power. Meanwhile, another assailant charged at him, utilizing his heavy weight and enormous size. Before Davey could react, the assailant swiftly threw a punch, imbued with unimaginable power. However, with his hands still bound, Davey subtly shook his wrists. From a hidden pocket within his sleeves emerged a small watch¡ªthe very first watch made for him by the daughter of his enemy and his younger sister, Aenotia, after he had given her a chance. Upon glancing at the time, Davey frowned. He stated, "This won''t suffice." Crack!!! Everyone in the scene believed that the eerie and spine-chilling sound signified that the assailant had successfully struck Davey. However, the reality was far from it. "There''s still plenty of time remaining," Davey declared in a chilling tone as he stepped on the head of the fallen giant. "No way. Are you telling me that''s all?" The man with long gray hair, who had appeared behind the bandaged stranger, was utterly astounded. As a Grand Duke-ranked demon, he could sense the dark mana swirling around Davey and the length of his horn, yet he couldn''t comprehend how Davey managed to harness his power. And that bewildered expression was an added bonus for Davey. "H-Hey! Didn''t you assure me that no matter how powerful that human is, he wouldn''t be able to wield his power?! What in the world is this..." "T-That... It appears he also possesses a power that originates from another realm." ¡°What I have is something that¡¯s way over your heads, you f****ing bastards.¡± ¡®You¡¯re curious about how I was able to do it, right? Well, keep on being curious then.¡¯ CH 339 The chains effectively sealed Davey''s powers. However, they failed to acknowledge the presence of qi in his body. Well, it was a technique he would likely be unable to employ again. Crack!!! Crack, crack!!! Filthy and sturdy, that was Davey''s initial impression. Even as he stepped on and trampled the giant''s head, it managed to endure and withstand the pressure. Of course, it had stopped moving, shocked by the assault. However, if Davey left it alone for a while, it would undoubtedly resume pestering him. Yes, they were indeed becoming quite bothersome. Davey had unintentionally accelerated the timeline by ransacking and swiftly destroying their hideout, quicker than he had originally anticipated. Thud!!! Contrary to the expected helpless appearance, Davey swiftly subdued one of the giants in the blink of an eye. As a result, the other giants, who were responsible for maintaining the power to seal him, immediately assumed a threatening stance, ready to attack at any moment. In addition to their remarkable durability and strength, these giants possessed strange powers. This was unsurprising considering their connection to the Abyss through their creator. Due to this fact, Davey couldn''t disregard their movements and attacks. When facing an unfamiliar opponent, one had to exercise extreme caution and care. Thump!!! Thump!!! ¡°Perhaps¡­I should take action myself.¡± Observing the unconventional nature of Davey and his approaches, the bandaged demon cautiously advanced toward him, extracting a power that emitted an eerie light. Simultaneously, a peculiar and unsettling force permeated the surroundings. In response, the seven remaining giants in trench coats swiftly converged on Davey''s location. Shiiiiiing. It was crucial for Davey to determine whether these individuals were operating within the physical or non-physical realm. Without hesitation, Davey employed sword manipulation, effortlessly shattering the restraining power. Seizing the Red Ribbon from the air, he swiftly thrust it into the heart of the nearest peculiar man. Stab!!! As anticipated, the tip of his sword effortlessly pierced through the body of the individual. Crack, crack, crack!!! He proceeded to slash the sword upward, severing the giant''s shoulder. However, it appeared that this action had triggered a response. Crackle, crackle, crackle!!! The chains that bound Davey''s powers remained in effect, rendering his mana heart, holy mana, and dark mana completely frozen. ¡®As expected of something crafted in the Abyss.¡¯ Nevertheless, there was still a power within Davey''s body that eluded their grasp¡ªthe power of ''qi.'' Similar to mana, qi could be manipulated to enhance various aspects of the body, including strength and flexibility. Although its efficiency was slightly lower, Davey could still utilize it. However, it had the drawback of a slower recovery speed compared to the other forces within his body. From the strange man''s body, a surge of black energy surged forth and swiftly enveloped Red Ribbon''s blade. Grab! Red Ribbon''s blade appeared firmly trapped, as if ensnared by an impenetrable and resilient force. It seemed to be part of their scheme to seal Red Ribbon using this mysterious power that Davey had yet to comprehend. Without hesitation, Davey chose to leave Red Ribbon behind and swiftly drew out Blue Ribbon instead. Determined, he attempted to sever the black tentacles that had emerged from the entangling black energy, ensnaring Red Ribbon. Bang!!! Well, Davey would have succeeded had it not been for those individuals who, appearing as if they had been anticipating this precise moment, suddenly launched a coordinated attack against him. Despite managing to sever the intangible energy binding Red Ribbon with a swing of Blue Ribbon, this time tangible and physical tentacles emerged, ensnaring Blue Ribbon. Unlike living beings, Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon were swords with egos, marking a significant distinction from others. "Now that you''ve lost the swords you take such pride in, what else do you have to show us, huh?" the man provocatively taunted Davey. In response, Davey retrieved the shamanic rattle, associated with the Tripitaka, from his pocket plane. Simultaneously, he unfurled a fan, employing it to deflect his assailant''s fist. He tapped the shamanic rattle against the giant''s body, while mysterious light talismans materialized from an unknown source, scattering throughout the area. Crackle, crackle!!! A resounding and fierce sound of rotation echoed through the vicinity as blazing red flames erupted from the ground, reducing one of Davey''s assailants to ashes. Ring!!! The talismans flickered with a brilliant radiance, swiftly darting through the air as Davey vigorously shook the shamanic rattle in his hands once more, following his successful deflection of the assailant''s attack. Crack, crack, crack, crack!!! This time, blue electric currents materialized, enveloping the assailant who suffered the impact of the scorching heat and high-pressure currents. He collapsed on the spot, his body rigid and motionless. However, their onslaught showed no signs of relenting. They were beings devoid of fear, driven solely by their relentless determination to attack Davey. Ultimately, the bandaged man had to create an opportunity for himself to take action. Vwoooong!!! Crackle, crackle!!! The moment the black chains, infused with an unknown energy, emerged and once again ensnared Davey''s body, the assailant who had been attacking him halted and took a step back, observing him as if keeping him under control. The man extended his arms, unleashing the peculiar power. "Oh, this is astonishing.¡± "Strictly speaking, these rascals aren''t combatants. Some chimeras were specifically designed to uphold and create this barrier.¡± Davey remained silent, absorbing the words of the bandaged demon. "Grave! What''s the outcome?" "We''ve successfully captured him. No matter how monstrous he may be, as long as he belongs to this world, he won''t be able to escape.¡± Upon hearing the demon''s declaration, Davey attempted to break free from the chains as he had done before. However, this time, the chains only constricted tighter, refusing to yield. "So, it''s come to an end," someone commented. "Don''t approach him recklessly. He once closed an entire rift with his bare hands alone. I can''t guarantee your safety if you foolishly attempt to get near him.¡± The chains binding Davey''s body tightened, exerting immense pressure as his assailants unleashed a surge of purple energy. It felt as though they aimed to squeeze every last ounce of life from him. In the midst of this intense situation, Davey, maintaining his typically impassive expression, suddenly voiced a thought that had crossed his mind, "So, what''s your plan once this is over?" The demon responded with a calm and relaxed demeanor, chuckling softly as he admitted, "Well, not much, really. To be honest, me and my companions are quite drained from restraining you like this." He snickered, under the impression that Davey had ceased resisting. Quietly, Davey shook his wrist to glance at his watch. The hour hand had reached the desired time, although the minute hand still had a significant way to go. After checking the time, Davey deftly flicked the watch back into his sleeve. ¡®There¡¯s still around ten minutes¡­ It seems like I have to wait a bit longer because of the distance.¡¯ Observing Davey''s continued silence, Grave, the bandaged demon, turned to the other demon, Grand Duke Astaroth, and urged, "Let''s proceed swiftly. Time is running out." "I understand," Astaroth replied. "Even if the Demon Lord is resurrected, he won''t pose much of a threat." "However," Grave continued, "the requirement for me to be present in the ceremonial hall still stands. Although I detest it, we have no choice but to bring this individual along." "He''s powerless to cause any trouble, right? Do as you wish," Astaroth calmly responded, appearing to have let go of the apprehension and caution he had displayed earlier. *** Compared to what Davey had witnessed thus far, the ceremonial hall exuded a distinct atmosphere and ambiance. Upon Davey''s entrance, the gazes of everyone in the hall shifted to a state of terror. However, upon noticing the presence of the black chains restraining him, a collective sigh of relief escaped them. Davey''s eyes fell upon Demon Belial, who stood silently cradling his greatsword on one side of the hall. On the other side, he spotted Milpieu, the pink-haired vampire, distributing some sort of magic stone. At the moment Astaroth appeared, a girl dressed in alluring attire, whom Davey presumed to be a succubus, approached him with a measured pace. She spoke softly, "Father, you''re here?" "Yes, Liline. We have completed the preparations.¡± "That human over there..." "Yes, indeed. He is the most dangerous individual among humans. Fortunately, we have successfully captured him," replied Astaroth, acknowledging the succubus''s observation. Liline Orlouge, her face framed by hair that shimmered like stars, cast a peculiar look at Davey. She chuckled softly. "He doesn''t appear as evil as the Grand Duke described him." "Liline Orlouge, never forget that humans are creatures driven by hatred. They are the wicked beings who have displaced our kind from our rightful position in this world.¡± A quick look at "pawread dot com" will leave you more fulfilled. "But..." "Never forget, Liline. If you dare to show sympathy for these human bastards, I will not hesitate to discipline you, even if it means forcefully restraining you. Please, do not betray the memory of your late father, Bertrand, and Ishavi.¡± Liline, the succubus, nodded in acknowledgment. "Indeed, just as Father said." The ceremonial hall presented a truly bizarre sight. Resting upon a glowing, colossal magic circle created from blood was the lifeless form of a small girl with silver hair. It was evident that the body lacked a soul, rendering it essentially a lifeless corpse. Despite its crude construction, the body possessed a delicate beauty, with horns larger than any other demon''s. There was no mistaking it¡ªthis was Perserque. Some of those present must have seen Perserque''s appearance before... "Behold! This is our Demon Lord, an unparalleled being from 3,000 years past, possessing the power to resurrect our entire race. She is so incredibly mighty that none can rival her in the future!" exclaimed Grand Duke Astaroth, his voice brimming with jubilation as the moment of their Demon Lord''s revival drew near. "What are you waiting for?! Commence the ritual at once! Grave, the Demon Lord''s soul?!" At those words, Grave turned his head slightly, directing his gaze toward Davey. "Hey, Perserque." ¡ª¡­ "What have you been doing during my absence?" Davey inquired, his voice directed towards Perserque. He could observe her trembling shoulders from where she resided in his pocket. Perseque remained silent, offering no response to Davey''s question. "Well, it doesn''t really matter," Davey calmly replied, seemingly devoid of any intention to resist. "And the sacrifice?" he inquired further, seeking information on that particular matter. "The final sacrifice''s hatred is still potent. I have kept him until now," Milpieu responded tersely, while a group of robed humans emerged from a self-opening door. Among them was someone familiar to Davey. "Oh? It seems he has grown tired of coal mining these days, huh?" Davey remarked, recognizing him as none other than Carlus O''Rowane, the Second Prince of the Rowane Kingdom who had put him in a coma. Following the destruction of the Bariatta Ducal Family, they were both branded as notorious criminals and sent to the Haoji Coal Mines for labor. Despite the taunting comments, Carlus remained silent, his eyes vacant and seemingly unconscious. He obediently followed the orders of the vampires, standing motionless in the designated sacrifice spot, unaware of his impending death. Davey, however, held no concern for Carlus''s fate. Witnessing him become a sacrifice and suffer until his demise was already a profoundly satisfying revenge. "Do you know that if the resurrection of the Demon Lord fails, this entire area will be obliterated?" Davey inquired. Astaroth snorted, "You insolent fool, have you forgotten the predicament you are in? That relaxed expression on your face will soon vanish." "How can you revive the Demon Lord without her soul? Furthermore, does the Demon Lord''s soul even still exist?" Davey challenged Astaroth, turning his attention to Grave, whose body was consumed by bandages. Grave appeared as though he had been consumed by the Abyss. To the other demons, Grave was viewed as someone who had made a pact with the Abyss. However, in Davey''s eyes, Grave resembled a being devoured by the lurking darkness of the Abyss. With slow and deliberate movements, Grave approached Davey, eventually kneeling before him, bowing his head. His voice quivered. "Ah... Aaaah... My lord... My queen... My mother¡­ Your body is prepared." However, it was not Davey who reacted to those words. Vwoooooong!!! The stigmata on Davey''s body reacted as Perserque soared into the air. Tearfully, she locked her gaze with him and said¡­ ¡ªDavey¡­ Forgive me¡­ Upon hearing Davey''s nonchalant response, tears continued to trickle down Perserque''s cheeks, perhaps due to a sense of guilt. Grave, the demon, had lost his original essence, consumed by the Abyss, becoming a part of it. It was through this connection that he was able to locate Perserque. The realization struck a chord within her, causing her tears to flow. ¡ªYou have shown me a lot of things in this world, allowing me to experience the ups and downs, the joys and sorrows. ¡°Who said I did those things for you?¡± ¡ªI know that''s what you''re going to say. However, I will never forget the moments I''ve spent with you. That''s why I believe this is the best way to protect you. This, for me, is more than enough. Tears continued to well up in Perserque¡¯s eyes as she showed Davey a bright smile. Then, she slowly approached him and kissed him on his forehead. ¡ªLooking at you like this makes my heart ache. You know, I''m telling you this, but actually, it¡¯s not like I don¡¯t have feelings for you. After that, she slowly flew up. Once Perserque died, the Abyss would lose her and would be unable to interfere in this world. At the same time, the demons would also lose their powers. The flow of fate where Davey had to fight the Demon Lord had not been changed. Just one more sacrifice, and it would be the perfect scenario. Davey nodded silently at Perserque''s words. After realizing that Davey had already given up on her, Perserque slowly descended onto the body lying inside the magic circle. Then, a bright light enveloped the sacrifices, and the ritual for resurrection properly began. Just as Davey had deceived Perserque to save her, it seemed like she had also deceived him to save him from this trap. Wasn''t that very touching? The ritual continued in silence, accompanied by an intense glare of light. However, it was taking quite a long time, and everyone was watching the situation nervously. Ten silent minutes had passed since the ritual began. At that moment, a grin settled on Davey''s face as he flicked his wrist and checked the time on his watch. Perserque had made quite a number of mistakes here. It was because she usually did not take Davey''s words seriously and chose not to ponder over them. Grave, eroded by the Abyss, was not a demon but a creature of the Abyss. It seemed like he was very grateful to Davey for doing him some charity work, didn''t it? After all, everything would be for naught the moment Perserque became the Demon Lord. Tick, tock¡­ tick, tock¡­ Not long after, the scheduled time arrived. A loud and brisk music erupted, resonating through the otherwise silent ceremonial hall. The source of the music? A dainty bracelet adorned with a small mana stone. The bracelet was an artifact designed to emit a loud sound when someone wearing a similar bracelet approached. Bam, bam, bam, bam~! Bam, bam, bam, bam~! Babam! All their gazes turned to Davey as they watched him wave a watch, which they hadn''t noticed him take out earlier, and say, "The goods have arrived. We can start now, Belial." Silence hung in the air as Belial, who had been silent throughout the exchange, nodded. He then drew his greatsword and swiftly severed the neck of the vampire standing next to him, a precise strike that left no room for a scream. The high-ranking vampire collapsed, his once-immortal power shattered by Belial''s devastating attack. Simultaneously, the chains that had bound Davey were released, as if they had never been there to begin with. Everyone believed that Davey had remained still and quiet because he was powerless to resist. Little did they know that Davey had been biding his time. And it was also because... "This is what you call acting, you bastards. Well done on initiating the ritual. No matter what I tried, there was no way I could have started it." Essentially, a demon''s tradition could only be performed by demons. This was something Davey had been powerless to change. He gripped the chains and gave a light tug, twisting the mana within them and shattering the once-strong and unyielding chains into fragments as if they were delicate glass. Bang!!! ¡°W-What?!¡± Just like Davey had always said, ¡®The last hit will always be mine.¡¯ CH 340 All of them looked at Davey incredulously when they heard his words, and their expressions deepened when they saw Davey casually breaking the chains that bound him tightly. In fact, it felt like they were dreaming. For a moment, they felt like the chains that tied Davey up were not really a big deal. However, those who were aware of the power and force incorporated in those chains could only stare at him in shock. "Grave!" The demon''s Grand Duke Astaroth, who was proceeding with the ritual, called out to Grave after witnessing Davey''s light and easy actions. However, he couldn''t hide the complicated look in his eyes as he turned to look at the human they thought they had sealed. "H-How?!" Grave was certain that escaping the chains'' binding would be difficult. This was because the power hidden within the chains that bound Davey was neither the demon''s demonic energy nor the vampires'' blood energy. The power dwelling inside those chains was none other than the mysterious power of the Abyss. There weren''t any real problems with the way it was used for restriction. After all, it operated on different laws. And that meant Davey could use it in reverse. "How many experiments do you think I conducted with that guy I stole from the other side of the world?" Davey firmly believed that he shouldn''t recklessly pick a fight with an opponent he knew nothing about. In this fight, he was the one who knew half about the enemies, while his enemies didn''t even know half of him. And that difference was quite significant. Bang!!! At the same time, Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon, who were also bound by the chains, responded to his will. They easily broke off the chains in their bodies and settled gently in Davey''s hands. All the surviving vampires and demons present in this ceremonial hall looked at Davey in terror. Even Perserque, who was undergoing the synchronization of her body and soul with the ritual, opened her eyes wide and stared at him in shock. "S-Stop that bastard! We can''t let him disturb the ritual!" However, none of them charged at Davey or attacked him immediately. So, Davey took the time to reach into his Pocket Plane and retrieved a strange lump of metal, which he promptly threw into the air. ¡ªDavey¡­ What did you do¡­? ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I already told you this from the start.¡± ¡®There¡¯s no way you¡¯ll be resurrected as the Demon Lord.¡¯ ¡ªN-No! Davey! Stop that! Perserque shouted urgently, having realized the nature of the item Davey threw into the air, albeit a bit late. It was only after the lump of metal started to twitch and react that she grasped its significance. Davey paid no attention to Belial, who had caused immediate chaos, and instead focused solely on the metal lump floating in the air. It was none other than the power of the Abyss that had been reversed. Shwaaaaaa! Suddenly, beams of light burst forth from the metal lump as numerous cracks marred its surface. In an instant, an abundance of tentacles extended and ensnared Perserque''s arms, legs, neck, and waist. ¡ªKyaaaaack?! I don¡¯t want this!!! Perserque let out a piercing scream, her face contorting with a mix of distress, revulsion, and repulsion. Taking control of the metal lump, Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon emanated a brilliant glow, casting an eerie atmosphere that illuminated Davey''s sinister grin. "Well then, excellent work, everyone. Now, all that remains is for me to devour everything within this place.¡± Shwaaaaaa!!! With a swift motion, the bright red sword in Davey''s hand gleamed as it cleaved Grave''s body in two. After all, there was no reason to spare the most dangerous man in the room, was there? The surviving vampires and demons attempted to resist and confront Davey, but they all crumbled in an instant. A maniacal grin adorned Davey''s face as he had already unleashed his true self. "I appreciate what you have done. However, a debt is a debt, isn''t it?" "H-Hi... Hiiik!" Shwaaaaaa! A flash of blue appeared as Davey swung Blue Ribbon, the swordlight destroying Grand Duke Astaroth¡¯s shield. It was immediately followed by a flash of red light that severed the demon¡¯s arm. Observing that Astaroth was able to evade the fatal blow and only lose his arm made Davey realize the immense power of a Grand Duke. However, Astaroth was still not as potent as that black dragon bastard. Comparatively speaking, all the demons were formidable individuals. Nevertheless, it required a substantial amount of power for them to cross over from the artificial Demon World, where they had been banished. Thus, even if their main bodies managed to cross over, they would still be unable to exert significant force. What if it was merely a clone? "Stop that bastard! If we fail here, there will be no future for our race!" "Die!!!" They desperately resisted, charging forward despite the risk of losing their lives. In response, Davey manipulated Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon, allowing them to float freely in the air as he forcefully clapped his hands together. [8th Circle Earth Magic] [High Ground Break] Thud!!! The ground twisted and turned, a crack opening up like the jaws of a gigantic alligator and swallowing all of the vampires who attacked Davey. Crack, crack, crack, crack!!! However, Davey did not stop there. The earth broke apart, trapping the vampires and floating freely in the air. Then, Davey raised his palm and clenched it into a fist. Simultaneously, a tremendous pressure weighed down upon them until they burst into pieces. It was a horrendous scene to watch, but Davey did not stop. Claaaang!!! The resistance posed by the demons and vampires was fierce. Liline Orlouge, the succubus beside Grand Duke Astaroth, charged at Davey''s flanks with her huge side sword. On the other side, Gluttony, the man who seemed to be the leader of the vampires, attacked Davey''s rear. Bang!!! Davey stretched his hand forward without hesitation, grabbing the tip of Liline Orlouge''s side sword with his index, thumb, and middle finger. Then, he kicked her away. "Ugh... Don''t you get tired?!" "I''m someone who can send missile dropkicks to anyone, whether they are a man or a woman. So, you better clench your teeth, Miss Succubus." Thwaaaack!!! Liline felt as if a huge bat had hit her as her body flew back and got stuck on the wall. It was just one kick, but Liline seemed to have already fainted, completely motionless and silent as debris from the walls behind her fell down around her. The ceremonial hall was a complete mess after it had suddenly turned into a battlefield. However, the battle did not last long. This was because not many of the vampires had come here, despite the fact that many of them were still alive. When Belial caught the head of the last resisting high-ranking vampire and pierced through his heart, the battle had ended. After looking at the ritual''s magic circle, Davey saw Belial slowly approaching Perserque, who now had a physical form after being bound by the tentacles. The teary Perserque frowned in confusion when she saw Belial kneel down on one knee and bow to her. ¡ªYou¡­ What in the world are you doing? "It''s a pleasure to meet you. My Lord, I am willing to give you my everything," Belial said calmly as he slowly looked up. "The fact that your soul has been kept safe is all thanks to God''s grace." "Belial, we don''t have much time. Move to the magic circle before it gets extinguished." Belial slowly stood up at Davey''s words. "Forgive me for whatever disrespect I will show you from here on out." It seemed like those who survived the onslaught of Davey''s attacks had yet to understand the situation they were in. That was when they saw Belial enter the center of the magic circle and devour the current of power swirling around it, created from the sacrifice. This power was meant for Perserque''s soul, so she could devour it the moment she was revived as the Demon Lord. Crack, crack, crack, crack!!! At the same time, something wrapped around Belial, transforming him into a giant pupa protected by a cocoon. Everyone fell silent, stunned by Belial''s unexpected betrayal and the dire consequences it entailed. ¡ªDavey!!! What the hell are you doing?! Perserque''s cry echoed the thoughts in everyone''s heads. Although their purposes differed, both Perserque and the vampires aimed to resurrect the Demon Lord. Davey held Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon lightly before placing them in his Pocket Plane. He scoffed, "Why do you think I allowed you guys to tie me up and drag me here for such a long time?" "W-What?!" Grand Duke Astaroth, now missing an arm, asked grimly. In Reina''s own world, Astaroth was one of mankind''s greatest horrors, a being that had wiped out humanity. In this world, he had received the Abyss'' buff and had become even stronger. For him, this task was incredibly easy. At the very least, he was no weaker than Nyx, who had existed since their ancestor''s time. ¡ªDavey¡­ Don¡¯t tell me¡­ "That''s right. This is the usurpation of the Demon Lord," Davey said calmly, nodding toward the cocoon. "The next Demon Lord will not be Perserque but Belial." "Why on earth... Why on earth are you doing this?! What will you gain from this, you bastard?!" It wouldn''t matter whether it was Belial or Perserque who became the Demon Lord. If it was Perserque, she would be controlled by some kind of force upon resurrection. As for Belial? He was already Davey''s enemy, so it wouldn''t make a difference. But in the end, the outcome would still be the same. This was why Astaroth couldn''t comprehend why Davey had to go through this process. "Of course, it''s different." Crack, crack!!! Not long after, Belial finished absorbing all the power of the Demon Lord through the ritual and began to break free from the cocoon. Witnessing this, Davey raised one hand lightly and said, "The difference lies in whether Perserque becomes the Demon Lord or not." "W... What?" "Listen, Demon Grand Duke," Davey said calmly, waving the mana gathered in his hand to create a massive shockwave that dissipated the mana in the area. Those who were preparing to launch a surprise attack became flustered as the power they had gathered suddenly vanished. Then, a girl who had been hiding on one side of the ceremonial hall emerged with a surprised expression. The girl had successfully concealed herself thanks to the power of the divine sword, but she could no longer conceal her presence after this commotion. "Your skills have improved greatly, huh? Illyna." "Davey... What the hell are you doing?" Illyna asked, her face stiff with disbelief. "The Demon Lord''s usurpation? What in the world are you trying to accomplish with the enemies that attacked mankind..." Davey disregarded Illyna''s trembling and instead inspected the now cracked cocoon. Then, he turned to Astaroth and asked, "Do you know the conditions required to become the Demon Lord?" Astaroth gritted his teeth, his hand putting more pressure on his severed arm. He replied, "As long as the Demon Lord exists, no other demon or living being can become the Demon Lord... But now, with the Demon Lord''s position vacant, there are two ways to determine who will claim the title... "The first method can be executed in the absence of the Demon Lord. One can become the Demon Lord through a formal ceremony. If they survive after accepting the power of the former Demon Lord, they will ascend to become the new Demon Lord. In this method, there is no need to kill others. "The second method is the usurpation of the newly emerged Demon Lord. It requires killing the previous Demon Lord in battle." What they were doing here was the second method. With Perserque, who was attempting to re-emerge as the Demon Lord, restrained, Belial took advantage of the opportunity and forcefully seized Perserque''s power. Then, he proceeded with the Demon Lord''s ritual. Perserque might still possess the power of a Demon Lord, but she was already dead. The only way for her to regain her position as a Demon Lord was to be resurrected with her full power. Thus, they had no choice but to perform this ritual for her. If they could keep Perserque restrained for a while and strip away her power while safely completing the ritual, she might not become the Demon Lord and could possibly continue living. In the end, they had prevented the worst outcome, where Perserque would become the Demon Lord. As long as Belial was alive, Perserque would never ascend to that position. However, with Belial as the Demon Lord, there were still numerous ways for the demons to reinstate Perserque as the Demon Lord. "I waited for a long time," Davey said calmly as he approached Illyna. Then, he added, "It took you quite a while to come and find me." None of them understood why Davey kept glancing at his watch. Even Illyna wore a puzzled expression on her face. It seemed that none of them had fully comprehended Davey''s intentions yet. Crack, crack! Crack, crack! The cocoon shattered completely as Belial emerged, emanating an immense power that far surpassed his previous state. Though his eyes remained closed, his appearance had undergone a significant transformation. Davey could discern traces of the Abyss'' power within Belial. It made him wonder if this was why the Abyss and its creatures actively aided Perserque''s resurrection as the Demon Lord. If the previous Belial was an entity Davey could easily dispatch, the current Belial belonged to an entirely different realm. The energy radiating from his body was so potent that Davey would need to exercise extreme caution if he were to engage in a desperate battle with him. Yet, this was precisely why Davey utilized Belial to strip Perserque of her position as the Demon Lord. Davey had no knowledge of Belial''s newfound power and had to approach it with utmost wariness. "Ha... Hahahahahahahahahahaha! Fool!" Astaroth and Gluttony, who had been staring blankly, gradually snapped out of their daze. They erupted into maniacal laughter at the sight before them. "Anyone who becomes the Demon Lord through this magic circle will be under our control! Human! I don''t know how you manipulated Belial, but the result remains the same! It does not matter who it is, as long as we have our king!" They believed that it made no difference whether Belial stood by Davey''s side. As long as they could dominate and manipulate him as they intended to do with Perserque, it would suffice. Truly, it didn''t matter whether the resurrected Demon Lord was Perserque or Belial. The demons and vampires had already achieved their goal once the Demon Lord was brought back. They would gain the power to reshape the continent and drive away the alliance of humans from the Tionis Continent. However, did they believe that Davey had orchestrated this situation without being aware of their intentions? "Let me ask you again. What are the conditions required to become the Demon Lord?" "What¡­?" ¡ªA demon qualified to become a Demon Lord¡­ Davey, don¡¯t tell me¡­ Perserque¡¯s eyes grew wide. It was as if she had finally understood what Davey intended to do. ¡ªStop!!! Do you not know how dangerous what you¡¯re trying to attempt is?! The Abyss is far greater than what you think¡­! However, disregarding Perserque''s desperate cries, Davey continued to advance toward Illyna. An unsettling smile adorned his face as he lightly patted the bewildered Illyna and uttered, "Thanks, Illyna. Let me borrow this once more." "What... What do you mean?" "This," Davey replied cryptically. A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled. Clack!!! Davey forcefully tore off the brooch from Illyna''s chest, causing her to struggle against his grip as he compelled Caldeiras to activate. In that moment, a sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu washed over Illyna, but she could only stare blankly ahead, realizing that she had been completely deceived by Davey. Since Belial''s escape, she had been manipulated from the start. Why did Davey resort to trickery? Because he couldn''t simply borrow Caldeiras without giving rise to rumors, except in a situation like this. Davey turned his gaze toward Belial and aimed Caldeiras at him. With determination in his voice, he declared, "Belial has become the Demon Lord by absorbing the power from the resurrection magic circle you created. I know there may be some sort of deception within it. Since you admitted that he would be a pawn in your plan, forcing a continental war, I cannot leave him be. I have no choice but to fight him, don''t I?" Even if Davey spared Belial at this moment, they would inevitably clash in the future, potentially igniting another continental war. Caldeiras'' voice resonated in Davey''s ears. Simultaneously, he released his sacred mana, the very same energy he had been conserving for this precise moment, and spoke calmly... [Goddess Freyja.] [I¡¯m sorry, but I have you and the former Demon Lord completely deceived. Well, I¡¯ll gladly receive any punishment.] [I hope you grant mercy to this foolish Saint who has strayed from the righteous path, attempting to sever the bonds that bring forth bloodshed, sorrow, and anguish in the future.] ¡°Belial, it¡¯s time to pay the price.¡± [Transcendent Circle Black Magic. Subordination Magic.] [Lord of Geas] The curse, carefully crafted by Rho Aias, manifested with just enough potency to avoid complete rejection. As a result, the curse began to take effect, drawing out both the holy mana that Davey had cautiously conserved and the dark mana within his own being. Trapped within an impenetrable barrier, even a powerful Demon Lord like Belial slowly opened his eyes and extended his hand toward Davey. He declared, "In accordance with my oath and loyalty to Demon Lord Perserque, I offer my life in exchange for hers. By the authority of the Demon Lord, I accept Davey O''Rowane as a challenger in the Demon Lord''s Usurpation Battle. If you emerge victorious, you shall become the next Demon Lord." The second method to attain the position of the Demon Lord was through the Demon Lord''s Usurpation Battle, where the previous Demon Lord had to be slain. "Perserque, I warned you, didn''t I? Unless I am defeated, you will never ascend as the Demon Lord." If Perserque truly intended to protect Davey through her betrayal, she should have grasped the significance behind his previous words. It wasn''t just the demons or the vampires who were mere pawns in Davey''s grand scheme. He manipulated everyone and everything, even deceiving the very deity of this world, if only for a fleeting moment. Shiiiing!!! Davey swiftly darted forward, leaving behind a white afterimage, as Caldeiras emitted a radiant white light. Before anyone could react or Illyna could even scream, Davey closed the distance and thrust the blade of Caldeiras into Belial''s heart. "As trust is given, trust shall be repaid. Loyalty and allegiance deserve faith and conviction. What a fitting saying, wouldn''t you agree?" Belial spoke his final words. Even as the newly appointed Demon Lord, Belial remained true to his ancestors'' ideals and displayed unwavering loyalty to the Demon Lord by sacrificing his own life. He was a demon with a genuine and devoted heart, incapable of accepting the manipulation of his master by others. "Thank you for your unwavering dedication," Davey remarked. However, this was all part of a trap designed for a single individual. The vampires and demons had laid a snare for Davey, yet unbeknownst to them, Davey had been meticulously setting up his own trap for Perserque for a considerable length of time. His sole intention was to resurrect her as a unique demon girl with extraordinary powers and, above all else, to prevent those despicable individuals from ever turning her into the Demon Lord again. CH 341 This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV. Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon were both powerful swords. However, the Divine Sword Caldeiras, a divine sword with the power to slay the Demon Lord, was crucial in annihilating Belial in a single blow. Ares, the Sword God of the past, had personally used Caldeiras to strike down his adopted daughter, Perserque. He had obliterated her body and imprisoned her soul within the sword. Davey did not explicitly inquire about Ares'' intentions at that time. [A rival¡­ The Demon Lord is my rival and antagonist, you know? You f****ing bastard¡­ You¡¯re really a f***ing crazy bastard.] Davey attentively listened to Caldeiras'' words while he extracted the sword that had shattered Belial''s dominion, causing all of the Demon Lord''s power and authority to be drawn into it. Perserque, having defeated all the other demon candidates and ascended as the Demon Lord, had absorbed their powers. However, all of that power, apart from the Abyss'' Authority inherent to Perserque, was assimilated into Davey''s own abilities. Or, to be precise, Davey attempted to absorb it. Yet, Goddess Freyja''s will posed a formidable obstacle, rendering it exceedingly challenging for him to succeed. Thwack!!! A flash of brilliant light materialized as an immense surge of power erupted from his body, dispelling the absorbed power masses as if they were non-existent. Ultimately, only one power remained within Davey. Apart from the Abyss'' Authority, there were six powers meant to be assimilated into Davey''s body. However, five of them had vanished entirely, as if they had returned to the arms of God. ¡®So, you''re confronting me like this merely because of what I did?¡¯ Although the majority of his power had been stripped away, it held little significance to Davey. By slaying the Demon Lord, he had obtained the qualifications to assume the role himself. In other words, he had effortlessly attained the position, which was more than sufficient. While Davey couldn''t yet discern the precise nature of the remaining power in his body, there was one thing he was certain of¡ªthe demonic energy, an exclusive power of the demons, had already begun to settle and coil around his form. ¡®Welcome. Have you not encountered a human body before? It can be challenging for a newcomer like you to handle the multitude of experiences and memories contained within. Moreover, the senior residents within this body can be quite demanding, can''t they? And it appears your senior counterparts possess quite the irritable disposition, am I correct?¡¯ The mighty storm generated by the forces within his body gradually subsided. Following that, Davey surveyed his surroundings. The Demon Lord, the greatest adversary? How absurdly amusing to utter such words in this situation, don''t you think? Despite having become a Demon Lord, there wasn''t much disparity. As a human, no horns sprouted from his head. However, his red eyes had deepened in hue, turning a darker shade of red. Grand Duke Astaroth and Gluttony, the leader of the radical vampires, cast helpless glances at Davey. Even Perserque, her tears flowing due to the constricting tentacles, stared at him blankly. And lastly, there was the astounded Illyna, who bore witness to Belial''s demise right before her eyes. Although she hadn''t formed a strong bond with Belial, given their short acquaintance, it seemed Illyna was profoundly shaken to witness the demise of the demon she had once saved, by her own sword. "The war shall conclude here. I, as the Saint, the Antagonist, and the Demon Lord, command you all to retreat. Each of you must return and relay this message." ¡®If you dare crown Perserque as the Demon Lord, be prepared to face my resistance and witness the annihilation of this world.¡¯ The Demon Lord''s Usurpation Battle could only be repeated after a certain period of time. Nonetheless, Davey would not reject them. If they disregarded their lives, they were welcome to confront him. Naturally, Davey would spare no effort in annihilating them, leaving not even a speck of dust behind. Although Davey left his words unfinished, the surviving demons appeared to comprehend his intentions. "This...can''t be happening... A human...has become the Demon Lord..." "The outcome is right before your eyes." "What do you know?! Do you understand the immense suffering our race has endured in that desolate land?!" "So? Is your response to invading the Tionis Continent?" "How can you blame the descendants for the mistakes and misdeeds of their ancestors?!" Astaroth''s expression seethed with grotesque and horrifying anger. A human had stripped them of their sole hope, rendering rationality impossible for him to maintain. "I believe I have already conveyed this to another wretched fool before?" ¡°¡­¡± ¡°If you were truly in an urgent situation, then you should not have come here to fight. You should have come here to ask for help.¡± This was the difference between them and the Divine Tree that was now in Davey¡¯s hands. However, Davey did not have any regrets regarding the way he handled the demons. Thump, thump, thump!!! Astaroth, standing in a daze, collapsed to the ground, appearing utterly devoid of strength. And it was not just him but also the demons present in this place. The demons were not beings forsaken by God. If humans were bestowed with Warriors, demons were granted the Demon Lord. God had been fair in bestowing blessings upon both races. Apart from the messed up system like the Demon Lord''s Usurpation Battle, the Demon Lord possessed the authority to kill lower-ranking demons at will. Hence, Davey did just that. Even if their clones perished, their main bodies would not. Well, at the very least, they weren''t expelled, right? As for the leader of the radical vampires? Gluttony could only kneel, his trembling hands rendered helpless as Davey employed Caldeiras to sever his head. Perserque let out a loud yelp. She unleashed a surge of power, finally breaking free from the clutches of the tentacles. Then, she regained her original size and swiftly dashed towards Davey, gripping his collar and shaking him fiercely. Her physical form remained intact primarily due to the remnants of the tentacles still clinging to her arms and waist. ¡ªDo you have any idea what you have done?! What are you going to do after breaking god¡¯s rules?! Do you want to die?! Are you so crazy that you wanted to die?! After witnessing Perserque''s concern for him rather than her own safety, Davey simply seized her horns and averted his gaze. ¡®As expected, an ergonomically designed horn is the best handle.¡¯ ¡°What¡¯s done is done. However, what did you say to me back then?¡± ¡ªWhat¡­ What? ¡°That it¡¯s not like you don¡¯t have any feelings for me?¡± Bang!!! Davey pressed Perserque against the wall, his hands slamming beside her and causing the wall to collapse. Silently, he extended his hands toward the falling debris and cast a shield spell to shield them. ¡®Hmm... it appeared that the book claiming that striking the wall like this could stir the hearts of women was misleading.¡¯ ¡°Your body is not yet perfect. However, you will be able to talk, eat, walk, see, and do everything you want to do right away.¡± Perserque gazed at Davey with a perplexed expression, seemingly unable to comprehend his words. Nevertheless, Davey simply shook his head in response. It was at that moment when he noticed a silver-haired young girl, burdened with an enormous casket on her back, descending gradually from the sky. ¡ªRi¡­ Rinne¡­ ¡°Davey. Rinne has completed the high-speed delivery. Rinne evaluates the completion of this mission very highly!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! I give you the highest rating,¡± Davey said calmly as he destroyed the Demon Lord¡¯s body that was in the center of the now empty ceremonial hall. Kihyeeeeeeck!!! Simultaneously, an immense number of tentacles surged forth from the obliterated form, a manifestation that defied any notion of a conventional human body. ¡ªHnghh?! ¡°Kyaaack?! What the hell is that?!¡± Davey clicked his tongue in annoyance at the frightened cries of Perserque and Illyna. "These fools have created such a crude vessel. It''s unlikely to function properly. Rinne, take care of it." Instantly, Rinne conjured a massive gun and obeyed Davey''s command, obliterating the repulsive body. Although it belonged to the Demon Lord, it was merely an empty shell devoid of a soul. However, its interior had become twisted due to the forced amplification of the container they had created. Yet, that was its sole significance. Shortly after, Rinne eradicated the magic circle inscribed on the ground with her laser, deftly drawing a new one as if she were well acquainted with the process. Then, she retrieved a breathtakingly beautiful woman with a petite, unclothed form and positioned her at the center of the freshly traced magic circle. "Let us borrow this land for the magic circle, shall we?" This presented Davey''s sole opportunity to free Perserque from his stigmata with the aid of the Abyss creature donning the mask of the demon, Grave. Thus, he seized Perserque by the arm and guided her into the magic circle. Vwooooooong!!! The magic circle activated instantly, aligning Perserque''s soul with the body brought by Rinne¡ªthe very same body Davey had prepared for emergencies. Perserque might not have full access to her powers, only being able to utilize her authority. However, as time passed, her soul would strengthen, eventually enabling her to gradually reclaim her primary expertise: magic. ¡ªDavey!!! Davey!!! Ignoring the resounding and enraged cries of the imprisoned Perserque within the magic circle, Davey shifted his attention to Rinne and requested, "Escort Illyna and Per back to the Heins Territory and convey to them..." ¡®I will be back soon.¡¯ The instant those words escaped his lips, a dazzling column of light descended from the heavens, engulfing Davey. There was no chance for God, struck on the back of her head, to remain motionless like that. Nevertheless, Davey possessed unwavering confidence that he would endure, even in the face of God''s retribution. At present, the entity that Goddess Freyja needed to restrain was still alive. When Davey turned to observe the Abyss creature, Grave''s body had already vanished to an unknown location. Even the silent alchemist Milpieu''s form was absent among the vampires. Davey had not acted rashly; he had contemplated countermeasures. He did not engage in this endeavor merely to be obliterated by divine punishment. [Bestowing judgment upon the lunatic, Davey O''Rowane, who had disrupted the course of destiny, the verdict was passed: 7th Rank Judgment. Denial would entail the annihilation of the soul.] The message regarding the divine punishment left Davey with no option for refusal. Moreover, the tone conveyed God''s intense anger. To such an extent that Davey deemed himself fortunate that Goddess Freyja had not immediately disposed of him. ¡ªDavey! Stop this! Where the hell are you going?! Amidst Perserque''s tearful and desperate cries, Davey gradually faded away within the radiant pillar. "Those who have violated the laws shall face judgment, Perserque. However, I remain the Saint. I doubt the goddess will dispose of me so easily." Davey was also eager to witness the true essence of being the Saint. He had already been informed of this by a seasoned predecessor who had undergone a similar ordeal, thus he was not entirely ignorant of what awaited him. He made no resistance as his form vanished, merely nodding in acknowledgment to Rinne, who offered a silent salute. ¡®Hmmm. Her posture is different from before. I taught her well.¡¯ "Protect Perserque at all costs. And ensure she is treated with utmost respect," Davey instructed. "Rinne prides herself as an efficient and highly competent golem for escort missions," Rinne affirmed, nodding as she approached Davey with her bandaged feet and patting her chest proudly. Once Perserque''s soul settled back into her body, she would become visible to everyone and regain the freedom to pursue her desires. Since Goddess Freyja and the world''s providence would be preoccupied with Davey, there would be no sanctions or restrictions on her resurrection. The radiant light had already engulfed most of Davey''s body, leaving only his face and one arm exposed. Helplessly, Davey averted his gaze from Perserque''s desperate and vulnerable expression. But at that very moment... "Where do you think you''re going, you bastard?! Who gave you permission to die, huh?! No way in hell!" Illyna, unaware of the entire situation, rushed forward as soon as she saw Davey disappearing. It seemed her body moved on its own, snatching Caldeiras from the ground and grabbing Davey''s arm without hesitation. "Hey, you brat," Davey muttered, dumbfounded by Illyna''s irrational behavior. "Huh?" However, Illyna could only utter an unintelligible response as the brilliant light enveloped Davey''s entire being. "Kyaaaaack!!!" Thump, thud, thud!!! When Davey regained consciousness, he found himself surrounded by gritty, dry sand. He glanced down slowly, noticing the blonde girl who had fainted on top of him. In the world, there was no one unaware of how terrifying a divine punishment could be. How could this girl simply rush towards him and grasp his arm? For a moment, Davey wondered if Illyna had lost her sanity. This divine punishment was entirely distinct from the well-known one recognized by the world. Consequently, Illyna found herself in a situation where she had to accompany Davey throughout the judgment process. The fact that Perserque, who had always been by Davey''s side, was now completely separated from him engendered a sense of bitterness within him. After all, it had been quite some time since he had been left alone in solitude. However, due to some strange twist of fate, he would not be facing this judgment alone. Davey was uncertain whether he should express gratitude or scold the girl standing before him for recklessly risking her life. All he could do was burst into laughter at the sight of the unconscious girl, who fearlessly grasped his arm and attempted to save him without regard for her own safety. First Saintess Daphne had also defied God''s will to save the life of a destitute and wretched man, resulting in her facing judgment. During that time, Daphne overcame the trials presented by the judges and obtained God''s forgiveness. However, Davey had no way of knowing if a similar outcome awaited him in his own situation. Davey exploited the sole loophole in the longstanding rules governing the existence of the Demon Lord and the Antagonist and presented the goddess with a deceitful narrative. Essentially, Davey''s actions amounted to slaying the Demon Lord. However, who in their right mind would dare confront the Demon Lord in a battle for usurpation? And that wasn''t all¡ªDavey employed a powerful dark magic to momentarily distort the world''s rules, compelling Belial to engage in the usurpation battle. The result? The Antagonist triumphed over the Demon Lord. Davey now embodied the roles of the Saint, the Antagonist, and the Demon Lord simultaneously. In essence, as long as Davey remained alive, there would be no future Antagonist or Demon Lord emerging in the world. Although he might not possess the full extent of his former power, the title of Demon Lord held great significance to him. "When you think about it, it''s rather amusing, isn''t it? Haven''t you been striking me on the back of my head? You even fed me falsehoods. You should have anticipated that something like this would eventually occur." If the goddess had made a rational judgment, she would have recognized that Davey had not violated any rules of the world. Instead, this seemed more like an expression of Goddess Freyja''s dissatisfaction with his actions and deception. If that were truly the case, Davey wouldn''t have to be entangled in this complicated situation. As Davey carried Illyna on his back and continued walking, he contemplated his circumstances. "A desert..." In this expansive desert, the only sensation he encountered was an incessant gust of cool wind. Illyna, having already undergone metamorphosis, could withstand such conditions for a considerable duration compared to ordinary individuals. Nevertheless, it remained unwise to linger in a place like this for too long. It was only after Davey exercised his authority and accessed his status window that he comprehended the nature of the judgment bestowed upon him by Goddess Freyja. [If you are unable to absolve yourself of your crime in the presence of the Seven Judges who oversee and evaluate the burdens and sins of the living, your soul will be annihilated.] ¡°Judge? Did I just read Seven Judges?¡± Davey knew the structure and composition of this world bore resemblance to something familiar. How dare they pass judgment upon someone within a world crafted in the dreams of the goddess? CH 342 It would take a lot of time to create a world, even under the will of the Goddess. However, according to what Davey had heard from Daphne, there were plenty of other worlds in existence within this world. Basically, it was already a complete world that had been created through God''s will. It wouldn''t be strange if this world came and went. After all, this was a world created in the dreams of Goddess Freyja. If one were to delve into the complexity of this world, they could keep digging and still find it to be a very intricate and detailed place. However, the simplest and closest explanation for this was a dream. Simply put, it was a world that was naturally created because of God¡¯s will and could easily disappear the moment it fulfilled its purpose. "And that''s why it''s full of bugs. Well, I won''t complain. As long as I find that opening, I''ll be able to escape from this place." "Ugh, ughhh¡­" Illyna woke up with a groan. She regained consciousness only an hour after Davey had started moving. It was a very challenging task for an ordinary person to walk for that long while carrying another person on their back. However, for Davey, who could swing a metal bat weighing a ton without straining a muscle, Illyna was as light as a feather. Despite being the smallest, the biological golem Rinne topped the list as the heaviest being. "Ugh¡­ My head¡­" Illyna groaned. She cradled her throbbing head as she slowly opened her eyes and looked around blankly. "Ha! Davey!" "Are you finally awake?" Despite Illyna still being in a daze despite hearing the calm question, Davey, without any hesitation, removed the hands he used to support her. ¡°Kyaaack!¡± Davey left the shrieking Illyna, who had not yet completely regained her senses, behind and chose to silently enhance his vision to survey the surroundings. However, all he could see was the endless desert. There was no refuge in sight, no place to escape from the scorching sun. ¡°¡­¡± "It hurts¡­ You! Are you serious?!" Illyna shouted, gritting her teeth. However, her face twitched as she saw the stern and serious expression on Davey''s face. "Illyna." "Huh... Oh?" "Have you lost your mind?" Davey asked, silencing Illyna. "Do you think you can just follow wherever I go?" Illyna remained silent, unable to respond for a while. Then, she protested, "B-But how can you stay calm when you see someone disappearing right in front of you?! And it''s even a divine punishment! That!" "It seems like you''ve witnessed this before, huh?" This phenomenon wasn''t very common. Illyna could only grit her teeth and answer, "When I was young... I saw a corrupted priest from the Holy Empire kill countless people and face divine punishment... How could I ever forget that horrifying scene..." She murmured gloomily, "You''re a Saint, aren''t you...? So, why did you receive divine punishment?" Illyna didn''t know much about the situation back then. The connection between the Demon Lord and the Antagonist was something only known to those closely related to Davey. Davey took a few steps forward, raised his arm, and rolled it to loosen his muscles. Then, he closed his eyes momentarily before responding, "First of all, let''s start by destroying this worthless place." [Devil Ylgr¡¯s Great Rift] [Asura¡¯s Overlord Fist] This was the same fist that had shattered the barrier covering the elven forest where Yuria Helishana lived before. However, back then, it had been greatly compressed. That''s why it looked entirely different now. After all, it was an attack capable of dismantling and tearing apart such a worthless space. Illyna''s eyes widened as she witnessed a dark red energy manifest in Davey''s clenched fist, while his left foot slipped back. ¡®Let¡¯s see how long this space can last.¡¯ Boom!!! Dark red flames erupted and engulfed the area, accompanied by a resounding explosion. The spot Davey struck was an empty space, yet even before his right fist made contact, his left hand had already snatched and pulled something from within¡ªa barrier that had kept him confined in this place, something simultaneously existing and non-existent. From Davey''s perception, it appeared to have been designed to fade away gradually. It wasn''t a significant concern. What unsettled Davey was the presence of those entities that had imprisoned him here, observing him like perverse voyeurs. Crack!!! Just like shattering glass, the dark red flames collided with the empty space, generating black sparks that fragmented the surrounding area. "Kyaaack?!" Illyna shrieked, looking up at Davey with despair, curling up in response to the sudden emergence of fierce winds around them. "As I thought, you won''t be satisfied even after I break down the prison and escape," Davey remarked. Before him, the same vast and endless desert materialized. However, this time it seemed less harsh than before. "Thirsty?" Davey asked, gazing up at the sky. Illyna, still in the same position, nodded quietly in response. She then said, "My mind is a mess... I can''t understand why you killed Belial. And now... I don''t even know what''s real anymore." Silently, Davey retrieved his Transcendence Demise upon hearing Illyna''s words. "Desert Horn Moths. Despite their appearance, they contain a significant amount of water." One only needed to catch one and extract the liquid from them. With these moths at hand, anyone trapped in the desert wouldn''t have to worry about dehydration. "What?" Illyna questioned. A quick look at "pawread dot com" will leave you more fulfilled. "Bang!!!" Davey exclaimed as he struck what appeared to be the empty desert in front of him. "Hmm. This must be a dream derived from the Tionis Continent." For survival experts, the presence of Desert Horn Moths indicated that this environment was highly suitable for survival. ¡ªKihyeeeeeeeck!!! A loud shriek resonated as Davey slammed his staff, filled with mana, onto the sand. The sand was completely upturned as dozens of repulsive bugs, half the size of a human, leaped into the air and took flight. There had been nothing visible on the sand, yet they suddenly sprang up as if appearing out of thin air. "Urk?! That''s disgusting!" Illyna screamed, raising Caldeiras and attempting to strike them down. However, Davey swiftly extended the Transcendence Demise in his hands and halted the blade of her sword, saying, "What are you doing to our valuable source of water? Step aside." Vwoong!!! Vwoong!!! The gigantic and repulsive moths, displaying hostility with their violent wing flapping, appeared so hideous that no one would initially, or perhaps even after a second glance, associate them with something edible. In reality, these insects resided in the Great Desert at the western edge of the Tionis Continent. They were classified as aggressive monsters, camouflaging themselves as sand by lying flat on the ground, deceiving and attacking unsuspecting passers-by with their sharp teeth and robust horns. Davey held one of the Desert Horn Moths, now transformed into a clump of blood, in his hand, illuminating it with the light emitted from his staff. The Transcendence Demise was renowned as a legendary support tool for mages. Since Davey wielded such an exceptional staff, it was only natural to assume he possessed magical abilities. There was this old saying from the scriptures. It said, Battle mages are the best. [CQC for Staff] [Crushing the Stupid Head] Boom!!! After smashing the head of the scoundrel attempting to strike at his neck, Davey twirled his Transcendence Demise. He then wore a cold smile and proclaimed, "We won''t need to worry about water for now." Considering it was for two people, Davey would gather twice the amount he typically acquired. Illyna couldn''t rid her face of the complex expression as she observed Davey humming to himself, seemingly relishing the circumstances. *** Illyna de Pallan, a princess raised in a beautifully pristine environment, couldn''t comprehend why Davey merely crushed the Desert Horn Moth''s head. "That... um... Davey. What on earth are you doing? Those creatures are man-eaters... why can''t you just exterminate them?" she questioned, her voice filled with disbelief. It was as if she pleaded with Davey not to jest anymore, as she had grown tired of his jokes. However, Davey silently twisted the crushed moth''s head, extracting its bodily fluid and pouring it into a leather bag. He explained, "The flavor is quite distinct. It''s an acquired taste. Nonetheless, it''s more than sufficient for hydration. And it''s not poisonous. Don''t worry, it''s perfectly safe to drink." Davey thought of the elf, Yuria Helishana, who possessed an eccentric palate and would likely jump at the chance to dissect this creature and utilize it as a tea ingredient. "I-I don''t want to... Davey, Desert Horn Moths are considered pests... I''ve never heard of anyone consuming pests before," Illyna expressed, her voice filled with reluctance. "Such knowledge isn''t widespread, you see," Davey replied. Even mercenaries, who had endured numerous hardships in the field, wouldn''t be familiar with this common practice unless they operated in the desert. However, for those living in the desert, it was widely known. Illyna instantly recoiled, her face displaying horror at the thought of drinking insect fluids to survive in the desert. After all, as a princess who had been raised in comfort under the protection of her imperial family, she had never encountered such fare. "I''ve bought us some time by breaking the barrier. However, enduring this place without sustenance is no easy feat. Here, drink it," Davey urged, offering the brimming bag of insect fluid. Illyna''s face paled upon seeing the bag''s contents, and she instinctively took several steps back. "I-I won''t drink it!" she protested in distress. That''s when she heard Davey''s threat. "Should I force you to drink it then?" "I''d rather you kill me, you wretched fiend! Have you no manners toward a lady?" Illyna exclaimed. "Ah, I truly couldn''t care less," Davey retorted. "Kyaaack! Stay away from me! I''d rather bite my tongue and perish than consume that repugnant bug!" The issue was that the Desert Horn Moth appeared so repulsive that Davey couldn''t retort and call Illyna immature. Well, it was true that he had endured an entire month without a single sip of water before mustering the courage to try consuming the bodily fluids of these insects. And he couldn''t definitively say whether he liked it or despised it. Despite their repulsive appearance, Desert Horn Moths were quite generous with their bodily fluids. As for the taste, Davey could confidently assert that it was rather sweet. However, if one knew the truth of its origin, it would likely induce sickness. Observing Davey tip the waterskin into his mouth and drink the liquid without any hesitation, Illyna frowned. She couldn''t help but gaze at him, unable to comprehend why he willingly consumed something so revolting. "What did the royal family ever do to you? And what kind of experiences have you gone through to approach this so casually?" Illyna''s question evoked a bitter memory within Davey. "If you were forced to survive in the desert for several decades, actions like this would come naturally to you," Davey truthfully responded. However, it seemed that Illyna dismissed his words as a joke. Yet, Davey had genuinely lived in the desert. To be precise, he had endured there for 50 years. "First, we must secure our food and water. Even if you''ve undergone metamorphosis, enduring this harsh environment will be challenging," Davey explained. "N-No! I''ll die if I drink that!" Illyna protested. "Haven''t you grasped your predicament yet? Who said you came here to assist me? If you refuse to drink, then what is your plan? Are you waiting for rain to magically appear for you to quench your thirst? Abandon that notion. Just observe the climate and weather; it''s utterly impossible," Davey reasoned. "If we examine our surroundings closely, we might discover an oasis..." "What nonsense. How naive you are, my lady. This is the desert. If you can''t find water to drink, are you planning to resort to drinking your own urine? Get a hold of yourself!" Davey exclaimed. Illyna''s expression turned both horrified and shocked upon hearing Davey''s words. "U-Urine?! You pervert! Have you lost your mind?" "What good is refinement and following etiquette if it leads to your death? That''s why you should drink it before others see," Davey insisted. Finally realizing that Davey was not joking, Illyna clenched her teeth. Fortunately, she stopped protesting at this point. Perhaps it was because she, too, was a swordsman and the leader of the Whitebird, someone who had experienced various hardships and difficulties in battle. If she had been nothing more than a sheltered flower in the imperial family''s greenhouse, she would have been completely oblivious to the gravity of the situation. "I came here to receive divine punishment. However, you recklessly reached out to me and got involved. You must understand that it will take considerable time before we can escape this place," Davey warned, causing her pupils to tremble. "And I''m telling you, even if I have to force you to consume something as repugnant as this, I will do it. It''s what''s necessary to ensure your safe exit." This was Davey''s way of expressing gratitude to Illyna, who had extended her hand without hesitation despite knowing that he was disappearing due to divine punishment. "Do we not know when we''ll be able to leave?" Illyna inquired. "We are being observed by certain individuals. There''s no need to reveal the obvious without reason. Just be patient," Davey replied. Davey believed it would be advantageous for him if those beings made the first contact. Well, they might assume that Davey had no knowledge of them whatsoever, but that was far from the truth. He thought it wouldn''t be a bad idea to show those arrogant bastards, who considered themselves judges, just how foolish they were for attempting to pass judgment on him. CH 343 Search "pawread dot com" for the original. Night fell swiftly in the desert, casting its dark veil over the arid landscape. Fortunately, Davey had stumbled upon a large rocky area, offering them respite from the scorching sun. Silently, he carried Illyna on his back as they made their way toward the sheltered refuge. The condition of the place was not ideal for immediate rest, but if there was no suitable resting place, why not create one? Utilizing a Fire Blast spell, Davey drilled a hole into a massive rock, fashioning a makeshift cave. He then collected the flammable parts of the Desert Horn Moths and other desert creatures he had captured, arranging them into a blazing fire. ¡®Do you have any idea how difficult it is to start a fire in a desert without any trees?¡¯ Silence enveloped the night, with Illyna choosing to remain silent, perhaps out of consideration for not disturbing Davey. Despite her fatigue and exhaustion, she refused to utter a word, determined not to show any sign of weakness as she grew more at ease. In response, Davey quickened his pace, intentionally making it challenging for her. However, Illyna remained resolute. Then, she finally asked, "Davey... Do you understand the nature of divine punishment?" "I am well aware," he replied. "In that case... Those who receive divine punishment... What becomes of them?" "It varies depending on the circumstances. What you witnessed is the usual outcome, where they are reduced to ashes and judged on the spot. My situation is different." Indeed, Davey''s case was highly unusual. To put it simply, his actions warranted a higher level of judgment. There was a significant likelihood that he would endure eternal suffering within this space specifically created for his divine punishment. "Instances of great turmoil that disrupt the divine order are often dealt with swiftly, obliterating them on the spot. However, there are also punishments and judgments such as this," Davey explained. "So, are we going to die here?" Illyna asked, her voice filled with apprehension. "Your soul will be obliterated. What do you think? Isn''t it a clean solution?" Illyna''s expression turned shocked at his response. She buried her face in her lap and murmured, "Belial... What he did... Did he choose it willingly?" "How would you like me to answer that?" Davey retorted. "If you dare suggest that you were the cause of it all, I''ll hit you." "Well, what can I say? I am indeed the cause," Davey admitted without denial. Punch!!! A fist flew toward Davey without hesitation, its sharpness and speed apparent. However, Davey calmly raised his palm and effortlessly blocked the punch, retorting, "I did not agree to being hit." "Mean bastard... He''s still a living being," Illyna muttered. "Are vampires any different?" Davey countered. Silence hung between them as Illyna struggled to respond to his challenging question, her tears welling up. "If you insist on your twisted and biased logic, I suggest you keep it to yourself," Davey coldly criticized, further unsettling the girl before him. "But..." "What right do you have to pass judgment on something he chose for himself?" "He''s pitiful..." Illyna finally managed to utter through her tears. "I don''t know much about him... but I couldn''t bear to see him die in vain... I didn''t save him only for him to meet that fate..." Such an emotional attachment to a life they had saved was a common sentiment among those who possessed medicinal skills. With limited experience in saving others, Illyna''s attachment had likely exceeded the norm in this case. "He accepted my offer because he desired it. He found satisfaction in his fate," Davey stated. Silence pervaded the air, and Illyna, bound by her knight''s oath, understood the importance of showing respect. "Sacrifice is an overrated word," she murmured. "But you, more than anyone else, should understand how difficult it is for someone close to you to disappear." "You know nothing about me," Davey replied. "Isn''t that precisely why you protect others so fiercely? Your half-mad nature drives you to extreme measures in safeguarding those around you." Davey remained silent, absorbing her words. [Mother! Don¡¯t die! Please!] Memories of being cursed and ridiculed flooded Davey''s mind for no apparent reason. He remained silent but playfully ruffled Illyna''s hair. "Hey! What are you doing?!" she protested. "Stop talking nonsense," Davey replied. Illyna refrained from asking further questions. She had learned about Perserque''s existence through Caldeiras and respected Davey''s boundaries by not prying into Belial. Despite her frustration with Davey''s radical behavior, she understood that she had no right to question him or point fingers recklessly. After all, she was still an outsider. Davey focused on the meat in front of him. They were fortunate to have obtained desert monsters for food. Davey had skillfully processed the creatures, ensuring they were safe to eat. As Illyna observed Davey''s movements, a thought crossed her mind, and she cautiously asked, "Davey, will you protect everyone dear to you like this?" "...Losing someone is a terrible feeling," he admitted. "Then who will protect you?" Davey found himself momentarily speechless at the absurd question. "Protect me? From whom?" "Do you plan to bear everything alone like this? I know you more than you think. As far as I can tell, no one knew about this plan except Belial, right? Even Perserque, the beautiful Demon Lord, had no knowledge of it." "The more people who know, the more disadvantageous the plan becomes," Davey explained calmly. Illyna smiled helplessly at his composed response. "I want to become stronger." Silence hung between them. "I want to become strong enough to hold onto someone and never lose them, just like you did this time," she continued silently. "And I will protect you, who protected everyone until the very end, even when no one came to protect you." Her bright smile caught Davey off guard, and she asked, "So, feeling better now?" Davey grinned, watching Illyna fidget. He chewed on the cooked meat of the edible monster, swallowed, and slowly rose to his feet. He remarked, "These bastards won''t even give me time to be emotional.¡± Illyna''s eyes widened at both Davey''s words and his manner of devouring the meat before him. Bewildered, she asked, "What are you talking about?" "They''ve arrived," Davey responded calmly, taking hold of the Transcendence Demise and stepping out of the cave. Illyna hastily grasped Caldeiras and trailed closely behind him. *** The place to which Davey had been dragged was an illusion, a realm created by the will of God within her dreams. In other words, this fantasy world where Davey would face judgment was not an ordinary realm inhabited by humans. Clang, clang, clang¡­ From a distance, hundreds, perhaps even more, of gigantic beings could be seen slowly marching toward them. In their hands, they held massive and sharp sickles attached to black chains, seemingly meant for restraining someone. Despite the large number of beings, Davey felt that they were too few. However, what was truly strange was the cold and eerie aura emanating from each and every one of them. "Davey... What are they?" Illyna asked, her voice filled with uncertainty. "I don''t know either. I have never encountered anything like them before." However, one thing was certain to Davey. These beings, the inhabitants of this world, held deep hostility toward him and Illyna. Observing Davey casually twirl the Transcendence Demise and point the dragonheart toward the ground, Illyna''s anxiety grew. She voiced her concerns, "It doesn''t seem like they have good intentions, no matter how I look at it." There was no denying it. After all, they were specifically heading toward the cave where Illyna and Davey had taken shelter. If they weren''t their intended target, then who else could it be? "In scholarly circles, it has long been believed that hawks are excellent medicine for those who struggle to communicate. I''ll tidy up a bit and join you. Stay back," Illyna declared confidently as she followed closely behind Davey, who took a step forward, and drew Caldeiras, which was currently dormant. "I should be the one saying that line." "It hasn''t been that long since we last talked, has it? I will protect you. Do as you please." Davey couldn''t help but wonder where she found such unwavering confidence. However, he could see that there was no way to dissuade her from her resolve. So, he abandoned his attempt to persuade her and forcefully stomped his foot on the ground. Bang!!! Sand flew out of the area as Davey shot forward. ¡ªGrrrr! The bastards in front of Davey snarled and swung their sickles, intent on attacking him. The formidable weapons, with their sharp and menacing blades attached to thick and heavy chains, could be considered quite impressive. Davey swiftly twisted his body, narrowly evading the swinging sickles. His form grazed against the chains as he gathered mana on the tip of the Transcendence Demise, delivering a powerful strike to one of the creatures. As he approached closer, he noticed that these creatures, adorned in fur pelts, had a single eye on their faces. They also sported sharp fangs and robust horns atop their heads. Based on their appearance, they resembled dokkaebis, beings often found in fairy tales and folklore. ¡®Who¡¯s the best mage? The battle mage.¡¯ Davey blasted one of the dokkaebi¡¯s head off. However, a strange feeling lingered in his hands, prompting him to activate his status window. ¡°F*cking sick.¡± There was no way that someone as small-minded as Goddess Freyja would allow Davey to roam freely in this place so easily. [Davey O¡¯Rowane is prohibited from killing.] Originally, the attack could have easily left a huge crater behind. However, the head did not even explode. This was due to the restrictions imposed by Goddess Freyja''s power, which prevented Davey from killing. Instead of creating a crater, the dokkaebi stood up and launched another attack. Davey felt as if his limbs would be severed by the chains that unpredictably lashed at him the moment he lowered his guard. The peculiar thing was that Davey''s attacks seemed to pass through the creatures, as if they were mere illusions. No matter what he did, it seemed like he was fighting a losing battle. [Longsword] [Great Spinning Slash] Slash!!! Then, the sound of something being slashed by a sharp object reached Davey''s ears. However, it wasn''t Davey who had launched the attack, but Illyna. When it came to offense, Davey surpassed his enemies by far. However, due to his restrictions, he couldn''t inflict any injuries on them. On the other hand, Goddess Freyja had no reason or grounds to restrict Illyna, someone who had simply been caught up in this judgment. Unlike Davey, who was in the defendant''s position, Illyna was essentially an outsider in this world. Quietly manipulating his mana, Davey gripped the Transcendence Demise tightly in his hand, his thoughts drifting in that direction. Muscle reinforcement, speed enhancement, mana shield. With his abundant and overpowering mana, he cast several buff spells that a mage could cast onto Illyna. "Illyna, take a deep breath." "Heup!" She drew her heavy sword, which felt as weighty as lead, and followed Davey''s instructions without hesitation. "Relax your wrists. Let your thighs endure." Thud!!! "Now, swiftly draw your sword and deliver the most powerful and weighty downward slash you can muster." [Transcendental Longsword] [Mystical Speed, Quick Draw] [Piercing Moonlight Sword] As she swiftly drew her sword, a heavy pressure enveloped the surroundings. So what if Davey couldn''t cut them down? Illyna could assist him in doing so. "Look! What did I tell you?! Didn''t I say I''ll protect you?! I don''t know why you were so confident about fighting earlier when you can''t even do anything to them, but this strangely feels good, Davey! Hahahahahaha!" Davey couldn''t comprehend what was so enjoyable about doing something he was restricted from doing. Well, he didn''t understand what was going on in her mind, but she appeared genuinely happy with her actions. Illyna beamed brightly, identifying her opponents and swinging her aura blade with wild abandon. True to her words, Davey currently had no means to deal with them. In truth, it wasn''t entirely impossible for him if he wanted to. However, he believed that further offending Goddess Freyja would put him at a disadvantage. And that was something he deemed highly inefficient. Meanwhile, Illyna, who relentlessly cut down the dokkaebis, was growing as a Sword Master. Her progress was remarkable. Despite only witnessing the sword strike once, she had the talent to make the skill her own. It was as if she was proving that she wasn''t the descendant of the Sword God for nothing, displaying an unexpectedly fast growth rate. Before long, she stood between Davey and the dokkaebis, shouting, "You have to go through me if you want to harm Davey!" The dokkaebis were generally at a level that Illyna could handle, so it wasn''t overly challenging for her. As for Davey? He was restricted due to the goddess''s wrath for his actions. Thus, he had no choice but to keep his hands at bay and observe. "Well, do your best." "You have to grant one of my wishes if we make it out of here." "I''ll probably consider it." At Davey''s response, Illyna released a wave of blue mana, seemingly content with that answer. Then, she prepared to launch another attack, following the initial movements of her leading skill. However... Bang!!! The serene sands of the desert suddenly twisted and contorted as a massive snake, tens of meters in length, emerged. Simultaneously, Davey thought he should provide a little stimulation to those cursed monitors that still peeped at them like perverted voyeurs amidst this chaos. "Goodness... why is that thing so enormous?" Illyna wondered, gripping Caldeiras'' hilt tightly. "Davey... You can''t kill those monsters right now, can you?" "..." "I believe we should retreat for now... That opponent doesn''t seem easy to deal with." In response to her words, Davey casually stretched out his hand. He explained, "Prohibition on Killing." "What?" "This is the penalty imposed by Goddess Freyja upon me." In essence, it meant that no matter how powerful the strike, his adversaries would never die. "However, do you know what this implies?" Confused by Davey''s question, Illyna tilted her head. Meanwhile, the colossal snake slithered among the dokkaebis, lunging forward as if it aimed to swallow Davey in one gulp. "Even if I strike them relentlessly, they won''t perish. In simple terms, they''re the perfect sandbags." Had they set up this trap to trap Davey, rendering him helpless? Unfortunately for them, Davey firmly believed that if they blocked route one, he would take route two. And if they attempted to obstruct route two, then he would pursue route three and devour them whole. Thud!!! Davey unleashed a powerful punch at the swiftly approaching snake, sending it crashing to the ground. With its fang firmly grasped, he wore a pitiful smile and uttered, "Lead us to the judges or trial supervisors who sent you." There was no reason for Davey to follow their orchestrated trial. Besides, with this massive snake, they would be able to traverse the vast desert in no time. In the standard procedure of intimidation and threats, showcasing one''s power and asserting demands came first. If the opposition refused to comply, it was crucial to demonstrate that actions spoke louder than words. Of course, the gigantic snake had no intention of heeding Davey''s words, even if it understood them. It lunged at him once more, displaying its ferocity by opening its mouth wide as if to swallow him whole, despite his grip on its fang, keeping its head in place. Undeterred, Davey seized Red Ribbon and fearlessly stabbed the snake''s gums, an eerie smile gracing his face as he remarked, "You don''t want to cooperate? That''s fine. We have plenty of time together. It just so happens that I need someone to help me relieve some stress, and your size makes you a perfect candidate. Let''s have some fun, shall we?" With deftness acquired through battling dragons in the past, Davey extracted hundreds of teeth from the snake. The simple task of extracting teeth from a lesser creature like a snake posed no challenge for him. "Although we lack anesthesia, there''s no need to fret. I''ll ensure a clean extraction by snapping them off neatly." For a moment, Davey sensed a trembling quality in the eerie yellow eyes of the giant snake. Perhaps it wasn''t mere imagination. After all, the snake exuded a similar aura to that of a divine beast. However, the issue at hand was that Davey possessed great confidence in dealing with mythical-class creatures. ¡®From what I heard, snake soup is really good for one¡¯s stamina.¡¯ Davey intended to make the snake realize that its inability to comprehend his words was actually a fortunate circumstance. CH 344 Bang!!! Compared to the enemies they had encountered thus far, the number of dokkaebis wielding sharp sickles with black chains was smaller. However, the danger emanating from each of them was slightly distinct, to the extent that it felt strangely menacing. Shwaa!!! Illyna took a deep breath as she witnessed the dokkaebis falling, their bodies drenched in crimson blood. "Is it because of this place...? Somehow, they''re harder to deal with.¡± Her mana wasn''t faring well in this environment. The consumption here was ridiculously high. Even though she was employing the same techniques as in their world, her mana reserves were depleting rapidly. Nevertheless, Illyna couldn''t afford to stop. If she laid down her sword, the only one capable of eliminating their enemies would vanish. She had to persist under Davey''s guidance, for she alone could protect him. Strangely, Davey''s attacks weren''t inflicting fatal injuries. Hence, this time... ¡®Finally, I''ll be able to put that arrogant bastard in his place!¡¯ Read the most updated version of this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at "pawread dot com" The disparity in their strength didn''t matter. Illyna was already content with extending her hand to him in his time of need. Without questioning why she found satisfaction in assisting Davey, she amplified her efforts to overpower the dokkaebis effortlessly. Shwaa! "Ugh!" During the process, she sustained a minor injury. However, that was just the beginning. In the midst of this never-ending battle, she was able to grow at an astonishing rate. Despite her almost mechanical movements in dispatching the dokkaebis, she suddenly noticed that their numbers had significantly dwindled. With the dokkaebis posing less of a threat, Illyna finally became aware of the presence of the most dangerous opponent¡ªthe gigantic snake. As she turned her head to assess the snake''s situation, she was surprised to find that the once overwhelmingly powerful creature had vanished. Only Davey remained. "Davey?" The snake had clearly displayed intense fury, as if it would devour Davey without hesitation. So, where did it go? Illyna tightened her grip on Caldeiras, whose power had diminished after slaying the Demon Lord, and cautiously approached him. "What?" "Stay calm." "..." An incredulous expression briefly crossed Illyna''s face as she hurried toward Davey. Then, she scrutinized him from head to toe. "That... you didn''t just toss it away as a joke, did you?" "It''s true." "Why am I even asking? Ha... But more importantly, where''s the gigantic snake?" "It fled." Illyna looked perplexed upon hearing Davey''s composed response. She inquired, "Wait, weren''t you planning to ride on it?" Unbeknownst to her, she was slowly assimilating and following Davey''s unorthodox path. In response to Illyna''s awkward question, Davey revealed a rope made of light, obtained from an unknown source. "It needs some education," Davey remarked as he tugged on the light rope firmly. Tighten!!! Thud!!! ¡ªHiiiiiiisss!!!! The desperate cry of a snake resounded loudly from somewhere. "You brat, where do you think you''re going? You''ve barely taken a few hits, and now you''re running off to find your mommy? Why are you so weak? Get back here!" Thump, thump, thump!!! Illyna couldn''t help but think that the person standing before her was truly a monster, witnessing him effortlessly pulling the gigantic snake out of the sand. *** Giving the slightest glimmer of hope to the tormented opponent was the most effective way to shatter their mind and spirit. Unlike the dokkaebis, who relentlessly attacked their target devoid of emotions, this snake, which Davey believed to be the imoogi [1], displayed a sense of fear. This indicated that the imoogi was a higher being with emotions. "You''re still going to watch? In that case, what''s your judgment based on the current situation?" Davey taunted, locking eyes with the imoogi as he dragged it along the sandy ground. "Care for an encore?" ¡ªHiiiiiiisss!!! The imoogi''s pupils quivered, its body trembling as Davey gently stroked its scales. The imoogi was fully aware of the stark size disparity between them. After all, it was enormous enough to devour the human before it in a single gulp. Yet, having experienced a few strikes, it understood that this was not the end. It couldn''t contend with the diminutive human standing before it. That''s why it made a desperate attempt to escape. "You must be thrilled to be pulled back, aren''t you?" ¡ªHiiiiisssss!!! ¡°Goodness, even if you don¡¯t like it¡­¡± Slap!!! "You must endure it.¡± The imoogi''s body spasmed, writhing in a desperate struggle from the powerful blow it had received. "Why are you making such a fuss? You won''t die either way, will you? It will only hurt a bit," Davey remarked. His objective was to deliver a strike powerful enough to kill the imoogi in one blow. Yet, due to the restriction imposed by Goddess Freyja, no matter how forceful or heavy his attacks were, no actual damage would be inflicted. However, the excruciating pain from each successive strike would undoubtedly be overwhelming. In essence, Davey''s approach was to inflict pain worse than death. It was, simply put, the most effective method. Punch!!! Punch!!! ¡°Hey! Hey! Come here, you bastard! What are you doing, huh?¡± ¡ªHiiiiisssss!!! ¡°You, what did you just say? Come here, you punk!¡± Punch!!! Punch!!! The imoogi could barely manage a dry gulp amidst Davey''s relentless onslaught. The pain was excruciating, driving it to the point of wishing for death, yet it remained unable to die. Meanwhile, Davey was certain that if he continued holding onto the imoogi for much longer, Goddess Freyja would impose sanctions upon him. Taking that into consideration, he had made plans accordingly. However, it appeared that the goddess had ceased her interference. Davey speculated that there must be a limit to how much she could meddle, so she was likely assessing the situation before imposing any further restrictions. Yet, there was also the possibility that this infuriating goddess intended to manipulate Davey into doing something else under the guise of divine punishment. Could there be something more to it? The circumstances that led Davey to be limited in his use of power reminded him of a deeply unsettling plan. However, he promptly dismissed the thought by shaking his head. Surely, it couldn''t be like that, right? That was what Davey desperately wanted to believe. He was unaware of any other motives, but if Goddess Freyja had orchestrated everything to ask something of him, then there could only be one thing. "I don''t think that''s the case." "Huh? What?" Illyna asked, puzzled. "The divine punish... Hmm? It''s nothing," Davey responded calmly, his gaze fixed upon the trembling imoogi that had collapsed before him on the ground. The imoogi, a highly intelligent creature, had come to a realization of its predicament. Understanding that Davey would not release its hold, and feeling the immense weight and overwhelming pressure he exerted, the imoogi made the choice to submit and obey. ¡ªHiiiisssss¡­ The imoogi let out a desperate cry as it bowed down before Davey, causing a smirk to form on the human''s face. "You should listen when others are still speaking nicely," Davey said calmly, then turning to Illyna. "Let''s go. There are a total of seven gates. This is just the beginning. The more we drag things out here, the more annoying it gets." Illyna tightly held onto Davey''s hands and carefully climbed onto the imoogi''s head. Davey held onto her firmly to ensure she wouldn''t fall as he twisted the hair that had sprouted on the imoogi''s head. "Let''s go, Poppy." Beads of cold sweat dotted the imoogi''s head as it freaked out upon hearing Davey give it a dog''s name. It was quite remarkable to see a scaled creature sweat like that. Perhaps it was a special talent? "Kyaaaack! It''s too fast!" "You''ll get used to it in no time." "Ugh..." Initially slow, the imoogi gradually picked up an astonishing speed. Illyna, taken aback by the sudden acceleration, clung tighter to Davey''s arms. Over time, she grew accustomed to the speed, her eyes widening in awe as she witnessed the imoogi soaring through the skies using an intangible power. "Wow..." Though all they could see was endless sand, the aerial view was still breathtaking. A shimmering river came into their sight, flowing amidst the vast expanse. "..." While Davey silently observed their surroundings, Illyna seemed captivated by the simple beauty of the scenery. She asked, "Davey! What''s that over there?" "The River of Souls. It''s like a galaxy composed of the souls of the deceased." "That?!" "Quasar." "That, over there?! Isn''t that the God of Night Creas'' Tears?!" "What God of the Night? That''s just a black hole. Can''t you see the black object in the center? It possesses immense gravitational force and absorbs light. Its surroundings only appear bright." Was this supposed to make sense? But this was the reality before them. "A black hole?" "That''s correct. It''s a celestial body. Wherever one exists, that place would be completely devoid of life." "Hmmm..." Despite the presence of a quasar, an astronomical body emitting blinding and powerful light, there was also a nearby black hole displaying immense gravitational force. This place was filled with phenomena that would typically be nonexistent in the world. Well, the scenery was undeniably beautiful. It seemed Illyna was content to etch this beauty into her memories rather than seeking answers to the doubts arising in her mind. "You asked if I had gone crazy, right?" Illyna looked up at Davey after admiring the phenomena scattered across the sky. "I believe being able to witness this view is enough for me to risk my life." "So, you''ve truly lost it." Illyna playfully stuck her tongue out at Davey in response to his words. ¡ªHiiiiisssss!!! The surrounding landscape began to change gradually, as if signaling their departure from the desert. And there, at the edge of the land, stood a massive gate. "How...? Once we enter through this enormous gate, we won''t be able to leave, right?" Davey listened to Illyna''s observations while silently surveying their surroundings. The hostile stares of those individuals who had been watching them vanished the moment they mounted the imoogi. Slitheeeer¡­ The imoogi made an immediate attempt to slither away, but Davey grabbed onto its beard, preventing its escape. "Where do you think you''re going? I don''t know much about this place, so I won''t let you run away until I find a way out of this world, understand?" Upon hearing Davey''s words, the imoogi''s eyes gradually grew unfocused. Davey didn''t particularly care about its reaction since it wasn''t a divine beast that he had nurtured himself. Creaaaaaaaak!!! The huge gate slowly creaked open as a glaring red light leaked from the other side. Clang, clang, clang, clang! A chain suddenly shot out from the other side and tightly wrapped around Illyna. By the time Davey regained his senses, he was greeted by a horrifying sight beyond the gate. "..." Before him lay nothing but a vision of hell. "Oh my... What in the world is this?" "..." The ground was adorned with countless spears and swords, impaling souls that appeared to be human and writhing in agony. [Creating a terrifying and horrifying scene proves to be an effective method of pressuring the defendant undergoing the trial.] That was what Davey thought. It appeared that Goddess Freyja had utilized the memories she borrowed from Davey to their fullest extent for this purpose. ¡°Welcome. This is the First Trial¡¯s territory, the place that judges the soul, the Boundary of [Death].¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you''re alive or dead; once you set foot in this place, the work you''ve done and the life you have lived will be judged by the Lord of Death.¡± ¡°For those deemed innocent, you will safely enter the territory of the next judge.¡± ¡°For those judged guilty, you will suffer in this hellish place.¡± Davey raised his head upon hearing the arrogant tone. There, he saw a being exuding great momentum, accompanied by four men who appeared to be twin pairs, standing beside him as if assisting him. The two pairs of twins, engaged in a relay-like conversation, suddenly ceased and spat out the same words, "How dare you raise your head? The one receiving judgment should bow in the presence of the judge, Death himself." Davey covered Illyna''s eyes to shield her from witnessing the suffering, bleeding, and pain of those around them. "Cover your ears." Illyna raised her trembling hands and immediately covered her ears at Davey''s command. To ensure she wouldn''t open her eyes, Davey cast a Blind spell on her before carrying her. He gently tilted her head upward to minimize the shock. The figure before Davey was a narrow-minded judge who based his judgments on assumptions rather than considering both sides of the situation. He didn''t even bother to glance at the full picture before reaching a verdict. Davey wiped any expression off his face and slowly looked up at the Judge of Karma¡ªa gigantic dokkaebi. The judge gazed back at Davey, completely devoid of emotion, resembling a machine. "Right. You''re going to judge me?" "..." The two pairs of twins attempted to wield the gigantic halberds in their hands, but they froze and fell silent when they witnessed the giant dokkaebi shift his gaze. "What should I call you?" "Impudent! The One that will Receive Judgment, show courtesy to the Judge!" Illyna startled at the sudden emergence of the heavy and overwhelming pressure emanating from the figure before them. However, Davey steadied her and responded silently, "Courtesy? Why should I bother with such an inconvenience in front of a judge who haphazardly pronounces beings as criminals?" Baaaaang!!! Chains swiftly flew from all directions, tightly binding Davey''s body the moment a resounding bang reverberated throughout the area. "The Chain of Karma shall determine your guilt or innocence. The more lives you have taken, the redder the chain shall become. If you are innocent, the chains shall remain black." The chains restraining Davey instantaneously turned crimson as those words concluded. "Guilty," one of the four men declared nonchalantly, as if delivering a sentence. "So, what is the verdict?" In response to Davey''s question, the silent judge finally said, "The One that will Receive Judgment, state your name." "Davey O''Rowane." "The One that will Receive Judgment, Davey O''Rowane. You have shed too much blood and committed heinous acts. This is your verdict." 1. a gigantic snake capable of evolving into a dragon ? CH 345 The dokkaebi judge slowly opened his mouth again. "The One that Will Receive Judgment, Davey O''Rowane. You will be given a chance to speak before your judgment is finalized." "What is your reason for giving me the chance?" Davey asked. "I believe you know it better," the judge replied. Davey nodded quietly, his gaze shifting around the surroundings. "Kill... me..." "Anguish..." These beings, screaming in pain and anguish after being pierced through by the blades of hell, were probably the ones who had received judgment before Davey. He had no way of knowing if they were beings that had originally existed or were just created in this dream world. However, there was one thing he was certain of. "When it comes to someone''s judgment, how do you judge them?" Davey inquired. "Judgment is made by weighing the karma of the One that will Receive Judgment. It is my responsibility as the judge overseeing the Karma of the [Dead]," the judge explained. "What are your criteria?" Davey questioned further. "The taking of another''s life," the judge responded. Davey grinned. "Then that means someone''s karma will inevitably grow if they accidentally step on an ant, right?" "Just because you and the ant are of different sizes does not mean you have any reason to step on them," the judge stated. Those words made it clear to Davey that this was a completely unreasonable world where logic did not exist. Since that was the case, he had no qualms about what he would do next. Silently, Davey created a fireball in his hands. "The One that Will Receive Judgment! Davey O''Rowane! What do you think you''re doing here?!" The jury exclaimed as they watched him play with the fireball. Though the power he had accumulated in his body might have been lost upon entering this place, the power in his soul remained. For Davey, who had been slowly regaining his powers due to the stark disconnect between his body and soul, his soul being unleashed like this provided him with the freedom to do as he pleased. "This is my final question, Judge in charge of the murderer''s karma," Davey declared. ¡°...¡± "What right do you have to pass judgment upon me?" Crack. The sound of something breaking and shattering faintly rang in Davey''s ears. In the first place, they had no qualifications to pass judgment. "Kill or be killed. How do you judge people in situations like that?" Davey questioned. "The laws stipulate that those who bring harm to others will be judged in the same manner once they die and come to this place," the judge responded. "And what qualifications do you have to pass judgment and make such decisions?" Davey challenged. "What?" the judge reacted. "I took care of and dealt with the person who harmed me. Do I have any reason to entrust such matters to you? You are not even one of those shameless and brazen gods. You are merely pretending to be one. You do not have the right to judge others," Davey asserted. Upon hearing Davey''s words, the two pairs of twins from the jury jumped up. Then, a huge spark emerged between them as their skin turned a bright purple. Slowly, their bodies began to merge until they fully combined together. Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the "pawread dot com" ¡®If you combine two magistrates, then¡­ Hmm. That¡¯s not it.¡¯ The four members of the jury quickly merged, emitting a powerful energy from their combined bodies. Then, the dokkaebi judge slowly rose from his seat and grasped the gigantic saw knife by his side. All the tortured beings, suffering in pain, vanished as if they were nothing but illusions when a massive spark appeared and consumed the place. The once hellish location transformed into an empty space. Witnessing this, Davey immediately released his hold on Illyna, simultaneously dispelling the blinding light magic he had cast on her. "The One who Will Receive Judgment. By choosing this path, you have forsaken the path of reincarnation," the judge declared. "That''s where you''re wrong, you judgmental bastard," Davey retorted. Flames erupted, engulfing the dokkaebi judge''s body as he wielded the gigantic saw knife. With his power unleashed, the empty space turned crimson, with lava appearing and flowing throughout as the previously cool and refreshing air burned away into nothingness. These flames were no ordinary fire; they were flames that consumed the soul. "Firstly, I am in my spiritual state, not dead. I am merely a wanderer sent to this place by the will of someone of higher rank, a rank you can''t even fathom. And secondly, it doesn''t matter whether you acquit me or convict me. I am someone who never had a path to reincarnation in the first place," Davey declared. Illyna looked at Davey in shock and awe upon hearing his words. However, he didn''t give her any time to process as he embraced her, holding her hands tightly and placing Caldeiras in her grasp, activating it and pointing its blade toward the judge. "What are you doing?!" Illyna exclaimed, her face turning red. But her resistance quickly subsided as she heard Davey''s next words. "Stay still. I will teach you the Sword Manipulation Technique," Davey instructed. In response, she shouted, "Use me however you want! I''m ready!" In simple terms, what was happening here was... "This is nothing but the rightful punishment for those who attempted to deceive the world''s providence..." "If there are unjust and corrupt laws, we must tear them apart and amend them immediately." Was an unfair law even considered a law? Indeed, unfair laws should be abolished and amended to serve everyone. However, those who lacked the power to do so could only live in compliance with such laws. No one had the right to judge someone as good or evil based on such ludicrous standards. With those standards, the winner between two individuals seeking to kill each other would be deemed good, while the loser would be blamed and considered evil. "Come. Show me your resolve!" Davey challenged. The flames enveloping the dokkaebi judge''s entire body began to flicker as Death Energy seeped through his pores. The dokkaebi''s divine flames were not ordinary flames; they were transcendental in nature. Normally, fighting against water or flames was already challenging. However, the difficulty was further heightened due to the ridiculous penalty imposed on Davey by Goddess Freyja, prohibiting him from killing. This meant that Davey couldn''t deal with the situation solely with his own hands. As always, quick-witted Illyna understood Davey''s intentions. And because of that, Davey didn''t need to handle everything personally. ¡®From what I can gather, Goddess Freyja intends to force me to break the taboo in this place.¡¯ There was a strong possibility that she hoped Davey would break the taboo and lift her divine restriction, allowing her to unleash her powers and act freely. If he did so, she would have a justification to tighten her leash on him. Goddess Freyja, who had placed Davey in this predicament, must have assessed that her control over him had weakened. As a result, she chose to restrict Davey and reinforce her hold on him. Was it a divine punishment? That was merely an excuse. "Close your eyes and follow the movements of my body. Relax," Davey instructed, waiting ten seconds after she closed her eyes before proceeding. He gradually activated the holy mana within his body. This served as evidence that the place did not impede his usage of holy mana. In an instant, a tremendous amount of holy mana flowed around him. Davey remained unaware of the intricacies of the Demon Lord''s power, making it somewhat challenging to harness it at this moment. Therefore, he chose not to utilize it. Additionally, holy mana that emulated the power of a higher-ranking divine being would be effective against foes like the dokkaebi before him. Awoooooooo!!! The first to attack was the purple giant wolf, formed after one pair of twins from the jury merged. The several-meter-high wolf vanished in an instant, only to reappear with its mouth wide open, seemingly eager to swallow Davey whole. "Urgh..." The force it exerted was immense, so much so that it began to disrupt the gravitational field of the space, causing unease and nervousness in Illyna. However, Davey paid no attention to it. He simply allowed Illyna to follow his movements as he grasped her hands holding the sword. He was confident that by demonstrating it once, Illyna would be able to learn it. With her exceptional talent in swordsmanship, Illyna had the potential to grow even further if given the opportunity. Her talent was unmatched. However, mastering such advanced sword manipulation to assist Davey was a different matter. It would undoubtedly take her a significant amount of time to fully grasp and learn the technique, despite her remarkable abilities. Davey moved Illyna''s hands slowly and gently, guiding the spinning motion of Caldeiras and releasing it into the air above them. Vwoooong!!! At the same time, the holy mana extended from Davey''s body and gradually merged with Illyna''s mana, blending together until they became one. The combined holy mana enveloped the sword body of Caldeiras, causing it to float in the air. Davey then directed the sword''s tip towards the charging gigantic wolf. "Ah..." Illyna exclaimed, closing her eyes and experiencing the unexpected yet natural and precise movement of the holy mana within her body. Her flushed cheeks and slightly parted mouth revealed her complete fascination. However, Davey should have realized that Illyna''s reaction wasn''t solely due to the state of the sword, but for another reason... As the wolf drew closer, Davey unleashed the united and compressed holy mana, his hands moving slowly on Illyna''s hands. A tremendous and dazzling flash erupted, engulfing the surroundings and cleaving the purple wolf, which had aimed for Davey''s neck, in half. But the surge of sword energy didn''t stop there. It continued its trajectory, piercing through the air and reaching the body of the colossal dokkaebi judge, who wielded a massive saw axe. "It appears the scales are tipping in this direction, don''t you think?" Davey remarked. ¡°...¡± "By judging others as evil based on your own biased standards, you have become one of those evils." Ultimately, the judgment of good and evil depended on the outcome of one''s victories or defeats. Davey might be self-centered, but he would never lose a fight, whether it meant remaining good or turning to evil. What if he were to lose? Then he would indeed become evil. Such was the nature of life for all beings in this world, a rule they lived by. It also answered the question of whether Davey preferred to bully others rather than liberate them through death. *** In this unidentified world, Davey immediately recognized that it was far from being a typical realm. The sight of the River of Souls confirmed his suspicions that this was not the ordinary underworld. Instead, it was nothing more than a crude replica of the afterlife. Consequently, the existence of proper rules in this world was out of the question. With the demise of the dokkaebi judge, the overseer of the Dead''s Karma, a significant transformation occurred. The multitude of condemned souls, subjected to dreadful punishments, were suddenly liberated, causing a massive dispersion of souls that scattered in every direction. Boooooooom! Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack! Simultaneously, the region engulfed in flames and the desolate desert, both territories without an owner, began to crumble and collapse. "Could this be considered as the complete annihilation of the world?" "Indeed. This world has lost its purpose and its intended targets.¡± "Just like that, the world that existed within the realm of the gods'' dreams... Ah, you truly surpass understanding.¡± It was understandable. Davey had, after all, obliterated a world to make his own stand. "Ordinarily, the deceased lack the power to exact vengeance upon judges in this manner. Most of a living being''s power resides within their physical form." While it was possible to store power within the soul, the amount paled in comparison to what resided within the body. When Illyna and Davey crossed the gates of judgment, they were considered deceased. Consequently, their physical powers were restricted, and they could only utilize the strength of their souls. However, Davey''s situation differed. His soul had been fortified within the Hall after departing from his body. Moreover, Davey was not known for his physical prowess but rather his mental strength. With his body restrained and limited, the disparity between his soul and body vanished, allowing the power within his soul to awaken fully. Even though he was prohibited from killing, it was not overly challenging for him to eliminate such adversaries. He simply needed to employ Illyna''s body as a vessel for his own power. It was a convoluted and twisted logic, but circumstances forced him to employ such peculiar reasoning. As Davey clutched Illyna tightly, they ascended higher into the air, looking down upon the sea of molten lava and flowing rocks beneath them. It was evident that Goddess Freyja''s will had interjected itself into the realm of death presided over by the dokkaebi and the four jury members, intending to eliminate all living beings within. The concept of eradicating that which was deemed no longer useful was prevalent in this scenario. "Speaking of Goddess Freyja..." "Yes?" "I find her to be unexpectedly ruthless. Don''t you agree?" "I can''t say for certain, but once you discover the truth, you may no longer view Goddess Freyja as the benevolent deity you once believed her to be. It would be best to retain your current perception." To Goddess Freyja, humans were merely one of the races inhabiting the world she cherished. Despite being revered as a benevolent deity, her actions couldn''t be unequivocally deemed as benevolence. Her ultimate objective was to safeguard the world and maintain the delicate equilibrium between life and death. If someone from the Holy Empire, who regarded Goddess Freyja as the patron deity of humans, were to hear such a statement, they would immediately cry blasphemy and potentially ignite a war. "What is the name of the Sword Manipulation Technique you demonstrated earlier?" Illyna inquired. "It''s called Splitting the Stars," Davey replied. It was a technique that resembled a sword descending from the heavens, effortlessly cleaving through anything in its path. Considered one of the most challenging techniques within the Longsword discipline, its effectiveness varied greatly depending on the practitioner''s skill. "I honestly have no idea," Illyna admitted calmly. While she had been confident in her ability to learn anything Davey taught her, the overwhelming complexity of the sword technique left her feeling despondent. She recognized that her experience was still insufficient to attempt mastering such a technique. "But I don''t believe it''s impossible," Illyna said, mustering a smile. However, her smile quickly faded as she solemnly expressed her hope, "I pray that those who have accumulated good karma but received unjust judgment find their way to a favorable destination." Illyna bitterly observed the departing souls, knowing that despite being used as mere test subjects by Davey, they would inevitably be reborn and granted new lives. This amalgamation of souls contained both the virtuous and the wicked, yet the biased judge of this world had disregarded this fact. Soon after, a fissure materialized in the sky. Davey swiftly accelerated and hurled himself into the rift, venturing toward the new world. "I''ve heard there are seven trials. That means we have six more gates to pass before leaving this place." "Will you be alright? You mentioned that you can only depart if you''re acquitted." "If it doesn''t work, I''ll just overturn everything like I did earlier." Of course, unless Goddess Freyja decided to intervene once again. "What if Goddess Freyja decides to intervene?" "That''s highly unlikely. However, if by some chance she does, we''ll devise a strategy that best suits the situation," Davey explained. Illyna was taken aback by Davey''s words. "Is it dangerous?" "Well, half of our success will depend on luck." There was always the possibility that things wouldn''t go entirely in Davey''s favor. If that were to occur, he would have no option but to resort to the methods he had diligently concealed. During his time learning survival skills from Hercules, it had become customary for them to engage in conversations. [A powerful enemy threatens your home! What will you do?] [The answer to that is very simple. Stopping the enemy¡¯s attack is nothing but a mere stopgap measure. The best course of action is¡­] [Hunt your enemy before it could even pose a threat to your home and survival.] Following that teaching, Davey found himself compelled to learn the overpowering yet reckless body reinforcement method. This method was none other than the same technique used by a monstrous being capable of casually shrugging off world-catastrophic-level magic attacks with their bare body. CH 346 The world beyond the crack bore a striking resemblance to the realm governed by the judge overseeing death. The desert remained the same as before. "Oh my god... It''s hot. So hot..." Illyna murmured, tormented by the intense heat. She contemplated removing one of her outer garments to find some relief. As a member of the Imperial Family, she had received education in etiquette and culture, and the mere thought of undressing in front of a person of the opposite sex was unthinkable. However, the scorching heat put her in a predicament. In the end, she made the decision to remove her outer garment, revealing the sleeveless outfit beneath. "Phew... That''s better." The fact that even a Sword Master could not withstand the sweltering heat indicated that the temperature was so extreme that ordinary humans would only be able to endure it for a few minutes at most. Davey raised his hand and employed a magic spell to measure the temperature of their surroundings. The level of heat? Extremely, unbearably high. "What''s that?" "A temperature-measuring magic." "Hmm... So, what''s the temperature?" "It''s the perfect temperature for getting steamed to death." Davey observed as the petals on the buds that bloomed at the tips of his fingers slowly unfurled. After assessing their number, he closed his eyes gradually. Then, he retrieved a waterskin from his pocket plane and extended it to Illyna. "Make sure to keep yourself hydrated." "I... I don''t want to..." "If you wish to survive in this place, you must." Davey''s words coerced Illyna into accepting the waterskin, her eyes welling up with tears. Eventually, the tears cascaded down her cheeks the moment she opened the cap and caught a whiff of the scent. "It smells absolutely dreadful..." "It has a strong chestnut flower fragrance, which may be somewhat challenging to bear. However, it will undoubtedly keep you hydrated." ¡°¡­¡± In the end, Illyna could only grit her teeth, closing her eyes and biting on the opening of the waterskin to suck its contents into her mouth. "Urk!" Illyna vomited, a gloomy and depressed expression flashing on her face as she expelled about half of what she had drunk. "So sorry..." "It''s your first time. Everyone needs enough time to get used to it." Davey silently left Illyna, who was glaring at the waterskin, behind and began summoning the spirit mana within his body. He wasn''t sure if he could summon Gnoass or Ellaim in this place, but it was worth a try. Bzzz, bzzz... bzzz!!! Before long, a small spark danced lightly in his hands as grains of sand gathered in his palms. It seemed like the spirits were responding to his call. However... Fwoooooosh. The sand was completely crushed and destroyed. "Hey, Davey. You can use magic, right? There must be some kind of water magic that can draw moisture from the air around us..." "Let''s move on." "Hey!!!" Illyna jumped up in surprise, realizing that she had been deceived. Her mouth, wide open as if to attack Davey, was filled with the stench of the Desert Horn Moth''s fluids that she had just drunk. "..." Illyna immediately withdrew, covering her mouth as her face turned red, tears welling up as she cried, "I have never experienced something so shameful in my entire life..." Feeling utterly embarrassed, tears threatened to stream down her cheeks once again. Davey silently reached into his Pocket Plane and pulled out a bottle filled with water. Fwoooosh... Perhaps due to the lingering power in this place, the water bottle in Davey''s hands instantly turned to dust as he took it out of his Pocket Plane. Holy power was the prevailing force in this place. It meant that Goddess Freyja had imposed restrictions on Davey, forbidding him from retrieving food and water supplies from his Pocket Plane. For a moment, Davey couldn''t help but wonder what Freyja hoped to gain by subjecting him to such unfavorable conditions, a complex mix of emotions swirling in his chest. ¡ªKiiiik? Then, a strange cry floated into Davey''s ears. Illyna, who had been sobbing while rubbing away her tears with the back of her hands, lifted her face and gazed in the direction from which the sound had come. "What''s that?" When Davey turned to look, he saw a huge black bird about half the size of a human calmly observing him. ¡ªKiiiik? The bird, which made eye contact with Davey for a few silent moments, tilted its head and let out another strange cry. Silently and slowly, Illyna stood up from the ground at the sudden appearance of the gigantic bird. She approached Davey and tried to say something but immediately shut her mouth. ¡®Well, a person¡¯s mouth can smell like insect fluids. So what?¡¯ "What? Is the judge presiding over this world over there?" Davey opened his mouth, maintaining eye contact with the bird. "How can a bird possibly answer you?" Illyna asked, a giggle bubbling out of her mouth. However, the bird nodded in response, causing her to release a strange cry of her own, "Kyaack!" Illyna immediately grabbed Davey''s arm, frowning at the bird''s bizarre actions and behavior. [This is a place that judges your greed. I am the judge who judges your Greed''s Karma.] The voice that rang in their ears was the crisp and bright voice of a young boy. "Is that so?" [The realm of the judge who presides over death has collapsed. Is it because of you?] "..." [This is an unprecedented scenario. In my heart of hearts, I wish to erase the existence that dared to harm another judge, but...] The bird mumbled the end of its words, its head returning to its original position. [The final judge is keeping an eye on you.] The bird spoke calmly once again as it flapped its wings and soared into the skies. Then, the surrounding landscapes began to change at its whim. For the full version, visit pawread dot com. [Following the special trial''s regulation, I will now guide you to where the final judge is.] In that place, Davey would be subjected to the trial and judgment of the six other judges. After that, he would receive the judgment of the final judge. "Are you telling me that there will be no verdict that declares me innocent?" [There is a possibility of being judged innocent. All of the karma, except for the Dead''s Karma, has the potential to judge you as innocent.] "That will be almost impossible." [However, even though you have accumulated a lot of Dead''s Karma, you were not able to receive proper judgment. Instead of being judged, you killed the judge in charge of the Dead''s Karma and even destroyed his realm. It is impossible for you to not be subjected to some sort of punishment.] Amidst the bird''s words that judged others as they pleased, Davey realized that he was led to the middle of a space that resembled an amphitheater, hundreds of meters in height. Illyna hurriedly grabbed Davey''s arm, her eyes filled with shock at the sudden change in her surroundings. "Where is... this... Ugh!" At that moment, an immense amount of pressure appeared from all sides, weighing down on Davey. The pressure was overwhelming, although not to the extent of defying gravity. Nonetheless, it was heavy and suffocating. The intensity of the pressure was such that Illyna could not even bring herself to raise her head. Eventually, she collapsed on the ground, gasping for air and trembling. However, she refused to let go of Davey, tightly gripping the hem of his pants with her index finger and thumb. "..." Davey remained silent, surveying the shining and glittering amphitheater. The brightness was so intense that it would be difficult for anyone else to see clearly. What he saw around him were dokkaebis of various colors and forms. There were blue dokkaebis, red dokkaebis, green dokkaebis, black dokkaebis, and many more. Some of the dokkaebis bore a striking resemblance to the two sets of twins that had served as members of the jury. Silence permeated the entire amphitheater as Davey silently gazed at what lay before him, the intense light bearing down upon him. For some reason, he felt a peculiar sensation, although he couldn''t quite grasp why. "This divine punishment feels too mundane..." Davey unintentionally voiced the thoughts that flashed through his mind. "Let the outsider out." A solemn voice resounded, and at the same time, Illyna''s body was enveloped in light, vanishing from Davey''s side only to reappear a few distances away. Illyna, who had been sent far away to where the court''s jury was seated, attempted to rise and run back to Davey. However... Thud!!! Thud!!! Something stopped her. It was as if a wall blocked her path in the empty space in front of her. Moreover, Davey couldn''t hear her voice at all. "Now, there is no one to obstruct the flow and aid the One Who Will Receive Judgment, Davey O''Rowane. The judges can now make clear and fair judgments." "Yes, Final Judge," the black dokkaebi answered, rising in response to the grave and solemn voice coming from an unknown source. The black dokkaebi was unusually short compared to the others. "I am the Judge of Greed, responsible for passing judgment on Greed''s Karma. Are you the One Who Will Receive Judgment, Davey O''Rowane?" "..." Davey didn''t answer, but the black dokkaebi approached him as if the response didn''t matter at all. Vwoooooong¡ª Then, he stretched out his hand toward him. The expression on the face of the black dokkaebi with the voice of a young boy turned dull. "This is different from the Killing Karma. You have committed a crime that you should never have done. That is why the contents of the trials and judgment have been changed." As soon as the dokkaebi''s words changed, something like a video appeared in the sky above them. [Grow up well. From now on, you will all become my seed capital.] The video showed Davey leisurely mumbling to himself as he looked at the huge field in front of him. Baaaaang!!! Davey watched the video above him silently. When he tried to move, something dug into the place where he was in an instant. Thuuuuud!!! It was none other than a huge hammer that promptly crushed the place where he had just been. "The judgment will now proceed. We will begin the punishment of the One that Will Receive Judgment, Davey O¡¯Rowane, who dared to harm a judge," the black dokkaebi continued to speak as his huge hammer slowly transformed into a cane. "You have artificially cultivated countless lives and sold them away to satisfy your own greed." "Is it a habit for you, judges, to try and find ridiculous faults in a person so that you can kill them?" "Our judgment is fair and encompasses all living beings." "If you''re truly fair, then there should be no living being left alive in the world." Why? Because according to their criteria, one would immediately become a sinner the moment they tried to pluck a plant or consume meat to survive. For Davey, he had no reason to entertain such nonsensical logic. He simply looked at his status window and assessed the situation repeatedly. Now that Illyna was not by his side to assist, it would be completely impossible for him to defeat them all at once. When he glanced at her, he could see that she was still screaming and pounding on the invisible wall. She seemed incredibly furious. Strangely, Davey felt as if he could hear her voice from over there. "That''s why there is a trial." "Your greed is actually not that significant. It''s neither above nor below average. The level of your greed is quite low considering your abilities. Furthermore, you haven''t profited personally from it; instead, you have used the money to save countless lives. Taking all these factors into account, the One that Will Receive Judgment, Davey O¡¯Rowane, you have been deemed innocent." Unlike the judge responsible for the Dead''s Karma, the black dokkaebi had allowed some room for consideration and delivered a very unexpected judgment. Crack, crack, crack, crack!!! The ground cracked as another black dokkaebi charged at Davey. "However, you have been found guilty of harming the judge in charge of the Dead''s Karma. You will receive punishment from all the judges. May you survive all their attacks." Ultimately, they meant that he had to fight against them under the worst possible conditions. ''Shall we try using the power of the Demon Lord?'' Davey contemplated. However, the power he had obtained from killing Belial, the Demon Lord, was still a chaotic mess, rendering it unusable for now. Boom, boom!!! Thuuuud!!! Deep in contemplation, Davey was suddenly struck by a heavy blow from a massive hammer on his arm. The impact caused the veins on his neck to bulge, fueling his inner frustration. ¡®Is this dokkaebi nuts?¡¯ "If a person is thinking deeply, then you should stay put and wait!!!" Thwack!!! As if on instinct, Davey brushed off the incoming hammer and grabbed the dokkaebi by the head, dragging him toward him. Then, frustrated and irritated, he put his all into the punch, ensuring a lethal blow to the attacking dokkaebi. Then, he made contact with the dokkaebi. Well, the impact of the punch alone could be considered a one-way ticket to hell. However, it was alright since they would not die in his hands. Booooom!!! "Huh?" Davey hummed, unable to hide the incredulous expression that flashed on his face as the black dokkaebi flew away the moment his punch collided with his face. [Davey O''Rowane is prohibited from killing.] The prohibition on killing that Goddess Freyja had enforced upon him was still intact. However, he was able to kill his opponent. CH 347 "It''s still there, though?" Davey murmured in the otherwise silent amphitheater, his tone unable to hide the absurdity he felt inside. "Was it trashed?" However, the prohibition was still in effect. This meant Davey would not be able to kill any living being. Did that mean he could take advantage of a loophole? Davey was the only one who had received a restriction and was prohibited from killing. That meant there was only one thing that could explain it. Probably, there was only one condition, and that was that he should not deal with them with his own hands. If he met that condition, then he would be able to move more freely. It made sense up to that point, but... ¡®I wish they could just leave me be and let me go.¡¯ However, the reality was that Davey''s situation could only be described with the word ''despair''. Simply put, there was no way for Davey to take advantage of this loophole since he could not summon his divine beasts and spirits¡ªbeings that could fight for him¡ªin this situation. Baaaang!!! It was actually not a problem if they could not die; however, did the Judge of Greed die? Well, the answer to that was obvious. Each of the dokkaebis seemed to have an inherent power. The Judge of Death had the power to release extremely hot and blazing flames, and the Judge of Greed? He had an overwhelming vitality. Well, whatever it was, Davey found it very, very annoying. Bang!!! Bang!!! Davey silently reached his hand out toward the Judge of Greed, who instantly regenerated and attacked him once again without even looking at the dokkaebi. He stretched out his index finger and thumb, gathered mana at the tips of his fingers, and pointed down. Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack!!! At the same time, an independent and intangible pressure appeared, completely ignoring their momentum that affected gravity and dragged the Judge of Greed to the ground. Davey, who saw the dokkaebi not groan once as if he did not feel pain after being overpowered, could only sigh while saying, "Let''s start with the next judgment." To get out of this place, Davey needed to face off against all of the judges. But despite Davey''s words, the Judge of Greed continued to launch ferocious attacks on him as if he was not yet done with his job. The problem here was that Davey''s condition was just too good. In other words, even if transcendental-level individuals like the judges attacked him, their attacks did not really pose any threats to his life. Except for the prohibition on killing placed upon him, Davey''s situation had reached a point where he only needed to manage the use of his vast power. Clang!!! The fist and the huge hammer collided; however, the sound of the collision seemed as though two thick metals had strongly collided. With his slightly bent fingers, he stopped the hammer. Then, he twisted his wrist and forced it to change directions before slowly digging into the dokkaebi¡¯s abdomen. After doing so, Davey took a short breath. The main point here is that they would not die. "If you''re done with work, then you have to go home quickly," Davey said sarcastically. His movements looked a tad bit slow as he punched the pit of the stomach of the black dokkaebi in front of him. "Ah¡­" For the first time, words spilled out of the mouth of the black dokkaebi during their fight. The Judge of Greed tried to block the attacks of Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon, who flew sharply at him from who knew where. The two blades effectively hindered the dokkaebi¡¯s movements. [Devil Ylgr¡¯s Death Fist] [One-inch Abdominal Crushing Punch] Bang!!! The dokkaebi''s body twitched from the loud explosion that erupted within him. Not long after, Davey stretched his right index finger and moved it in the air as though he were tracing something. Even if their bodies had reached the transcendental level, as long as they walked on two feet, the map of their meridians would not change. Before the judge could react, Davey had already poked his finger on his body''s meridians. What Davey performed was none other than the technique: Striking Meridians. Since he couldn''t kill them, he could only restrict their movements. *** Thud!!! The Judge of Greed''s face did not show any expression as he collapsed on the ground after losing control of his body. The fact that the dokkaebi could not get up after collapsing on the ground meant that the method had worked perfectly. "Next," Davey murmured calmly as a dokkaebi with a gigantic build approached him. Behind him were three other dokkaebis. This was completely unlike the Judge of Greed, who came out alone. For a moment, Davey had to wonder if they were coming in with numbers now. Davey could not tell who was who by the color of their skin. So, instead of asking them who they were, he just turned to look at the crystal balls in their hands. "The Corrupt''s Karma discerns whether you covet mindless carnal desires. As the judge in charge of Lust''s Karma, I will judge whether you have built up Lust Karma in you." The expression of the dokkaebi that handed Davey the crystal ball was as calm as the Judge of Greed. Currently, one of the dokkaebi''s comrades has died while the other was rendered immobile. However, the dokkaebi in front of him showed a calm and cold expression, to the point that one would feel that it was eerie. It was as if he was not angry at the fact that Davey had made a mess of everything regarding the rules they had made. ¡°¡­¡± Meanwhile, Illyna, struggling against the transparent wall by smashing her fist against it, paused at the words of the Judge of Lust and turned to look at Davey. However, Davey was unaware of it. All he did was place his hands on top of the crystal ball, wearing an exhausted look on his face. Clang!!! No, he was actually just about to place his hand on it, but the crystal ball broke apart before his fingers could even touch it. "What the hell is this?" What would happen if the crystal ball broke before they could even check his karma? However, when Davey looked at the Judge of Lust, the dokkaebi with bright red skin, to ask for an explanation for the broken crystal ball, he saw a satisfied look on the judge. "The One that Will Receive Judgment, Davey O''Rowane, your head is filled with impudent and profane thoughts. This could already be judged as something that deserves severe punishment. However, I can see clearly that you have controlled yourself and have not accumulated karma regarding this at all." ¡®What¡¯s with this f*cking bastard?¡¯ ¡°¡­¡± Unless one were an idiot, there was no way one would be unable to understand the meaning of the dokkaebi''s words. "Because of that, I, the judge in charge of Lust Karma, have judged that the One who Will Receive Judgment, Davey O''Rowane, is innocent." The Judge of Lust declared Davey''s innocence without hesitation, and he showed no intention of reversing the judgment. Anyway, it wouldn''t matter whether he was guilty or innocent. However, for some reason, Davey wanted to be judged guilty for something like this. "Change it." "What?" "Judge me as guilty." "You are as innocent as a newborn. I salute your uprightness. You can even overcome a human''s basic desire for reproduction just like that." "This damned dokkaebi. Are you making fun of others right now?" "I have no idea what you''re talking about. I prioritize Lust Karma more than any other providence or rule. More importantly, I''m pretty sure I heard something break." Davey gritted his teeth at those words. "Your Lust Karma is as clear as that of a newborn. Why do you want to be deemed guilty?" The dokkaebi was probably unaware that his words were making Davey feel more irritated. Seeing Davey frown openly, the Judge of Lust immediately manifested a gigantic spear in his hands and stepped away from him. "The Final Judge has given his orders. Davey O''Rowane''s punishment for the murder of the judge in charge of Dead Karma will be postponed. It will be resumed once you finish undergoing all judgments." At the same time, three dokkaebis stepped forward as if they had been waiting for this moment. They were the ones in charge of envy, arrogance, and anger. All three of them reached their hands out towards Davey simultaneously. It seemed like they were going to make their judgment at the same time. The three dokkaebis closed their eyes for a moment and remained silent, their hands still stretched out towards Davey. The tension in Davey''s body had already completely disappeared after receiving the judgment of the Judge of Lust earlier. He just stood there silently, waiting for them with the attitude of wanting to do things at his own pace and finish everything as quickly as possible. Whatever Goddess Freyja had planned, it wouldn''t happen unless the divine punishment had been given and all the judges had passed judgment on him. "I, the judge in charge of Opportunity''s Karma, will give my judgment." "I, the judge in charge of Anger''s Karma, will give my judgment." "I... Envy..." After a moment of silence, the three delivered either a highly unexpected judgment or perhaps an entirely predictable one. Davey was found guilty. Well, that was to be expected. Generally, the accused would more often than not be declared guilty. In fact, all except for the previous two had found Davey guilty. As Davey glanced at the dokkaebis surrounding him at a certain distance, he realized there was still one more judge. Didn''t they inform him that there were seven trials? "I''m pretty sure only six judges have passed judgment on me." So, what about the remaining one? The Judge of Greed, previously rendered immobile, suddenly disintegrated before reappearing once again. It seemed that he had compelled his own body to reconstruct just to regain movement. Then, he announced, "In accordance with the will of the Final Judge, Davey O''Rowane, who has completed the six judgments and trials, the final judgment shall now be given." Simultaneously, the other dokkaebis drew their weapons and raised them skyward. "The Final Judge is the Judge of Indolence. The Final Judge will personally deliver the judgment." Upon hearing those words, a radiant pillar of light enveloped Davey. He couldn''t help but frown when he suddenly caught sight of a human figure swiftly emerging from within the dazzling flash of light, which nearly blinded him. ¡®Right. Let¡¯s see who this distinguished judge is¡­¡¯ The nonchalance and leisure in Davey¡¯s voice had disappeared. This was no longer a prank; this was a true and genuine provocation. Davey¡¯s face remained blank as he looked at the human approaching him. Unlike the other judges, the Final Judge was a small human being. Her small physique and young appearance made her stand out from the rest, to the point that he could consider her unusual. However, what bothered Davey the most was the outfit the little girl in front of him was wearing. It was none other than a blue sterile suit, a uniform specially designed to be worn inside aseptic rooms, so as not to bring pathogens in or get anything from inside the room. And it was something Davey was very familiar with. ¡°Let¡¯s begin the judgment of indolence. Can you see me now?¡± The child, no... the young girl who had been silent earlier, spoke up with the exact same voice as that person. When Davey remained silent at her question, the girl looked up at him, her eyes flashing sharply in her otherwise expressionless face. Then she repeated her words, ¡°I asked you if you can see me now?¡± ¡°Hyeon...¡± Davey had a hard time spitting out words from his mouth. He even felt like the scene in front of him was strangely hazy and blurred. Support us at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡°My figure will definitely be someone that you know. The image that I, the Final Judge, am showing in front of you is the image of the person that suffered the most from your indolence and laziness.¡± ¡°What?¡± Davey mumbled, his expression despondent as he sat down on his heels. He had been very surprised by the familiar appearance that appeared in front of him at first. However, the words of the Final Judge were the ones that brought far greater shock to him. Davey¡¯s eyes grew wide from shock. He could not help but grit his teeth when he realized that he was unable to control the trembling in his hands. All he could do was watch the little girl smile brightly as she slowly approached him. ¡°That¡¯s right. I will be judging your own karma.¡± ¡°Hyun-Ah...¡± It was as if a trigger had been pulled in his head at that moment. He could feel his oldest memories, the memories that he had kept locked up on one side of his head, appearing vividly in his mind. Davey considered forgetting as a blessing. After all, for someone like him who could not forget the face of his family from his previous life, even after a thousand years had passed, it was more of a curse to him. CH 348 Thump!!! Thump!!! Illyna felt her heart constrict, no matter how hard she banged on the transparent barrier that held her prisoner, she could not break it. Despite allowing her to move within a certain area, the barrier stood still and completely prevented her from approaching Davey. There were times when she felt like it stopped her from moving a certain distance, and times when she felt like the ground beneath her feet had disappeared and the space was twisting in and on itself. However, the most upsetting thing about this barrier was the fact that no one outside of it could hear her cries. Ridiculous, that was the only way she could describe the words she heard from them. Illyna felt like she would combust from anger, knowing that there was no way to refute those beings with her in this state. Davey was now in an unfamiliar position called the Antagonist; despite being the Saint who followed God''s will, he had willingly chosen to become the Demon Lord for the silver-haired girl from before, who was the previous Demon Lord. Because of that, Davey had incurred the wrath of God and was dragged into a divine punishment. He was currently in a very ridiculous and unreasonable situation. Thump!!! Thump!!! ¡°¡­¡± It wasn''t long since Illyna had declared that she would protect him, someone no one was protecting, yet here she was. She couldn''t even think of a way to break this space open on her own. Well, it wasn''t like she hadn''t harbored thoughts about how amazing her existence was. She might not know about anything else, but she had the talent and passion for the sword. Even Davey, a monstrous existence, had admitted that she was a step ahead of him in terms of passion and talent. Perhaps it was because Davey had admitted she was great, words that brought greater impact than the words tens of millions of people had told her, that she became keener on practicing the sword. Because for some reason, Illyna didn''t want to disappoint the man''s expectations. ¡°If I can just recall that level once again, then¡­¡± If only she could, then she would use the sword manipulation level of swordsmanship once again. Illyna had always made it her goal to reach a level where she could move her sword by controlling it with her mind, since it was a high-level concept for Sword Masters. Also, the delight and ecstasy that she felt when she used the technique Splitting the Stars, with the help of Davey, was something that she wanted to feel again. Baaaaang!!! However, Illyna was fully aware that her current level of skills would make it nigh impossible for her to recreate such a situation. She was someone who had made huge efforts to become a Sword Master, making sure to remember all of the movements that Davey had done when he wielded his aura blade during their spar and using them as her inspiration. She also worked hard to learn all of the tricks and know-hows that Davey had taught her and made them her own. Illyna closed her eyes and tried to recall the ecstasy that she felt for a split second back then. Even though she did not know if she could do it or not, she decided to do everything that she could to break out of this space. Seeing Davey fight all by his lonesome self when she was in the same area brought about a very unpleasant feeling in her. But then, at that moment, the voice of the dokkaebi, who was talking about the Lust Karma, drifted to her ears. Those words made her stop in her tracks, her eyes nervously drifting to where Davey was, forgetting everything that she was doing. Davey might not be an extremely handsome man, but he was good-looking enough to be seen as attractive. Techniques, popularity, knowledge, force, financial prowess, and even status¡ªhe had it all. His specs were so overpowered and bizarre that one would call it tragic if they looked at him closely and ridiculous if they looked at him from afar. Because he did not lack anything, rumors about him as the most sought-after and the best groom candidate in the continent have been circulating in the Pallan Empire. ¡®How many noble ladies and ladies from royal families have he courted and made his lovers?¡¯ Illyna thought. However, the following words gave Illyna pause: innocent. He had not built up any Lust Karma. Unless one were a fool, there was no way they would be unable to understand those words. "Goodness... His specs are so high, but he never had a lover?" That did not mean Davey did not have any Lust Karma. The Davey that Illyna knew was the type of person to strongly ask someone to close their eyes for ten seconds, and that was not for holding hands and sleeping quietly. His attitude and expression truly reflected those words. There was no way he would leave his lover alone unless they were out of his reach... ¡®If he hasn¡¯t taken someone¡¯s hand yet, then¡­¡¯ Perhaps Davey was simply such an outstanding person that it made it difficult for others to approach him recklessly. ¡®If I can do something for him here, then¡­¡¯ "What, what am I even thinking?!" Illyna slapped herself on the cheeks, shocked at the thoughts that appeared in her head. She felt so ashamed to think about something so immature and shameless despite being in such a grave situation. Illyna had vowed to herself during her closed-door training that she would become more mature so that she would no longer worry the people around her. Illyna quickly shook her head, slapping herself on the cheeks again before grabbing the hilt of her sword. She''d rather try than regret not being able to do anything. She did not expect much since Caldeiras'' ego was still slumbering. However, she grabbed her sword tightly, believing that she would be able to make it. But just when she was about to pull up her energy and raise her momentum to strike down her sword and force the barrier to explode... Illyna failed. In the end, she could not swing her sword down. A girl, who seemed to be of the same age as her and wearing an unusual garment that was completely different from the garments from Tionis Continent, appeared. The agitated and flustered look on Davey''s face upon the appearance of the girl made Illyna stop in her tracks. "Davey?" Illyna doubted her eyes for a moment, wondering if her sight was playing tricks on her. After all, this was the first time that she had seen that shocked expression on Davey, as well as the cacophony of emotions that flashed on his face. *** If anyone asked Davey what kind of life he lived in his previous life, he would say that it was not a very good life. ¡°How can you do something like that?¡± ¡°Ha¡­ Ha, I¡¯m going nuts.¡± Davey had a hard time getting the words out of his mouth. How could he ever forget? He had always been plagued by a curse that never allowed him to forget. However, all of the memories of his past life had been forcibly sealed in the darkest recesses of his memories so he could not recall them. They were his family, his family that he no longer would be able to see. He was only left with the memories of the faces of his older sister, his uncle, his younger sister, and even his parents. ¡°It¡¯s something that you have to feel for yourself.¡± The figure in front of him looked completely similar to his younger sister. However, her manner of speech and aura were completely different. Unlike his younger sister¡¯s thick and lower-pitched voice, the judge in front of him had a clean, youthful, and energetic voice. ¡°Now, then. Tell me what you have done to this child.¡± Davey slowly clenched his trembling hands into a fist. His trembling hands had turned white with how hard he was clenching them yet he still could not say anything. He was very confident when facing the other judges, laughing at them and calling out their bullshit. However, he could not utter a single word in front of the Final Judge. If he could, he would like to emphasize again that not being able to forget was a curse. Each and every single scathing remark that he inadvertently threw and each insincere response that he had given did not disappear from his memory at all. ¡°Shall we see it for ourselves?¡± The girl said, spreading her hands out without any hesitation and creating a large translucent spear in between them. And through that large translucent sphere, Davey was able to see the faces of the people that he missed so much. The first thing that appeared in the sphere that was floating in the otherwise deathly silent amphitheater was a twenty-three square meter white room with a large bed smack in the middle of it. And on the bed was an ordinary-looking man, who was sleeping soundly as if he was already dead. ¡°You of all people should know who he is, no?¡± Davey gritted his teeth at the question. There was no one in this world that would fail to recognize their own self. The man sleeping with around five to six intravenous solutions attached to his body inside this special hospital room was none other than him. And that was all. *** The quiet room looked too bright and too white for anyone who saw it to immediately understand that it was a special hospital room. Everything inside the room was tagged with a blue sticker, whether an electronic device, a book, paintings, or even photographs. At that moment, someone entered the silent room. [Oppa, I¡¯m here. Are you sleeping like a log again today? This guy, you are not a sloth!] "Oh my God! A f*cking three-legged octopus came in by itself and began to talk¡ªunbelievable! Aren''t you busy in school? Why do you have the time to come here in your spare time?" [Of course, I came here to check on my oppa.] ¡°That¡¯s disgusting. Go away. Stick your Tibetan Fox-like face somewhere else.¡± The girl in the illusion had the same face and outfit as the girl in front of him. She immediately frowned when checking the contents of the bottle of medicine placed on the side. [Ha! Oppa, have you gone crazy? I obviously told you to take your medicine on time, no?!] The stubborn girl glared at Davey''s figure lying on the bed weakly and grumbled. [We don''t know when the doctors will perform surgery on you. Did you exercise? Since Uncle has been working hard to support your hospital bills, then Oppa should also do something! How long will you continue to lie like a salted fish on your bed?!] Davey, probably twenty-one years old around that time, had lost the will to live after being subjected to painful treatments and the mental exhaustion of someone who did not know when they would get better. He was plagued by the guilt of forcing his uncle to work abroad to pay for his bills to cure his illness and burdened by the fact that his family desperately wanted him to undergo this treatment. He grabbed his head and gritted his teeth upon seeing the image of his younger sister patting his back and massaging his body despite being angry at him for continuing to lie down in a daze like that. ¡°Why bother? I won¡¯t do it. I will not.¡± At that point, Davey had wanted to die; he wanted to die so that he would be free from his pain, and he would be able to let the others around him be free of that pain too. [Are you nuts?! Do you want to see unnie collapse and cry again?! You must have gone really crazy.] His younger sister grumbled angrily after hearing Davey¡¯s calm murmurs, her annoyance seeping through the way she tapped on his back. [What in the world is wrong with you these days?!] "Did I want this to happen to me? Why do you have to let me build myself up to get treatment?" [Wow. You¡¯re really trash, you know?] "You can''t even fathom how f*cking sh*tty this is! I''m already delirious with all of the medications and needles that they put in my body every single day in the name of tests and examinations! The treatment is not even effective, yet I''m still enduring the pain! I''d rather die than go through something so painful again!" [Didn¡¯t you know that everything that they have been doing is for your sake, oppa?!] "F*ck it! Do you think I''ll buy that bullshit? Are you buying into that bullshit? If I''m going to die either way, then I''d rather die now! I can''t do this anymore! How long am I supposed to live like this? Do you think that if you come in once and sympathize with me, everything will be over? I f*cking experience this shit 24/7! It''s already been years! Do you want me to pretend that this is not painful and hard for me, even though everything is already hopeless? Huh? Tell me!" [Oppa¡­] Davey was that one person portrayed in the media, the one who was sick yet had the gall to get angry at their family that took care of them. Actually, he never expected that he would reach that point in life. However, the hysteria had started to encroach upon him as he grew older. By the time he reached eighteen or nineteen, the medication he was taking slowly stopped working. Naturally, his situation worsened, and he became extremely sensitive. And because of several factors, his mental stress reached the limit. It was to the point that the thought that he should just die instead of getting treatment flashed in his head several dozens of times in the end. [Oppa, you¡¯re really so mean.] In the end, the girl sobbed as she pleaded to him. [Unnie, uncle, and even I, all have been working non-stop so that we can see you recover, oppa. It''s been ten years since you got this sickness, oppa. However, everyone has been working hard for you. Yet, here you are grumbling and crying just because you feel pain? Then, what about unnie? What about unnie, who has been feeding and taking care of you, huh? Oppa? What in the world was unnie doing this for, then?!] ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m begging you! Please, leave me alone and live your own lives!¡± Fierce and agitated conversations, this was the kind of thing that always happened between Davey and his younger sister, Hyun-Ah. They had always fought like this. At first, the two of them cared for and cherished each other just like how a brother and a sister would. However, as his situation grew worse, their conversations began to turn fierce. "Go. Tell this to noona too. Don''t come back again. Please, please leave me alone and live your own lives! Because of me, you can''t even live your own lives, what the hell is this?! Even uncle! Why does uncle, who only met me once, have to pour so much money to pay for my hospital bills?!" [Oppa¡­] ¡°I already know. I heard yesterday that there is no cure.¡± The girl flinched. She looked like she had been caught with something that she should not be caught with. [No¡­ Oppa, please listen to me for a bit. That¡­] ¡°Quit it. Did you think that I wouldn''t know if you didn''t tell me? I heard that I only have a few months left to live. Just let me die... Please... Just let me die. If I die, then you wouldn''t have to work hard like this anymore!¡± Davey shouted at Hyun-Ah, tears flowing down his cheeks as he was overcome with emotion. Back then, the only thing he could do was worry everyone about his condition. He had been weak, and even though he knew he should not do something like that, he still willingly crushed his family¡¯s heart under the pretext of caring about them. Search bit.ly/3iBfjkV for the original. Unaware of the ways of the world after living inside the walls of the hospital room, Davey stopped his sisters from coming to the hospital using such a very stupid and hurtful method. However, that was not the main point here. The most painful thing for Davey was seeing his family not live their own lives because of someone like him that carried an incurable disease. But what did they say? Life was filled with blessings in disguise? ¡°Enough¡­¡± Davey mumbled and closed his eyes, his body curled up and trembling as he tried to block the sounds coming from the video on the translucent sphere in front of him. ¡°I told you, that¡¯s enough.¡± This was a sore spot for Davey. At the same time, it was the most unforgettable and most pitiful moment of his life. ¡°Why? This is the life that you have chosen to live. You know full well what happens after this, no?!¡± ¡°I am warning you¡­ Do not provoke me any further. Judge.¡± The Final Judge, who had taken the form of Hyun-Ah, slowly loosened her hair after hearing Davey¡¯s low and somber voice. The familiar black hair and the familiar scent of the shampoo fluttered in front of him. This was the image of his precious younger sister. ¡°What can you even do? The Great Will has placed a restriction upon you. Unlike the other judges, I know the truth.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Can you even stop me as you are now? That¡¯s impossible. Humans are pitiful beings that will only realize the mistakes that they have made later on in life. Did you think you would be free of that?¡± Davey waved his hand, a large amount of mana flying towards the judge. Even if he could not kill that damned judge, he would make sure that he shut that trap. However, faster than his attack, the goddess placed another restriction on him. [Davey O¡¯Rowane is prohibited from using force.] There was a prohibition on killing and even using force. Two taboos had been placed upon him, effectively sealing all of his avenues for battle. It was a restriction that was completely incomparable to the restrictions he had received when he fought against World Tree Yggdrasil. ¡°¡­¡± ¡®You are already fully aware of my temper, yet you brought me to this situation under the pretext of divine punishment. And you even dared to bring up some of my past life''s memories, something that I treat like the dragon''s reverse scale.¡¯ Now, Davey knew exactly what Goddess Freyja wanted. She wanted to force Davey¡¯s strengthening under the pretext of a divine punishment. It seemed like she was very afraid of the Abyss. If that was what she truly wished for, then Davey would show her and let her experience what the green tree frog felt when it lost its mother[1]. Changes began to appear in the gears of Davey¡¯s soul, deliberately misplaced since that very first spar and training. Slowly, they started to align and fit together. The chains, created by the energy of the prohibitions weighing down on Davey¡¯s body, gradually fell apart as they were swallowed by the black energy seeping out of his body. The world was made with God and providence. So, if he could not achieve anything with the prohibitions and restrictions that God had placed upon him, then he had no choice but to willingly get away and shed his body, under the rules of providence, for a very, very short moment. Thuuuuuuump!!! White eyes that glinted sharply appeared in the dark. 1. A story about a green tree frog doing the opposite of everything that its mother said ? CH 349 Davey trembled from the fierce energy that surged within him. It was a powerful, uncontrollable rage, a feeling he had never experienced before. The judge, a true bastard, had reminded him of the terrible regrets and inexcusable behavior that he had buried deep within the darkest recesses of his memories. ¡®I have never felt such intense fury and rage before¡­ Hmm¡­¡¯ ¡°You should never do things that you can¡¯t take responsibility for, Judge.¡± A beautiful smile lingered on the judge''s face in response to Davey''s words. It appeared rather lovely to him, considering it was the face of his beloved younger sister. "Then why don''t you gaze at it further, endure the pain, and gain awareness so that you may repent, huh?" The voice from the video resonated once more, causing Davey''s movements to come to a halt. [Oppa! They found a cure! They found it! Oppa, you can get better now! You have to exercise! They said that you need to exercise a bit harder and then you can try it! Oppa, promise me, okay? Work hard on exercising and build up your stamina, okay?] ¡°Alright. I will exercise hard.¡± It was a lie. [The doctors said that it¡¯s possible to do it now! You¡¯ll live! Ah! A day like this finally came in our lives! My college entrance exam will be in a week! Isn¡¯t it amazing? The exam date will overlap with the day of your surgery, but I¡¯ll let you see! I¡¯ll pass and get into the Medicine Department. Then, I will take care of your body and health later, oppa.] Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the "pawread dot com" ¡°So, the squid is talented, huh?¡± [Ha! We¡¯re on the same boat! If I¡¯m a squid, then aren¡¯t you a baby octopus, oppa? What a dummy.] ¡°Hiss.¡± Davey''s eyes slowly turned black, casting a creepy gaze. Simultaneously, a black vein appeared on the back of his hand, only to vanish soon after. It seemed that the anticipated reactions were already manifesting. "Is this what you consider divine punishment? Merely showcasing some fabricated memories?" Davey questioned with a tone of disdain. "This is not divine punishment; this is your own karma," the judge replied. "I''m not addressing you. Stay silent for a moment," Davey retorted, raising his blurred vision to observe the illusion before him, then shifting his gaze skyward. But what was the use of appealing to an emotionless god? Davey regarded his own form as he was being wheeled into the operating room. He seemed to possess unspoken words, evident by the expression on his face upon being laid on the operating table. By his side, his older sister wept while offering a reassuring smile, assuring him that everything would turn out well. Even the figure of his younger sister, engrossed in her studies, believing that Davey would be fully cured once the ordeal was over, appeared on the sphere. He observed the illusion for a moment before straightening himself up. In that instant, his eyes lost their light entirely, now entirely consumed by darkness. Sinister tendrils of blackness extended chillingly throughout his body. Thud!!! Then, a fierce tremor shook the entire area. ¡®Those who have transgressed taboos shall face the punishment in the name of God. Prepare yourself, for you are about to witness the true wrath of God¡ªa force incomparable to the divine retribution you have bestowed upon me.¡¯ Davey declared, employing the God''s Voice he had learned from Daphne. He moved cautiously, ensuring he did not cross that forbidden line and retain his humanity. Davey had acted swiftly, seizing the opportunity and minimizing any ambiguities, averting a grave crisis. However, if it was God, and not anyone else, who demanded that he break the taboo, who was he to defy? After all, he was neither an innocent nor a foolish sheep to be deceived by such a test. Since they had brought this upon themselves, Davey resolved to respond to their earnestness in his own way, proudly embracing the forbidden act. Fwoosh¡­ A chilling stream of air swept through the surrounding area, only to vanish abruptly. Simultaneously, Davey''s contorted body began to twitch, gradually reverting back to its original form, with the exception of his eyes. [His heart rate is falling!!!] [If we continue administering this medication, the patient will surely die!] [Bring the stabilizer right away!!!] The frantic and urgent cries within the illusion were experiences unfamiliar to Davey. The realization that his own laziness had led to the surgical failure and his departure after hitting his family''s sensitive spot would haunt him indefinitely. That was why Davey had made a vow to strive harder and live diligently. He was determined to match the level of dedication and hard work exhibited by his sisters for his sake. It had been quite some time since someone had last prohibited him from doing something. Davey turned his head slowly, locking eyes with Illyna, who wore a resolute expression. However, he quickly averted his gaze, choosing not to look at her any longer. As if they had been awaiting this precise moment, all the judges, including the final judge who bore the likeness of Hyun-Ah, advanced toward Davey, weapons in hand. Silently, Davey extended his hand and embraced her. He knew that the girl before him was not his sister, yet upon seeing her familiar figure, he suddenly found it incredibly difficult to articulate the words he had intended to speak. ¡®I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t keep my promise with you, Hyun-Ah.¡¯ Despite the difficulty, he managed to articulate the words within his mind and complete his bitter act of repentance. Crack, crack, crack, crack! A jarring and grating sound reverberated through the air as the space around them twisted. Davey maintained his hold on the young girl with one arm, while his other hand reached out, as if poised to scratch at something, as he moved forward. A sharp glimmer flashed in Davey''s eyes, while a sinister and unsettling smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "Since you dared to meddle with that which should never be touched, you must have been prepared to witness bloodshed, haven''t you?" he uttered, his eerie smile transforming into madness¡ªa stark contrast to his cold and detached gaze. This was the madness that engulfed him, corroding his sanity whenever his power was unleashed. It was a damnably insane state, one that revealed the depths of his dark history, surfacing when his soul and body became synchronized. ¡°Is that your answer?¡± Rip!!! Davey''s hands contorted into claw-like shapes, descending as if to tear at something, accompanied by the resounding sound of shattering within the surrounding space. [Killing Prohibition] [Force Restriction] Despite the two restrictions imposed by God, the power swirling in Davey''s hand emanated from the karma of the taboo. It radiated a brilliant light, spinning like a tornado, effectively dismantling the oppressive barriers that had hindered him. With the prohibitions vanishing, there remained no impediment to utilizing his abilities. Davey, existing now as a soul, gradually achieved synchronization. Finally, he unleashed the dormant power inherent within his soul. [9th Transcendence Dark Magic] [Lord of Nightmare] In a fleeting moment, Davey assumed the role of the master of nightmares, capable of transforming his own fears into tangible realities. Channeling an immense surge of dark mana, he enveloped a vast expanse, conjuring a nightmarish realm that ensnared everyone within its grasp. Swoosh!!! Swoosh!!! In this dream world, distinct from the realm of reality, the resistance against formidable magical assaults was drastically diminished. Consequently, the effects of Davey''s powers were amplified significantly, surpassing those experienced on the Tionis Continent. The impact was so immense that it reverberated throughout the entire world, shaking its very foundations. Crack, crack, crack!!! As the space surrounding them contorted and fractured, accompanied by the ground beneath their feet splitting apart, the remaining judges, excluding the Judge of Indolence, swiftly seized the opportunity and launched their assaults against Davey. Bang!!! The initial assailant to charge towards Davey was the Judge of Greed, wielding a colossal hammer. However, Davey effortlessly evaded the attack by slightly tilting his head and seized the hammer with his bare hands, deflecting it with ease. In that moment, he unleashed the dark mana he had acquired upon assuming the role of the Demon Lord. Boom!!! Another explosive eruption ensued, but this time, something peculiar occurred. The Judge of Greed, known for their ability to regenerate incessantly, vanished without leaving a trace. With a resolute step forward, Davey pressed on, asserting his presence. Thump!!! The already crumbling ground collapsed at an accelerated pace as Davey reached out for the two nearest dokkaebis. Despite their attempts to distance themselves from him, tendrils of dark light shot forth, ensnaring their bodies and dragging them back towards him. "Ugh!" A groan escaped the Judge of Opportunity¡¯s lips. Simultaneously, the blue sword, Blue Ribbon, materialized and emanated a gentle glow as it ruthlessly cleaved through the dokkaebi. Perhaps due to Davey''s earlier slaying of one of the judges, the subsequent attacks intensified in ferocity. Three swords charged directly at his forehead with relentless force. Instantly, Davey comprehended that evading the assault was not an option, having just vanquished the judge who had held him back despite being torn in half. Consequently, he raised his bare hand and intercepted the three-pronged attack. While it might have been easy for Davey to fend off or deflect ordinary swords with his bare hands, his adversaries were the judges themselves. A single misstep could result in severe injury. Stab!!! The sword impaled Davey''s hand, yet he exerted his strength to twist his arm, altering the trajectory of the weapon. The judges'' eyes widened in astonishment at Davey''s audacious and daring move. This sequence of actions granted Davey a brief respite, allowing him to reposition his body and seize the opportunity to launch a counterattack. Even if his reaction against the opponent was slightly delayed, Davey managed to identify the gap and exploit it to strike back. Without a moment''s hesitation, he swiftly raised his right leg. Thump!!! Davey''s lightning-fast kick sent the colossal dokkaebi hurtling through the air. Despite its desperate efforts to regain its footing and launch a counterattack, the dokkaebi struggled to withstand the tremendous impact of the kick, hindering its ability to retaliate effectively. Typically, the gigantic dokkaebi was renowned for its resilience, capable of enduring assaults that would easily incapacitate other dokkaebis due to its exceptional physical strength. Nevertheless, Davey believed that if one strike was insufficient to vanquish it, then perhaps a second strike would serve as a fitting gift. Without granting the still tumbling dokkaebi an opportunity to recover and retaliate, Davey joined his hands together, stretching them out before pointing his fingers toward the sky. Bang!!! Bang!!! Bang!!! Simultaneously, the shattered fragments of the fractured ground levitated in the air, coiling around the dokkaebis. Their rapid movements transformed them into razor-sharp projectiles, mercilessly crushing the dokkaebis in their path. The dokkaebi confronting Davey fought desperately, striving to escape the onslaught. However, Davey calmly raised his finger and pressed it against the center of his own forehead. Vwooooong!!! A crimson energy swirled and coalesced at the tip of Davey''s finger. Without a moment''s hesitation, he unleashed it upon the formidable dokkaebi. A ferocious tempest of blades materialized, engulfing the dokkaebi in its destructive force. Eventually, the dokkaebi ceased its struggles and fell into silence, succumbing to the relentless onslaught that pushed the judge to his limits. From an objective standpoint, one might argue that the number of judges posed a significant threat, making the battle perilous and fraught with risks. However, for Davey, who had harnessed the forbidden power of the taboo, taught to him by Hercules, these adversaries were nothing more than mere pests. The final judge launched a punch towards Davey, only for him to deftly evade the attack and swiftly sever the audacious fist. As he hurled the sword into the air, Davey brought his foot crashing down upon the ground. While certain dokkaebis possessed enough strength to withstand Davey''s assaults, what about the others? There was no need for him to hold back his power. Davey resolved that he would not experience a sense of satisfaction unless he unleashed every ounce of his might upon these accursed dokkaebis. Thus, he extracted a dark red energy from the center of his forehead. ¡®This is gonna sting.¡¯ [Blood Demonic Attack] [Thousand Limitless Blood Technique] Baaaaaang!!! The dark red energy detonated, unleashing a sphere of engulfing flames that consumed everything in its path. Only the remnants of the devastating explosion and the lingering darkness of the flames remained, evidence of the ferocity of the attack. After ensuring that Illyna had not been swept away by the onslaught and was standing before him, Davey finally turned his attention to the young girl who stood in front of him. Her body, too, was crumbling and disintegrating, as if deeply intertwined with this realm. "Any last words?" The girl remained silent, her gaze fixed upon Davey for a prolonged moment. Eventually, she let out a sigh and slowly opened her mouth. "Everything is in accordance with the Great Will..." "Do you believe it is unfair?" The girl fell into silence, her gaze meeting Davey''s in contemplation. "At the very least, some of those you have judged must have found it unjust," Davey continued. "You may have evaded it for now, but that does not mean it will vanish. The One who Will Receive Judgment," the girl responded cryptically. "At least, not now," Davey retorted. As the world surrounding them began to fade away, the girl, who resonated with the essence of the world, also gradually dissipated. Though she did not possess the same soul as his sister, her appearance undeniably resembled the precious younger sister Davey had left behind in his previous life¡ªthe source of his deepest regrets. Davey averted his gaze, deliberately avoiding eye contact, before taking several steps through the air. Clank, clank, clank!!! ¡°¡­¡± "What''s wrong? Why are you crying?" Davey questioned, perplexed by Illyna''s tears. Though trapped within the transparent wall, her gaze remained fixed on him. Given her awareness of his capabilities, he didn''t expect her to be particularly astonished by his achievements in this place. While most of his newfound power from the Hall exceeded her own abilities, widening the gap between them, there was no surprise evident in her eyes. Instead, her expression held a subtle and delicate quality that Davey found difficult to decipher. "Davey, close your eyes," Illyna pleaded through her tears. Without hesitation, she reached out for him before he could react, her slender and fair fingertips gripping his collar and gently pulling him closer. As her soft touch lingered in his face, a mixture of emotions swelled within Davey, including a faint sense of embarrassment. CH 350 ¡®This¡­ First off, did you make a mistake?¡¯ Those were the words Davey contemplated whether he should say or not. However, Davey couldn''t even utter a word as Illyna moved faster than him, swiftly lifting her heels and taking action. Illyna''s actions left Davey genuinely puzzled. It felt as if time had frozen, and everything had come to a standstill. That''s how unexpected her actions were. The first thought that crossed Davey''s mind in that moment was, ''Has this rascal finally lost her mind?'' Just as embarrassment started creeping up on Davey due to the shocking turn of events, he suddenly realized that something had escaped from his body through his mouth. It was only then that he halted his intended action. Davey wondered if there was truly something in his body that he was unaware of. However, Illyna abruptly distanced herself from him, resembling a shy little girl, before hugging him and patting his back. "It''s alright... It''s fine... It''s not your fault..." "What?" Davey asked, attempting to step away from Illyna. He wasn''t very accustomed to her behaving this way. Nevertheless, Illyna refused to let go and clung to him even tighter. "How difficult it must have been for you..." "What the hell? Did you eat something bad? I told you not to just pick anything and eat it! Stop that!" Davey said, pulling Illyna away and pinching her cheeks. However, the princess only ended up crying loudly, "Waaaaaah! Still! Huhuhu... Still!" "Still what? Are you still not going to let go?" ¡°Hiccup!¡± "Snap out of it! And keep your snot away from me. Just go away." "..." Illyna started to hiccup, her eyes still moist with tears, and her face showed her efforts to console him. Ever since Perserque had separated from him, his ability to see through people had significantly weakened. It was a trade-off. Well, Davey didn''t have any regrets, nor did he think of asking her to return the favor for saving her. After all, that power was temporary, something he had borrowed in the first place. However, he still retained a small portion of Perserque''s Abyss Authority. The reason for it still eluded him. He didn''t know if it was merely residue or if something had changed within his body after using the power for so long. Nevertheless, it remained within him. For those who didn''t know her, Illyna used to be a person who was cold and distant, although that aspect of her had greatly weakened. Regardless of her thoughts, her expression and aura were so icy that it made it difficult for anyone to approach her. Grip!!! However, in this shattered world, Illyna continued to whimper and sob for a long time. By the time she finally calmed down, most of the world had already been reduced to pieces, except for the small space where Davey and Illyna remained. "Sob... Even so... Even so, you don''t need to worry. I will protect you no matter what. It doesn''t matter what kind of life you had in the past, I will ensure that you have a happy life in the present!" "..." Upon hearing those words and witnessing her earlier strange and inappropriate behavior, Davey''s eyes widened as he realized something. "Crazy," he muttered as he firmly grasped Illyna''s shoulder. "Kyaaaack! That hurts!" Illyna screamed and glared at Davey. However, Davey''s gaze was fixated on something else. Illyna''s toes were already flickering, resembling a malfunctioning hologram. It was a sign of sacrifice. This only occurred when a pure soul was used to pay the price for breaking a taboo. A quick look at "pawread dot com" will leave you more fulfilled. Davey had no choice but to offer a great deal in exchange for the cursed double-edged sword of power, the taboo''s karma, that he had received from Hercules. "Illyna." Though he found it absurd, Davey still looked at the girl in front of him, just to be certain. Then, he swiftly grabbed her ears and pulled them down. "Kyaaaack! That hurts! Davey, what the hell are you doing?!" "Did Goddess Freyja force you to do this?" "Did Goddess Freyja tell you to die in my place?" Davey asked, noticing something in Illyna''s hand. The object in her hand closely resembled the item carried by Saintess Daphne. It was none other than a holy stone passed down in the name of God. It was an item capable of manifesting miracles imbued with divine intent or an equivalent power. In other words, Illyna had utilized the power of the holy stone to lessen the price that Davey had to pay by making contact with him. *** ¡°Give it to me while I¡¯m still speaking nicely,¡± Davey said sternly, reaching his hand out toward Illyna. ¡®No¡­ I will never yield this to you.¡¯ Illyna immediately jumped up, taking a couple steps away from him while hugging the holy stone to her chest. She treated it as if it was something precious, yelling, ¡°No! I can¡¯t let you die!¡± ¡°You¡¯re not going to give it to me? So, you think you can handle it?!¡± Davey shouted. Illyna flinched, fat tears running down her cheeks. ¡°It¡¯s extinction, you know!!! They¡¯re going to remove your existence in both dimensions!!!¡± ¡°Do you think you will be able to do anything if that¡¯s in your hand?! Don¡¯t make me say it again! Give it to me, Illyna.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to!¡± Illyna answered firmly, pushing the stone in her mouth. ¡°Take it if you can! Go on, take it! Bleeeh!¡± ¡°Hiss!¡± ¡°Hiccup!¡± Annoyed by her childish provocations, Davey reached out to forcibly take the stone away. However¡­Illyna accidentally swallowed the stone when she suddenly hiccuped. ¡°Hey!!! Spit that out!!!¡± ¡°Ugh! Urk!!!¡± Unfortunately, Illyna disregarded Davey¡¯s words and curled in on herself. She had no intention of spitting the stone out. ¡°Cough¡­ cough, cough! I, I don¡¯t want to! I don¡¯t want you to disappear!¡± ¡°So you want to disappear instead?¡± ¡°No! I won¡¯t disappear!¡± Thump!!! Illyna flinched, as if something had exploded within her, before losing consciousness. Her body sagged and slowly floated in the air. ¡°Nice to meet you, you f*cking damned Goddess.¡± Grab!!! Did she believe she could simply toy with people? Davey firmly grasped Illyna''s collar, or rather, the entity that had taken control of Illyna''s body. The blue eyes were evidence that the being inhabiting Illyna''s form at that very moment was none other than a fragment of Goddess Freyja''s Will. In truth, Illyna did not possess any holy mana within her own body. Her ability to wield it was only made possible by the presence of Caldeiras. However, there was now a substantial amount of high-level holy mana swirling around her. Goddess Freyja''s Will lacked any emotion or personal identity. It was merely an immense will that supported the world in accordance with its providence and laws. Silently, Goddess Freyja gazed down at Davey. Shortly after, she extended her hand toward him. Shwaaaaaaaa!!! She did not utter a word, but an immense wave of information flooded into Davey''s mind. In his mind, he witnessed how the future of the world had shifted and transformed after the tightly woven threads of fate between the Demon Lord and the Antagonist unraveled. Goddess Freyja, who could see the future, was left with no choice but to make a decision. That decision was to forcefully empower Davey, ensuring that his power would reach a certain level and maintain the course of fate. Under the guise of divine punishment, she summoned Davey to this place and pushed him to his limits. However, as things reached their climax, Davey lost control and activated the taboo''s karma. The Goddess had intended to compel Davey to shatter the constraints placed upon him and this world. That was her perfect scenario. However, there was one crucial aspect she had overlooked. Great power always comes with a great price. Hercules'' inherent power allowed him to surpass conventional limits. For someone with the audacity, confidence, and unwarranted strength to challenge the Authority of the Goddess, they must not forget the other side of the coin¡ª the rules and providence of the world. Naturally, this meant that Davey would have to pay the price himself. The Goddess had forced him to strengthen and reshape his body as she desired. But when things took a turn for the worse, even Goddess Freyja was left dumbfounded. As a result, she made a choice. She cast aside Illyna and opted to save Davey. Rather than letting Davey vanish, she chose to save him and advance the future she had foreseen, even at the cost of a single human life. It was a cold and calculated judgment. However, Davey was not willing to let it go unnoticed. Clutching Illyna''s body, he strained his neck to reach for a small cross from his pocket dimension. The cross symbolized Goddess Freyja, though it held no inherent power. Yet, if the one wielding it was a saint, the story would be quite different. "So, you abandoned Illyna to save and use me?" Davey questioned, his voice filled with determination. Goddess Freyja averted her shining blue eyes, and from Illyna''s toes, her body began to fade away. Why? It was because she could no longer bear the burden of the price she had taken from Davey. "Bring her back this instant," Davey demanded. The Goddess remained silent, offering no response. Bang!!! Davey¡¯s fist was blocked by a transparent membrane. ¡°Oho. As expected, the god is a god.¡± Crack!!! As Davey''s attack struck, the barrier contorted and warped under the influence of the taboo''s karma he had momentarily unleashed. The power of the taboo''s karma was formidable enough to invalidate and neutralize the goddess'' power, albeit slightly weaker. In other words, it couldn''t fully nullify the entirety of the goddess'' power. Bang!!! Bang!!! Bang!!! Davey''s cold gaze remained fixed on Goddess Freyja as he forcefully pounded his fists against the barrier. He understood that the goddess had never harbored any genuine affection for him, merely exploiting him for her own purposes. While Davey had initially accepted this arrangement without complaint, the current situation had exceeded all bounds and become an abuse of power. After several forceful strikes against the transparent barrier, Davey ceased his assault. Goddess Freyja appeared angered by his defiance, yet she continued to exert herself in an attempt to protect and save him. It seemed that she had exhausted all possible means of dealing with him. A wicked and cunning grin spread across Davey''s face as he tightened his grip on the cross in his hands. "Right. So, you''re saying you''ll keep doing this, huh?" Davey taunted, flipping the cross in his hand. Since the damn goddess had decided to meddle in his affairs, he would have no choice but to resort to threatening her. "Should I just plunge this into myself and reverse everything?" His words caught her attention, causing her blue eyes to lock onto his. In response, Davey raised the cross, waving it in her direction with a merciless and chilling smile. "Maybe I should just drive this in. It seems like it''s time for us to sign the divorce papers, don''t you think? After all, you''re clearly indicating that we should part ways, right?" ¡®Ah. I don¡¯t care. There¡¯s nothing sentimental going on between us either way.¡¯ Regardless of the potential consequences or upheaval it may cause in the world, Davey was resolute in his determination to drag Goddess Freyja down and bring about their mutual demise. The intensity of his threats caused the goddess to tremble involuntarily. After observing him silently for a prolonged moment, she extended her hands once more. Vwoooooong! Simultaneously, a status window materialized in front of Davey, the previously distorted and unintelligible words gradually transforming into a clear and legible form. Within moments, the immense power that had entered Illyna earlier dissipated from her body. Exhausted and devoid of strength, she collapsed onto Davey, completely helpless. [The contents regarding the price of extinction that Illyna de Pallan had taken over changed ownership, now placed under the name of the Goddess, while Davey O''Rowane assumed the rest. Both beings had obtained a tremendous chance of survival.] Just like that, the extra life that Davey had been saving for the longest time had disappeared. [Goddess Freyja will pay 90% of the price.] Davey''s face lit up with a smile. It was a waste of his ember, but he knew that Goddess Freyja had thoroughly considered this before agreeing. It was time for him to stop bargaining. "You should have done this in the first place." However, Davey momentarily forgot that Goddess Freyja was a very petty goddess who held grudges for a long time. [In the name of the Goddess, a portion of the price will be chosen and reassembled to be applied to the Saint who doubts God, the disgusting Davey O''Rowane.] "What?" Davey mumbled as a light surrounded his entire body. At the same time, certain parts of his body began to undergo slight changes. [For a total of one month, with two-week intervals each time, a phenomenon where your body will transform will occur. This will be applied and maintained in the name of the Goddess.] A strong will prevented Davey from breaking free from the imposed restrictions as he pleased. Then, something black and long started to flow down his back, obscuring his vision. The slithering black mass was connected to Davey''s head, making it easy for him to discern its nature. It was his hair growing longer. "Huh?" Davey furrowed his brow as his hands reflexively reached for his neck. Meanwhile, the power of the goddess, seemingly unwilling to entertain objections or protests from him, enveloped Davey and Illyna in light, transporting them back to their original world. CH 351 Baaaaaaang!!! Davey contorted his body, struggling to regain his balance after being carelessly thrown back into the world. He swiftly reached out and caught Illyna, who had also been tossed alongside him, ensuring a safe landing. With a flick of his hand, he brushed away the bothersome hair that obscured his face and instinctively groped his chest. ¡®Ack! Aaaaaah¡­¡¯ A brief sigh escaped his mouth when he touched his muscular chest. ¡°Phew¡­¡± A brief silence enveloped the surroundings as Davey absentmindedly assessed Illyna''s condition. She remained unconscious due to the lingering effects of divine possession. After confirming that she had no major injuries, he decided to leave her undisturbed. Furrowing his brow, Davey leaned against his hand, supporting his forehead. Without hesitation, he tapped into his mana and gathered moisture from the air. Unlike the dream world, the Tionis Continent did not impose any restrictions on his ability to access water through his powers. [Water.] Splash!!! "Kyaaaack!!!" Illyna exclaimed, startled by the sudden splash of cold and icy water. Her eyes widened as she frantically looked around, and then her gaze settled on Davey. Quickly composing herself, she sat down and stared at him, her head tilted in confusion. "Who are you?" Davey''s eyebrows furrowed in response. "What? Who are you?" Illyna clenched her teeth in frustration. "Who? I''m asking you who you are?!" Crack!!! "Kyaaack!!!" Illyna screamed, tears welling up in her eyes as Davey forcefully cracked her joints. "Kyaaack!!! Hurts! That hurts! It hurts!" Despite being at the level of a Sword Master, a status considered a strategic weapon by the public, Davey paid no heed to her pain. "Aaaaack!" Illyna shrieked as her body twisted from the struggle and the pain when Davey pressed his fists against her temples and spun them. "Are you out of your mind, princess?" As if recalling the sensation of Davey¡¯s painful massages, Illyna pleaded desperately for mercy. "Kyaaack! Davey! So, you''re Davey! Alright, alright! Just let me go first, please!" However, Davey didn''t release his grip. He only stopped after determining that the girl had genuinely reflected on her actions. Completely exhausted, Illyna lay silently on Davey''s back as he carried her along. "That... You''re Davey...right?" "That''s right." "Then, why do you look like that...?" Davey halted in his tracks, then said, "Get down." He patted Illyna¡¯s legs before setting her down. Then, he stretched his arms. Illyna immediately recoiled, her eyes shifting nervously as if she expected Davey to do something to her. However, Davey wasn¡¯t paying attention to her at all. "Davey?" "How long were we there?" "About five days, I think?" Davey silently nodded. "By the way... What happened to you?" Illyna asked earnestly, finally able to get a proper look at Davey''s appearance. "You..." She gazed at Davey intently, her voice tinged with nervousness. "You have an enviable appearance right now¡­ Hmm.¡± "..." That was true. "What''s going on? Did you suddenly develop an interest in cross-dressing or something?" "I beg you. If you could just shut up for once, the world would be at peace." "Hmph. What? Are you saying disaster strikes every time I open my mouth, huh?" Davey was already content that his body hadn''t changed much. However, he wasn''t certain about how he would look in two weeks, which was when the next transformation would occur. "Maybe I should try voodoo?" His target? Goddess Freyja. He felt that his anger would only subside after creating a straw doll and piercing it with hundreds of nails. There were various methods to change one''s body, such as Body Alteration Dark Magic or the Bone Shifting Arts of the Dark Arts. Illusion magic could even create the appearance of a different body. There were plenty of options, but Goddess Freyja, with her grudges, had altered Davey''s appearance without considering the consequences. "Wow... Wow... Your muscles have vanished. You... What on earth? Have you turned into a lady or something? Goodness... A prince has become a princess. This is quite shocking..." Davey simply grabbed Illyna''s hands and placed them on his chest. "Kyaaack! What the... Aaah..." Illyna exclaimed, taken aback by Davey''s sudden action. She appeared somewhat embarrassed, but her expression quickly shifted to one of disappointment. "What the hell... Is this a washboard...?" Illyna commented, forcing her eyes wide open as she closely examined Davey''s body. "So, the only things that have changed about you are your height, build, and face?" "The gender has changed." "What? So, you''re a woman with those washboard abs?" Davey shook his head in response. ¡°What the hell? If you¡¯re not a man and not a woman then¡­ Wow! No way?!¡± Illyna immediately withdrew, a startled look on her face. Davey let out a sigh and cast a mirror magic, a spell based on the principles of light reflection. The mirror of light materialized in front of him, functioning as a full-length mirror that displayed his appearance clearly. Now, Davey possessed a shorter stature, long hair, and a slim body. It wouldn''t be accurate to describe him as slim like a woman; rather, he had a slimness more typical of a male. Would it be too self-indulgent to say that he looked good? However, the fact that his appearance had become aesthetically pleasing didn''t matter to him. It only served as a reminder that due to that cursed natural disaster and the petty Goddess Freyja, he was forced to remain in this unfortunate state for the next two weeks. Knowing that he had transformed into this or that wasn''t something that could bring anyone joy. "Right. Once I finish all my tasks, I''ll make sure to prepare a straw doll.¡± ¡®I shall repay this favor of yours with my own. You¡¯re not the only one that¡¯s petty. I¡¯ll make you see.¡¯ Setting aside the matter, Davey looked at Illyna, who was staring at him in amazement. "Hmmm... If you style your hair nicely, you could instantly join the list of continental beauties." "Enough. And stop saying things like that from now on." "I don''t want to. I don''t know how far I''ll be able to go, but if you''re in trouble, at the very least I won''t be someone who just stands by and watches." "I''m telling you to take care of yourself." "I''ll be the judge of that. Don''t you think you owe me one or two lives?" Davey contemplated Illyna¡¯s words. He truly appreciated her consideration. The cost of bearing the price of a dimensional extinction was severe. The fact that she had shouldered half of it meant that he had only given up one life. He had used up his remaining ember, but since he used it to save his life, he believed it was a more worthwhile use. Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh¡­ swoosh, swoosh, swoosh¡­ Davey watched Illyna as he began to rotate the meat skewers he had taken out, sitting inside a small cave. "So much has happened in such a short amount of time. I still can''t wrap my head around everything." Davey had conversed with Belial and manipulated him into becoming the Demon Lord who he eventually overthrew. After killing Belial, Davey became the Demon Lord himself and forcefully put an end to the war. Following that, he compelled Perserque into the prepared body, leading the Goddess to punish him by forcing him to express his power and prematurely strengthen his body. "What I witnessed during the process..." Illyna''s question trailed off as she continued to watch Davey rotate the skewer. "Is that your past?" "That''s correct." "When was it? He looked like an entirely different person. Could it be...your past life?" "What do you think?" "Do you think I would ask if I knew? Pass me one." Illyna then bit into the meat on the skewer, her face contorting at the peculiar taste lingering in her mouth. It seemed the meat''s flavor was off, since she fell silent. Davey retrieved the necessary spices from his Pocket Plane. Proper seasoning was essential for a delicious taste. Illyna observed curiously as Davey sprinkled some spices onto the meat in her hand. She hesitantly took another bite. Illyna''s eyes widened as she savored the flavor, momentarily halting her chewing as she looked at him. Only after that did she continue eating with satisfaction. "At that time... You feel guilty about it, don''t you?" "No." "Don''t lie." Illyna smiled helplessly, lowering her gaze. "It was the first time, you know? The first time I''ve seen you shed tears of regret and guilt." However, Davey frowned at her words. "Cry? Have you lost your mind? Who cried?" "But my eyesight is fine." Davey raised his hand upon hearing Illyna stating the obvious. "Was I crying, or is your vision impaired?" "N-No." Illyna shifted her gaze, her face paling as she answered. This was because Davey had an overwhelmingly large flame flickering around his palms. Although the heat didn''t reach her, Illyna could sense it was a high-level fire magic. The thought of it being directed at her made her turn pale. "You better keep your mouth shut while I''m still being considerate." ¡°I don¡¯t even have any intention of bragging about something like this. Beeeeeh!¡± Illyna stuck her tongue out before resuming her meat consumption, a smile soon forming at the corners of her lips as she ate eagerly. She appeared to relish this first proper meal she had in days. Although Illyna had grown up as a princess and had only dined on lavish and elegant meals, she still had some experience living without a roof over her head and eating simple fare during her training with the knights. That aspect of her upbringing made her existence less burdensome and bothersome. "What would you do if you could meet again?" Illyna asked, throwing a deep question at Davey. "If we were to meet again?" Davey looked at Illyna, contemplating her words. Illyna carefully poked at the bonfire between them before asking, "Isn''t she your younger sister? Your younger sister from your previous life..." "That''s correct." "What would you do if you had the chance to meet your family again?" Davey closed his eyes in response. "The brother who was unaware of his younger sister''s feelings has already succumbed to his illness and passed away." Shin Hyun-Ah''s brother was already gone, nowhere to be found. Illyna remained silent, merely nodding to indicate that she had heard. "By the way, this seasoning is incredible! What is it made of?" Illyna asked, impressed by the flavors. Davey took out a small barrel from his pocket plane and waved it at her. "This? Let me see..." "Once I return to the Imperial Palace, I will instruct the chef to prepare this. I had no idea that adding something like this could enhance the taste of the meat. So, what is it made of?" "You gather mantis legs and carp eyeballs, dry them for twenty days, and grind them into powder." This was none other than the ingredient created by the eccentric gourmand elf, Yuria Helishana. *** Davey had no idea where they had been thrown in the Tionis Continent. They spent the night quietly in this unfamiliar forest, and only as dawn began to break did Davey rise to his feet, leaving the sleeping Illyna behind. Due to his current short stature, his range of vision and movements had changed slightly. However, there wasn''t a significant difference between Davey''s previous appearance and his current appearance, which resembled that of a ten-year-old. Thus, it didn''t cause him much inconvenience. It was said that a sexless body was the most suitable for battle among all genders, as there were no inherent limitations. Reflecting on this, Davey believed that Goddess Freyja had given him this appearance because she had a predetermined plan. To the creator of the world, Davey''s existence was nothing more than a bothersome and repulsive being. The tricks he employed must have appeared ridiculous and childish in her eyes. Yet, she was still ensnared in his web and deceived. Perhaps that was why she still existed. Shwa!!! Shwa!!! Davey snapped off a branch and swung it through the air without hesitation. The blessings, curses, and divine punishments wielded by Goddess Freyja were akin to natural disasters. Could humans truly defy natural disasters and emerge victorious? Davey would wager that it was absolutely impossible. And that was precisely why Goddess Freyja acted the way she did. No matter how skilled he believed himself to be or how remarkable the heroes of the Hall were, everything within this land and sky would be powerless against the existence that created it all. Davey propelled himself forward and scaled a towering tree, reaching heights of tens of meters. Once he climbed around a hundred meters, he activated "Eye of the Sky," a skill bestowed by the God of Archery, Apollo. His eyes widened as his vision expanded from several kilometers to tens of kilometers, inundating his mind with vast amounts of information. Indeed, since he had entered the dream world using the power of a god, he could also employ this power to discern their location. There must have been a reason why Goddess Freyja hastily augmented Davey''s strength and bolstered his powers. It was possible that the Abyss erosion was progressing more rapidly and extensively than she had anticipated. So, why did Goddess Freyja cast Davey into this particular place? The answer was simple: The fissure of the Abyss lay nearby. It was also the domain where Grave, the demon who had eluded Davey, struggled to survive. Thump¡­ Thump¡­ It had been fifteen minutes since Davey had departed from the location where he and Illyna had stayed. He walked silently, suppressing his aura and minimizing any sound. As he ventured forth, he came upon a scene: a river completely shrouded in darkness, with a man standing before it. Silently, the man stood in front of the oozing, repulsive crack. However, he appeared oblivious to Davey''s presence. The demons were unable to openly defy the commands of the Demon Lord. With Belial''s demise, Davey had assumed the role of the Demon Lord. As long as he held that position, the conflict between demons and humans could be considered resolved. Furthermore, many of the high-ranking vampires had perished. Even Gluttony, their primary instigator and leader, had been slain. If things proceeded favorably, they would eventually disperse and seek hiding places. Otherwise, they would be apprehended and taken as prisoners of war. Once these two factions were dealt with, the forces capable of shaking the entire continent would have effectively vanished. It could be said that the threats to the continent had been eliminated. However, the most significant adversary of the Continental Alliance remained elusive. It was those individuals whom Davey had to confront. After all, the prelude to the war was nothing more than a clash between those beings and him. ¡®Just think of it like: Davey O¡¯Rowane, [The Invisible Hand].¡¯ ¡°So, you¡¯re here?¡± "Hmm? Heok?! You bastard, how?!!!" The man shrieked, collapsing in surprise the instant he laid eyes on Davey. At present, the bandage concealing Grave''s face had been unraveled. The visage beneath did not resemble that of a demon or a human. It was nothing more than a black, vacant countenance. They were the origin of Perserque''s power. They resided within the Abyss. Their forms were nonexistent. Whatever they may be, their intent was resolute¡ªto abduct Perserque and return to their own realm. Crack!!! Swoosh!!! Before anyone could react, the branch in Davey''s hand swung swiftly, slicing through the air. Simultaneously, Grave''s upper body was severed from his lower body. "Keheok?! Who, who are you?!" Grave exclaimed in bewilderment. "It''s me. Don''t you recognize me?" Davey asked casually as Grave stared silently at him for a moment. Perhaps it was because he was an extraordinary individual? Even without recognizing his external appearance, Grave still knew who resided within the body. "This cursed bastard!!! Why target my waist again?!" "If their waist is their lifeline, shouldn''t you pay more attention to that part?" Davey retorted. As Grave extended his palm and released an unfamiliar black force, Davey swiftly extended his hand in response. A taboo was activated, and a cold aura emanated from his hands. However, before anyone could react, the light had already reached Davey''s hands. Light was inherently intangible. However, such simplistic rules could easily be bent within Davey''s body. After all, this power originated from Hercules and was attained by Davey upon reaching this stage. The source? Their bodies. "Dear guest, why do you still linger here? It''s time for you to depart," Davey declared, crushing the hand that pierced through his own before seizing Grave''s head. There was no resistance. A firm grip was all it took to crush it effortlessly. Since Davey''s soul underwent another awakening, the power at his disposal had more than doubled. At this rate, it wouldn''t take much longer for him to reclaim the strength he possessed within the Hall. This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV. ¡®No. I shouldn¡¯t do that. It¡¯s more than enough right now.¡¯ ¡°Get out of my place, you f*cking bastard!¡± The power of taboo might have significant effects, but its range was limited and easily weakened with a mere thought. Moreover, it had a lengthy cooldown time. However, that was more than sufficient. It appeared that Goddess Freyja had purposefully sent him to this location, the very place where the Abyss crack existed, knowing this fact well. Without hesitation, Davey cast Grave into the river, now transformed into a viscous black tar. Then, Davey extended his finger toward the struggling figure. ''Ah, I''ve been wanting to try this.'' "Can you perceive the disparity in our powers?" [9th Class, Final Holy Magic.] [God¡¯s Middle Finger.] ¡°Eat god¡¯s shit!¡± Then, a flash of light pierced through the dark river. CH 352 The force behind the white light had significantly weakened. It seemed that Goddess Freyja''s power had also diminished. If that wasn''t the case, then it was likely due to the weakening of the countless connections that God had established in this world. This novel is available on "pawread dot com". Whatever the reason, Davey was certain of one thing. Purifying the now blackened river, or perhaps lake, all at once was a daunting task. If the influence of Goddess Freyja was not functioning properly, then the power he had received from her and could wield would be weaker. For the time being, Davey had no choice but to rely on his own power rather than the holy mana within his body. "Do you think we''ll back down just like that?!" Grave, who had been dragged and sucked into the dark, black lake, screamed at Davey upon his reappearance. It seemed he was quite resilient and determined. "You bastard! You will never surpass our unity. The gates will open without fail. The day the gates fully open will be the day you die¡­" Grave cursed, his body slowly being pulled back into the murky waters of the lake. It appeared that he no longer had the strength to pull himself up and return here. While studying the uses of the tentacles, Davey discovered that they still faced limitations and restrictions in this world, despite being quite immune to its rules and providence. The world''s providence was not a simple program. It wouldn''t allow the opponent to continuously exploit and escape. They might have had an easy time coming here before, but that didn''t mean they would find it easy to return, especially after being forcefully dragged back to their original location. Boom!!! At that very moment, a pillar of light descended, piercing through the darkness and illuminating the surface of the murky lake. The water rippled and trembled under its radiant glow. Simultaneously, an enormous mouth resembling that of a crocodile emerged from the depths and engulfed Grave in one swift motion. Then, an appendage extended from the colossal creature''s massive body, gradually exerting force against the pillar of light. Astonishingly, it was able to push back the 9th Class, Final Holy Magic. ¡®These bastards are the real ones, huh?¡¯ Bang!!! There was nothing before him, yet an unseen force collided with Davey, sending him hurtling through the air. In that instant, he experienced the sensation of being a baseball struck by a powerful bat, the impact launching him away. The intense pain coursing through his body added to the overwhelming assault he endured. ¡°¡­¡± ¡®This hurts a bit.¡¯ The nonchalant smile vanished from Davey''s face as he observed the immense crack suspended above the dark lake. He narrowed his eyes, focusing on the exact spot where the pillar of light had emanated, and became aware of a presence staring back at him from within the depths of the crack. Although invisible to the naked eye, the gaze that bore into him exuded an unsettling aura capable of instilling sheer dread. Taking a step forward, Davey uttered the first words that came to mind, "So, the big shot is making an appearance, huh?" Davey had no way of knowing or determining whether their intentions involved emerging from that location or not. Bang!!! As another attack hurtled toward him, the air surrounding Davey shifted, and a barrier materialized, forming a protective shield around him. The barrier intercepted the incoming assault, deflecting it harmlessly away from Davey''s position. Crack!!! The issue was that the barrier did not hold for long. The intangible, odorless, and colorless attack effortlessly pierced through several dozen layers of defensive magic that Davey had meticulously erected around himself. Its sheer power was capable of causing ripples in the air. However, Davey was no fool to let himself be attacked a second time. Despite being unable to perceive anything within the void before him or sense any mana movements in his surroundings, he extended his hand and gathered the mana present in the nearby area. Baaaam!!! Simultaneously, the telekinetic magic without any specific attribute unraveled, expanding to a magnitude that surpassed anyone''s expectations. It detonated, distorting the space surrounding Davey in a violent display. Utilizing the resulting rebound, Davey propelled himself away from the vicinity while conjuring two fiery orbs on the tip of his finger. Without delay, he hurled the fireballs toward the abyssal void concealed beyond the spatial rift. Bang!!! The attack, clearly aimed at Davey, detonated, but it was already too late. Davey had swiftly distanced himself from his initial position. The two minuscule fireballs he had unleashed also exploded, engulfing the entire area in a devastating inferno that belied their small size. This marked Davey''s second encounter with the Abyssal crack. The first crack had been comparatively small, with a cluster of tentacles reaching out in an attempt to drag Perserque back. However, the current crack was immense, easily accommodating a dozen of the cracks he had previously encountered. How long had they been preparing for it to grow to such proportions? Previously, Davey had managed to tear apart the smaller crack with his sheer strength, aided by the power of the jewel that allowed him to harmonize his body and soul. But now? The goddess had intentionally imposed restrictions on him, making it arduous for him to regain his power. When Goddess Freyja had cast him into this predicament and entrusted him with the situation, Davey had initially perceived it as an exaggerated reaction in the absence of an immediate crisis. However, a formidable and potent being like her would not act in such haste if there were no imminent perils. Davey retrieved a handful of talismans from his Pocket Plane and tossed them into the air. Then, he brought his palms together, his eyes flickering rapidly. [2nd Grade Binding Arts] [Lightning Restriction] The several dozens of talismans suddenly turned into hundreds as gigantic black spears poured out of them and pierced through the now still lake. After all, at this point, the 9th Class Holy Magic had already been completely offset by whatever had popped out from the lake¡¯s depths. Davey was not sure if it was because it had a certain immunity against the powers that existed in this land or if it was because the being that had popped out was covered with plenty of elements but it was not that good compared to the lump of flesh that Davey had experimented on before. Bang!!! Not long after, its body shook fiercely from the impact of the attack. However, Davey did not stop there. With his hands still together, he quickly rotated the power in his body. With the spears that he sent earlier, the blackened lake¡¯s body began to shake fiercely once again. Guwoooooooo!!! The monster, which had changed its form from water to a sticky and creepy tar, roared loudly as the spear pierced deeper into its body. Just like Davey had expected, the 2nd Grade Sorcery Lightning Restriction was working. It was an art that would release spears that would pierce through the opponent and absorb its power thereby depriving them of their power and suppressing them. But after seeing that these beings did not get completely suppressed and restricted even after being pierced through by dozens of such spears, Davey had realized that the cheat-like power of immunity to all powers truly made these beings extremely resistant. Of course, that did not mean that there weren¡¯t any countermeasures against them. [8th Circle] [Corona Break] Davey gradually began to make an impact on the creature, employing attacks at the 8th Circle and beyond. This approach was informed by his previous experimentation on a lump of flesh, which had shown signs of developing immunity when subjected to forces at the 4th to 5th Circle level. Clearly, this adversary before him would likely be immune to attacks at the 5th Circle level. Thus, Davey initiated his assault at the 8th Circle, resulting in a noticeable reaction. However, he was well aware that he would need to utilize even higher levels of mana to ensure the efficiency and efficacy of his attacks against this formidable opponent. Despite being sealed with sorcery, the monster persistently strained against the restraints, gradually weakening the seal due to its amorphous and elusive form. Describing its shape was a challenge in itself, as it lacked any discernible regularity, resembling nothing more than a shapeless mass of flesh. Thwack!!! In response to Davey''s attempt to seal its body, the monster exhibited signs of anger. Suddenly, its eyes flashed, and without warning, another colorless, odorless, and intangible attack was launched toward him. ¡®I''ve already told you, and I''ll tell you again. You might be able to attack me once, but I won''t fall for the same trick twice.¡¯ Davey delved into the viscous creature using Blink. He noticed that sorcery, in comparison to magic, holy magic, and dark magic, had some effect on this entity. With this in mind, he wanted to test whether martial arts, something akin to skills and techniques in this world, would also prove effective against it. [Ice Demon God¡¯s Arts Pinnacle Skill] [Supreme Ice God¡¯s Field] The Ice Demon God''s Arts was a renowned skill among those who followed the Evil Path. It originated from Dokgo Jun, the one who had taught martial arts to Davey. Davey had stolen this martial art and learned it for himself, making it his own. However, there was one thing that Davey could guarantee. He would be able to harness more power using the Ice Demon God''s Arts than its true owner and master. Martial arts, an art dedicated to enhancing firepower, differed greatly from the swordsmanship in this world, which relied on mana volume, purity, and precision. Crack, crack, crack, crack!!! His inner qi froze the air around them, forming an icy path resembling a colossal dragon extending its body, casting an eerie chill over the surroundings. The massive ice storm further impeded the already sluggish movement of the sticky creature from the abyss. However, this effect lasted only briefly before dissipating. Baaaaang!!! The colossal monster from the Abyss expressed its displeasure, as if the encroaching ice had become exceedingly bothersome. In an instant, the sluggish mass of flesh began to undergo transformation. The previously solid, black lump of flesh started multiplying and morphing into repulsive clusters of tentacles. This was a form that Davey was all too familiar with, resembling the tentacles he had extracted from the abyss and experimented upon. [We are one.] Davey sensed a profound connection as the eye materialized in the center of the massive fleshy mass that had emerged from the crack. It seemed to communicate with him through a spiritual link rather than conventional means of physical communication. [We are the gathering of the entire Overminds¡¯ Will.] ¡°¡­¡± [The day our Will becomes perfect will be the day our wish will come true.] "Enough with your incomprehensible babble," Davey muttered in frustration, channeling his power to create a colossal 8th Circle Fire Magic spell. He had exhausted every method at his disposal to control the situation. That''s why he had to unleash the destructive power and reduce the creature to ashes before it posed an even greater threat. Even if the monster could withstand the assault, Davey was determined to persist and unleash relentless attacks until it reached its breaking point. Bang!!! To his dismay, the creature emerging from the crack exhibited a vitality and life force far surpassing Davey''s expectations. It continued to multiply and adapt, rendering his attacks less effective over time. Even the formidable 8th Circle Fire Magic proved futile against its resilience. The talismans and restrictions he had placed on the creature were gradually nullified and released, not simply due to their loss of power, but because the opponent was growing stronger and more dangerous. "Hmmm..." Davey let out a sigh, realizing he could no longer afford to leisurely indulge in his experiments. He extended his right hand and fixed his gaze upon the monstrous being from the Abyss, a sense of urgency replacing his previous nonchalance. [I am telling you that this will be the end. How can you, a small and trivial being, fight against this body that is made with the wishes of tens of millions of beings?] [We are¡­] [¡­one.] The multitude of voices echoing in Davey''s head only served to irritate him further. As a final attempt, he conjured a Hellfire and hurled it at the Abyssal being, but its impact proved minimal. What a truly formidable body it possessed, swiftly adapting to even the 9th Circle of magic. If such a creature were unleashed upon the continent, it would spell doom for all living beings, swiftly devouring and destroying the world in a matter of moments. Davey contemplated the situation at length before firmly resolving his course of action. Brushing aside his obstructing hair, he took a step forward and began to draw upon the forbidden power. Depending on how he wielded it, the restrictions and consequences imposed on his body would vary whenever he invoked the power of taboo. Having already endured the penalties, it was only fitting that he utilized it to its fullest potential. The 9th Circle Magic was no longer effective, and his holy power had waned with the weakening of the Goddess. The only remaining efficacy lay in his sorcery, albeit diminishing as the monster grew accustomed to it. Nevertheless, he had no choice but to give it his all and fight back. Delving into his Pocket Plane, Davey retrieved the towering staff known as Transcendence Demise. He glanced at the disregarded restrictions afflicting his body, their influence negated by the power of taboo. If his attacks proved futile and he could only watch as the creature escaped through the crack, then perhaps it was time to test its endurance against Transcendental Dark Magic. Black smoke coalesced within Davey''s palms as he infused the dark magic, renowned for its destructive prowess, with the essence of taboo. The amalgamation of these powers rendered it an unstoppable force, an ultimate adversary in its own right. Gradually, the black smoke assumed the form of a colossal skeleton, akin to a voracious black hole devouring everything in its path. When the smoke dissipated entirely, not a trace remained within a hundred-meter radius, including the gigantic monster itself. ¡°Goodness. It¡¯s much stronger than what I thought?¡± CH 353 "Well..." Davey muttered, realizing that this was a prime example of a miscalculation on his part. The sight of an area spanning hundreds of meters vanishing completely aligned perfectly with Davey''s original intention. His adversary remained an enigma, displaying an unwavering resilience even against the formidable 9th Circle magic. It was evident that if the entity managed to draw closer, its power would only amplify. Davey comprehended the urgency of incapacitating it before it could make any further advances. However, he faced a pressing constraint of time, making it impossible for him to gather enough strength for a decisive strike with his current abilities. It became abundantly clear that a mere ordinary attack would fall short. Davey had no choice but to resort to the forbidden arts as his sole option. However, a nagging sensation of going too far lingered within him, even considering the desperate nature of his original plan. The employment of transcendent dark magic surpassed his initial expectations, as it was a power that defied comprehension, no matter how proficient he was in magic. This particular transcendent dark magic was crafted with precision, meant exclusively for the Death Lord, Rho Aias. It was an exceptionally demanding spell that only she possessed the ability to wield. Though he had acquired significant knowledge in dark magic and necromancy from her, spells of this caliber remained elusive in practice, confined to the realm of theory. Being knowledgeable and being all-powerful were two distinct realms of mastery. How, then, had he managed to successfully cast such a complex and exclusive spell? The answer had eluded him until now, shrouded in mystery. As it turned out, it was surprisingly straightforward. Transcendent dark magic, unique to the Death Lord, could only be wielded by her alone. To access its power, he had two options: either become her or borrow her power. Both options seemed implausible, yet this event had unveiled a potential solution¡ªa transformation of his physical body through the forbidden arts. It involved a genetic mutation¡ªa temporary defiance of the natural order, altering his DNA to mirror that of Rho Aias. At one point, he had questioned the necessity of memorizing such knowledge from Hia. Little had he known that it would prove to be immensely helpful in the end. "Ugh..." But, as expected, he couldn''t evade the inherent limitations that accompanied this feat. He had succeeded in crafting only a minuscule fragment, no larger than a finger joint, which he then magnified through the application of a transcendental spell. The immense power exerted by this magic had drained nearly all of his mana reserves, leaving him fatigued and his vision obscured, as if enveloped in a dense fog. "Haa... Haa..." As he took shallow breaths, attempting to regain command of his mana, he noticed something strange on one side of the enormous crater that now surrounded him. A small stone, radiating a dark glow, caught his eye. "What''s this?" He slowly pushed himself to his feet and made his way over. Picking up the small stone that had landed on the ground, he squeezed out the last remnants of the abyssal power in him to activate the status window. Zoom~ Beep! And then, he checked its contents. "This is..." Something else caught his attention. * * * While Davey was occupied contending with the colossal entity from the abyss, Illyna had been in a deep slumber, unaware of his endeavors. As he made his way back to the cave, she gradually awakened, her eyes fluttering open. Quietly assessing her condition, he found that she had made substantial progress in her recovery. Without delay, he transported her to a sprawling plain, intending to provide her with a serene and expansive environment. Woong! The sight of a massive transfer magic circle seemed to captivate Illyna, who curiously scanned her surroundings. "Are we heading straight to the command center? The war isn''t over yet, right?" Her question was unsurprising, given her recent absence from the events. "No, I won''t be the one wrapping up the war. Reina will take care of it." Upon hearing Reina''s name, Illyna mulled it over and then nodded. Even though Reina was renowned as a hero, Illyna had personally met her. "So, it''s that Reina," grumbled Illyna in a dissatisfied tone."So, what''s the plan now?" It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread dot com". "We need to return to our territory." Only then did Illyna seem to grasp the situation. "Teleportation magic... It never ceases to amaze me... I wonder if I could learn something like this too?" "It''s 200 million gold per circle, and teleportation magic is an 8th-Circle spell. So, I can get you trained up quick and easy for a total of 1.6 billion gold. Deal?" "Forget it, who needs to learn that?" Illyna shook her head firmly, demonstrating quite clearly that she had indeed spent a lot to learn from him. Whoosh!!! After setting the coordinates, he gestured with a flick of his hand toward the air. A radiant light enveloped the entire area, yet to their surprise, the scenery around them remained almost unchanged. "Huh? What, what just happened?" As Illyna looked around in confusion, Davey maintained his silence and simply pushed his hand into the empty air. "Did we...move? We''re still in a forest, aren''t we?" "Exactly." Withdrawing his hand from the void, Davey unveiled a colossal item gripped tightly within his grasp¡ªa magnificent bow known as the Divine Bow Brunaak. Whoosh!!! With tremendous force, he pulled the bowstring back, even though there was nothing visibly attached to it. Illyna watched him with a mix of confusion and growing familiarity, as if she was beginning to understand his idiosyncrasies. Crack!! Crack!!! After a brief silence, a massive lightning arrow began to take shape on the bowstring. Davey silently stared into the distance for a moment, then released the bowstring. [Strong Shot] [Steel Heart] Thump!! The arrow became a beam of blinding light, tearing through the air with incredible speed, surpassing the sound barrier with a resounding sonic boom. Defying the conventional limitations of bows and arrows, it sliced through every large tree in its trajectory, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. With a chilling tearing sound, the beam found its target, striking with precision, before everything fell into an eerie silence. "Ah... Ahya... My ears are ringing... What the heck did you just do?" "Let''s go." Caught off guard by Davey¡¯s abrupt actions, Illyna watched with a puzzled look. However, she hurriedly followed when he began to stride away and leave her behind. "What on earth... Ah?" As Illyna hastened to catch up with Davey, her eyes were captivated by the sight that unfolded where the arrow had struck. Shock overcame her as she beheld a colossal vampire, pierced through the heart by the arrow, lying motionless on the ground. Surrounding the fallen creature were numerous other vampires, visibly drained and fatigued from their ordeal. Adding to the grim scene, a handful of fallen individuals were encircled by these menacing creatures, their fate uncertain. They were barely more than children, around fifteen boys and girls. Each of them was dressed in a robe, unmistakably marking their lineage as magicians. They all bore the marks of minor injuries, but some were grievously wounded, their pale faces a stark reminder of the impending threat of death. Among the onlookers frozen in shock, a vampire was the first to break free from the trance. With a strained expression, Davey slowly moved forward, approaching the group of vulnerable children. "Human girls?" Davey¡¯s expression turned cold. "No, no! Run away!" A few of the confused youngsters, apparently oblivious to the gravity of the situation, shouted urgently in their direction. "Darn it! I''m the least injured! I''ll draw their attention, so save those two ladies first!" At that moment, a boy with a conspicuously cheeky demeanor let out a loud shout. As if they had been coordinating their actions for a long time, two other boys swiftly broke through the vampire encirclement and made their way toward Davey and Illyna. "Excuse me!" Before he could finish speaking, one of the boys scooped Illyna into his arms. The remaining boy was ready to carry Davey and move. It would''ve been the ideal scenario, had Davey stayed put. "Argh! My head! You''re pulling my hair!" "Step aside." Blushing, the boy reached out to grab Davey, and that only served to further irritate Davey. Due to the changes that had happened to his handsome face, unnecessary misunderstandings were beginning to form. As Davey contemplated turning this troublemaker into a pincushion with hundreds of pins, he slowly let go of the head. Then, he audibly cracked his knuckles, and took a step forward. He muttered, "In my own front yard¡­" Who gave them the right to settle here? Pesky mosquitoes. They were the worst kind of troublemakers. They were radical vampires who had changed the tide of the war only to suffer immense losses in return. But that was not Davey¡¯s concern. He had come here with a singular goal: total annihilation. He nonchalantly swished the healing potion he had retrieved from his Pocket Plane, doused it over the head of the boy who had rushed to his aid despite his injuries, and then kicked him square in the back. "You''ve got three broken ribs, two ruptured organs, and a dislocated shoulder. If you don''t get treatment, you''re looking at a lifetime of hardship." "What?!" Caught off guard by Davey¡¯s blunt prognosis, the boy''s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. Davey¡¯s voice had become rough and gravelly, a mere shadow of what it had been. The sensation of speaking was almost surreal. Ignoring the gobsmacked boy, along with the other boys and girls who were too taken aback to speak, Davey strode toward the nearest vampire with an annoyed expression. He said, "Human girl, halt." "I''d rather not." "So you''re just begging for death, huh?" The vampire brandished his razor-sharp fangs and, with blood-red eyes, lunged at Davey. He seized Davey¡¯s slender neck and started to snarl menacingly. "A bit more pressure, and your frail human life could be snuffed out in an instant." His warning was followed by a swift glance at the surrounding vampires. "Let''s move. Take this girl as a hostage. That monstrous human from the Heins Territory is supposedly a saint when it comes to the value of life. At the very least, while we have a human hostage, they won''t dare attack." "One isn''t enough. We should take a few more." The vampires continued their exchange, formulating their plans. "Drop your weapons, unless you want to see this girl''s life taken." Finally, the vampire gripping Davey¡¯s neck issued a low warning to the other boys and girls, whose faces twisted with a mix of annoyance, confusion, and distress. Admittedly, it was a frustrating sight to behold, a human willingly walking into captivity and essentially mocking the situation. Well, Davey had to admit, they had learned quite well from their tutors. With this thought, he decided it was high time to stop dragging this out. He turned to the boys and girls, who were hesitantly lowering their staff. "I''m certain you were taught that weapons are your lifelines," Davey muttered, and then lightly tapped the hand of the vampire that was throttling his neck. Tap-tap! At this gentle touch, he scowled and bore his gaze into Davey¡¯s. Davey yelled, "Who''re you calling a girl, you flea-bitten son of a¡ª" Crack! Davey casually seized his arm, snapped it, and pinned the vampire down. He then declared, "I warned you. Enough with the theatrics in my front yard." He was sure he had made this point clear before. The reason he had located this place was simple. The forest was adjacent to the Heins Territory. His actions left not just the dumbfounded vampires frozen in place, but also the boys and girls¡ªthe students of Shakuntala''s Class F¡ªwho had been facing off against them. They all stared at him in utter disbelief. CH 354 As the leader of Shakuntala¡¯s Class F, Timmy Lendarogue was deeply trusted by his classmates. But now, he felt his heart burning with distress. Their journey had begun with such promise, yet it seemed to be spiraling toward disaster. Looking at the situation, he couldn''t help but blame his own complacency for their plight. After all, his rash decision to leave the Heins territory had placed the lives of seventeen trusting followers in danger. Reality and theory could diverge, but in this case, the chasm seemed vast. Class F had been molded by Davey, a teacher who was considered a monster. They had become notorious for their reckless actions, earning the label of ''monsters'' within the school. However, the real world was a different story; it was crawling with actual monsters. Davey often referred to them as big fish in a small pond. He warned Timmy and his classmates against complacency and urged them to practice more. Had they listened to his advice, they might not have found themselves in this predicament. The vampires surrounding them were exhausted and tense, on the brink of a breaking point. The air was thick with tension, just a spark away from igniting a horrific bloodbath. Despite the looming danger, Timmy had confidence in his magical prowess. He had even declared his intent to aid the war effort, even if it meant going alone. The group had thus split down the middle; about half, led by Josiah Frances, had decided to stay back within the safety of the territory, while those who shared Timmy''s conviction had followed him out of the Heins territory. Up to that point, everything had seemed fine. Some might have seen it as a daring adventure, driven by the youthful ambition of the students. But from the outset, things began to unravel. Unforeseen by the students, the war had abruptly ended, and the last remaining vampires had scattered. The students had not anticipated these stragglers to have already reached the Heins territory. In fact, it was likely that the vampires had their own objectives, although the specifics remained unclear. Eventually, this unexpected encounter led the students into a fierce battle. One particularly formidable vampire, towering in height and incredibly strong, had them cornered, pushing them to the verge of death. The vampires were unrelenting, allowing no room for conversation. As the group grappled with their predicament, Timmy watched a lightning arrow streak in from the edge of the forest. It struck down the formidable vampire in a heartbeat. It resembled magic, yet it couldn''t be traced back, indicating that it wasn''t magical. But if not magic, then what was this lightning arrow? While Timmy was preoccupied with analyzing the magic, two women, seemingly uninvolved in the battle, appeared before them. Timmy and his classmates were unaware that one of them was a familiar human they all knew too well. * * * The change in atmosphere was palpable and instant. The woman appeared petite, with a slim and small build. Her body seemed nearly devoid of mana, making her an unlikely candidate to instigate such chaos. "Argh... Aaargh!" "Hurts, doesn''t it? Is it painful?" "Yes, it hurts! It hurts! It hurts!" "Good, that''s why I''m breaking it." With a swift and harsh crack, Davey effortlessly broke the vampire''s arm. He then cracked his knuckles, balled his hand into a fist, and met the oncoming vampires with a fierce glare. [Demon Yigr¡¯s Supression] [Breaking Bones] Davey thought, ¡®Go on, try taking a hit¡­ Hold on a sec! It struck your bone! You should have heard that.¡¯ Crack! "Ugh!" Amid the eerie sound of splitting bones, one of the vampires fell to the ground, his eyes wide with shock. Davey thought, ¡®I guess you guys aren''t immortal anymore, huh?¡¯ The rogue vampires, now horrifically mutated, had gone so far as to grant the power of immortality even to their lowliest ranks. It was evident that the presence or absence of certain entities from the abyss affected this situation. The vampire Davey had annihilated with his transcendent black magic exhibited a force that perfectly mirrored the subtle sensation marking every instance of the vampires deploying their immortality. Naturally, once the entity providing them power through the rift disappeared, it was inevitable for the vampires'' twisted immortality to vanish. A sense of foreboding had been there, but the confirmation was chilling nonetheless. "Gulp...gulp..." The defeat of one vampire within a split second had a chilling effect on the rest. They instinctively recoiled from Davey, sensing that something had gone terribly wrong. One of them, desperate to survive, reached out toward a nearby girl, intending to take a hostage. "Don''t move, or this one dies." Well, hostage situations were Davey''s forte. Holding the subdued vampire by the back of his neck, Davey warned the others, "I was faster. Hands off! Or else." "Ugh... You vile human!" "Who tried to snatch a hostage first?" "This despicable woman..." Crack!! One particularly angry vampire was suddenly flung backward by an unexpected impact, and he splattered against a solid rock. Concurrently, a pure, brilliant light began to form in Davey''s hand. [6th Level] [Holy Fire Ball] Zwoosh!! The vampires, sensing the impending danger, started to distance themselves from Davey. Unfazed, he pointed his radiant hand toward one of them and released the amassed light. "Didn''t I tell you not to move?" A massive column of light, tens of centimeters in radius, shot toward them. The vampires, realizing the imminent danger, tried to flee. "Argh, aaaaargh!" But before they could make their escape, they were engulfed by the sacred flame, reduced to nothing more than ashes. ¡®Quite the spectacle,¡¯ Davey admitted. Lower-ranking vampires, who were not blessed with the true power of immortality, had no choice but to accept their demise when inflicted with a fatal wound. "No, you can''t be-!" one vampire cried out in realization of the attacker''s identity. But even before his cry could fully escape his lips, Davey swept his legs from beneath him. As he fell, Davey pressed his hand against the vampire''s forehead, grinning like a madman. "Don''t call a perfectly fine man a woman." [8th Level Holy Magic] [Large Holy Fire Ball] Boom!!!! An enormous shockwave accompanied by a concentrated holy flame swallowed him whole, resembling a dragon''s breath. As another comrade turned to nothing but ashes, the remaining vampires scattered in a desperate attempt to escape. "They''re getting away!" several students exclaimed, yet Davey made no move to chase the fleeing vampires. "Go on, Illyna. It''s up to you now." "You... just you wait and see." She displayed a sly grin that swiftly hardened into an icy mask of determination. Then, she drew her silver greatsword, Caldeiras. Suddenly, a blue aura erupted from her, and a sharp energy blade formed at the tip of her sword. Thump!!!! The agility of a sword master was an asset, a strategic weapon even. The wrath she felt facing the bane of her existence was immense, further augmented by the prank Davey had pulled on her. She vanished in a flash of her sword, leaving the students to bear the brunt of the shockwave. They collapsed to the ground, staring blankly ahead. "What in the world... What just happened¡­?" they murmured in disbelief and shock. Davey approached them, scanning the fallen students bleeding on the ground. Even though they had undergone intensive training in a short period, they were still not ready for actual combat. "You''re fearless, aren''t you? Running headfirst into battle, do you even know where you are?" The students fell silent, unable to respond. Davey glanced at them once more before reaching into the void again, retrieving several bottles of potion. Davey sprayed the concoction over those who were critically injured. The students looked at the potion with curiosity, wondering what it could be. It was commonly known that there was no such thing as a miracle cure-all potion that could heal everything simply by being consumed or sprayed on. "Shaira Minsti, come here." Upon hearing Davey''s somewhat lighter voice, a girl with her hair tied in a ponytail looked at him startled. "H-how do you know my name..." "Molly Saelyn, Alyssa Yosefov, come out and stop hiding." The students whose names Davey called were visibly surprised and slowly approached him with widened eyes. It seemed they still had not figured out who Davey was. Undeniably, it was not a matter of facial recognition; the issue was that Davey''s stature had significantly diminished, making it hard for them to recognize him. "Um... Who are you? How do you know our names..." Alyssa Yosefov questioned the woman before her with a cautious look on her face. It was inevitable that she would be confused, as it was unusual for a stranger to suddenly know them so well, despite having saved them. In response to Alyssa''s cautious approach, Davey gently rolled up her sleeve. "Eek¡­" Her swollen, reddened arm came into view. It was a clear fracture, and a nasty one at that. "It''s a complete fracture. It needs to be set correctly, so grit your teeth." Snap! "Aaaaah!!!" Alyssa Yosefov collapsed, screaming in pain, causing the other students to stand up abruptly. They looked at Davey warily. "Why are you doing this? Who are you?" ¡®I''m your teacher,¡¯ Davey thought. Just as Davey was about to respond to the question, a boy with an annoying look on his face appeared from behind and blocked Davey''s path. "You idiots! Is it right to be wary of the person who just saved your lives?! Such poor manners, even in front of a lady! Are all royalty and nobles like you? Did you think she is our crazy teacher?" ¡®Crazy teacher?¡¯ Davey thought. In contrast to Davey''s surprise, the other students nodded in apparent agreement. Satisfied with their response, the boy named Celvice turned to Davey and smiled brightly, despite his broken ribs. It was impressive how cheerful he could be despite his injury. "Haha, sir, I don''t even know how to express my gratitude! Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself. I''m Celvi..." Mid-sentence, Davey''s small hand landed on Celvice''s baby face. Normally, Davey could have grabbed his entire face with one hand, but due to his shrunken size, he could only grab Celvice''s cheek and jaw. "I do remember telling you to think carefully first when assessing an opponent." "Arghhhhhhhh!!!" "Celvice, do my words amuse you?" "Uh... Aaargh!! This... this touch!! Could it be, Mr. Davey?!" As he screamed in surprise, Davey instinctively pulled his hand back and stepped away. His clear embarrassment was evident, a slip-up he couldn''t recover from. ¡®What''s with this kid? Scary,¡¯ Davey remarked inwardly. * * * The students'' gaze keenly followed Davey''s movements, their eyes reflecting confusion. "Um... Mr. Davey?" "Yes?" "Are you really... I mean, you''re the Saint of the continent and also..." "A psychopath teacher!" "Who called me a psychopath?" One student cringed and hid at Davey''s question. However, he was soon dragged out in front of Davey due to the relentless heckling of his peers. Such was the warmth of their camaraderie. "You traitors!" "If you want to die, die alone." "Don''t drag us into this." ¡®So heartwarming indeed.¡¯ Davey was amused. "So, a psychopath, huh?" "Ahahah..." The boy let out an awkward laugh as he observed Davey''s smile. "But are you really our teacher? You¡¯re a woman... Aargh!!" The punishment was swift. "Te-Teacher! I''m sorry! I was wrong!" Watching the boy scream, Davey wore a sinister smile as he increased the pressure. Thud!! Thump!! While Illyna''s mana raged wildly, indicating that she had started dealing with the vampires, Davey''s focus remained solely on the students. "Just one more time," Davey said quietly, his gaze fixed on him, "If you make another uncalled-for comment about me being a ''lady'' or ''woman''..." Davey fell silent, causing those around him to nervously swallow. He ran a finger across his throat and smiled coldly. He said, "I trust you can figure out what would happen. Do I truly appear to be a woman to you? Are your eyes merely for show?" Davey thought, ¡®Currently, I''m genderless. My appearance has changed accordingly, but the only elements that could possibly make me look feminine are my hair and facial features.¡¯ "Well... Your physique does seem more masculine than feminine." "Honestly, it''s easy to get confused. These days, who judges someone based on their body? They look at the face first. The great alchemist Bleeping, who studies humans, said that when people meet, they first focus on the face. And your voice seems to have become more neutral than before, Teacher." Davey shifted his gaze to the protesting student, who immediately backed off, trembling as if he had seen a ghost. What was the point of having a conversation with these students? Meanwhile, another student clapped his hands and said, "That''s right. The silver-haired lady asked us to bring you to her if we ever saw you, Mr. Davey." "Silver-haired? Oh... That incredibly beautiful person..." "Really?" "What''s with you guys? Didn''t you guys only met her once by chance?" "How can we forget such a beautiful person?" Theft is never good, try looking at [ pawread dot com ]. Upon hearing one boy''s comment, the other boys agreed, and the female students couldn''t help but display jealous expressions. She would definitely be looking for Davey. It would be polite to go to her quickly if she was throwing such cute tantrums. "Oh! Speaking of which, representatives from the alliance came to our territory! They said you disappeared!" "That''s right! That''s right!" Davey thought, ¡®Is the war not completely over yet? And I''m being accused of desertion for not going back?¡¯ "Who can stop me when I say I''m knocking off work?" ¡®I''ve done enough,¡¯ Davey thought. CH 355 Unfamiliar sensations overwhelmed Perserque as everything she saw, smelled, and tasted felt new yet bitter. She had longed for a physical form, but the cost of attaining it was steep. Among all the losses she had endured, the absence of a certain individual was the most significant. The silver-haired girl had refrained from eating for two days already. "Is the food not to your liking?" the green-haired girl, Tanya, cautiously asked. Perserque paused, then shook her head. "No... it''s fine." Unfamiliarity lingered. She had existed for a long time, spanning nearly three thousand years. Much of that time had been spent in slumber, but it was undeniably an eternity for a living being. She had spent ages as the Dark Lord without needing to respect anyone else. Even her imprisonment within a sword hadn''t altered that. Her speech mannerisms felt the most out of place. "I heard from Rinne. She said you''re going to marry Brother..." "Ah..." Upon hearing Tanya''s remark, Perserque''s eyes widened momentarily before she looked away. ''Davey, you jerk...'' What kind of madness had he instigated in her absence? First, Rinne, who had seemingly been waiting for her, escorted her back to their territory and kept a watchful eye on her. Then, the servants showed her utmost respect, treating her like royalty. To top it off, rumors about her impending engagement circulated. Even Yuria Helishana, the leader of the Moon Forest Elves, had approached her when she was shocked after awakening and offered her a ring blessed by a spirit, intended for the wedding ceremony. These events had unfolded within just three days. It had been exactly three days since she had arrived. As she still found it incredibly hard to move away from her bed, she refrained from going out too much. She would only feel guilty if she collapsed, burdening the people of Heins territory who served her respectfully under Davey''s orders. Eventually, Perserque asked everyone she met to pass a message to Davey when they saw him: "You will get it from me when you are back." She knew that the message wouldn''t reach him properly, but she yearned to confront him about his actions and ensure his safety. "Ah..." Lost in thought, Perserque realized she was a bit too concerned about him. She tightly shut her eyes. "Are... Are you not feeling well?" "No, I''m fine. I just don''t have an appetite. I''m sorry to worry you." Perserque''s voice resembled a rolling marble. Tanya smiled. Perserque would have understood if suspicion and caution had been the immediate responses to the appearance of a girl with horns¡ªa symbol of demons¡ªand an unclear origin. Yet, those who followed Davey treated her with overwhelming respect unconditionally, as if her word was law. From a demon''s perspective, it was almost guilt-inducing as their respect was overwhelming. "Sigh... Please try to eat a little. If you feel unwell, I''ll call the doctor." "Thanks... I mean, thank you, Princess Tanya." "I''ve heard that you''re someone very important to my brother. That makes you as good as a sister to me." "I... I don''t think I can live up to such expectations, Princess." "Oh, you''re so modest." Tanya, flashing a bright smile, handed Perserque a gemstone. "This is a stone blessed by spirits. It''s said in the legends to ease discomfort. I brought it for you." "Thank you. I''ll treasure it." Under normal circumstances, she would have been relaxed. But her current state of anxiety made such composure impossible. "Rest well." Tanya smiled and left the room. The moment the door was closed, Perserque''s expression hardened. Theft is never good, try looking at [ pawread dot com ]. "Foolish girl..." Perserque wanted to chastise herself for her foolishness, as she was the one who had brought about this situation. Silently sighing, she gazed out the window at the clear, sunny sky. Even if she didn''t know where she belonged, she knew where she didn''t. The world didn''t recognize her, and to Perserque, it felt as awkward as if more than half of her body was paralyzed. "It''ll be okay... It has to be." Was it because she had grown attached? Even the simplest movement felt odd, distracting her. Her thoughts were consumed by the fact that Davey had dragged her away from the Dark Lord''s throne, assumed the position, received divine punishment, and then vanished. She couldn''t possibly be unaware of the divine punishment. The problem was that the punishment Davey had received was more severe than she had anticipated. She struggled to predict whether Goddess Freyja, who had crafted the grand flow of destiny, would forgive Davey for disrupting it or if she would be enraged enough to bestow divine punishment. But that wasn''t the only issue. The fact that Illyna was also caught up in this and the anxiety over the abyss''s potential actions now that she was no longer the Dark Lord weighed on her. What about the position of the Dark Lord? The seat of the Dark Lord imposed certain constraints. It required her to bear the responsibility of the demons in exchange for immense power. Davey, the new Dark Lord, had recently waged a war against humans. If this fact became known across the continent, nothing good would come of it. She had more than a few things to worry about. "So please come back soon..." She wished she could berate him for his actions. As she internally voiced these complaints, suddenly, the tightly shut door opened again. Turning her head instinctively, Perserque was slightly surprised to see a little girl peeking in from beyond the large door. "Aeonitia... Princess." She almost reflexively addressed her in a familiar way but quickly corrected herself. This was the first time Perserque and Aeonitia were meeting one-on-one. Aeonitia, the quiet little girl who had just entered, gracefully brushed back her hair and lowered her head. "I''m sorry for intruding without any prior notice." "Not at all. Please, come in." "I''ve heard you''re a wizard. A very skilled one. But this is my brother''s bedroom. You seem...familiar with it." Perserque instinctively reached toward the cabinet, then hesitated. This girl was incredibly observant. Despite her young age, Aeonitia had remarkably keen eyes. "What do you mean?" "Oh, nothing. Just that... I''ve never seen you with my brother, but you seem very familiar with his room." Aeonitia adjusted her small horn-rimmed glasses and murmured cautiously, "So, this implies that you''ve come here frequently." At this matter-of-fact statement, Perserque responded with a wry smile, much like one would smile when seeing a precocious sibling. "Oh, you''re sharp, Princess." "Please, speak freely. I''ve already heard the story." That she was to be married to Davey. Marriage¡ªwhy did that word sound so strange? Perserque, who was silently clenching her fists, quickly used her demonic energy to open the cupboard, selecting the least peculiar tea leaves that Yuria had prepared and putting them in a teacup. She didn''t know what he had said, but the word "marriage" still felt incredibly awkward. She was aware that she felt something different for him, but that was a separate issue. "I presume you''ve spent a long time with my brother." "Why do you think so?" "Because your habits are similar. As if you were once one body." Aeonitia¡¯s observational skills were extraordinary. Tanya and Winley¡ªtheir skills were good, but their talents were commonly seen on the continent. Many could reach such a level with the right circumstances, effort, and talent. But Aeonitia was different. Only then did Perserque understand why Davey had described Aeonitia as having unparalleled talent, albeit in a different way from Illyna. Illyna, who had developed her own swordsmanship just by watching, and Aeonitia, who, despite her young age, had an extraordinary ability to observe, a rich imagination, and the ability to make cool-headed judgments, made his connections truly surprising. Just as Perserque was about to slowly pour hot water and offer it to Aeonitia, the usually quiet area''s silence was broken by ruckus for the first time in a while. "Hey! Are you trying to dodge an inspection?!" Without a word, Perserque glanced outside the window and spotted a few men bearing the emblem of the alliance, leading some knights. "The Holy Empire has made an announcement." "Announcement?" "Yes, a divine revelation has been received. Annihilate the demons and vampires. Public execution of the demons and vampires. It seems that the Holy Empire is now actively hunting down any demons or vampires they can find. They say that anyone who hides or aids them will be referred to the heresy tribunal¡­" How long had it been since the war ended? As she expressed her surprise, Perserque suddenly realized that the knights and the men leading them outside the window were looking toward Davey''s bedroom, where she was. "Sister! Duck!" At the same time, Aeonitia grabbed Perserque and pulled her down. "I heard a rumor. They are the ruthless Paladins looking for demons and vampires. It''ll be very troublesome if we''re found out." The Paladins'' trials were quite infamous. They autonomously referred those deemed as demons to trial, with an almost one hundred percent conviction rate. The moment guilt was confirmed, they were well-known for sentencing entire families to the stake. Without Davey, the central figure, the Heins territory was more insecure than ever. But wasn''t this strange? Their arrival was too well-timed, as if they knew there was a demon here. Perserque''s expression subtly hardened. CH 356 After the war ended, the tasks at hand were to recover from the damage, eliminate the remnants of the enemy, and take care of post-war rewards. The landscape had started shifting oddly five days prior when the war abruptly came to an end. An old proverb stated that too many cooks spoil the broth. Whether the cooks spoiled the broth or the broth spoiled the cooks, what mattered was that these individuals, each with their own agendas, began contemplating how to exploit the war''s outcome. This seemed to apply to the Holy Empire as well. Apart from the Three Empires, the Holy Empire was essentially the largest country. With its formidable military force, its status couldn''t be casually disregarded even by the Three Empires. Its already exceptional power was further reinforced by the fact that ninety percent of the continent''s believers worshipped the Goddess Freyja, spanning across all countries. Would the Holy Empire, which had endured for over a thousand years, be without any issues? Perserque could only firmly shake her head. She slowly raised her head and glanced out the window once more. If it weren''t for the horns adorning her head or the color of her pupils, there would be no suspicion that she was a demon. However, considering the nature of the Paladins, they would easily identify her as such. Indeed, when she was sealed in Caldeiras, she had witnessed Illyna''s outrage upon hearing the tale of a woman and her entire family being burned at the stake¡ªa woman who was branded a witch for her bewitching beauty. As a result, the Emperor of the Pallan Empire was infuriated, completely withdrawing support for the Holy Empire and quelling the Paladins'' momentum within it. If the Paladins were to become active again, it would spell trouble for her. Currently, she was not powerless, but she couldn''t erase her existence. Feeble illusion magic would only arouse suspicion. Perserque was about to quietly raise her head and assess the situation when she realized that the knights of the Alliance, who had been joking with Chamberlain Bernile, had vanished. Simultaneously, Aeonitia''s eyes widened as she leaped up and made her way outside. "Stay here! You absolutely cannot come out!" Perserque wanted to prevent Aeonitia from rashly venturing outside, but in a situation where even standing up was challenging, she had no choice but to remain silent. "What do you think you''re doing? This is the imperial chambers. How dare you intrude upon the castle without an appointment!" "We apologize for coming so abruptly, Princess. But we also need to verify," the man''s voice said. Tanya swiftly arrived, her somewhat subdued protest echoing from behind the door. "That is outrageous. This is the bedroom of the saint that you yourselves recognize. Is it permissible for someone from the Holy Empire to come in so brazenly?" Perserque closed her eyes slowly as she listened to the conversation. She then opened her eyes once more, and it was as if the door was gradually turning transparent, revealing the scenes happening behind it. "We know that very well. How could we not know that this is the bedroom of the Holy Empire''s saint? However, we had no choice because there was a report. Please forgive us." "What you are doing right now is extremely rude." Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the "pawread dot com" "Why won''t you move aside? If there really is no problem, you could just show us." "There has never been such a thing. Even if you call yourselves the Paladins of the Holy Empire, it''s unprecedented to brazenly invade the room where a member of a foreign imperial family stays, isn''t it?" Following Tanya''s voice, Aeonitia''s protest continued. "If there is no precedent, then this will become one." "We will definitely protest this to the Holy Empire. The moment my brother returns, you are doomed." Aeonitia gritted her teeth, evidently livid. The Paladins and Holy Knights of the Alliance, who appeared to have intentionally come looking for trouble, took another step forward. "Do as you please. I''ll even give you my head if there are no issues. But you must know this: what we are doing is by decree of Goddess Freyja," the man asserted. Perserque clenched her fist. If her demon existence were to be discovered here, it would be troublesome. Thus, she needed to find a way to quickly escape from here. She still couldn''t use spatial transfer magic, and if she used magic to hide herself, she had a high risk of being detected. How should she handle this? Maybe if she just hid her horns... ¡®No, that''s not going to work,¡¯ she thought. If these men who seemed to have come with a clear intent were to cast a suspicious eye on her... ¡®Then, maybe...¡¯ Upon making a decision, she began to gather her demonic energy. While she was unsure about many things, she did not want the people here to suffer because of her. In that case, she should boldly reveal that she was a demon... "No... No... How should I handle this...?" Just as she was in the throes of her dilemma, a physical altercation had begun. Perserque bit her lower lip. "Excuse me, please step aside. If you continue to be uncooperative, we will have to use force," warned the man from the Holy Empire. "Do as you please. The moment you draw your swords, the entire territory will turn against you." "We are the Paladins of the Holy Empire and also the leaders of the Alliance. It seems you''re not fully aware of the current situation... The Saint, Davey, is currently being sought within the Alliance for the crime of desertion. Are you aware of this?" Tanya and Aeonitia recoiled at the man''s threatening words. Immediately, the Holy Knights moved to physically restrain the two women. "Hey, let go of me!" "What are you doing? How dare you lay your hands on the princess of a country, especially within her own territory!" Their struggle intensified. Tanya, though proficient in archery, lacked physical strength. Aeonitia, being a young child with virtually no physical abilities, was even more disadvantaged. "No!" Tanya''s scream incited an uproar within the castle. Woosh!! Clang! "Unhand her! How dare you to lay your hands on a princess in her own territory?" Dozens of soldiers, led by Captain of the Guard Monmider, appeared. In a tense standoff, the Holy Knights swiftly drew their swords. "This is the territory of Prince Davey! How dare a member of the Holy Empire intrude upon the dwelling of the only Saint on the continent! Aren''t you afraid of divine retribution?" "How many times do I have to repeat myself?" The Holy Knight advanced toward Monmider and¡­ Bam!!! He kicked Monmider away. "Ugh!" The kick, imbued with holy power, was too much for Monmider, who had only just started to harness mana. He groaned, "Ugh...!" "Captain!" "You¡­ You bastards!" Clang!! Clang!! With swords clashing, the atmosphere turned frosty. Aeonitia''s eyes widened in shock, and Tanya covered her mouth in surprise. "Ugh¡­ Ugh..." Monmider coughed up blood. As Monmider tried to get up, the Holy Empire''s Paladin slowly approached him, gently pushing down on his shoulder and meeting his gaze. "Look here, Captain of the Heins Territory." "..." "Should I stop for a sword wielded by someone of your mere rank?" "I will repay this insult..." "Do as you please. Oh, it seems like I''ve forgotten something..." With a sigh, he drew a thin, needle-like knife. Whoosh!! Without hesitation, he stabbed Monmider''s shoulder. "Ahhhhhh!!" "Noo!" "Monmider!!" The cries of the two princesses and Monmider''s scream of pain echoed around. "It seems like they''re hiding a demon. Arrest the guards and take the two princesses into custody with care. Send a message to our home country and initiate the trial as soon as we received a response." "Hey, let me go!!" Clank! Clank! The room was filled with the sounds of armor colliding as the Holy Knights overstepped their boundaries, restraining the two princesses and subduing Monmider. Perserque, who had silently observed the situation, slowly rose to her feet with her fists clenched tightly. She took a short breath, propping her body up with her staff. There was no choice. The Paladins'' "trial" was not a trial, but a process of conviction. She couldn''t understand why the Holy Empire was doing such a reckless thing. But now that it had come to this, she would protect those three people. Slowly, demonic power began to gather in her hand. Yes, she was in a withered state, but she had once been the Demon Lord. She was anything but ordinary. Suddenly, the monotonous creak of a wooden window opening echoed in her ear. Creak... Creak. Quiet footsteps that seemed to take control of the surrounding space began to echo. Perserque was frozen in place, surprised, and then slowly turned her head. She felt a slender hand lightly stroking her head. "Patients should stay in bed. If you ignore the doctor''s words, you might get a painful injection." It was a leisurely and quiet voice. Perserque looked up with a blank gaze at the person who had spoken to her. The intruder had long, black hair and stood about 160cm tall, with a slender physique. She had never seen this person before. "Who..." But she couldn''t finish her sentence. It was hard to tell whether the slender figure was male or female, and her eyes widened as she looked at them through the power of the abyss. ¡®This can''t be. He''s not supposed to look like this.¡¯ "Da... Davey?" After pondering for a moment, Perserque called out to the figure walking past her toward the bedroom door. "Davey?! Is that you, Davey?!" "Yes." The voice was softer than usual, but the feeling was unmistakable. What had happened while Davey was being punished by the gods? Regardless, she couldn''t hide her joy. It meant that he had returned safely. Who cared if his appearance had changed a bit? They had spent more time together, joking and conversing for several months, than most people would in several years. Creak... Davey opened the door without hesitation and looked straight at those trying to break into the room using the hilts of their swords. Perserque, in turn, looked at Davey''s back¡ªa smaller back than she was used to. But then again, only his appearance had changed. He was still Davey. "Who the hell do you bastards think you are, crawling in here?" Boom!!! With a strange noise, a couple of holy knights were flung out through the wall. "Huh?" Visible perplexity appeared on the faces of the people outside. Among them, the most dumbfounded was the Paladin of the Holy Empire. Davey turned his head nonchalantly, noticing Monmider bound by ropes and the two princesses being dragged out. After a moment of silence, he spoke to the Paladin. "Hey." "Who...are you?" "None of your business, bastard." Swish! A red flash was the only visible sign of his swift movement. The next moment, the Paladin''s head was flying. Despite being a Paladin with significant power, his end came disappointingly quick and clean. "Who dares to lay a hand on them?" His voice was chillingly cold, and he seemed genuinely furious. He had never been this cold, even in similar situations. Perserque, sitting on the floor, watched him with wide eyes from behind. CH 357 The event unfolded quickly and silenced the scene. Thud... Thud... Amidst the silence, a man strode forward unflinchingly, his frosty expression contrasting with his otherwise handsome features. "You have three seconds to explain this situation to me." His calm voice only intensified the silence. "Three." In truth, he didn''t care about the explanation. "Ding, time''s up." Thwack!!! He kicked the headless body away and yelled at the guards, sparing only the fallen Monmider. "Do something. Round them all up. The charge? Disturbing the peace and causing a fiasco." The power of a Saint exceeded that of the royal family in certain circumstances. "Yes... Yes!" Intimidated by Davey, the guards swiftly moved to restrain the Paladins. "This strange witch dares to impersonate the Saint! In the name of Goddess Freyja, I shall smite this witch¡ª" There were always a few hardliners among the Paladins. The Paladin who could not accept the female figure as Davey raised his sword with conviction. He was swiftly struck in the groin and sent crashing into a wall. It was a merciless attack. Thwack!! "Are you blind? Who looks like a witch? Take them away before I decide to kill them all." Davey was already in a foul mood and had no intention of letting these fools off the hook. Regardless of the Paladins'' motives, they had threatened his siblings, injured a loyal servant, and, most importantly, had been chasing after Perserque. With his thoughts clouded by matters concerning his family, Davey saw no reason to be lenient with the Paladins. Amidst the silence, he approached Aeonitia and Tanya, both visibly trembling. He asked, "Are you injured?" "Are... are you Brother Davey?" Tanya asked, clearly startled. "Yes." "H-How did you...?" "I had a bit of a rough day. I''ll be back to normal soon." As Davey flashed a reassuring grin, Tanya''s eyes widened. She seemed taken aback because, even though everything else seemed familiar, Davey''s physical appearance was completely different. Aeonitia trembled sporadically. Fortunately, they were both relatively unharmed. Davey sat down, leaving the quickly suppressed and humiliated Paladins behind, and focused on Monmider, who was vomiting blood. "I''m... I''m sorry. I wasn''t good enough..." "No, you did well." As Davey gently placed his hand on Monmider''s forehead, a warm glow radiated. The light infiltrated Monmider''s body, and his bluish, discolored skin gradually regained its original color. "Cough! Thank you, my Lord!" Although his words acknowledged Davey, Monmider still looked at Davey with some uncertainty, as if trying to reconcile the Davey in front of him with the Davey he knew. "I did tell you to be cautious of people." "I''m, I''m sorry." "Go inside and rest for now. And keep an eye on those damn fanatics." "Yes, my Lord!" Upon his order, the guards promptly dispersed. It felt as if a storm had just passed. Davey remembered something similar from the past. Even though he now held a noble title, there was a time when he had executed a priest for harassing Amy, who was his personal maid at the time. The issue was the difference in hierarchy between a low-ranking clergyman and a high-ranking Paladin of the Heresy Tribunal. ¡®So is this a serious issue? No,¡¯ Davey thought. Silently, he stroked Aeonitia''s head. She looked up at him, somewhat puzzled, and asked, "You really...are Brother Davey, right?" "Yeah." "But... Gasp! No¡­ It''s nothing." Having been through so much due to the rebellion, Aeonitia was quite perceptive. "Luckily, both of you were not seriously injured. That must have been scary, though. Go to your rooms and rest." Davey noticed that Tanya wanted to talk to him. First, however, he turned his head to Amy, who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion. "Gasp!" Amy was flustered and unsure of what to do. Her eyes kept darting around until Davey finally spoke to her. "Amy." "Yes! My Lord...! My Lord?" Her response came out of reflex, but as she looked at his face, she still seemed perplexed. However, there was something familiar about Davey''s appearance. "My Lord? You... It''s you, right?" "Yes." "I''m sorry, my Lord! I failed to attend to the two princesses¡­" "It''s okay. From now on, we cut off all transactions and financial support heading toward the Holy Empire." Amy¡¯s eyes widened. The Holy Empire traditionally received a certain amount of taxes from affluent territories and provided periodic support to its clergy. ¡®Clergy support? Let them starve and suffer,¡¯ Davey thought. "Freeze all funds heading toward the Holy Empire. Also, completely sever all other transactions with them." The Paladins may not have been acting under orders from the Holy Empire. However, regardless of their intentions, it was not a concern of Davey''s whether there was internal discord within the empire. It was only natural for those who couldn''t even manage their own house to suffer the consequences. "I won''t accept any objections. Do you understand?" Davey emphasized his point in a cold voice. "Yes, my Lord!" Such a measure would inevitably cause discord between the Holy Empire and the Heins territory. Considering the Holy Empire''s influence and their importance, it was an extremely dangerous act. Yet, he did not retract his decision. ¡®Let''s see who bleeds more. This is just the beginning.¡¯ He looked at the blood-stained corridor for a long time, leaving Amy behind as she hurried away to carry out his orders. Blood had been spilled in this manor, where there should have been none. A bitter sigh escaped his lips as he silently surveyed his surroundings. "Sigh... Ugh..." At that moment, he heard someone approaching from behind him. "Davey... I''m sorry..." It was a voice filled with sorrow. The owner of the voice believed that this situation had occurred because of her, and she appeared visibly upset. Slowly turning his head, Davey grabbed her horns and pushed her against the wall. Thud!! To access the premium content, go to [ pawread dot com ]. "Gah!" A rather cute scream escaped Perserque, who was being pushed back. "Haah¡­ I''ve been waiting for this." "Huh?! Get, get off!" Realizing Davey¡¯s intentions, she panicked and flailed about. She protested, "Don''t make a fool out of me! Is this what you wanted to do after coming back with that bizarre look?! I am not a toy! Let me go!" Davey observed Perserque as she cried out and struggled with a flushed face. After a while, he slowly released her and then embraced her. He asked, "Does it hurt anywhere?" With a flushed face, she avoided his gaze and muttered softly, "...No. But what is all this talk about getting married? You live such a reckless life, but this is going too far." Her voice was faint, but he could hear it clearly. "So?" he asked, slightly furrowing his brows. With her eyes looking visibly startled, Perserque nodded briefly before she continued. "Again, I don''t have a preference for younger men! And if you were going to resurrect me, you should have put me in a human form! What''s the reason for putting these massive horns on my head, especially knowing about the war between demons and humans!" The horns of the Dark Lord, similar to those of demons, symbolized their power. Perserque, unlike previous Dark Lords, had acquired a significant amount of power. As a result, her horns were much larger than those of other demons, which were about the size of a finger joint. Hers seemed more appropriate for a dragon. "The horns look nice¡­ They were designed to be comfortable." "My horns are not meant for satisfying your desires. From the start, if I didn''t have these horns, I wouldn''t have been suspected... Huh?" As she shot back coldly, Davey reached out and grabbed her horns. She looked at him perplexed¡ªher horns had simply detached from her forehead and were now in his hands. Her forehead now looked like an ordinary human''s, with no scars or injuries, as if the horns had never been there. "Didn''t you know? You can remove them; they respond to mana." The shock on Perserque''s face wouldn''t go away. ¡®Your physical body, in a sense, is the flesh of a demon beneath the skin of a human. It doesn''t tire easily, it changes very little over time, and even if it''s injured or broken, it can heal itself by utilizing mana. This technology is also currently employed by the Decepticon Fleet and the new Avenger Golems,¡¯ Davey thought. * * * Several days had passed since the Paladins had stormed the Heins territory. Squeak¡­ The door opened quietly, and Alice, the former Saint candidate, walked in, wearing her plain white outfit. As she was escorted by the central Paladins, there were only two people in her sight: Lena, the soon-to-be Saintess and the only remaining Saint candidate, and Cydelis Shoren Harezelem, the current Pope of the Holy Empire. "Your Holiness." "I am glad that you arrived safely, Saintess Candidate Alice." "I am now an archbishop. The Saintess Candidate position is too much for me." "Ah... Haha... Alice, it''s been a while," Lena said. "Yes, it has. Have you been studying a lot?" "Hehe... Well..." "Sigh... You''re always like that." "I''m, I''m sorry," Lena shrunk under Alice''s reprimand. "I''m not blaming you specifically. But now that you''re the only Saintess Candidate, you should at least handle some pressure. You can''t live a leisurely life forever, can you?" Lena turned gloomy as Alice scolded her. She was just a young lady who loved to go outside whenever she wanted to eat delicious honey bread, see the lively streets, and enjoy beautiful sunsets. Unfortunately, the Saintess position could not be held with dreams alone, except for the monstrous prince of the Heins territory. Who would doubt that he was a Saint after witnessing his tremendous power? Of course, most in the Holy Empire were unaware of his abilities. "What is it that you wanted to tell me before I leave the Holy Empire? Also, you even called Lena here," Alice asked with a short sigh. Pope Cydelis broke out in a cold sweat and let out a sigh. "That''s the thing. As I told Lena, the Heresy Tribunal of the Holy Empire has split. Someone is causing discord in the Holy Empire. They took advantage of our attention being drawn to this war." "Heresy... Tribunal..." Alice gritted her teeth at those words. It was not a term that evoked good feelings. After all, it was a gathering of fanatics. "What''s the problem? It won''t be relevant to me since I am about to leave the territory..." "The problem is that they claim to have received a divine revelation to find and kill the demons. We don''t know if this revelation is real, but those fanatics have begun to stir up quite a fuss." "That''s not good. So... what should we do?" It didn''t have anything to do with her anyway. She was about to leave for the Heins territory. "The problem is, it seems they''ve turned the Heins territory upside down. They took advantage of Prince Davey, the Saint, being absent." "Oh..." Alice''s eyes bulged. Cold sweat trickled down her back. "Don''t tell me... They caused some commotion there..." "They did." It was a calm response. But the voice didn''t belong to Pope Cydelis or Lena. It was a familiar tone, but oddly low. "Huh?!" Surprised, Alice turned her head and saw a girl leisurely sitting in one corner of the reception room, playing with her hand. Well, she was a bit androgynous to be simply called a girl. "Who¡­" "I am the owner of the territory." That one sentence made Alice''s face turn pale. "Right now, I''ve placed seven spells of the 8th Circle at two thousand meters in the air. You have ten minutes to explain yourself before I start dropping them." Davey stopped for a moment, then added, "Not enough? Should I add more?" He spoke in a jesting tone, but Alice could tell. His facial expressions conveyed that this person, presumably Prince Davey with his appearance changed, was genuinely upset. "Those damn fanatics need to know who they''ve messed with." ¡®You''re out of luck,¡¯ Davey thought. His smile did not resemble the one he had on his face while taking care of everything and treating patients on the battlefield. This smile was not warm but chillingly cold. CH 358 There was no need to confirm the specific location and manner in which Davey''s magic was manifesting. Boom! "Oh, we''re in trouble! Your Majesty! We''ve detected massive mana in the..." One of the priests who had noticed the magic cast in the sky rushed in and widened his eyes upon spotting Davey. [Sleep] Thud¡­ Davey believed that senseless killing was unnecessary. "I merely put him to sleep," Davey said as he withdrew his hand after reaching out to the collapsed priest. Except for Lena, both the Pope and Alice quickly grasped the absurdity of this act. For every magician, an incantation was required to cast even a low-ranking magic spell. It was beyond ridiculous for someone like Davey, known for defying common sense, to cast a spell so quickly and forcefully that a high-ranking priest couldn''t even notice it. This only made Alice more nervous. "Sister Alice... No, Archbishop." "Your Majesty, please entrust this matter to me," Alice said, her face wearing a bitter expression as she quietly bowed her head. "Alice, it''s a bit regretful to see you in this situation again." "That''s true. Ideally, I should be leaving to become a professor in charge of academic affairs at the Academy." "That offer is still valid, as long as you''re sure that you''re not involved in this commotion." Upon hearing Davey¡¯s words, Alice became anxious. The implication was clear: if she had any involvement in the disturbance, she wouldn''t be let off easily. On the contrary, Alice felt a bit puzzled. Prince Davey had an extremely unsaintly and ferocious temperament. He was greedy and very single-minded. However, he was also very rational. He adhered to an incredibly simple principle: if you did well, you would be rewarded, but if you did wrong, you would be punished. We are "pawread dot com", find us on google. Why, then, did he force his way here and start this show of force without any consultation or reasonable assessment of the situation? This was not just a show of force; it was almost a threat. "Don''t worry. I''m aware that the Church and the Heresy Tribunal have been in conflict for a long time," Alice responded. ¡®The entire church wouldn''t suddenly stab me in the back, would they? Unless there''s a divine decree or something. The leaders of the church aren''t insane enough to barge in without any procedure, especially when facing an opponent who is not a commoner but a powerful force on the continent. Even the church would be careful when dealing with the Lord of Heins territory, a major trading partner. It''s just a small territory, but every major nation considers Heins a more significant threat than the Rowane Kingdom,¡¯ Alice thought. "This is purely the Heresy Tribunal''s arbitrary decision," Alice added. The Heresy Tribunal was a real nuisance. They couldn''t be discarded, but their madness exceeded the normal level. "Well, nevertheless, there are quite a few people in the Church who benefit from their power." ¡®Why else would the blood-soaked Heresy Tribunal still exist? Just for their mission? Unlikely,¡¯ Alice thought. "Davey! It''s been a long time! This is the first time we''ve met since our encounter in the Pallan Empire!" Lena, the Saintess Candidate whose mind was filled with flowers and who embraced kindness to the core, appeared genuinely pleased to see Davey. She had been exceptionally friendly toward Davey from their initial meeting. As Lena moved to approach him, Alice quickly grabbed her and whispered in her ear, "Please, stay still for a moment." Someone needed to assess the situation and determine what to do, but Lena, lost in her flowery world, seemed unconcerned about that. More importantly, Davey, who was currently smiling, appeared even more unsettling to Alice than before. His physical appearance had changed, but that distinct eerie aura remained. "That''s right, Saintess Candidate Lena. I heard the news. You''ve been chosen as the final candidate." "Ehehe... That''s too kind," Lena said, placing her hands on her shoulders and looking innocently pleased, like a child. From the start, Lena had no interest in political fights. She was just incredibly kind and naive. Davey''s icy smile slightly softened at her smile. Alice did not miss this opportunity. "I heard the news. The Heresy Tribunal apparently received a divine message and conducted a rough investigation on your territory," Alice said. "Well, it happened." Who would threaten a nation just because they underwent an investigation? "I deeply regret that. However, please understand that this was not the official stance of the Holy Empire. I swear to God, neither the Pope, nor Lena here, nor myself had any knowledge of it." "If you swear, well, I still have to do what I have to do." Speaking flatly, Davey pushed his hand into thin air while sitting. A large staff was drawn into his hand. "Grow!" Wooong! Something invisible changed once again. Alice sharply sensed massive clumps of mana hanging in the sky, which began to condense like a large meteor. "It''s not the first time the Heresy Tribunal has conducted such a forceful investigation because they received a divine message. I understand that. But here''s the thing." ¡®They crossed the line without any fear,¡¯ Davey thought. "If there''s no guilt, there''s no problem. The intention is good. But the process was a bit rough, so my people got hurt," Davey added. ¡®I''ve heard that the Heresy Tribunal is often used in the Holy Empire to deal with corrupt clergy or to wield power,¡¯ Davey thought. "Firstly, calm down, Prince Davey. It doesn''t do any good for both of us if the conflict with the Holy Empire deepens," Alice hurriedly tried to calm him down but then abruptly shut her mouth, realizing her verbal mistake. "Doesn''t do any good..." Bang!! "It''s a disaster! Your Majesty! In the Heins territory¡­!¡± Thud! The second cleric fell. "Are you curious what that cleric was trying to say?" "..." "Heins territory has severed all trade with the Holy Empire. We have also ceased all donations that we used to provide." The amount of donations was so substantial that the Holy Empire had initiated a new mission project. Upon hearing this, Alice''s vision darkened. Indeed, Heins territory was amassing wealth far beyond what a single territory could generate. The Moon Pull project, which facilitated trade between the elves and dwarves... The Holy Empire, which used to receive modest donations from each territory, suddenly acquired a large sum of money thanks to Heins territory and eagerly embarked on a new mission project. "And then, some accursed Paladins invaded the investor''s house, assaulting and threatening the investor''s family?" ¡®What should be done in this case? Should the investment be recovered?¡¯ Davey thought. "First of all, the trade with the Holy Empire is over, and no more donations will be given." If another territory had made this decision, it would have been in great trouble. "If you don''t like our decision," Davey murmured flatly, his eyes flashing. At the same time, the bright outdoors started to darken. He then added, "It looks like it''s going to rain." Drop¡­Drop¡­Thump¡­Whooosh! As he spoke, an untimely downpour began. Alice rushed out with a pale face and cried, "Please calm down first!" "That''s not a very good answer." Roar! Suddenly, a thunderstorm erupted. It was not a mere coincidence of a natural phenomenon. The aura emanating from Davey''s entire body was far from ordinary. Roar! Crash! "Oops, my bad." And then, as if to make that threat a reality, a sudden bolt of lightning illuminated a stronger force. "Kyah!" Lena screamed, her eyes wide open, and asked, "Are you angry, Prince Davey? That''s not good... Your face is so pretty..." How should he respond to her innocent concern? As Davey''s smile subtly grew colder, Alice panicked and abruptly intervened. ¡®This crazy flower garden for real!¡¯ "I understand! We will take the issues you''ve raised into consideration! You can cease the trade as you wish! But no war! Absolutely not! This is not solely a problem between you and the Holy Empire!" At Alice¡¯s desperate cry, Davey nodded quietly. "Do you think I came here to start a war when we have the continental war prohibition treaty? I came only to notify you." ¡®Since when did you care about that? You even shook the Hyeon Empire upside down.¡¯ These words remained unspoken on Alice''s lips. Alice knew. She knew what Davey, who was aggressive and uncontrollably fierce, had done in the Hyeon Empire where his younger sister had been treated unfairly. "If you can identify those responsible for the misconduct in the Heins territory, there won''t be a problem." "Give me just one month. I will resolve this situation within a month. Even though you''re Prince Davey, it is the Holy Empire that should intervene in this matter, not you. I believe you are well aware that doing so will not benefit your reputation." At that, Davey grinned. "Alright then. Archbishop Alice seems willing to help, and it wouldn''t be good to become too enraged. However, a month is too long. Let''s make it three days." "T-Three days?! No way! The Heresy Tribunal is an independent body from the leaders of our Holy Empire! We do not influence each other! Three days is too short! At least two weeks..." "Three days." "Prince Davey! How can you resolve something that normally takes thirty days in just three days?!" "Three days." Roar!!! As if time was running out, the magic slowly started to rumble. "I''m going crazy! Really!! One week!" "Three days." "..." Seeing Davey''s unyielding stance, Alice looked at the Pope as if she had walked into a trap. The Pope shook his head slightly. "Okay. Three days... But promise me you won''t intervene." Observing her grumbling acceptance, Davey grinned. Simultaneously, the thunderclouds outside vanished completely, and the magic dissipated as if it had never existed. "Well..." "Well, it''s true that three days is too short," Davey replied. "...What will it take for you to extend the deadline?" Despite knowing she was being manipulated, Alice still made the suggestion. Since the Heresy Tribunal, a faction of the Holy Empire, had caused this chaos, there was no point in complaining about being dragged along. ''Ah... Ahhh!! Damn fanatics!!'' While cursing the fanatics in the Heresy Tribunal inwardly, Alice maintained her benevolent smile on the outside and asked, "Within reasonable means..." "Please store this in the sanctuary. Then I''ll extend the deadline to about a week." Seeing the black stone that Davey was holding, Alice''s eyes narrowed. "What is...that?" "It''s an enhancement item for my hobby. It''s valuable since I obtained it with difficulty and it''s not available elsewhere now." ¡®My projects have been advancing slowly these days. With this, I think I can create unique pieces that further surpass the boundaries,¡¯ Davey thought. At that, Alice thought, ¡®What does this man think the Holy Empire is, really?¡¯ CH 359 To Illyna, Perserque was familiar, yet odd in some ways. Due to her injuries, Perserque had spent the last few days either sitting on a bed or moving around in a wheelchair crafted by Davey. "A human... No, a demon can be that beautiful¡­? No wonder there are legends about succubuses." Illyna was well aware of her own beauty. Not out of vanity, but rather she accurately gauged others'' perceptions of her. Illyna was one of the six continental beauties. With the youngest princess of the Lyndis Empire quickly rising to the status of a continental beauty, the count had increased to six. So there were quite a few so-called ''national treasures'' on the continent, to borrow Davey''s words. Rumors even circulated that Illyna herself occupied one of these six spots, so she had quite a bit of confidence in her appearance. "She is genuinely beautiful...." In all her life, Illyna had never felt inferior in terms of her physical appearance, but the beauty of the demon named Perserque was so intense that it led to an unexpected bout of petulance. Whether adorned with horns or not, Perserque''s appearance had an allure that seemed to draw people in. She was the Demon Lord who had fought against the Sword God three thousand years ago, a close friend of her sword Caldeiras, and then, it seemed, a woman Davey was interested in. Her elegant demeanor was lightly tinged with mischief, her faint smile irresistible, and on top of that, her captivating silver hair and red eyes. She seemed like an artwork sculpted with divine dedication. Illyna knew well that this was not just an image born out of Davey''s imagination; she had once seen Perserque''s spirit in a vampire''s hideout. That spirit closely resembled her current form. Illyna had been aware of Perserque''s existence for some time. She knew that Perserque was growing fond of Davey as they spent time together. However, upon finally seeing Perserque in person, it was almost startling how hard it was to look away. Illyna had heard about the struggles Perserque had been through. She had also heard that before becoming the Demon Lord, Perserque had been the most cherished person to the Sword God, Ares. So, Illyna should have been glad that Perserque was doing well. But why was she feeling slightly conflicted about Davey getting along with Perserque? She should have been happy for the good news, but strangely enough, she felt as though she was losing her friend, Davey, to Perserque. "Friendship is about empathy, not possession...." Illyna left a note for Davey stating that she would be returning to the Pallan Empire. Dismissing her feelings as a product of fatigue, she took her leave. She then reached out to the person who had helped her the most when she was full of worries. "Sage Hellison... It''s Illyna." "Ah, the Princess has come to this old man again." "Please, just like usual... Sage." At her weak mumbling, the elderly man across the crystal ball looked at her, surprised. "Hm, you seem troubled. What''s wrong?" "Just... nothing really. I''m just feeling a bit confused." With a calm smile, she asked a question, "You helped directly in the war?" "Ha, what''s the use of an old man cooped up in his room? I should help whenever I can." "I see." "Tell me what''s going on," Helison asked with the kind smile of a grandfather. Illyna sighed before finally opening her mouth. "It''s about someone else''s story. Not mine, really. It''s just something I heard, seriously." She then explained the situation, insisting that it was not about her several times. Listening to her story silently was the prestigious great sage of the continent, Hellison Valestia, who looked at her like a grandparent watching a grandchild''s cute behaviors. "You''ve grown so much since you were a child." Listening to his calm words, Illyna was confused and shook her head. She asked, "What do you mean by that?" "It means you''ve fallen for the prince. And what you''re feeling toward the lady, is a feeling anyone would naturally have. It''s called jealousy." "No, I said the story is not about me!" Hellison Valestia only chuckled at Illyna''s blushing and her flustered denial. "Okay, okay. Let''s say it''s not about you. Yes," "Really... Are you going to keep going on like this, Sage?" "So, what do you want to do?" "I... I don''t know." "The emotions and desires are natural. It''s normal to feel jealous when you like someone. I was even worried because you seemed to have no interest in men at all. Haha!" With a laugh, Helison casually implied that the story was about Illyina herself. At this, Illyina could only sigh, having lost the energy to respond. "Jealousy... What a ridiculous thing to say." It was unthinkable. What could she possibly be lacking to make her like that psychopath? She had wanted to protect him because he seemed vulnerable in her eyes, and because he was an important friend. It also angered her that while he protected many people, no one was there to protect him. It made her wonder why no one understood him, even though he invested so much effort in others. These were the thoughts she was trying to rationalize. "Now, let me ask you something. If, as you say, it''s truly good that Davey and Perserque like each other, why can''t you even relay a single word of congratulations to Prince Davey?" "That''s because..." "You couldn''t do it, could you? You felt that if you congratulated him, he would drift further away. Isn''t that right?" Illyna stiffened at his words. * * * "Josiah Frances, stop drinking!" Josiah Frances, sipping Davey''s blood from a leather pouch, shrugged nonchalantly. "Stop drinking, you crazy bloodsucker. Are you not going to save precious blood? Are you going to drain it all?" "Gurgle, gurgle! Gurgle!" Josiah expressed her dissatisfaction while drinking blood. All Josiah had to do was remove the leather pouch from her mouth to speak, but she seemed too reluctant to do so. After sucking the last drop, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and smirked. "Hehe, it''s delicious! Sir, could you stay like this forever?" "Do you want to experience extreme survival in a cave again?" "No... I mean it tastes better now!" To Josiah Frances, Davey was nothing more than a mentor with delicious blood and an advisor. Since the Paladins came to the territory, Davey had sent all the students of Class F back to Shakuntala. But Josiah Frances decided to stay. Josiah decided that this place was safer for her than Shakuntala, given the social atmosphere. She was a vampire, specifically the head of the vampires. To outsiders, she might have seemed like a ticking time bomb that could explode at any moment, as all the moderate and radical vampires were viewed as despicable mosquitoes. Josiah was different from the other students. Upon seeing Davey, she had noticed something. The way she recognized Davey was simple: it was the scent of his blood. After awakening as the Vampire Lord, she often distinguished people by their unique scent, which only vampires could perceive. Naturally, even if Davey¡¯s physical appearance changed, his genes and aura did not change, so to her, he was still her mentor. "By the way, have you heard the news about the vampires?" "Yes. To be honest... I''m not sure if I should be here," she said with a bitter smile, "To be honest... even though they are my kin... I don''t really feel like they are. I''m a vampire, but besides sucking blood, I feel more like a human." At her words, I quietly nodded. As she had not fully awakened yet, she was closer to being human, possessing only the traits of the Vampire Lord. "So, sir." "What is it?" "In two weeks, you''ll change into a different form, right?" "That''s right." "Will the taste of your blood change then?" "What if I become a grotesque monster?" Davey could not be sure how his body would change, so he threw that question out there. At his words, she seemed to ponder for a moment before smiling faintly and saying, "Regardless, I''m not sucking it directly. Well, even if you become a monster, you''re still you." All she cared about was drinking delicious blood. "You haven''t been drinking anyone else''s blood, have you?" "The scent of blood from anyone other than you is bitter and unpleasant. Yours is mild and clean. Hmm¡­ What are you doing?" "Designing." At his words, she looked curiously at the blueprints on the desk and asked, "What is it for?" In response to her question, Davey silently tapped his finger on the desk. Then, after organizing his thoughts, he slowly said, "Physically mutated golem." He had even prepared a name. "The name is Dirro." "What... Why are you so bad at naming?" "What''s wrong with it?" "No, there are so many other cool names..." "Just wait and see. You''ll end up saying it''s amazing." What he was designing was indeed a metal doll. He was considering making it the second version of Annabelle, the prototype of the Avengers Squadron. However, he made up his mind after seeing the fragment dropped by the giant creature that emerged from the abyss. It could be a dangerous and uncontrollable creature, but if he could extract only the purified characteristics from the fragment, he could manipulate it however he wanted. "There''s already something similar, but it was actually very dangerous and uncontrollable. So, I toned it down a bit, purified it, and extracted only what was necessary." "What exactly are you, Teacher? You''re treating alchemy as if it''s nothing." Magic, swordsmanship, sainthood. Now, Davey was even creating a golem that had never been seen in the alchemy school. "You just have to do anything. Alchemy and magic are similar in a way. Consider the difference between the two at some point. It''s homework." "If you had utilized that talent elsewhere, you would have been truly amazing..." This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV. "Just wait and see, and you''ll say it''s amazing." Whatever crossed his mind, Davey was resolute in bringing it to life. That was his mindset as an alchemist. "By the way, the dwarves are diligently constructing the academy." The construction of the academy in the Heins territory was steadily advancing. Davey was aware of the considerable time it would take to erect such a massive structure, but he desired its completion at a faster pace. ''If it can''t be done, make it possible,'' Davey thought. The power of spirits and magic artifacts, the technical skill of the dwarves, and the relentless labor power of skeletons¡ªmoreover, even the physical abilities of those enhanced by the holy buff. The construction that would take a month could end in just four days. In other words, construction had just started, but the building was already starting to take shape. The Red Rock Tribe of dwarves, who were great architects, were suspicious enough to question whether the construction was subpar because of the substantial progress. "Um... Teacher," Josiah, who had been deep in thought, looked at Davey. "When the academy is established, there will be a magic department too, right?" Davey quietly nodded. "That''s right." "Did you find a teacher to teach magic?" "I''ve already found one." He had already spoken with a potential teacher, a skilled 6th-Circle Elder Mage who had been dedicated to training Winley O¡¯Rowane. "Then... I want to transfer. I want to learn at the school you''ve created, Teacher. And I will teach the juniors what I''ve learned from you too." The genuine emotion in Josiah Frances'' determined eyes shone through. "So you''re going to give back to the students because you were fooled?" "Hehe." Josiah stuck out her tongue and slipped something small from her pocket into Davey¡¯s mouth. "This is a bribe! You must hire me without rejecting me when I pass the test!" As she said this and ran away, Davey used his finger to remove what had entered his mouth. It was a small fruit seed. Davey realized that Josiah Frances enjoyed such sweet food. While Davey was smiling, he encountered Bernil, the chief steward who had entered the room when Josiah exited. "Bernil? What''s the matter?" "Your Highness... A serious problem. The matter you were concerned about..." At these words, Davey¡¯s face, which had been relaxed in the long-awaited peace, slowly hardened. He immediately asked, "What about the medicine stocks that were supposed to be reserved in the territory?" "They are all prepared." "Contact the Coalition for Disease Control. I''ll go treat them myself." The war left not only casualties. A dreadful disease spread due to the remnants left behind when certain entities died and were destroyed. In a situation like this, the disease was the biggest enemy. CH 360 Unlike Rinne, who usually preferred to stay close by Davey''s side, Aeonitia and Amy, his lady-in-waiting, needed to study the economy to manage the territory. "Wow. I bought them directly, but there are so many of them," Amy exclaimed, met with Aeonitia''s silence as she looked at the herbs in the box with twinkling eyes. "People perish when they hoard instead of giving." The more money one made, the more one needed to keep it circulating. "Aeonitia, what do you think is the biggest source of revenue for the Heins territory?" "Exports," came the quick answer from Aeonitia, without needing deep consideration. The Heins territory was rapidly expanding, but it was still a bit of a stretch to be self-sufficient. In the end, most of the money the Heins territory made was indeed from exports. It was essentially pulling money from outside since there was hardly anything to be self-sufficient about. For now, it was good. Like the economic bubble of the Earth, the Heins territory could only become wealthier by living lavishly through exports. So far, so good. "But it''s not always good, you see. Why do you think that is?" "Hmm... Why is that?" Amy cast a curious glance, while Aeonitia raised her hand with sparkling eyes. "Me! I think I know!" "Alright, Aeonitia. Give your answer." "Exporting is about bringing in money from other places. Unless you''re a philanthropist, other countries can''t keep running a deficit to prop up the Heins territory. Eventually, they''ll tighten their belts and try to reduce the volume of trade!" "What else?" Davey''s question left Aeonitia red-faced and silent as she had not thought any further. On the contrary, Amy raised her hand and said, "I think I know! It''s because the economic independence of the Heins territory''s people would drop significantly, right? Heins territory is currently enjoying a huge boom. The land prices keep rising, surpassing the limit, and continuous investments are being made." "Right. When people live too well, they tend to become lazy first. So, if an economic twist were to happen even once..." Davey did not finish his sentence, but both, being quite sharp in economic matters, would understand what it meant. "There may be no problems for now, or even for the next few decades, maintaining this situation. But that isn''t the end, is it? What happens after? It''ll be chaos." Bubbles are bound to burst eventually. The Heins territory also had its share of bubbles. The biggest disadvantage of the Heins territory''s exports was that they were luxury goods, not necessities. They were not like Earth''s oil, which was an essential element. "So what should we do?" "You have to maintain good diplomatic relationships. Quite ironic, isn''t it? Now, that''s enough advice for now. Aeonitia, separate the necessary materials and have them moved to the lab. Amy, unload the rest of the medicine in the central square of the castle." As Davey spoke, the two began to move quickly. Afterward, Davey glanced around the massive warehouse where boxes of medicinal herbs were stacked several meters high. At the same time, a silver-haired girl poked her head out of his pocket. A miniaturization spell. It was one of the lower circle spells she could use, not originally a lower circle spell, but her magic system was a bit different from ordinary mages. As she was always sitting on his head, shoulder, or in his pocket, it seemed like this was more comfortable for her even when she got a physical body. "How ironic, isn''t it? Saying that a dictatorship could solve this easily." "There were elder states in the past where I lived, Davey. The downside of those states was that as people''s quality of life improved over time, patriotism plummeted." "Ha... To protect their dictatorship, they develop the country and feed the people well. Humans are disgustingly cunning." It was a matter of sacrificing the golden goose for immediate gain or feeding it for long-term prosperity. People who live in peace tend to forget danger. In some ways, the Heins territory was like walking a tightrope. * * * Davey returned to his private underground lab with Rinne, who had fetched all the bottles of reagents he needed from deep inside the warehouse. There, he could see the dwarven engineers struggling in the Avengers squadron workshop. Mainly, Elder Golgoulda of the Yellow Rock Tribe, their foremost elder, was producing the doll golems of the Avenger squadron. He should have been focusing on the matters of the Yellow Rock Tribe. However, he was fascinated by the new golem technology, spending sleepless nights here and leaving his tasks aside. "Oh! You''re here! You''ve come at just the right time!" Puzzled by Elder Golgoulda¡¯s outcry, Davey asked, "Are there any problems?" "No, no problem at all! Didn''t you advise us to test the shard she left behind? So, we first successfully implemented it into an arm!" Rarely did the dwarf get this excited, huffing and puffing with exhilaration. "Wow¡­!" Davey¡¯s face lit up. If this was successful, and when the stone left behind at the Sanctuary of the Holy Kingdom was neutralized, it would be like creating another one. "Wha-what are you trying...?" Perserque looked at Davey anxiously. Davey declared confidently, "Let''s test it right now!" "Wait!" Elder Golgoulda hastily woke up the sleeping dwarves, began barking orders, and swiftly gathered and arranged the equipment. They positioned a magical device adorned with a drawn magic circle, and carefully placed a small metal doll''s arm on top. Though resembling a human arm on the surface, its internal structure was far from human. The Avengers squadron primarily consisted of specialized golems with limited combat capabilities. Therefore, despite their seemingly feeble appearance, they were practical in their own right. Anabel, in particular, was an optimally designed golem for covert missions and instilling widespread fear. "Go! Start it now!" The elder dwarf proudly exclaimed, prompting one of the dwarves to insert a mana stone into the power slot of the equipment. Wooong!!! Simultaneously, a faint light spread out, causing the magic circle to glow, and the previously immobile doll''s arm slowly began to move. So far, everything was going well. "Huh? The form is..." Rinne, showing interest in the new body, gazed at it with sparkling eyes, her expressionless face revealing her fascination. Meanwhile, Perserque narrowed her eyes with a subtle unease. And her intuition was correct. Suddenly, the area below the wrist started melting, gradually transforming into a slime-like liquid. Before long, the slimy hand morphed into numerous bundles of bluish tentacles. "We''ve succeeded in creating such precise and abundant changes! If this continues..." "That''s good, although it''s a bit unstable..." Support us at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. "But, Davey? What do you intend to do with that?" Perserque asked as she looked at Davey with a pale face. In response, Davey flashed a bright smile. "I''ll use that fellow whenever you don''t listen." His words were not entirely serious, but he hoped they would dissuade her from acting impulsively. Perhaps due to her traumatic memories of the tentacle creature, Perserque grew even paler and retreated into her pocket. She trembled and pleaded, "P-Please..." "Just watch," Davey calmly reassured her, though her unease persisted. Of course, it wasn''t as if he had no genuine desire to do so. Pusheek! "Wha... What?!" For the experiment, a small amount of mana was injected into it, but the doll''s tentacles hardened like plaster due to an overwhelming overcharge. "T-This... is a failure..." "Damn..." Bitter words escaped the mouths of the dwarves and Davey. Perhaps it was because they had failed to utilize all the characteristics of the abyssal tentacle creature. Eventually, the doll''s tentacles hardened, losing all the unique properties the creature possessed. "Sir, I apologize. I can recreate it..." "No, we don''t have any more materials." "That''s unfortunate..." "But it''s alright. I''ll acquire more powerful materials soon." Before that, it seemed that Davey needed to make some adjustments to the blueprints. "What will you do now?" "For now, I need to go to the Pallan Empire. I have to contact the Coalition for Disease Control. As for the design... Well, I''ll work on it there." * * * "Finance Minister, report." "Yes, Lord. We are currently dispatching medicines from all directions to the Coalition for Disease Control, but due to our inadequate preparation, it is far from sufficient. Therefore, we are prioritizing major cities..." The man, gesturing as he explained, fell silent as the Pallan Empire¡¯s Crown Prince, Sullivan, opened his eyes to shoot a glare. "Umm..." "Finance Minister Grunui." Upon hearing Crown Prince Sullivan''s chilly voice, Grunui, with his short stature, trembled and looked at him. Sullivan bore a striking resemblance to the Pallan Empire¡¯s Emperor, who, despite his current frailty and near-death state, had achieved numerous accomplishments in his youth. Unlike the former Crown Prince, who was moderate, he, the current Crown Prince, was known for his merciless nature. In fact, there were records of him fatally beating an aristocrat with his bare hands for engaging in illegal and corrupt activities not too long ago. His authority was anything but weak. "Report again." "Well, to be honest, our current financial situation is quite challenging. Providing blind support is virtually impossible at this point." Sullivan rubbed his forehead upon hearing Grunui''s report, knowing the Finance Minister''s statement was correct. He then asked, "So, what do you suggest we do?" "The Pallan Empire has long been the guardian of peace on the continent. Now, we need to relinquish that role and distribute the burden to others..." "As soon as we do that, countries with different intentions will start to fragment. Are you suggesting that we undermine the peace my father has established?" Finance Minister Grunui broke out in a cold sweat in response to that question. The air became thick with an intense energy, making it difficult for him to speak. "T-There... There is one option." Upon hearing those words, Sullivan nodded. "Impose taxes on goods from the Heins territory in the Eastern Continent, which currently imports the largest amount of goods. If not, we will have no choice but to reduce the volume of imports." "The Heins territory of the Rowane Kingdom heavily relies on exports for its revenue. Indeed, a significant amount of money flows out of our empire." Grunui desperately tried to convince Sullivan, saying, "We have faced too many crises in rapid succession, from the war to this massive outbreak! My Lord, we must approach this rationally. Even with a military ally, there are economic aspects where we must not yield an inch." Crown Prince Sullivan sighed at that. Would Prince Davey closely monitor this situation? It was rather amusing how the Pallan Empire had come to be concerned about the opinion of a prince overseeing a small territory. ''Well, he''s not wrong.'' If the plague had come without a war, they would have been able to handle it more easily. However, it was the Pallan Empire that had to support the refugees from the two countries devastated by the war with vampires and demons, in addition to providing assistance for war recovery. Now, they were also burdened with supporting the continent-wide outbreak of the plague. The situation was undeniably a string of misfortunes. If they were to relinquish their position now, the already precarious continental political situation would quickly deteriorate. ''I have no choice. I''ll have to pacify Prince Davey¡¯s anger somehow.'' "Very well. Then... About the Heins territory..." "Your Highness. Prince Davey O¡¯Rowane has arrived from the Rowane Kingdom." At the sight of Davey, who appeared as though he had been observing the situation, Sullivan felt a chill run down his spine. It would not be surprising if he had overheard the conversation. Finance Minister Grunui turned pale upon hearing the news of Davey''s arrival. The situation was downright comical. "Let him in." The giant doors creaked open, and Davey, dressed in formal attire, strode in. It was quite rare for an outsider to enter the national council hall, but this time the circumstances were somewhat unusual. The hearts of the nobles had already somewhat settled. No matter how friendly the Rowane Kingdom was, the Pallan Empire''s priorities were its own. Therefore, they couldn''t find pleasure in the arrival of the person responsible for their budget deficit. "Welcome, Prince Davey." "It''s been a while, Crown Prince Sullivan." The nobles wore uncomfortable expressions at Davey''s display of decorum, calmly bowing his head. They knew he was a powerful figure. That was why they were tense, wondering what he might do. "I''ve heard the news. It seems a large-scale epidemic has begun due to the aftermath of the war." Sullivan groaned at these words. As he had suspected, it was because of this. He had no choice but to make concessions and rack his brains to secure as much as he could. While Sullivan was pondering this, an unexpected question came. "The Pallan Empire''s finances aren''t that abundant, are they?" Stunned by the question, Sullivan froze, his face hardening. "What do you mean¡­?" "I will provide most of the medicinal supplies from the Heins territory for this incident. Also, I will personally step in to treat this epidemic. It seems even the Coalition for Disease Control is having difficulty finding an easy cure for this illness." Sullivan''s eyes widened incredulously. "But why would you¡­?" Davey did not seem obligated to hold any significant position on the continent, so why would he need to expend a massive amount of resources to address this situation? In response to Sullivan''s doubts, Prince Davey gave a simple, yet unexpected, answer. "If the Pallan Empire wobbles, it also causes us trouble. Moreover, are people more important, or is money? Money can be earned again, but if people die in droves, where will you recover the shattered public sentiment? For my sake, the Pallan Empire must continue to stand as the central guardian state." "Prince Davey..." "When it''s time to step up, one should. Rinne." Following Davey¡¯s call, a small, silver-haired girl appeared from behind him, striding barefoot toward them. Then, she began to speak. "Total Prusilim sap, 7 tons, Efutika medicinal herb leaves, 2.5 tons..." As the girl listed a staggering amount of medical supplies, prepared since who knew when, Crown Prince Sullivan rose abruptly from his seat. He felt a surge of gratitude, an overwhelming urge to rush to Davey, embrace him, and thank him repeatedly. Prince Davey smiled as if he had anticipated this reaction. Sullivan felt a chill run down his spine. It was shocking that this great empire had been manipulated by the mind of one man. But it was even more shocking to see himself and the loyal subjects of the Pallan Empire finding a beacon of hope in his words. CH 361 Surprised gazes poured in from all directions. The nobles from the Pallan royal family who sided with Sullivan were filled with surprise and puzzlement at Davey''s arrival, as he seemed to offer a solution to Sullivan''s ongoing concern. It was indeed amusing that he had come to make this proposal at such an opportune time without fully understanding the situation. Eventually, one noble couldn''t hold back his doubts about Davey and started to speak. "However..." "Enough." Crown Prince Sullivan rose from his seat, cutting the noble off with a single hand. He then said, "Finance Minister Grunui. If we accept the prince''s offer, what will be the state of our empire''s finances?" A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled. "That, well... If the quantity Prince Davey spoke of arrives on time... We will have enough to navigate through the situation, yes." Grunui seemed to share the same sentiment as the noble. There was no such thing as a free lunch. Davey had come bearing medicines and pharmaceuticals worth a small country''s budget. It was only natural to harbor suspicions. Trying to grasp Davey''s intentions, Grunui attempted to read his expression, but Davey kept his smile intact and said, "Do you doubt me?" "No, not at all..." "Well, I wouldn''t blame you. Suddenly receiving such substantial aid is laughable," Davey said indifferently and met Sullivan''s gaze. He added, "But as I said earlier, there are only two reasons." Given the Heins territory¡¯s current state, Davey could not afford to let the Pallan Empire show signs of weakness or instability to other countries and disrupt the flow of peace. If war had broken out, the situation would have taken precedence and necessitated drastic measures. However, there were always alternatives if not for war. "If the Pallan Empire wavers, the Heins territory will also take a significant hit. This matter has already been discussed and decided with His Majesty Krianes O¡¯Rowane of the Rowane Kingdom. And the second reason is, again, does one need a reason to help another person?" Surprise spread across some of the nobles'' faces at Davey''s words. "We will not refuse your aid. We will not forget your help. For the peace of the continent, which my father had wished to preserve, the Pallan Empire will remain a steadfast guardian nation and strive to maintain continental peace in a neutral manner." "Thank you very much, Prince Davey." Sullivan stood up, hurried to Davey, took his hand, and grinned. "Is that so?" When Davey smiled, Sullivan''s face hardened for a moment. "Then, remember. The favor..." Davey spoke so quietly that only Sullivan could hear what he would repay the favor with. Upon hearing his request, Sullivan''s eyes widened in surprise. "The medicines and pharmaceuticals have already been summoned to the royal warehouse. I will now head directly to the quarantine area where the patients are isolated." "Ah! We will lend you our royal Griffin. With a Griffin, you can get there quickly..." "No need." Davey stated that he would simply use spatial transition. Crown Prince Sullivan, who did not seem to understand Davey''s words, tilted his head, but Davey finished speaking and hurriedly left the conference room. And then, in a place where no one could see, Davey took a quick breath and scrunched his face in annoyance. Clink! And as if on cue, the thin mana shield wrapped around his body shattered. Simultaneously, his field of vision lowered, and he caught sight of his annoyingly greasy, rapidly growing hair that seemed to sprout endlessly no matter how many times he cut it. It had been almost two weeks since he had assumed this form. The remaining time felt like an eternity, even though it wasn''t much. His body was unable to alter its appearance with illusion magic. So, what if he utilized other tools to externally conceal it? The outcome proved successful, but the duration was too short. Without uttering a word, he reached for the necklace and extracted the shattered magical artifact crafted from precious mana stones. Not merely a mana stone, but a mana crystal, hundreds of times more potent. Despite utilizing the entire mana crystal for the illusion magic, it could not endure for more than a few minutes before shattering into pieces. "Ah, goodness..." The impact of the magic was undeniably potent. It had been proven that enveloping his physical form with illusion magic was not to be taken lightly. "Rinne, how long did the transformation last?" "Exactly 7 minutes and 28 seconds. I consider that quite impressive." "It''s no easy feat to maintain." That was the duration that Davey¡¯s costly illusion artifact, crafted with an investment of magical gemstones, managed to sustain. Davey gently caressed Rinne''s head, finding solace in the gesture as he let out a brief sigh and pressed forward. "Let''s continue. After all, my form will change again in a few days." Feeling a twinge of irritation, he quickened his pace, determined to overcome whatever obstacles lay ahead. * * * "Uh... Ugh..." "Oh¡­ Ah..." The scent of death permeated the air, accompanied by the agonized moans of the dying. Was this what hell looked like? With the conclusion of the war, the Tionis continent was engulfed in the cries of suffering. The epidemic, which had erupted simultaneously in numerous cities, surpassed the realm of a mere post-war issue. "He has...passed away." "Damn..." Baron Gorneo, a former member of the Coalition for Disease Control, who had dedicated himself to teaching aspiring medical students, uttered a rare curse. Before him lay a patient whose half of their body had turned an ominous shade of black. "Medicine...is meant to heal the sick, not to bring the dead back to life, isn''t it, Bernardo?" Baron Gorneo questioned, as the young doctor approached him with a perplexed expression. "Yes, my lord." "Good. How long has it been since you started learning from me?" While observing the disfigured face being covered with a cloth and the patient being taken away, Baron Gorneo slowly walked out of the tent, roughly placing a medicinal cigarette in his mouth and lighting it. "It has been two years." "Tsk tsk, such a young man fearlessly walking into hell." "Hell? There''s no better battlefield for a doctor than this," Bernardo declared firmly, prompting Baron Gorneo to chuckle. "Do you truly believe so? You could succumb to that diabolical disease at any moment, you know." "More precisely, I am here to rescue those suffering in hell." With a determined gaze, Bernardo met Baron Gorneo''s eyes. The baron took a deep drag from his medicinal cigarette, infused with the pungent scent of herbs, and let out a brief cough. "Keh... Keh... I can''t quite get used to these medicinal cigarettes." "If we don''t have the blessed leaves, we doctors treating the patients may not survive either. Didn''t two of our colleagues, who neglected their own well-being, end up bedridden just a few days ago?" "Aren''t you afraid?" "My lord, no one is without fear of dying on the battlefield. Yet, everyone picks up their weapons and fights." Bernardo''s words prompted a sigh from Baron Gorneo. This was not the first time Baron Gorneo had experienced such a situation where a disease defied all divine power. ''Yes, it''s similar to the time in Ordem territory.'' The terrifying disease that had plagued the Ordem territory, causing people to melt to death, was aptly named the Melting Acceleration Virus. The current situation presented a mixture of improvement and deterioration compared to the past. During that time, Prince Davey, an entirely unexpected variable, had emerged and showcased miraculous medical techniques. However, in the present situation, there was little to rely on. "My lord." Thanks to the simple and convenient wristwatch created by the Rowane Kingdom¡¯s youngest princess, who was barely ten years old, there was no need for complex procedures to check the time. "My lord, it''s almost time for the central meeting." * * * Honestly speaking, the conference room had been in complete disarray just five minutes ago. The doctors, who should have been focused on saving patients, showed no signs of motivation. Perhaps it was only due to the swift response of the Pallan Empire, where most of the patients were located and quarantined, that the disease had not spread significantly. "The contagion is extremely high. If we make even a small mistake, this damned wave of death will sweep across the entire continent in a matter of months." Even with these words, the doctors and nobles attending the meeting appeared distracted. "Do you hear me? This disease is truly dangerous. We don''t know the transmission route, making it difficult to respond and prevent. And in this situation, there is no clear solution..." The murmuring grew louder and louder. "Hey, when will the shift change?" "Your Excellency, you are scheduled to switch shifts with Count Populis in three hours. Then, your allocated time will be over." "Why should I care if those filthy peasants are dying of disease¡­? I can''t believe I studied medicine just to save those kinds of people." Indeed, such individuals existed too. "Endless debates without any solution. I would rather spend my time acquiring more valuable slaves, which would be more economically beneficial." "Oh, Count Baltis, I heard you have been collecting beastfolk slaves lately." "Ahaha, is that so? Actually, I recently purchased a catfolk sex slave. She''s quite exquisite..." Meanwhile, Baron Gorneo calmly continued his briefing. "Currently, we believe the virus is transmitted through water and birds. The symptoms that appear shortly after infection include vomiting, seizures, abdominal pain, hallucinations, and so on. We have seen countless cases like these. The skin becomes filled with blood, causing black spots all over the body, and in severe cases, the entire body turns pitch black..." "So, what is the conclusion?" Impatience filled one of the nobles who had been idly chatting. These were medical aristocrats, not just members of the Coalition for Disease Control. Their status was not low, so even Baron Gorneo, a former member of the Coalition for Disease Control, had to calmly and patiently explain everything. "Please request assistance. This is not a disease we can defeat quickly. We have reached this stage of the outbreak, and we still haven''t found the exact cause. We need to report to the Tri-Imperial Majesty and secure more manpower and funding..." "Do you know how much money is being invested in the Coalition for Disease Control?!" an enraged voice resounded in the room. "You there! Aren''t you even sorry to His Majesty the Emperor, who generously funds even an incompetent council member like you?! Huh?! What exactly are you doing? You can''t even find the cause of this minor epidemic, yet all you do is complain." At the outburst, council members who supported Baron Gorneo attempted to shout back, but he stopped them and said calmly, "You''re right. With our current knowledge, it is nearly impossible to eliminate this disease quickly. However, that does not mean we give up on the patients. So, I implore you. If it is too challenging to provide immediate manpower and funding, please seek help from Prince Davey from the Heins territory." Baron Gorneo''s expression revealed wounded pride. If possible, he did not want to rely on that man''s assistance. Relying solely on one person was never the right approach. Unfortunately, the situation was so dire that he had little confidence in resolving it without him. "Ha! Prince Davey O¡¯Rowane, Prince Davey O¡¯Rowane. What''s so special about that brat..." "That''s right. What can that little prince do against a disease that even divine power cannot cure?" "Could it be that he''s been diverting funds allocated to the Coalition for Disease Control to bribe him?" "Come to think of it, Baron Gorneo did visit the Rowane Kingdom before and had a meeting with him." "Hmm..." "You people! If you plan to squander the imperial treasury on useless endeavors, I will personally beat you and that Prince Davey you conspired with to death on the spot! Do you understand?!" Baron Gorneo was taken aback by the accusatory glare directed at him. Beat to death? Who was going to beat whom? CH 362 The central nobles of the Pallan Empire, Count Burning and Duke Digg, met in secret. "Prince Davey has made an appearance again." "This isn''t good. Since when did our mighty Pallan Empire start being influenced by the whims of a prince from some minor kingdom?" Duke Digg complained irritably. Count Burning sighed. "We have no choice. His power is not merely that of a Swordmaster, which is a term for a single legion. If the reported combat prowess is true, he possesses a national-level battle power within a single territory." With overwhelming Holy Magic and magical prowess, in addition to alliances with elves, dwarves, and various foreign races emerging from the forest, it was true that the empire would feel threatened if Davey decided to wage war. "We cannot let him do something this time." "Do not worry. I have already sent my people to the quarantine zone where the epidemic is currently spreading. They are continuously delaying the disease control team''s efforts to treat the illness. Well, Prince Davey is planning to go, but how could he possibly contend with a disease that even holy power can''t cure? He was lucky to cure a major disease before, but this one is different." "Hmm. You''re doing well. Even if countless people die off, the crown prince can''t do much about it. We can seize this opportunity to deal him a huge blow." "A powerless crown prince who entrusts everything to a mere prince. Haha." "What does it matter if a few commoners die? But given the severe nature of the disease, we should ensure the aftermath is properly handled," Duke Digg said thoughtfully. "Don¡¯t worry. There is a magic squadron responsible for incineration after quarantine in the Coalition for Disease Control. I''ve greased their palms, so they will act at the right time," Count Burning replied with a laugh. "As expected, those useless livestock slaves infected with the disease should all be buried." Duke Digg gave a sly smile. "Before that, we have to reduce them to ashes. Haha." Count Burning agreed, adding his own thoughts. "Now, let''s toast. If this goes well, the crown prince''s dignity will be greatly shaken. And then, we will slowly take the White Bird of that na?ve Princess Ilyna into our hands." "Everything is according to the intentions of the Twelfth Prince." Their conversation ended; the smiles of the two nobles in the clandestine meeting turned even more sinister. * * * The only people who trusted and followed Baron Gorneo from the Coalition for Disease Control were a few members and a senior researcher named Penicillin, who was sent from the Alchemy School. "You''ve been working hard." "Senior Researcher Penicillin, I''m sorry for this embarrassing situation." "No, I''ve seen your noble efforts to save the patients here. The ones who are wrong are those corrupt nobles who consider the lives of the patients to be like the lives of flies." "Sigh... It''s because of my lack of ability." "How can a person be perfect in everything? Humans are imperfect beings. My mentor always used to say that. Human beings are imperfect, which is why they constantly strive for perfection." "Uh, ugh... It hurts so much..." Hearing the cries of the patient in pain, Baron Gorneo firmly held his hand and said, "Just bear with it a little more. I will definitely save you..." In the past, he was not like this at all. He used to believe that medicine was solely the doctor''s domain, and it did not matter if there was no assistance from others. His reasoning stemmed from the belief that interventions from uninformed individuals could pose greater dangers than benefits in medical procedures. However, his perspective shifted after the incident in the Ordem territory. He came to realize that his arrogance hindered his effectiveness in medical practice. Subsequently, he actively sought help in various ways, eagerly embraced new knowledge, and gained fresh insights from a few medical theories presented by Prince Davey. As a medical practitioner, he felt a profound sense of indebtedness to the young prince for his guidance and support, enabling him to further his development in the field. ¡®Calling Prince Davey would be the answer¡­but relying on him isn¡¯t right.¡¯ Asking for help and relying on someone for everything were two distinct things. With complex thoughts swirling in his mind, he assessed the patient''s condition and let out a sigh. Unfortunately, the medicine he had prepared this time proved ineffective once again. There were no alternatives left. In fact, the symptoms worsened for a few patients, and they succumbed to the illness abruptly. Each time a life was lost, he felt a pang in his heart, witnessing the young doctors shedding tears. "In the past, I had the privilege of discovering a certain fungus that was named after me, and I represented the Alchemy School here. However, I am well aware that it was because of exceptional doctors like you that the fungus I discovered could be utilized as medicine," Penicillin said. "Senior Researcher Penicillin." "Ignore the nonsense spouted by the aristocrats. Just apply your medical skills." Though both of them had gained recognition in the medical field throughout the continent, this disease carried an overwhelming danger, far from something they could dismiss lightly. "The Black Death... Such a brazen disease..." Penicillin muttered bitterly, shaking the medicine bottle he had retrieved. "These medicines I have prepared should offer some assistance..." Crash! "Ahhhhh!!!" Several patients within the treatment area began screaming out in pain and agony almost simultaneously. Some were gasping for breath, convulsing and writhing in distress. "Please, stay conscious!" "Hey! Quickly, get the sedatives!!" Chaos ensued. The young doctors were bewildered as they witnessed the sudden agony of the patients, while those with more experience desperately tried to attend to each situation. Baron Gorneo was no exception. He swiftly rushed toward a patient being treated by Bernardo, a second-year doctor and a compatible alchemist named Penicillin whom he had brought along. He asked, "What''s the situation?!" "Well, um..." "Stay calm! If a doctor panics, the patient will surely die! Analyze the situation calmly!" He had nearly killed a patient in the past due to his hasty attempts at treatment. If it hadn''t been for Davey''s assistance, he would have inadvertently caused the death of an innocent patient in the Ordem territory. Hearing Baron Gorneo''s stern words, Bernardo nervously examined the patient''s body. Despite the risk of contracting the disease, he touched the patient without hesitation. After a gulp, he said, "The fever is severe. He continues to experience reflux symptoms, and his throat is swelling, making it difficult to breathe. The bacteria have spread to the lungs, and there is pus coming out!" "Then we must immediately drain the pus from the lungs!" Baron Gorneo commanded. Bernardo looked at him with a pained expression. "But if we make a mistake, this patient will die!" "I can''t save everyone! Don''t forget, if not you, then there is no one else who can save this patient now!" At Baron Gorneo¡¯s impassioned shout, Bernardo tightly gripped a surgical instrument with trembling hands. He carefully sterilized it by pouring disinfectant into a tube, closed his eyes for a moment, and then opened them again. Taking a deep breath, he began the procedure of draining the pus from the patient''s lungs. "Suc¡­ Success! Black pus is starting to come out of the lungs!" The patient''s convulsions appeared to gradually subside, demonstrating the effectiveness of the procedure. However, suddenly... "Cough! Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!" With a final agonizing scream, the patient convulsed and fell limp. "Ah..." Bernardo''s eyes widened in shock, and the faces of Baron Gorneo and Senior Researcher Penicillin turned deathly pale. "How could this..." "How can there be such a dreadful disease..." Their extensive knowledge had proven futile in treating the disease. What could they possibly do now? At that moment, a little girl who had been brought in with the same illness witnessed the lifeless man and her eyes widened in astonishment. She cried out, "Brother? Brother!!!" The girl, in a desperate effort, crawled toward the man and began to sob. "Brother! Wake up! Brother!!" Bernardo, Baron Gorneo, and Senior Researcher Penicillin could say nothing. A life had been extinguished because of their lack of skill. "No... No! You said you''d buy delicious food for our siblings when the war was over! Why are your eyes closed? Please, open your eyes!" A soldier, with a grimace on his face, pulled the weeping girl away. He sternly stated, "Decomposition poison will be released from the deceased patient! Stay away! Do you want to die too?" "Let me go! My blood brother is dead, what''s the point of me living?" The girl, who screamed these words, clutched onto Bernardo''s clothing and sobbed. "Doctor! No, master! Please...! Please! Save my brother! Please! You''re an excellent doctor!" "I''m sorry... I''m sorry," Bernardo, unable to control his trembling body, could only repeat these words. To access the premium content, go to [ pawread dot com ]. Life was precious. It did not discriminate based on rank. Whether noble, royal, or commoner, Bernardo, who had learned from Baron Gorneo, felt an overwhelming sense of guilt for the loss of life. "No! No! He can''t leave us like this! Brother!" Hearing the girl''s heart-wrenching cries, Baron Gorneo slowly extended his hand and placed it on Bernardo''s shoulder. He said slowly, "Bernardo... We cannot afford to stand still here. We must fulfill our duties as doctors." "I... I must immediately research a new drug... I can''t bear to witness more people dying," Penicillin lamented, tears streaming down his face as if his heart had softened. With bloodshot eyes, Bernardo clenched his teeth and slowly looked at the lifeless body. Firmly holding the patient''s hand, he covered the patient''s eyes with his other hand. His voice quivered as he solemnly declared, "The current time... Imperial time¡­ The patient...is deceased..." The pronouncement of death... Initially, Bernardo couldn''t comprehend why it was necessary. After all, the dead are dead, so why go through such trouble? That''s what he had thought. But now, having experienced it firsthand, he understood. It was a ritual to acknowledge the patients who had passed away under his care. This was also a burden he placed upon himself¡ªthe burden of guilt. Bernardo was about to complete the pronouncement of death when... Crash¡­ With the sound of something breaking, someone marched in with large strides and forcefully shoved Bernardo''s shoulder. "Who died? Move it, jerk." Startled by the cold voice, Bernardo turned his head. Standing before him was a person, their long hair flowing freely, devoid of any protective attire or artifacts to shield against bacteria. At first glance, they could be mistaken for a girl, but their physique was surprisingly robust for a woman. Above all, they were adorned in men''s royal attire. Whoosh! Before his eyes, the girl thrust a broken, sharp tube directly into the patient, administering a drug that was considered absolutely forbidden. Bernardo could only stare in shock, rendered speechless and unable to react to the situation, his eyes wide with disbelief. But then, fueled by a surge of emotions, he grabbed the collar of the girl dressed in men''s clothing and shouted, "What do you think you''re doing?!!! Do you see this patient as some sort of toy?!!" Bam!!! "Urgh?!" A heavy punch flew toward Bernardo. "What did you say, you idiot?" CH 363 As silence enveloped the scene, all eyes were fixed on the unfolding spectacle. Among those present were Bernardo, sprawled helplessly on the ground; Baron Gorneo, who had fallen into shocked silence; Penicillin, the lead researcher; the lifeless body of a man; and the girl who clung to him, her desperate sobs piercing the air. Within this hushed stillness, the only movement came from the enigmatic figure¡ªa figure that left everyone with a chilling sensation as if they had been plunged into icy cold water. "Yikes!" "The ones who should maintain the utmost composure in a clinic are not the supporting alchemists, the priests, nor the patients undergoing treatment." Speaking those words with an air of coldness, the enigmatic figure¡ªwhether a boy or a girl¡ªjerked Bernardo up by the scruff of his neck. Despite Bernardo''s considerable size, the slender figure effortlessly lifted him as if he weighed no more than a feather. "Cough!" "It''s the doctor who treats the patients. The moment the doctor panics, no one can properly treat the patient. Understand?" Davey''s words were met with agreement, and a heavy silence followed. "Baron Gorneo, who¡¯s this person''s mentor?" the enigmatic figure asked. "I... I was. Bernardo was my student," Baron Gorneo replied, his voice filled with apprehension. "I see. A doctor''s mindset then..." Silence lingered in the air as the conversation continued. "First and foremost, a doctor must never waver..." "Yes, I understand." A charming smile graced Davey''s face as he patted Gorneo''s shoulder. Though his voice was now delicate for a male, it seemed reasonable to assume he was a woman dressed in men''s clothing. Lost in his thoughts, Bernardo suddenly felt a strange tremor from the hand he had been holding¡ªthe hand of the patient who had been pronounced dead. It was a pulse. "Oh, no?! The patient!" Bernardo exclaimed in shock, quickly turning to assess the patient''s condition, momentarily forgetting the ongoing conversation. His eyes widened. Normally, the only way to revive a patient experiencing cardiac arrest was through forceful chest compressions. However, it was evident that the patient''s heart had started beating again. The sound resonated through the silent room, faintly echoing in everyone''s ears. "B-Brother?" the girl, overwhelmed with surprise and joy, placed her hand on her brother''s cheek. Slap! "Back off. You''ll get infected. If you die, do you think your brother will feel better?" The girl recoiled. "From now on, I''ll save all of you. Just worry about getting your treatment." "Is it, is it really true? My brother and I...and everyone else here can be saved?" "Yes." "Oh¡­ Oh... It¡¯s a miracle... The Holy Maiden... You must be the Holy Maiden mentioned by the Holy Empire!!" "¡­" A firm answer often brought great relief to people. "Damn it. It¡¯s because of this hair that I don¡¯t look like a man." Davey¡¯s face soured while everyone else finally felt a sense of relief. * * * The situation was a complete mess when Davey arrived. A patient had just stopped breathing. Fortunately, Davey was able to resuscitate them with shock therapy, but it was certainly a desperate move, relying on luck. That was how critical the situation was. And what if it had failed? Davey would have done whatever it took to save the patient. He was not the kind of doctor who allowed a patient under his care to die needlessly. Meanwhile, he entrusted the soldiers with the care of the girl, who had likely fainted due to the sudden release of tension. Then, Davey turned his gaze to the three individuals who were looking at him in bewilderment. "What are you all doing? The next patient is not human, right? You there, come forward and bring me the patient''s medical report. Baron Gorneo, please provide a briefing on the current situation. And...who is this? Are you an alchemist?" "Ah... Yes, I am the chief researcher, Penicillin." "Oh, Chief Researcher. It''s an honor to meet someone famous." Davey gave him a big smile. When Penicillin blushed and stepped back, Davey added, "I am a man too, so please don''t misunderstand." "Ahem! Ahem!" Penicillin seemed flustered as if he had been caught making a major mistake. He soon composed himself and said with his head drooped low, "Well, then, make more sterilizing reagents." What was it called? Sulking? Eventually, as Davey was about to leave, he heard Baron Gorneo''s voice. "Could you be... Prince Davey?" "Yes." His unwavering response brought astonishment to the faces of the other two. "Prince Davey O''Rowane!" "Oh my..." They seemed hesitant to believe. "Rumors say you''re an extraordinary warrior who can single-handedly slay an ogre..." "Word is, you''re a beast who can crush a knight''s head with one hand..." Davey couldn''t help but wonder how his public image had become so exaggerated. He turned his head silently and looked at Baron Gorneo, who avoided his gaze. "Well, I didn''t lie. I am Prince Davey. It''s just... The rumors are a bit exaggerated..." It was not all fun to watch an old man like him at a loss for what to do. Davey sighed briefly and without hesitation, threw away a few sewing needles he was holding and picked up the medicine again. "What''s the name of this disease?" "It''s called the Black Death. The victims die from black spots all over their bodies." "Similar to the melting acceleration virus?" "Ah...yes. But the color is different, and the symptoms are slightly different." "That''s right. But you''ll need to change the name. The name of the disease should reflect its symptoms." At Davey¡¯s calm words, Baron Gorneo''s eyes widened and he asked, "Are you saying you know what this disease is?" "I know. I''ve treated over 30,000 patients with this disease." Davey was a member of the Coalition for Disease Control and had treated nearly 30,000 people. He was now a professor at the Medical Academy. It would be ridiculous to think that Davey did not know about the disease. Davey smiled broadly at Gorneo''s expression of disbelief. "So, will you trust me? Or will you doubt me like last time?" "I have to believe! Of course, I believe!" Davey''s smile deepened as he explained further, "This disease is initially caused by the influence of solar wind and ultraviolet rays, not black but white, so there are many misunderstandings. The treatment method is the same, though." When Bernardo and Penicillin looked at Baron Gorneo with surprised faces, the man nodded without a shred of doubt. Baron Gorneo then said, "I will take immediate action. And Prince Davey." "Yes?" "Thank you... Really thank you for coming." "There''s no need for a doctor to hesitate when it comes to saving people." Of course, Davey did not have a continental doctor''s license. Even though Davey called himself a quack doctor, none of the doctors here could call him one. * * * "Is it similar to the Black Death?" "Black Death? If it''s the Black Death from your past life..." "It''s similar, but the nature of infection is slightly different. And compared to the real Black Death, the transmission speed is a bit slower," Davey said calmly, glancing at the patient who had been frothing at the mouth until a while ago and had now stabilized. He then added, "It takes quite a bit of time to treat. You must stay here for at least a month." "What about the treatment medicine?" "I have to make it. However, this damn disease that has spread all over the continent varies according to the time. So, after figuring out the disease here, I have to make medicine to match it," Davey said calmly and went inside the tent. There were several nobles and Baron Gorneo there. "Oh... Prince Davey O''Rowane. It''s an honor to see someone as famous as you on the continent. I am..." "Prince Davey, I am Count Geliman. I''m glad to meet you here. I''ve never seen such a beautiful prince. You are a true work of art." "They used to ignore and look down on Prince Davey¡­" Bernardo mumbled. Ignoring Bernardo''s mumbling, Davey shook hands with them and smiled broadly. "Pleased to meet you. But shouldn''t you let go of my hand? I''ve just been dealing with a patient." Then, the nobleman who was shaking his hand dropped it in surprise. "Cough! Cough!" "Tsk." Briefly clicking his tongue, Davey passed by them indifferently. ''This damn bitch...'' Find the original at "pawread dot com". Someone was muttering behind Davey, but he could hear it all. Without hesitation, Davey summoned dark magic and delivered a swift slap to the back of the person''s head. Slap!! "Ugh!" Something invisible hit the back of the person¡¯s head and blew him out of the tent, causing several people to scream and run toward him. Davey thought, ¡®Your goddess of hair will run away to her hometown. You seem to be particularly careful about and proud of your hair, but the curse of balding will start. What use is all your care in the face of the disaster of the baldness curse?¡¯ "I''ve prepared a map as you asked... A map that reveals all the terrain of the region..." Baron Gorneo still seemed puzzled about why Davey¡¯s appearance had changed in such a manner. While Davey was reviewing the meeting materials he had prepared, he pointed to a specific place on the map, where there were symbols representing the quarantine areas. "Do you see this spot?" "Yes... It''s the quarantine area where the disease broke out across the region." "By examining the map, you can discern the cause of the disease and the route of infection." "The map?" Baron Gorneo appeared intrigued. "Baron, take a look at this river. See where this river originates." Baron Gorneo looked perplexed, then shook his head. "On the Formark Plains... Ah!" At that moment, his eyes widened. "That''s correct. The Formark Plains is where demons, vampires, and the allied forces waged war. It was the site of a great victory, where Heroine Reina led a small army and vanquished the enemies..." "The bacteria that originated there could have traveled all the way here on a single life form. Hence, the territories adjacent to this river are in this state." Baron Gorneo gave a silent nod. "But in such a case, why hasn''t it been noticed until now?" "You should consider all possibilities, Rinne." Just then, a silver-haired little girl entered the tent, barefoot. Most of the people present were wearing protective clothing and equipment to safeguard themselves from bacteria, but Rinne and Davey had none of that. They looked as if they were going on a picnic. "Davey, I''ve collected the freshwater fish you requested. Rinne highly regards her fishing abilities." As she spoke, Rinne flapped the wings on her back. The feathers on her wings were damp. It seemed to have taken longer than expected... "You should have caught it with your hands instead of fooling around." "But Rinne''s wings are excellent at attracting freshwater fish." "Tsk." What could Davey say to her as she argued with sparkling eyes? Davey took the freshwater fish, which was about tens of centimeters long, and smiled brightly at the puzzled Baron Gorneo. "This little guy is the culprit." "Isn''t this a freshwater fish called Janar? Its shell contains many substances that boost antibodies, so it''s often used as a medicinal ingredient." Davey nodded. "Yes, indeed. The shell is effective in blocking bacteria. That''s why this disease occurs. The virus causing this Monochrome Malady disease is highly susceptible to other viruses. Therefore, it concealed itself within this fish and multiplied, preventing other viruses from infiltrating." The shell of this fish was highly nutritious in terms of immunology. In other words, once the Monochrome Malady virus safely entered, it thrived and resisted other viruses. "But how did the virus¡­?" Davey pulled out a small knife nearby and sliced open the belly of the fish as he spoke. Without hesitation, he reached in with his hand and pulled something out. "Ew!" Everyone around Davey looked astonished, because he was now holding a large parasite that was approximately 5 centimeters long. "Ew!" The nobles openly grimaced at the grotesque sight, and some even ran away, trying to control their gag reflexes. However, Baron Gorneo didn''t avert his gaze. "It''s a Niberin parasite. I know it''s a harmless parasite, but..." "That''s correct, but¡­" Whoosh!! As Davey burned and destroyed the parasite with a flame, he brushed off his blood-soaked hand and said casually, "Have you ever heard of a story where two non-toxic liquids meet and suddenly become highly toxic?" "Is, is that possible?!" "Why not? It''s right in front of you. This is it." CH 364 Davey pulled out another parasite from the belly of the large freshwater fish called Janar, in addition to the one that had been turned into ashes. "Ugh! Get that away! Not here!" Unable to bear the horrific sight, one of the nobles covered his mouth with his hand and scolded Davey, "Damn! Just looking at it makes me want to puke!" All emotion vanished from Davey''s face. "You find this disgusting?" "What, what?! Did I say something wrong?!" "Does this look disgusting to you?" At Davey''s question, the man shuddered even more. "Heavens! Is it supposed to be cute?! Ah, damn! I fear it might come up in my dreams!" "Well, it is disgusting. But that''s not the important thing, is it?" Davey asked, with an impassive expression. "You seem to be a member of the Coalition for Disease Control." "Yes, yes! I am Viscount Rutismar." The man¡¯s face contorted as if he desperately wanted the parasite removed from his line of sight. "I am well aware of the tales about you, Prince Davey. But to bring such a dreadful creature into this important conference room! Are you in your right mind?" "That''s what I want to ask." Holding a parasite presumed to have germs of the Monochrome Malady disease, which closely resembled the Black Death, Davey tightened his grip on it and incinerated it. Then, he approached Viscount Rutismar again. "Eek! Don''t, don''t come near! Your hands, those horrific germs!" Although the man recoiled in fear, Davey silently approached him and said, "Yes, germs. Indeed, they''re germs. But if you wish to solve this situation, you shouldn''t react like that, Count Rutismar." "..." "You''ve never treated patients here, have you?" Davey asked coldly. "What, what?!" "So, you''re not interested in what this means." ¡®He should know, he''s no fool.¡¯ However, Viscount Rutismar glared at Davey, stuttering as if his pride had been hurt. Hidden in Davey¡¯s pocket was Perserque, who could observe him more accurately than Davey, whose abyss power had greatly weakened. She had evaluated Viscount Rutismar in two ways: as a beneficiary of nepotism and as a quack doctor who had never treated a patient. Here, there was nobody else besides patients, doctors, soldiers, and knights who transported the sick or cleared away corpses. If he was a quack who had never treated a patient, despite being a member of the Coalition for Disease Control and having come this far, the implication was obvious. Feeling extremely insulted, Viscount Rutismar glared at Davey and turned around. "First of all, there''s no guarantee that the parasite spreads the disease!" His rebuttal was indeed a possibility. Despite what Davey said, it must have sounded like nonsense to them. Immediately, Viscount Rutismar and his party started arguing. "First and foremost, this is an isolated area under the independent jurisdiction of the Coalition for Disease Control! This is our jurisdiction!" "I did not allow outsiders to come in and cause a mess!" Davey nodded, then took out a large letter and waved it in front of Viscount Rutismar. "I hereby fire you in the name of the Deputy Chief of the Coalition for Disease Control.¡± With that declaration, he slashed his hand across his neck as Viscount Rutismar¡¯s face reddened. "The reason why the Three Empires and each country support the Coalition for Disease Control financially is to protect those who really need help." ¡®Not to provide a position and pocket money for people like you old bastards.¡¯ "F-Fired?! I can''t accept this unfair treatment!" "Think whatever you want. This place is off-limits to anyone except personnel, isn''t it? Get him out," Davey calmly stated. His words were met with silence all around. However, as soon as one of the committee members saw the emblem Davey held, which symbolized the authority of the Three Emperors, he hastily exclaimed, "The mithril emblem symbolizing the authority of the Three Emperors!" There was no way they could miss the significance of Davey possessing it. Then, they finally acknowledged that Davey truly held the power of the Deputy Chief. The knights and soldiers, one by one, stepped forward and began to escort Viscount Rutismar out. "Let go of me! This is unfair treatment! Prince Davey! You cannot do this to me!" "Why not? If there''s a useless troll, we have to quickly get rid of them." ¡®Sorry, but your dirty internal dealings and positions are none of my concern.¡¯ "Let go of me!! Let me go!! Prince Davey!! Prince Davey!!" As he watched the screaming Viscount Rutismar being dragged away, Davey casually dusted off his hands and opened his mouth again. "Any other complaints?" Those who had been taking the same position as Viscount Rutismar averted their eyes all at once. They realized that they had made a mistake. As a silent calm took over, Davey moved forward with satisfaction. "Now that we''ve dealt with the nuisance, let''s start the treatment quickly. It''s not a disease that takes long to cure if you know how, Senior Researcher Penicillin." "Yes... Yes!" Senior Researcher Penicillin, startled, looked at Davey. "I''ve heard that Senior Researcher Penicillin is quite skilled in antigen collection and antibody production." "Yes, that''s correct." At that, Davey took his hand and drew upon divine power. Although Senior Researcher Penicillin looked at him with a complex expression, Davey ignored him and gave his body a thin coat of divine power. ''Divine power has gotten weaker.'' Divine power was a magic that imitated the power of a god. In terms of difficulty, it was much easier than command magic or elemental magic. However, as the influence of God on this land weakened, divine power naturally weakened as well. And there was only one reason why the power of divine magic had noticeably weakened: the influence of Goddess Freyja on this land had significantly diminished. Goddess Freyja, who had previously shouldered the brunt of the repercussions intended for Davey under the guise of divine punishment, was now facing difficulties due to her impact on this land. ¡®I''m going to experience a severe regression in the level of divine power if I''m not careful.¡¯ Davey was the cause of this situation, but he had decided not to care. He should be glad that he did not completely drive away the influence of the goddess from this land. "What are you¡­?" "I just gave you a simple blessing, just in case. Your task, Senior Researcher, is to collect the parent virus of this disease, the Monochrome Malady virus, from these creatures through the sample that Rinne has brought. Simple, isn''t it?" Penicillin started sweating. "Simple, isn''t it?" "Yes..." From Penicillin¡¯s reluctant answer, it seemed that this was no easy task. "But don''t worry. Whether you''re a nerd or a researcher, there''s one thing in common. Everything is possible if you work hard enough." "Right... That''s the true nature of Davey that I know," Perserque whispered. "I didn''t ask him to do the impossible," Davey replied quietly. In response to Davey''s rebuttal, Perserque remained silent. "Then, Your Highness, are there any remaining tasks for the disease?" Upon hearing that, Davey moved forward quietly. "We need to check that now. Baron Gorneo, please separate the patients with particularly severe symptoms." All the clues were inside the patients'' bodies. The culprit was bound to be there. * * * "This is it... This is where we have isolated the patients whose conditions are the worst. Whether they undergo surgery or not, they are almost at the brink of death," Bernardo, who replaced Baron Gorneo to assist Davey in categorizing the patients, explained. Davey quietly nodded in response. Then, he slowly approached a patient who emanated the smell of death. The woman, with black spots all over her body, appeared as if she could perish at any moment. Observing this patient who was unable to engage in proper conversation, Davey wordlessly conjured light at the tip of his finger and examined her pupils. As usual, he opened her mouth to assess her oral condition and proceeded to examine every part of her body, from the chest to the navel and private areas. Hypocria was undoubtedly a remarkable doctor. She had attained her status as a godlike healer solely through her medical skills, devoid of any hint of magical elements. Having learned from her, he did not consider his medical skills to be inferior. Woong!! Also, she was unable to treat or diagnose patients using holy or elemental magic. Davey was different from her in these aspects. Woong!!!! With the increasingly strong resonance of mana, blue mana left an afterimage along Davey¡¯s fingertips. What Davey was searching for was an unusual mana reaction. If Monochrome Malady arose from simple genetic mutations, there would have been cases in the past. However, this accursed disease was an isolated occurrence, never seen before. Unless it was something from such a distant time that it was scarcely mentioned in historical records, if it was a recently emerged disease, there must be only one reason. While Davey silently assessed the patient''s condition, a sound of someone having a seizure could be heard in the distance. "Prince Davey!" "I told you, don''t panic." Davey''s words made Bernardo flinch. "Go and fetch a scalpel." Davey''s instruction elicited vigorous nodding. Before leaving the Ordem territory, Davey had given Baron Gorneo a small notebook. It contained information that would prove helpful for medical knowledge. If Baron Gorneo read and absorbed the contents of the notebook, he would be equipped to handle such situations. While Baron Gorneo hurried off to find a scalpel, Davey approached the patient whose condition had significantly worsened, causing them to have a seizure. "Oh my god!" Bernardo hastily followed, covering his mouth with one hand and frowning. "If it has progressed this far..." "A tumor has formed within the blood vessel. If we don''t perform surgery right now, this patient will die." Baron Gorneo trembled as he looked at Davey. "But where in the blood vessel has the tumor formed?" "Just watch and learn." Baron Gorneo¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. Silently, Davey inspected the sterilized scalpel that Baron Gorneo had brought. It had been a while since Davey had felt such a grip. With skillful precision, Davey rotated the blade of the scalpel and swiftly made an incision in the patient''s torso, pressing down on the wound with his other hand. "Where the blood has clotted, there''s bound to be a clue. Don''t merely rely on your eyes; use your fingertips to observe." "..." Bernardo swallowed his saliva in response to Davey''s words. It was challenging to determine where and how the blockage occurred just by visual inspection, but considering the symptoms and time, Davey could roughly identify the location of the blockage. "Found it." Soon after Davey''s eyes sparkled, he infused mana into the patient without administering any anesthetic. [Pain Relief] Then, Davey also blew in holy magic. [Bleeding Control] [Holy Coating] It was a spell created to prevent severe injuries from causing blood loss. Except for Baron Gorneo, the other members of the Coalition for Disease Control who followed Davey simply stared blankly at his actions. They were supportive of Davey like Baron Gorneo, but they couldn''t help feeling a bit intimidated by him. We are "pawread dot com", find us on google. It was understandable. How much experience could a young prince have? They considered Davey to be something unusual and difficult to accept in a traditional sense. As soon as the two spells took effect within the patient''s body, Davey made an incision with the scalpel, causing blood to flow out, indicating internal bleeding. "Ah, aargh! Internal bleeding!" "How can this be?" If the body cavity became filled with blood, it would be impossible to locate and treat the wound. As Davey fell silent for a moment in a situation where surgery seemed impossible with their current medical technology, one of the committee members cautiously approached him. "Your Highness, we can''t do anything... The disease has progressed too far, and it''s even causing complications like internal bleeding. In this situation, cutting into the body and performing surgery would be like killing the patient right away!" "The patient will die anyway if we don''t do anything. We will proceed with the surgery." "Of course, it''s impossible... What?" Without proper medical equipment, the surgical procedure itself differed from what Davey had experienced in his past life on Earth. It seemed nearly impossible for them, but Davey unhesitatingly plunged his hand in. Let''s not forget. Although Tionis'' medical techniques differed from those on Earth during Davey''s previous life, he was not merely at the level of Tionis. As the sole disciple of Hypocria, who was renowned as a godlike doctor, Davey possessed exceptional skills and knowledge. CH 365 Concentrating his senses at his fingertips, Davey proceeded to dissect the body. The few medical staff and council members, who had been carefully holding the patient''s limbs during the suffocating surgery that could end in tragedy with a single misstep, could only stare in awe at Davey. Swiftly and efficiently, as if he were navigating through water, Davey maneuvered his hand, and at a particular moment, his eyes flashed with revelation. ''Here!'' Without hesitation, he inserted the scalpel and cleanly excised the tumor. Leaving behind the speechless witnesses of this inexplicable surgery, Davey furrowed his brows. "What are you doing? Are you trying to kill the patient? Bring the gauze and suction device immediately!" His voice was thin, naturally resulting in a high-pitched cry that reverberated. Thanks to that, those who had been dumbfoundedly observing his surgery quickly sprang into action. Davey swiftly cut and stitched the problematic area. If the internal bleeding was left untreated, it could instantly prove fatal for the patient. A drop in blood pressure and an increase in bleeding could lead to death from excessive blood loss. Following that, Davey promptly sutured the blood vessels and organs that were the sources of internal bleeding, effectively stopping the bleeding. He then swiftly extracted the blood from inside the body using the suction device provided by the council members and meticulously closed the wound. The patient, who had been convulsing on the brink of death, now slept peacefully with a serene expression. Turning toward the dumbfounded onlookers, as if they had witnessed an unimaginable spectacle, Davey said quietly, "What is it? How long do you plan on gaping?" "I can''t believe this... Did you just perform surgery on that patient?" an elderly council member slowly approached and examined the patient after asking Davey, seemingly in disbelief. "Is there a problem?" "Oh, oh... That can''t be. Even seeing it with my own eyes is utterly ridiculous..." He stared at Davey, astounded. Even the slightest mistake or misstep could have instantly claimed the patient''s life. The time it took to make an incision in a trembling patient''s body, remove the problematic tumor, and manage all the internal bleeding caused by complications was shorter than a typical surgery. "To develop a cure, we need to understand the underlying cause in addition to the Monochrome Malady virus antibodies. Doctor Oruk." "Y-Yes! Please speak, Your Highness." "Although it may be bothersome, please investigate their dietary habits, activity range, and any peculiarities. The answers are always embedded in our lives." With Davey''s words, the doctor hurried off as if entrusted with a once-in-a-lifetime mission. * * * Swoosh!!! The river current flowed downstream. Descending from the giant mountain range and passing through the Formark Plains, the large river was known as the Yosk River, one of the lifelines of the Central Continent. It had long provided drinking water and sustenance to small territories and villages in the region. Splash! Rinne dipped her wings in the river and with a powerful upward motion, created a resonating noise. She clenched her small hand toward the giant fish known as Janar, which leaped into the air. Whoosh! Clink! Simultaneously, particles gathered in her hand, forming something substantial. "Rinne''s spear. Very strong!" Woosh! She seemed pleased with the green metal spear that effortlessly pierced through the freshwater fish. Nodding several times, she then hopped over to Davey and presented the skewered fish. "Did you always fish like that?" "Rinne evaluates wings'' high lure ability." "But those wings weren''t made for that." The freshwater fish Janar brought by Rinne also had parasites. Initially, almost no animals were free of parasites. The problem was how many of them carried the deadly pathogen. "The current outbreak is affecting 80,000 people, with an additional 20,000 casualties. Too many people have died in a very short time. This situation probably started spreading before the war ended." With multiple problems occurring simultaneously, even those who had previously been unconcerned started to realize the gravity of the situation as numerous people began to die across the territories. The issue was that the disease had already spread extensively. Fortunately, due to quick responses afterward, proper isolation measures had been implemented, preventing further severe outbreaks. "Of course, that''s just buying time. For now, only the territories around the Yosk River are affected. But wait a bit longer. The moment Janar, which carries this parasite, goes out to sea, it''s going to be chaos." "Lord Davey, what if that happens?" Explore the extended edition on pawread dot com. "We need to find a cure before that. That''s why we have gathered these medicines." There were many minor diseases, but the most severe was the Monochrome Malady. If left unchecked, it would claim many lives, much like the Black Plague on Earth in Davey''s previous life. However, because Davey had discovered it, they bought a little bit of time. "Once it breaks out, if there are no antibiotics, you die. The problem is that we can''t identify the remaining cause..." Due to the lack of crucial clues, Davey sighed heavily. Even the best physician cannot comprehend every mutation of a virulent germ. The more dangerous the disease, the more cautious one must be. Davey had been speaking confidently, but from the beginning till now, he had to rely on all the knowledge in his head. The fact that divine power did not work meant that the virus had been created in a new way. So that means something unintended was the cause. "Daddy!" From far away, Davey saw Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon, who had been playing, running toward him. Leaving the kids near the water''s edge without supervision was risky, but they were under the care of Perserque, who was in his pocket. Ever since she learned that her horns could be detached, she had been removing her horns and hiding them somewhere. Perserque, who had come up to Davey as she swung her silver hair, chuckled. "Red Ribbon has a gift for Daddy!" Soon after, Red Ribbon, with something hidden in her small hand, offered it to Davey. "It''s tasty! Very tasty!" Seeing her so excited and cuddling up to him, Davey gave Red Ribbon a broad smile and picked her up. Despite the change in his appearance, he was still their father, and that gave him a sense of stability. "So, what gift did Red Ribbon give me¡­?" While Davey spoke, his expression froze as he saw what she had given him. "Huh?" Seeing Davey¡¯s face, Red Ribbon became nervous and tilted her head in confusion. "Is Daddy angry? Did Red Ribbon do something wrong?" Perserque slowly came forward, seeing the child about to cry, and asked him, "Davey, relax your face. Are you trying to make the children cry?" "Perserque, where did you get this?" Perserque tilted her head, then said, "Where did I get it? You don''t know about Vetro mushrooms? They are a delicacy that the people of these territories always have at their table. They taste good, so I was looking forward to them too..." Vetro mushrooms... They were large, ugly mushrooms with a brownish hue. They had a rich and savory taste with high nutrition. Davey was seeing this mushroom for the first time, and he just found out... "This...is a poisonous mushroom, isn''t it? And an extremely toxic one at that." In the world where Hypocria once thrived, an identical mushroom used to flourish¡ªthe Alemandria. As far as Davey''s knowledge extended, it stood as one of the most covert and treacherously toxic mushrooms known. Consuming Alemandria or Vetro mushrooms alone posed no immediate threat, but when exposed to a specific disease, it spawned a nightmarish affliction. It was then that a realization struck Davey: these mushrooms were a dietary staple for the people in these territories. In essence, the majority of the population had consumed these mushrooms, along with Janar, the carrier of the parasite. Davey held Red Ribbon up and said, "Red Ribbon, you have helped Daddy." "R-Red Ribbon did well?" "Yes, you did very well!" "Kyahahaha!" Now that they had identified the cause of the disease, all that was left was to create an antibiotic and cure it. * * * It was three days later. "Damn it... That damn bitch!" Bang!! Viscount Rutismar, stripped of his position due to his clash with Prince Davey, seethed with uncontrollable rage. The table where he sat bore the evidence of his heavy drinking, strewn with empty bottles. "How dare he... How dare he threaten my position!" he exclaimed. There were limits to a human''s capabilities. The disease control team had spent years constructing rules and systems. It was not a realm for a novice to meddle in, relying solely on medical skills and power. "Compose yourself," Count Geliman advised. "Nevertheless, this disease is ultimately incurable. Unless we fully comprehend its nature..." "But the prince knew about the disease. It was as if he could see through us." Initially, they had no intention of treating the disease. In fact, they were aware of its spread but had chosen not to intervene. The greater the crisis, the higher their stature would rise. This was especially true with the Palan Empire''s control over the disease control team, amidst a state of political turmoil. Prince Alejandro of the Pallan Empire, the Twelfth Prince, harbored ambitions of toppling Crown Prince Sullivan, the current wielder of power. To achieve this, Alejandro needed to establish his own accomplishments and shatter Sullivan''s momentum. The outbreak of the war had been fortuitous, and their early discovery of the disease had been advantageous. If the disease were to escalate on a large scale, Sullivan''s position would inevitably crumble, while Alejandro''s would naturally ascend. The perfect scenario unfolded after the deaths of approximately one hundred thousand commoners. But this damned Prince Davey was ruining everything. By some means, he had uncovered half of the disease''s cause and, with his audacious skills, successfully performed surgeries, saving those on the brink of death. A few days ago, he had returned and began identifying the cause while developing antibiotics. As the crisis began to abate, the Pallan Empire spread this information to every region, temporarily banning the capture and consumption of Vetro mushrooms and the freshwater fish Janar to prevent further outbreaks. Indeed, the number of new cases, which had been increasing by the dozens to hundreds daily, halved overnight, and then halved again. "We have no other choice now," stated Geliman, his bald head glistening, with a somber expression. "We must resort to our final option." "Our last option?" "If things continue as they are, Crown Prince Sullivan''s momentum will surge while Prince Alejandro''s will wane. But Prince Davey remains oblivious to our machinations. Hence, we must exacerbate the situation before he achieves success." Geliman''s words drew the attention of Marquis Poplis, Count Baltis, and Viscount Rutismar. "I have already dispatched the troops. How could Prince Davey, engrossed in his antibiotic development, possibly know about the events occurring here and there? Your only task is to report to the royal family: Prince Davey''s treatment came too late to make a significant impact. Ultimately, most of the quarantined patients perished. To prevent further outbreaks, all the corpses were incinerated.¡± "With the demise of tens of thousands peasants, we might be able to overthrow the Crown Prince. I have already given the order." "But if Prince Davey discovers our scheme..." "If it were Davey, he would turn you wretches into living corpses." As Geliman''s words hung in the air, an eerie presence loomed over the room and everyone froze in place. Viscount Rutismar slowly turned, his eyes bulging at the figure looming above them. A chilling aura crawled up his spine. CH 366 The conversation in the dark abruptly came to a halt. The four members of the Coalition for Disease Control, along with the associated nobles, widened their eyes and trembled in fear as an uninvited guest intruded upon their discussion. They were acutely aware that if news of their conversation were to leak out, it would place them in a perilous situation. "Who... Who is there?!" Count Baltis exclaimed in shock. In unison, the four nobles swiftly unsheathed the ornamental swords hanging at their waists. Shh... However, for them, who had lived sheltered lives free of combat, distinguishing a figure hidden in the dark was no easy task. Moreover... "Uh, uh!" The surroundings began to darken, as if the lights had gone out completely. "It''s an assassin! It''s definitely an assassin!" Viscount Rutismar shouted out loud. It was only then did Viscount Rutismar realize what this instinctive sense of danger meant. Cre-e-eak... At the same time, a chilling metallic ringing sound echoed from the silent void of darkness. "Ah, ahhh!!!" This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV. In the pitch-black surroundings, where they could not see an inch ahead, the panicked noble, Marquis Poplis, began swinging his sword wildly. "You... You brute! Cease this immediately! Do you even know who I am?" "Ah, argh! Marquis Poplis, halt your sword swings... cough!" The other nobles urgently shouted, narrowly avoiding being struck by the indiscriminate swings. However, Marquis Poplis did not cease his actions. Eventually, a piercing scream resonated, followed by the splattering of something warm. Only then, trembling, did Marquis Poplis take a couple of steps back. Shhh... Simultaneously, the veil of darkness that had obscured their vision, preventing them from seeing even an inch ahead, began to slowly dissipate, revealing the scene around them. Viscount Rutismar, Count Geliman, and Count Baltis, with a sword impaled through his shoulder, trembled in pain. "Count... Count Baltis..." "Ugh..." It was only at that moment that Marquis Poplis realized his sword had not struck an intruder, but had instead injured Count Baltis. Startled and taken aback, he instinctively stepped back in surprise. Bang! However, something heavy kicked him in the back as he was retreating. Thump! Rolling on the ground with a wretched sound, Marquis Poplis quickly turned his head, trying to identify the cause of his current predicament. However, to his dismay, he saw nothing. "Who is it?!" he exclaimed, his voice filled with frustration and desperation. "Stop hiding and show yourself!" But, of course, there was no sign of the intruder. The dimly lit tent provided little space for someone to conceal themselves. Yet, the invisible presence left no trace, instilling an eerie sense of dread and intensifying their fear. "Run! We must flee outside!" Viscount Rutismar finally realized that escaping the darkness meant making their way out of the tent. Without hesitation, he sprang to his feet and hurried towards the exit, not daring to look back. Shhh... But he never saw the light. Just as he was about to reach the tent''s entrance, his legs lost all sensation, as if enveloped by pitch-black smoke. "Ugh!" He fell grotesquely, finally realizing the terrible truth that their lives were entirely in the hands of this assassin. Escape was impossible. "Why are you doing this! Show yourself! Name your price! Yes! I''ll pay double what the client offered! No, triple... I''ll give you four times!" It was an obvious negotiation, but effectively, it was a proposal that often worked on assassins. Of course, it depended on who they were dealing with. "Four times..." A voice that could not be identified as male or female seemed to ponder briefly, then spoke quietly. "From what I can see, you don''t have the ability to pay that price." Flash! At that very moment, a glint of silver shone, and the four nobles could feel their bodies slipping out of their control. "Even assassins don''t regard human lives so casually," the cold voice persisted, as if pronouncing a judgment. Emerging from the darkness, a woman dressed in black became partially visible. Around her, pitch-black entities appeared to swirl like living beings, guarding her. ''Dark¡­ Elf¡­'' "Without a doubt, you will pay the most dreadful price in the world." * * * "What¡­ What is this?" "It''s a Vetro mushroom." Confused, Baron Gorneo asked a question when Davey showed him a thoroughly dried mushroom. "Oh¡­ Yes, I know that¡­ But what¡¯s the issue with it?" "Baron." "Yes¡­ Your Highness." "This mushroom is poisonous." Baron Gorneo displayed a momentarily stunned expression. "What?" He exhibited the epitome of a perplexed reaction, his cognitive processes struggling to keep pace with the conversation''s progression. "That cannot be possible. The Vetro mushroom has enjoyed immense popularity as a regional delicacy for an extensive duration. Its natural growth is attributed to the distinct ecological conditions found in the vicinity of the Yosk River. Moreover, it boasts an exquisite flavor." "Ah¡­yes, I know it tastes good." "Indeed, the locals have been consuming this mushroom for a long time¡­ But you''re saying it¡¯s poisonous?" "Well, the taste itself is satisfactory. The problem lies in its deadly toxicity when combined with another substance. A hidden bacterium within the parasite encounters the Vetro mushroom, and their combination gives birth to a horrifying disease. The people here have been unfortunate. They could have enjoyed consuming mushrooms without any issues until now." Baron Gorneo released a deep sigh. "I find it hard to believe that the mushroom we''ve been consuming as a staple is actually poisonous..." "It''s indeed unsettling. After all, the more dangerous a predator, the more stealthily it stalks its prey." In a way, mushrooms were a type of fungus, and it was unwise to blindly place trust in them. Baron Gorneo and the other assembly members who sided with Davey also gazed at the mushroom with disbelief. "If it''s difficult to believe, I can demonstrate it to you," Davey remarked casually. He tore the mushroom apart, and then Penicillin solemnly handed him a sample of the antigen. "When these two components come into contact without being digested, they produce a compound that is fatally toxic. The Monochrome Malady doesn''t spread through the air but infects through saliva or blood. There have been numerous cases of individuals getting infected simply by sharing a drink with a carrier." Davey''s words silenced everyone. He sprayed the solution containing the antigen from the test tube onto the mushroom and observed calmly. Soon, something astonishing began to occur. Sizzle... A very faint, smoke-like substance started to diffuse. "Huh?!" "Heavens..." The quantity was too insignificant to pose any considerable danger, but if it had spread within the body, there would be nothing more to discuss. "We should promptly inform the Disease Control Unit responsible for this region about this revelation," one of the assembly members, who suddenly stood up, voiced agreement with the majority. "Nevertheless, ever since we identified the parasite in the freshwater fish, Janar, as the root cause, the number of new infections has been decreasing rapidly. What matters now is finding a cure." "Hmm..." Everyone fell silent at that remark. "But finding a cure will require a substantial amount of time..." "Why do we need time? If we''ve identified the cause, we should swiftly find a solution." Davey, standing before them, projected an air of someone who had already successfully cured this disease. "The Vetro mushroom was the culprit... Baron Gorneo, we are fortunate. If it had been something else, we would have struggled for weeks." Upon Davey''s request, Baron Gorneo leaped to his feet. "Just tell me what you need. I will personally arrange for everything required." "Please instruct the knights to bring a large quantity of watermelons. Hmmm... I have all the other ingredients, but I didn''t anticipate needing fruit." "Watermelons? For detoxification?" "Nothing surpasses fruit when it comes to detoxifying the body." Davey''s words spurred them into action without a trace of doubt. After all, they knew better than anyone that questioning Davey would not heal the patients. * * * Several days elapsed, during which everyone anxiously observed the situation at the treatment center. The effectiveness of this medicine would determine their ability to overcome the dreadful disease. For those who were fumbling in the dark, this endeavor held immense significance. However, the individual leading this undertaking, Davey, remained composed. Davey had treated this disease countless times before. He had dealt with numerous emergencies and even encountered unexpected assaults. Compared to those experiences, the ailment plaguing the Tionis Continent was merely child''s play. Truly, this continent was blessed by the gods. It was no wonder that mana was abundant here. "The red veins are vanishing from the patients'' eyes! It''s having an effect!" The blood-red lines in the patients'' eyes began to fade, and the hazy patches on their retinas cleared slightly. The outcome was remarkable because Davey, a saintly doctor who employed holy magic, could enhance the effects of the medicine. Although diseases exhibited resistance to holy magic, it still proved sufficient to augment the efficacy of the drug. With a gentle touch of light magic at his fingertips, Davey examined the patients'' pupils and confirmed that the medication was functioning as intended. "We did it!! We can save everyone!!" "Woohoo!" In their elation, the doctors forgot to maintain silence within the treatment center and embraced one another. At that moment, Davey realized that a few nobles, who had shown little interest or even harbored hopes for the situation to worsen, were conspicuously absent. These nobles, led by Viscount Rutismar, were nowhere to be seen. However, it didn''t matter. Whether they were present or not, their presence would not have been beneficial. Baron Gorneo, also caught up in the joyous atmosphere, approached Davey. He tightly grasped Davey''s hand, conveying his happiness. "You truly are incredible, Prince Davey! From saving a dying patient with a single touch and swift surgery, to swiftly identifying the cause and developing an effective remedy in such a short span of time! You are the true hero who has saved countless lives here!" Davey modestly deflected the praise, but deep down, he couldn''t help but sport a wide grin. Of course. Who else could have intervened in this treatment process? If it hadn''t concluded in this manner, it would have been a disappointment. Just then, Davey suddenly felt dizzy and swayed on his feet. "Uh?" "Prince Davey!!" Baron Gorneo was startled, and he shouted while providing support to Davey. Simultaneously, Perserque, who had been covertly observing the scene from a pocket, swiftly reverted to her original form and carried him, uttering something loudly. As a peculiar sensation twisted his physical being, his consciousness was abruptly transported elsewhere. What he witnessed there was an urgent message from the gods. CH 367 The hallucination that suddenly struck Davey was too difficult to express merely as a magical phenomenon or a physical abnormality. The feeling closest to it was when he first acquired the ember in the capital of the Lyndis Empire. It was very similar to when Goddess Freyja, who had created a virtual human from Earth resonating with Davey¡¯s memory, called him into her world. However, it was slightly different this time. Back then, it was a holy, graceful, and quite beautiful view of the cosmos. Now, what Davey saw was a world covered in pitch-black clouds. Whisper, whisper... Every time Davey looked down at the ground, the rapidly changing worlds were scenes he had never visited before, yet was familiar with. Those from the Hall of Heroes often turned their memories into reality based on their imagination, engraving direct battle experience onto Davey. The continent of Berdel, where Demon Lord Yurg lived; the Yurgian continent, where the alchemist master Eva resided; the magical civilization of Atrellia, where Odin, the so-called God of Mages, made her home; the world of Hypocria, on the verge of an apocalypse with numerous diseases and strange illnesses; the continent of Borde, the homeland of Astrea, the master of spear technique who boasted himself as the Conqueror and great Emperor of the Paladia Empire; both Death Lord Rho Aias and Mute, who taught Davey the art of being a bard; the continent of Peslisa, the hometown of Muse; the continent of Lux, the homeland of Shane Scrift, an elemental summoner with a unique ability, who controlled three grandmaster-level absolute elementals just like Shandra Minea; and a place presumed to be Earth, the world of Davey''s previous life. All were different, but one thing remained the same. The divine blessing that covered those worlds began to wobble and crack. What did this imply? As the abyss began to move properly, the protection of the gods that had been guarding numerous worlds began to weaken. And there was no need to contemplate what would happen when that protection shattered. Goddess Freyja, who weakened her influence to strengthen Davey, mustered her strength and conveyed a single message: The situation was growing increasingly serious. As the sky turned dark and a thunderstorm began to gather, someone swiftly approached Davey from within. It was an angel whose face Davey could not see. However, unlike before, this angel was not a graceful and beautiful figure. They appeared to have engaged in a long battle and were covered in wounds. All this represented the state of the gods. Even for a god, the price this time was not light. ¡®So why did they provoke it carelessly?¡¯ Davey thought. Goddess Freyja and Davey had a business relationship, so Davey knew she was trying to use him, and he just played along. Apart from that, it was none of his business. The silent angel who approached Davey soon opened his left hand and placed something golden in it, carefully closing his hand around it. And then, everything around Davey changed in an instant. "Davey... Davey." The quiet voice was warm and comforting. "Davey, are you conscious?" As Davey opened his eyes to the soft touch on the back of his head, he soon saw a familiar face. "Perserque." Upon his murmur, Perserque displayed a relieved smile. "You... You suddenly collapsed. Do you know how shocked I was?" "Were you worried?" "...Yes, I was worried." She shyly acknowledged it with a slight blush, and Davey found himself without words in response. "Congratulations on returning to your original form, Davey." "What?" There were still two weeks remaining until the transformation would be complete. Yet Perserque said Davey had returned to his original form? With a sense of confusion, Davey slowly got up and realized he had indeed reverted to his original form, not the small figure from before. Davey silently clenched and unclenched his hand, attempting to reawaken his senses. The movement felt strangely familiar, as if he had been doing it for a long time. He was puzzled as to why such a change had occurred when he hadn''t even paid the full price. Perhaps something had changed without his knowledge. Amidst this, he noticed a foreign object in his other untouched left hand. Slowly opening it, he recognized a golden key, somewhat plain but with a unique shape. "Davey? What''s that?" This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV. "I don''t know either, Perserque. Can you check it out?" "...No, I can''t see anything." Davey let out a sigh. It was unclear whether he couldn''t yet reveal its use or if it served an unknown purpose, much like the previous jewel. Regardless, he soon deduced who had given it to him¡ªthe faceless, battered angel. It was evident that Goddess Freyja had presented it to him during their communication. Silently turning the key this way and that in his hand, he closed his eyes quietly. "Let''s just hold onto it for now." "Isn''t that...?" "Don''t worry about it." Davey stood up slowly, displaying nonchalance. Previously, the height difference between him and her was almost nonexistent. However, now that Davey had returned to his original form, she was petite enough to fit in his arms. By Earth''s standards, Davey supposed he would be considered tall. "What about the horns?" "I didn''t want to inconvenience anyone, so I hastily removed them." In response to her answer, Davey silently nodded. "How long has it been since I fell asleep?" "It''s been three days. Do you realize how worried we were about you not waking up all that time?" Davey wore a bewildered expression. Three days remained, still sufficient time for the transformation. "How are the patients?" "Thanks to you collapsing after revealing the treatment method, the treatment itself is progressing smoothly." That was all Davey needed to know. If things were going well, there was no need for him to involve himself. Perserque stood up after him, gazing up at him, then closed her eyes and became enveloped in light. She transformed into a small figure and climbed onto his shoulder. "This is definitely more comfortable." "How long are you going to maintain that form? Are you only going to utilize the body I worked hard to create?" "What difference would it make? This body is just a boundary dividing whether I''m dead or alive," Perserque said indifferently. Davey released a deep sigh. He then glanced at the situation outside the tent. Compared to three days ago, the scent of death was noticeably fainter. "The treatment process is going smoothly under the guidance of Chief Researcher Penicillin and Baron Gorneo," Perserque explained. Davey nodded in response. "That''s all I needed to know. There''s nothing left for me to do now." A sense of leisure washed over him. From the beginning, these issues were meant for others to handle, not him. Taking charge of everything from start to finish would not have been beneficial for anyone. Rising from his seat, Davey made his way toward the tent where Chief Researcher Penicillin was, intending to gain a brief overview of the situation. He noticed people here and there who widened their eyes upon seeing him, but he paid them no attention. Upon entering Penicillin''s tent, Davey spotted a person he had never seen before quietly leaving. The individual was dressed in the same attire as Penicillin, an alchemist''s outfit, and wore a gloomy expression. As their gazes met, the person silently bowed their head. It appeared that they didn''t recognize Davey just yet. After all, not many people knew Davey''s face; they only knew his name. Continuing past the person into the tent, Davey could see Penicillin hastily organizing some documents. "Oh! Your Highness! I heard you had woken up! I was just about to come and see you." "No need. I''m not sick or anything. But what are all these things?" "Oh... These are...nothing significant." They were clearly alchemical academic books and a golem design. "Alchemical academic books and a golem design?" "Oh, you recognize them. Yes, that''s correct. The man who left earlier was an elder from the golem school. In fact, he gifted these to me." ¡®He came all the way to the quarantine area to hand over designs and academic books?¡¯ Davey had a strange feeling. "The thing is... Actually, I was supposed to review the designs based on the academic books but I played hooky and ran away. So the elder of the golem school came looking for me to hand them over." It was a bit surprising that an alchemist with a major in human anatomy was given those things. "Truth be told, he has a keen interest in creating golems that closely resemble humans. As a result, he frequently seeks assistance from alchemists specialized in human anatomy," Davey nodded in understanding. "Chief Researcher Penicillin! Please come in!" Penicillin was startled by the apprentice''s loud call as he entered the room. "Oh my! Please have a cup of tea in the meantime. The treatment is progressing well. All we need to do now is observe the situation," Penicillin reported. "It''s all thanks to you, Prince. Now I can focus on this task with ease," he continued before leaving the room. Davey quietly nodded. Left alone, he leisurely surveyed the laboratory, enjoying the relaxed atmosphere. Traces of his passion for alchemy were scattered throughout the space. While looking at the academic books in silence, Davey chuckled, "Quite impressive." The books demonstrated the amount of passion he had poured into his work. However, from Davey''s perspective, they seemed somewhat clumsy. After all, right beside him was the pinnacle pursued by the elder alchemist of the golem faction¡ªa golem with self-awareness, Rinne, the essence of a super-ancient civilization golem with Deus Ex Machina, the god of machinery, at its core. "Davey, is this a golem?" "Yes, just like you." "It is of very low quality. I analyze that it''s not worth comparing with Rinne, whom Davey created." "I suppose. If they knew that, would the alchemy skill on this continent have stagnated?" The world where Davey''s alchemy master, Eva, had lived was distinctly advanced in alchemy. Despite Tionis'' complex development, it couldn''t match that level. "Davey, what about Rinne''s successor?" "Wait a bit for Dirro. And soon, a new youngest member will be born in the Decepticon Fleet." "Youngest!" Her eyes lit up at Davey''s words. Then, Rinne exclaimed, "A name! Rinne wants to decide on a name!" "A name? Alright, go ahead." Davey gave his approval. Pondering for a moment, Rinne tapped his lips with one hand before saying, "Starscream!" "...do as you please." With Davey¡¯s approval, Rinne was extremely pleased. Her eyes sparkled. "Davey? Davey?" In the midst of Davey''s conversation with Rinne, he suddenly felt Perserque tugging at his cheek and asking, "Why are you like this? You can''t focus at all." Puzzled by her remark, Davey looked down, and a frown formed on his face. He had doodled all over the golem design that the elder of the golem faction had given him, using his pen. He had crossed out mistakes and added comments. Not only that, he had also pointed out errors in the academic books brought by the golem faction and attached comments to them. It was as if he had unconsciously marked them. Normally, he would not have shown such a disheveled appearance. Perhaps due to losing consciousness, his concentration had been scattered, and something felt off. "Oh, my..." Since there was only one sheet, it felt too awkward to throw it away. Without uttering a word, he glanced at the design and stood up from his spot. "Well... I actually made improvements, so it should be fine. If I keep quiet about it, they''ll think that Researcher Penicillin did it." Even though Davey carelessly added comments that went beyond the technical skills of this era, it didn''t really matter. Moving almost hastily, he left his spot and headed outside the tent. * * * Immediately after Davey''s departure, Elder Francis, who had brought designs and academic books seeking the assistance of Penicillin, silently approached Penicillin''s tent. Penicillin was a genius but preferred to utilize his alchemical skills in the healing of people. However, Francis, also known as a puppeteer, understood that Penicillin had the potential to excel in the art of humanizing golems. While trying to persuade Penicillin with convincing materials, Francis had momentarily left the area out of frustration. It was during this interval that Francis encountered a peculiar young boy, although he held no interest in him. "Listen, Penicillin..." As Francis reentered the tent, he soon realized that Penicillin had disappeared as if he had fled, causing him to sigh. He would have to engage in a lengthy argument once again. Just as he was contemplating this, he reached out to tidy up the academic books and golem designs he had brought, or so he attempted to do. However, what he saw were scribbles drawn with colored ink. "What is this¡­?" His words ceased. Silence enveloped the space so deeply that even his own breath could not be heard. CH 368 Thump! With a reflexive slam on the table, Francis''s eyes flew wide open in disbelief. "Oh... Ahhh..." His hand trembled uncontrollably as he continued to trace the academic text. "My goodness... My goodness..." Incredulous, he repeated "my goodness" over and over again, hastily scanning through the entire academic text. Then, as though entranced, he stared at the marred blueprint before sinking down onto the floor. His face went blank as he sat down, pulling at the blueprint on the table. Then, he frantically scanned the one that had fallen to the floor. "Incredible... Incredible!!" With a shout, he jumped up. Francis found it astounding. He had no initial reason to enter this isolation area. Among the various branches of alchemy, he held a significant position as an elder in the golem faction. Within the faction, he dedicated his life to creating flawless artificial life, treading the fine line between taboo and non-taboo. His focus was not on the bulky and rigid golems but on crafting artificially conscious humans. In fact, his numerous papers on golem studies within the alchemy faction had achieved remarkable milestones in the realm of artificial intelligence golems, which were previously dismissed as mere fantasies. He was known as the Puppeteer, the father of the puppet, in academic circles. Some envied him as a puppet enthusiast, while others recognized him as an astonishing alchemist who forged a new path. His ultimate goal was to create a golem that closely resembled a human without violating the alchemist''s taboo, much like the Divine Sword Caldeiras. From that perspective, he had already surpassed the taboo, yet no one condemned him. He had been researching bio-golems but had never delved into the crucial matters of birth and lifespan. Chief Researcher Penicillin, with his expertise in human anatomy, captivated Francis as a valuable research talent. Penicillin was renowned for his eccentric and innovative ideas, and given Francis''s encounters with alchemists specializing in human anatomy, he was keen on observing Penicillin''s potential. Francis believed that if Penicillin wholeheartedly devoted himself to the study of bio-dolls, something monumental might emerge. However, even if Penicillin offered assistance, Francis would only provide the bare minimum, setting clear boundaries and not exceeding them. Today, like always, Francis had come to seek Penicillin''s insights on the blueprints he had toiled over for years. He grew impatient with Penicillin''s evasive behavior but carefully considered the situation. Upon returning from checking reports in the research lab that followed him in the academic world, Francis was confronted with a few words that fundamentally challenged the stereotypes he had spent decades constructing and the blueprints he had struggled to create. The comments were deeply written, accompanied by carelessly drawn check marks. If someone unaware of the context were to see this, they would be outraged at the desecration of such a precious blueprint and its inherent value. Yet, Francis did not succumb to anger. "Huh? Elder Francis, why are you on the floor¡­?" Snatch!! After supporting Baron Gorneo by providing necessary medical supplies, Penicillin returned to find Francis sprawled on the floor. As he approached him to speak, Penicillin recoiled in surprise when Francis looked up at him with a madman''s gaze before he lunged forward and tightly grasped both of his arms. "Let go, please! I''m not interested in men!" "Listen, Penicillin! You''re incredible! My eyes didn''t deceive me! You truly are a genius sent from heaven!" Penicillin was taken aback by Francis'' fervent reaction, silently staring back at him. "I beg your pardon? What is all this¡­?" Penicillin mumbled, his expression one of bewilderment, and then shifted his gaze to the blueprint on the ground. "Oh my goodness! Who dared to doodle on this valuable and expensive blueprint¡­?!" "It''s not a doodle! It''s a revolution! A groundbreaking perspective! In all my years of studying and researching in this field, I have never encountered such a paradigm shift! Our conventional wisdom has been completely overturned! Do you grasp the magnitude of this?!" "Ah... yes." Trembling, Penicillin responded. Francis, almost resembling a madman, let out a roar. "You! Join me! With your help, we can create a masterpiece that will be immortalized in history!" "Please, release me, Elder!" "Penicillin! I will give you anything you desire! In return, your expertise..." "What in the world are you talking about, Elder?!" In the end, Penicillin could no longer bear it and forcefully shook off Francis'' hand. "I have no idea what you''re talking about, Elder. What is happening all of a sudden¡­?" "This comment! This critique! And these incredible perspectives! Weren''t they what I asked of you? What I entrusted to you! You have discovered and pointed out all the problems and improvements in the theory and blueprint I created in such a short time! It''s truly astonishing..." "That...wasn''t me." Francis came to a halt. "What did you say?" "Who did what...to that blueprint... Didn''t you bring it, Elder? I left immediately after you did." "Then... Who did this¡­?" His face filled with terror, Francis began to tremble. "Then who left behind such amazing insights and disappeared?! Tell me! Who could casually enter your tent and write down this knowledge¡­?" "Well... To be honest, I told anyone in need of assistance to come in, but..." Penicillin calmly murmured as he slowly walked away. He then approached the guard stationed at the entrance of the tent from the disease control team and asked, "Sir knight, has anyone other than me and Elder Francis visited here?" The guard pondered for a moment and then shook his head. "No, apart from Prince Davey... Um, if I''m not mistaken? His appearance has changed suddenly, so I''m a little confused. In any case, nobody else was here except Prince Davey. He left just a few minutes after you." Penicillin chuckled wryly upon hearing those words. "This is quite a predicament, Elder." Francis''s eyes widened. "Wait a minute. You mentioned someone being here." "Prince Davey? Oh, yes, he was here. We had a conversation. Don''t you know him? He''s the prince who currently holds the greatest influence on the continent. Moreover, he single-handedly defeated the devastating disease that was rampant in this quarantine area, as if it were just a common cold from a close friend. He''s renowned for his saintly deeds." "That..." "Honestly, Elder, you are so engrossed in doll-making that you neglect to keep up with the news of the world. You should take care of yourself, at least for the well-being of your disciples." Under normal circumstances, Francis would have dismissed such nagging, but his mind was occupied with other thoughts. "That... That must be it." His eyes gleamed, and he abruptly stood up, dashing off like a man possessed. "Prin-Prince Davey!!! Prince Daveyyy!" Penicillin found it rather amusing to witness the typically serious Francis in such a flustered state. He muttered to himself, "Good grief... Has he eaten something that didn''t agree with him?" * * * "The divine created the world." The sound of footsteps reverberated in the silent underground passageway. "And the world brought forth life." As the tranquil murmuring came to a close, a moan echoed through the corridor. Uhnnn... Simultaneously, a faint light illuminated the figure responsible for the voice. It was indeed the sound of Davey''s footsteps. "Life diverges, evolves independently, develops..." Tap... Tap... "Uuhh... Uhh..." "Uhh..." A quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled. "Living together, developing, and evolving." Davey said in a calm voice, "Do you know where this passage comes from?" In response to Davey''s indifferent question, a groan emerged from the bound and gagged man beyond the light. He stared at Davey in terror. "Viscount Rutismar." "Davey, do you really need to act so imposing?" Perserque asked. "...Just keep quiet for now! Before I stick horns on your head with glue." Davey sulked at Perserque¡¯s playful opinion, which unnecessarily lightened up the mood. After coughing a few times, Davey resumed his solemn expression. "It is the content of the first verse of Genesis, the first chapter of the Bible," he said calmly, smiling brightly and snapping his fingers. Whizz! "Ughh!" At that moment, the men''s mouths, which had been tightly shut, regained their freedom in an instant. "Huhuk! Look, Prince Davey! What on earth is going on?" "R-Right! Let''s talk it out through nonviolent means, okay?" If these men were incapable of assessing the situation, they would not have survived this long. However, their inability to grasp the situation had led them to their current predicament. Fear was the only emotion they felt after being suppressed by an assassin and dragged into this unknown underground. The secrecy of this place was so pervasive that anyone could die without anyone knowing, and there was no one to rescue them. "You have quite a few obedient soldiers," Davey remarked, causing Viscont Rutismar to flinch. "Tell me, Viscount Rutismar. What did you order them to do?" Davey''s question made him tremble violently. Swish!!! "Nooooo!!!" As his fingers were sliced off, leaving behind a bright red afterimage, Viscount Rutismar screamed and writhed on the ground. The other men who were witnessing the situation beside him were shocked and flailed about, as if attempting to break through an invisible barrier. They were likely startled by the eerie aura that surrounded Davey. Count Geliman, whose hair had fallen out due to Davey''s curse of baldness, involuntarily urinated himself and trembled in fear. "Would you care to answer?" Davey asked grimly. Rinne was by his side, having formed something resembling a gun barrel in her hand. She then suggested, "Davey, should I blow off one of their legs?" "Wait." "Rinne, highly praised for her marksmanship. She can control life activities right before their cessation." "Wait." "Rinne, low chance of missing the opportunity." "You don''t have to dirty your hands with this," Davey stated, causing Rinne to withdraw with a slightly dissatisfied expression. "You don''t have to speak if you don''t want to. Aina." After Davey¡¯s call, a Dark Elf dressed in black emerged from the shadows. She had gone to great lengths to hide from him, and her stealth skills were sharper than ever. "Can you see me here?" "If you tell me why you''ve been hiding in the shadows, I''ll comply with your wishes." "Shut your mouth." Aina drew her sword with a cold voice. "Extracting confessions is my specialty." She was an assassin, a Dark Elf who was favored by both spirits of light and darkness. She was a special being among her kind. CH 369 His fear of Davey seemed to have seared into his very bones as Viscount Rutismar let out a shrill scream. "Ahhh! I said to kill! I told them to kill, I swear! Kill all the sick! If so many die, Sullivan''s position is bound to be severely shaken! Of course, there would be a chance to dethrone him! So... so..." "So? Did you discover the disease early and leave it untreated?" "Yes, that''s right! I left it as it was, allowing the disease to spread!" "I see. Then I show up and suddenly start treating the disease, and you lose your shit." Upon hearing Davey''s words, Viscount Rutismar wailed as if pleading, tears welling up in his eyes. "P-Please, spare me! I was wrong! I won''t do it again..." Crack! Suddenly, a heavy impact echoed, and Viscount Rutismar¡¯s knees buckled beneath him. Aina had swiftly broken his joints, causing him to collapse onto the ground. Looking down at the man convulsing as if shocked, Davey said slowly, "Stop making excuses." Sensing the chill in Davey¡¯s voice, Viscount Rutismar trembled violently. "So?" "T-That''s all! That''s all I swear! Please, spare me! I won''t do it again!" Davey remained silent at Viscount Rutismar¡¯s fervent pleading. Then, Davey opened his mouth again. "What''s the usual protocol in the Pallan Empire for such cases?" "He''s a bastard who attempted to kill countless innocents. Sometimes I''m so thankful to be the Crown Prince because I have the power to burn these devilish creatures." A figure slowly emerged from the darkness as the voice echoed. "Gasp! Your Highness Crown Prince Sullivan!" "Do you know where you are, Viscount Rutismar?" "T-That is..." "The underground prison of the Pallan Empire. You all plotted something equivalent to treason," Sullivan said calmly as he approached Viscount Rutismar. Then, without hesitation, he drew his sword and stabbed it through the man¡¯s shoulder. "You tried to kill countless innocent people for your own gain." "Ahhhh!" "Anything else to say?" When furious, Sullivan was composed and rational. But he was just as cold. While he adhered to a line in front of Illyna, he showed no mercy to those who crossed it when she was not around. "Ahhh!!!" Sullivan yelled as he twisted the blade further into Viscount Rutismar¡¯s flesh. "Families who were dreaming of a future with their children were destroyed because of you bastards. Young men who were struggling to care for their sick mothers died because of you. Because of you!" "..." Silently watching the enraged Sullivan, Davey quietly retreated. "Because of you... I''ve had to stain my hands with the blood of my own kin once again. And also, because of you, the Pallan Empire could not save countless pitiful souls." Speaking monotonously, Sullivan made a calm declaration. "I swear, I won''t kill you easily." When Sullivan drew his dagger, Davey restrained him and said, "Go. I''ll handle the corruption within the empire." Sullivan paused and looked at Davey. "These guys..." "Aren''t you the priority? If I were the Twelfth Prince, I would have quickly fled from the Capital as soon as things turned out this way." At Davey¡¯s words, Sullivan gritted his teeth. "I have embarrassed myself." "Leave it to me and go. I happen to have some things to say to these guys too." Since assuming the role of the Demon Lord, a gradual change had begun to manifest. The anguished cries of the victims, distinct from those of necromancers, echoed in Davey''s ears. Their desperate pleas for vengeance reverberated, threatening to inflict insomnia upon him. The throne of the Demon Lord bestowed immense power upon Davey, but in return, it demanded responsibility. Ultimately, Sullivan turned his back on the nobles, including Viscont Rutismar. "I sincerely apologize for meddling in this matter. As the Crown Prince of the empire, I have displayed a disgraceful side of myself." In response to Sullivan¡¯s words, Davey simply waved his hand dismissively. Then, Sullivan quietly passed by Davey and vanished into the darkness. "Well, now that nobody will hinder what I am about to do," Davey dryly remarked, his smirk widening as he gazed at them. "In life, it is natural to harbor some greed and act selfishly. I have recently reconsidered this, but who am I to judge and punish you?" Viscount Rutismar lifted the corner of his mouth, as if finding a glimmer of hope. "I will grant you forgiveness." At Davey''s words, Viscount Rutismar nodded vigorously, as if the end of hope was now a golden dawn. "But..." Wooong! A black magic circle materialized beneath the feet of the four nobles, including Viscount Rutismar, causing their expressions to contort. When you''re just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. "But will they grant you forgiveness?" The void that had been created. The arbiters that had been summoned. The merciless power of punishment designed for a sole purpose. Observing them squirming above the black magic circle, Davey nonchalantly grasped the horn of Perserque to his head. "I am not the Saint you all perceive. I am the Demon Lord, resolute in tormenting you to the depths of Hell. Perhaps you are unaware, but I have been seated upon the throne of the Demon Lord for quite some time now. I may not comprehend intricate matters, but I can handle this." [Hand of Resentment] ¡®Now, move. Souls filled with resentment. I will aid your revenge.¡¯ Crack! The white hands that emerged from the magic circle were grotesque, adorned with sharp, blood-red thorns on each knuckle and palm. Thwump! "Krrrrrrgh! Krrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!!!" Countless hands reached out and pierced through their bodies, beginning to tear them apart. Flesh was shredded, and eyeballs popped out. Without a word, Davey pushed Perserque back into the pocket and covered Rinne''s eyes. However, Rinne gently parted his fingers with her own slender ones and continued to watch the gruesome spectacle. "Even if you survive, you won''t be able to live, and even if you die, you won''t be able to die." The magic of the undead. The indescribable pain of decaying flesh and rot. The bodies of the nobles, torn apart and subdued by thorned hands, slowly started to decay. They all released desperate screams. "Ur... Urghhhhh!!!" They began to dissolve like something soft and squishy. Meanwhile, they incessantly muttered something. "Do you desire death? Why? I told you, I forgave you. But will these hands forgive you? These hands, conjured by summoning the vengeful spirits slain by you." The horrific screams of the nobles, who had caused countless deaths for their own power, echoed in Davey''s ears as if they were etched from the very beginning to the bitter end. * * * Rumors began circulating throughout the continent. They revolved around the Coalition for Disease Control''s successful handling of the highly dangerous epidemic that had plagued the land. With a mortality rate of nearly 100%, the dreadful disease had stirred public opinion and instilled anxiety among the continent''s inhabitants. This calamity had unfolded on the heels of a massive war. However, as news of the disease''s eradication spread, trade routes that had been frozen solid began to reopen, and the continent seemed to regain its vibrancy once more. Naturally, the council members, who had been the backbone of the Coalition for Disease Control, recognized the individual who had made the greatest contribution to this cause. They unanimously praised this exceptional person, asserting that without their efforts, so many lives could not have been saved in such a short span of time. As rumors rapidly spread among merchants, guards, and bards, the reputation of a single individual soared to extraordinary heights. Being hailed as a Saint proved to be a remarkable blessing, exceeding all expectations. Conversely, as the prestige of the Saint reached unprecedented levels, the media began exerting unbearable pressure on Lena, who was soon to become the Holy Maiden. After all, the sole distinction between a Saint and a Saintess was their gender. Davey appeared to possess overwhelming abilities, power, and wealth¡ªhe seemed to lack nothing. Due to his status as a Saint, many people believed that his elevated position was a testament to the divine love he received. In the eyes of the people, the appearance of a Saint or Saintess signified an individual who could dominate their era, despite the stark contrast with reality. There was a growing curiosity about the extent of power Lena, who would soon be conferred as the Saintess, would display. In fact, some nations attempted to establish rapport with her before she officially assumed the role. "Uh... My head hurts," Lena murmured with a gloomy expression as she glanced at a book. Alice furrowed her brows upon seeing her. "You''ve been causing a commotion for days without getting any sleep. And now your head hurts? Really? Should I make it actually hurt?" Alice grabbed the thick corner of a Bible and began swinging it around, gritting her teeth. Startled, Lena recoiled and vigorously shook her head. "I''ll read the book!" Alice sighed as she checked on the condition of the Saintess candidate, Lena. It had only been a week, which was not a long time at all. The thought of Alice being unable to sleep for days as she dealt with this troublesome fanatic was infuriating. The lack of sleep and the stress had caused her skin to break out, and her hair was in terrible condition. Nevertheless, she had never allowed herself to fall behind in terms of appearance. For a clergywoman, maintaining one''s appearance was considered a sacred act. Neglecting the physical attributes that God had bestowed upon oneself was seen as disrespectful. The pressure from Prince Davey was intense, but the main reason for her current deterioration was the relentless handling of the religious fanatic group. "Archbishop Alice... Here''s the report." "Thank you." "Who dares to cause more trouble when I can''t even sleep? These troublesome individuals..." Alice received the document and let out a heavy sigh, her hand tightly gripping the paper. The report includes the following: (1) Western Sangtroelle, a minor territory. A village under the fireline. Captured five girls suspected of witchcraft. After interrogation, extracted confessions and executed their entire family as a public example. (2) Eastern Ashiria Kingdom, in the territory of Fort. The third daughter of the lord exhibited unusual power. Not magic, but the ability to levitate objects in thin air, which was deemed as a dangerous witch''s power. She was detained and questioned but died before confession. (3) In the Northern continent of the East, a self-proclaimed celestial maiden has appeared, suspected to be a heretic. Multiple inquisitors have been dispatched. (4) According to revelations, it is suspected that there are demons and vampires within the Heins territory of the Rowane Kingdom. Investigations are not easy due to the authority of the saint, but we continue undercover investigations under the pretext of acting in the name of God. They continued to cause trouble under the banner of God''s revelation and disregarded the orders from the religious organization''s headquarters. They ran amok while keeping their main base hidden. With God''s revelation as their vague justification, they believed they had nothing to fear. However, there was no longer any reason for the Holy Empire to tolerate their actions. "Priest Murius, please send a message to the Pope. I will go see him." "What should I convey to him?" "Do the scriptures instruct us to coddle a mad dog with love? No, a mad dog needs to be tamed, even if it requires force. You understand, don''t you? We must crush these fanatics by waging a holy war." Since internal conflicts were not classified as a war, it would not violate the continental peace treaty. The Heresy Tribunal was, after all, a part of the Valchas Empire. "A holy war?! But..." "If they provoke Prince Davey once more, it will lead to catastrophe! That''s why we must crush them before they cause any further trouble! Do you understand?! We cannot allow these troublesome individuals, who fail to grasp the gravity of the situation, to recklessly jeopardize everyone''s lives!" ¡®There are people you can provoke and people you shouldn''t.¡¯ Alice had always believed that one should absolutely avoid the worst-case scenarios. However, she did not know what was happening at that very moment. Prince Davey was... "¡­is this really the key to the dimensional gate?" Davey twisted the golden key he held in the air, creating a crack, all the while sporting an expression of disbelief. CH 370 "I really can''t figure it out," Davey sighed, looking at the golden, antique key in his hand. He was well aware that none of the items bestowed upon him by Goddess Freyja were ordinary: the embers that could revive the dead, the complete synchronization of his soul and body that defied all rules, and the gemstone that allowed him to unleash his full power and potential in a brief moment. And now, a key. The problem was that, unlike before, this key had been hastily given to Davey as Goddess Freyja''s influence rapidly waned. It also meant that if she delayed any further, she wouldn''t be able to hand it over to him. It left him with mixed feelings. He certainly felt a sense of urgency. But what exactly did she want him to do with it? "Even with the power of the abyss, all I can determine is that it''s a key to a door. But I don''t know which door it''s meant for..." "Is its power less useful than you thought?" "Urgh..." Perserque, seemingly at a loss for words, let out a groan as she playfully tugged on his hair. "Ouch, stop pulling." "But I don''t want to~" Ignoring her playful antics as Perserque continued to twist his hair, Davey stared at the key for a while, realizing that reaching a conclusion was proving difficult. Since he had the ability to see the solution to the problem, he might as well cheat a little. "Huh?!" Suddenly, Davey jumped up, almost causing Perserque, who was happily playing around, to lose her balance and fall off him. Perserque, who had been grinning leisurely, gave him a strangely dissatisfied look. However, he remained fixated on the key, not saying a word. * * * Creak! A slender woman, cloaked in green, gracefully emerged from the enormous tree where she had been resting. Her smile exuded a sense of tranquility. At first glance, she appeared formidable, yet no one harbored any ill will toward her. "It''s been a while." "Not that long, really. Anything of note happened?" She leisurely extended her hand toward Davey. "What could possibly trouble me? Thanks to you revoking the diplomatic rights of the Divine Tree''s sanctuary, even if a new Divine Tree is discovered, there''s no official visitation here anymore. Now, I only need to protect it from the slave hunters, as I always have." Davey widened his eyes at her words. "Are there still those audacious enough to target the elves?" "No, there aren''t. After the enormous commotion you caused, who would risk their life attempting such a feat?" She chuckled and reached out her hand to him. "Give it here. Let me have a look." Upon her request, Davey casually retrieved the key and tossed it to her. Such a nonchalant demeanor toward the World Tree might be considered disrespectful and punishable, but Al and Davey clearly did not share a bond where such complexities mattered. They had formed a resolute alliance for a single purpose. Woong... The key, suspended in midair, gently landed in her hand, emanating a peculiar energy while enveloped in a sphere of light. She closed her eyes, resonating with the key in silence, and then slowly opened her eyes, causing the light to fade away. "It''s definitely a key meant to unlock something." "I''m aware of that." Upon hearing his words, she pursed her lips. "You impudent brat, it''s not just any ordinary door. It could be..." Her voice trailed off as she spoke calmly, "A dimensional gate." Davey furrowed his brow deeply in response. "A dimensional gate? Are you kidding me?" "Do I look like someone who jokes around?" With a silent nod from Davey, she tossed the key back to him. "Take it. If the goddess bestowed it upon you, there must be a valid reason." "In the end, I still can''t figure it out." "You''ll have to figure out how to use it on your own." The conversation came to an end. Just as Davey was about to turn his back and leave, her words stopped him in his tracks. "Davey. The goddess''s protection is waning." "..." "What on earth did you do to her?" "Karma." After his brief response, Davey grabbed Perserque and traversed through space, leaving Al behind. She looked at him with a complex expression and let out a sigh. He didn''t catch everything she muttered, but he heard something along the lines of, "How in the world did the goddess choose such a reckless psychopath as her groom¡­?" * * * Perserque quickly fell asleep upon their return to their territory. Her soul was still in an unstable state, constantly craving rest. She preferred her small physical form, which allowed her to nap whenever necessary. Davey gently laid her on the bed before taking a seat himself, focusing his attention on the key. Rinne, who had been observing from the sidelines, cautiously approached. "Master Davey, I highly value Rinne''s analytical abilities. May I request permission to analyze this object?" "Go ahead." Davey tossed the key to Rinne, who eagerly caught it, her eyes sparkling. Almost immediately, blue letters began to rapidly scroll in her eyes. After exactly 10 seconds, Rinne reached a conclusion. "Rinne''s analytical abilities are severely lacking. This appears to be a defective item." Her honesty was unwavering. In the end, neither Rinne''s material analysis, Perserque''s insight, nor the power of the World Tree''s Seed could determine the key''s true nature. Davey continued to absentmindedly toss and catch the key until he eventually opened the window and leaped outside. "Maybe it opens when I spin it in the air, huh?" Davey joked. Rinne glanced at him with an expressionless face, although her eyes seemed to hold a hint of disdain. "Master Davey, that statement is highly uncertain." "Well, you never know, right? Watch this. I''ll hold it up in the air and say, ''Open.''" As if such a simple action would yield any results. Zzzap... "Huh?" In an instant, the key Davey touched to the air reacted, creating a massive rift. Zzzzzap!! Davey laughed it off, but Rinne, who had been observing the situation, widened her eyes. "Rinne... It seems like this is the real deal?" "Warning. A significant energy reaction has been detected. Master Davey, this is highly dangerous." "This..." Without uttering a word, Davey extended his hand toward the rift and absentmindedly muttered, hoping that if it could open, it could also close. "Close." Zzzzzap!! Thud! And just like that, the rift that had effortlessly opened began to slowly close. "...Let''s go again." Davey had no intention of sparing mana for important matters, even if it meant using Warp several times a day. This was what they called hard work. Without hesitation, Davey turned around. Al looked at the spectacle Davey was showing more seriously than he had thought. She then said, "Davey." "I understand what this means." "Dimensional movement magic is originally impossible. It''s because of the goddess''s blessing. But this key opens that door. And the fact that the goddess handed it to you means that her blessing is weakening. And, there must be something there that needs your power. It means that problems have occurred not only here, but also in other places." "Huh... So this really is the key to a dimensional gate?" Davey mumbled in disbelief and soon tapped the open dimensional gate. "Do I have to go there and do something that the goddess wants?" "...It seems likely." Davey activated the status window with a flat voice. "Remove the presence in the abyss beyond the rift. In exchange, gain 1 stack of Reincarnation. Unlock 1 transcendent item." ¡®Will it enhance my physical strength now?¡¯ Davey soon made his decision. Simultaneously, Rinne clung to his leg, and without hesitation, Davey flung himself into the rift, saying, "I''ll be back, so please keep an eye out for me." "Aren''t you afraid?" "Afraid? Why wouldn''t I be? I''m scared to death." Davey said calmly, and without hesitation, he plunged into the rift. Simultaneously, a massive spark echoed, warping his sight. Instead of the grand garden where he had been moments ago, he found himself in a desolate space. "Master Davey! There''s a massive energy reaction ahead!" Rinne, who had been clinging to his leg, shouted and blocked his way. Whirring and clanking sounds filled the air. When he looked up, he saw an old, massive train charging toward him. It was not exactly charging; the place where he was standing happened to be the train tracks. The problem was not the train itself, but that it was half-covered with a massive black material. Upon closer inspection, it resembled the trains he knew but had a significantly different shape. Of course, the important part was not the train, but what was clinging to the supposed locomotive. At a glance, it was impossible not to recognize where that thing came from¡ªthe abyss. It appeared as though the abyss had not only influenced Tionis but was also reaching out to other dimensions. With widened eyes, Davey realized he could not avoid it. He grabbed Rinne''s shoulder, pulled her back, and clenched his fist. He was not sure what was happening, but a small number appeared in his vision: 30:00. It was a countdown, the maximum time he could stay here with the dimensional key. What was expected of him here was to deal with that monstrous entity presumed to be from the abyss. Hunt one, get two rewards. This was indeed a sweet deal. "Let''s quickly finish it off and go back," Davey muttered and clenched his right hand into a fist. He then threw a punch at the monstrous train, or rather, something resembling a train, charging fiercely at him. [Heavenly Destroyer Demonic Blood Explosion] A demonic figure in crimson emanated from his hand as he aimed straight at the front of the oncoming train. Crash!!!!! Simultaneously, the massive train, with its overwhelming weight and speed, crumbled and distorted at the front. The following train cars were launched into the air, and the monstrous entity of the black abyss was also knocked back. Glass shattered, and items from inside spilled out. At the same time, humans drenched in the stench of death began to pour out. They were not ordinary humans; they were humans with the stench of death on a train. "What''s going on? Are all of you heading to Busan[1]?" Davey''s response was quite simple. For the full version, visit pawread dot com. 1. Busan is a city in South Korea and a movie called ¡°Train to Busan¡± is about the zombie apocalypse. ? CH 371 Thud!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh..... The humans, emanating a deathly aura akin to cast-away corpses, may appear human on the outside, but they were entirely distinct on the inside. Surely, any ordinary human would have been fatally shocked. However, these beings nonchalantly began to stand up, as if they were immune to pain. But that wasn''t all. Apart from these grotesque humans, Davey''s primary target was the enormous black life form. The monster from the abyss was not deceased; instead, it was rapidly regenerating, gradually lifting its massive body. The brute, expelled from the train, possessed a somewhat monstrous form, with a body that reached nearly 10 meters and dozens of slender tentacles squirming upon it. "If Perserque were to witness this, she would undoubtedly be startled." That was the first thought that crossed Davey''s mind. ¡®Of course, unlike her, I find such forms quite interesting.¡¯ "Rinne, check it out." "Trust my precise analytical capabilities once again." With a short response, particles gathered on one of Rinne¡¯s arms. Zing!!! Simultaneously, a brightly glowing lightsaber materialized in one hand, while the other hand conjured a staff. "Ah... Ahhhhhhh..." Support us at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. "Kyaaaaaaa!!" The creatures, unfazed by the destruction of their bodies, swiftly charged toward Rinne and Davey. Slash!! As Rinne positioned herself in front of Davey, she swiftly thrust her lightsaber straight through the heart of the first charging monster. Poof! The light sword effortlessly pierced through the monster''s body, reducing its heart to shreds and cauterizing the wound. However, despite the fatal blow, the beast relentlessly advanced toward Rinne. With a gaping hole in its torso, it viciously tried to sink its teeth, dripping with saliva and blood, into her. Boom!! With a horrifying crunching sound, Rinne swung her staff once more, smashing the monster''s head and causing blood to splatter across her face. "Master Davey, I''ve detected multiple viruses in the target''s blood. While it poses no threat to the biogolem, it''s lethal to humans," she analyzed. "It seems they''re truly headed to Busan." These creatures resembled zombies, but they were unlike the occasional zombies found on the Tionis continent. They possessed wicked intelligence and inexplicably outstanding physical abilities. "Kyaaaaaaa!!" As one of the creatures was destroyed, the rest indiscriminately launched attacks on Rinne and Davey. Rinne''s eyes flickered, and soon a powerful light gathered at the tip of her staff. "Control your power!" "Rinne! High assessment!" Thud!!! From the beginning, Davey was aware that the staff he held was no ordinary dark staff. As he witnessed the devastating power that obliterated everything in its path with a resounding blast, a sudden realization struck him ¡ª there was something amiss with the countdown before him. [24:42] "Initially, it was thirty minutes. Rinne, how long have we been here?" In response to Davey''s question, Rinne deactivated the lightsaber and caused the shattered staff to disperse into particles. "Rinne''s biological clock is highly accurate. Approximately 2 minutes and 32 seconds have elapsed since Master Davey and Rinne arrived here," she replied. Only two minutes had passed. Around five minutes had vanished from the time limit. What on earth was happening? Grr¡­ Before Davey could discern the reason, it wasn''t the assumed zombies that caught his attention, but the black abyss life form. Seizing the opportune moment while Davey''s guard was down, it plunged its tentacles into the ground, rapidly ensnaring him from below. [We are.] [One.] [One purpose.] [Everyone will become one.] Eerily familiar and strange sensations reverberated within him. It was always this way when dealing with the abyss creatures. Despite his arms, neck, and legs being tightly constricted, and the creature squeezing with an intent to rend him apart, Davey discreetly checked the time once more and silently gathered his mana. [6th-Circle of Fire] [Burn Body] Like a fire spirit, Davey''s body synchronized with the essence of flame, igniting with an intense blaze. The tentacles withered away within the fierce red flames almost instantly, prompting Davey to swiftly sever them. He then glanced at the clock. [23:05] "Bingo." Indeed, the initial time limit was set at thirty minutes. However, despite only two minutes elapsing, nine minutes had inexplicably vanished, seemingly due to this phenomenon. After forcefully tearing off the constricting tentacles, Davey once again concentrated his mana for the experiment and observed Rinne entering a frenzy. Once more, she materialized particles, swiftly forming a colossal, savage, and horrifyingly large chainsaw. "Rinne, it''s deemed highly effective against zombies." Buzz!! Buzz!! Buzzzzzzz!!! With a bone-chilling sound and a chainsaw fiercely spinning, Rinne fearlessly plunged into the midst of the monsters. While the chainsaw appeared ordinary on the surface, its intricate internal structure made it practically impossible to replicate, rendering it a weapon exclusive to Rinne. As she swung her chainsaw, the monsters began to fall one by one, blood gruesomely splattering. As her pace quickened, time seemed to accelerate, passing faster than normal. Conversely, since Davey was not utilizing his powers, the temporal acceleration appeared to slow down compared to the beginning. "The more power you use, the faster time runs out, right?" Davey contemplated. To vanquish the creature within the time limit, a powerful strike was necessary. The challenge lay in the fact that the rate at which the time limit was diminishing surpassed his expectations, intensifying the risk of being expelled before he could take action. "I should only exhaust the remaining time when I have a foolproof plan to eliminate it," Davey determined. If that wasn''t the case... "Without utilizing my powers, I must find a way to confront it within the time limit using alternative means." The certainty of having only one opportunity remained. Thus, Davey had no choice but to think creatively. "Rinne, take down one of them and retreat," Davey instructed. Following Davey''s command, Rinne swiftly dispatched one of the monsters, or rather zombies, with her chainsaw, then leaped toward another nearby. With a powerful punch, she shattered its attacking mouth, tore off its arms, and promptly brought it down to the ground. Rinne''s savagery bordered on brutality, yet instilling common sense in her proved to be a formidable task. Being inherently different from humans in terms of self-identity and preferences, Rinne swiftly neutralized the zombie''s offensive capabilities, gripping it by the back of its head, slamming it onto the ground, and swiftly retreating. "Whether it''s you or me, using power reduces our remaining time here. Therefore, we must find a way to confront that creature in the remaining 20 minutes or so," Davey explained. "But, but..." Rinne struggled to articulate. While dragging the flailing zombie, Rinne suddenly halted. Ignoring Davey''s retreat, she pointed toward the monstrous abyss creature, its colossal tentacles in motion. "Mr. Davey, I believe a single powerful magic spell should suffice," Rinne suggested. "Let''s keep that in mind," Davey replied, narrowing his eyes. It didn''t seem as simple as Rinne envisioned. Davey grabbed a rock from the railway tracks, infused it lightly with mana, and then focused his gaze on the abyss monster. With a forceful stomp of his left foot, a massive explosion erupted, generating a tremendous shockwave where his foot made contact with the ground. Utilizing that force, Davey hurled the stone toward the creature. [Throws of Power] [Precision Steel Bullet] Crash!!! The scorching, radiant stone soared through the air, and upon sensing its presence, the abyssal monster extended its tentacles to block the attack. However, the stone pierced through the creature''s tentacles effortlessly, leaving behind a massive hole in its body. It was an unquestionably fatal blow. Another 40 seconds vanished with that single strike, leaving only about 20 minutes remaining. But the challenge was far from over. "Warning, rapid cellular activity detected in the target. It''s exhibiting hyper-fast regeneration. Detailed analysis suggests the presence of an organ responsible for this regeneration." "Since we''re expelled once we run out of time, we need to proceed with caution," Davey warned, receiving a nod of agreement from Rinne. "Davey, let''s make strategic use of the surrounding terrain." "Easier said than done," Davey muttered, swiftly surveying the surroundings. Unfortunately, there was nothing in sight that could serve as a weapon. The most effective approach would be to unleash an attack so powerful that even with a potential rebound, the creature wouldn''t survive. Davey and Rinne would undoubtedly be expelled from this place, but as long as they dealt with their primary target, it wouldn''t pose a problem. The undead monsters charged relentlessly toward Davey, while the abyssal creature remained motionless, emitting a strange noise. With a peculiar expression on his face, Davey began slowly gathering mana in one hand. "We only have one chance." Only one. The optimal choice would be to annihilate everything in sight. Swordsmanship, martial arts, or archery with limited range were not viable options. They had no other alternative but to select the most efficient method: casting a spell that would obliterate the entire area before time ran out. After contemplating their options, Davey raised both hands. "Aaaaaaaaaaah!" "Kyaaaaaaaaak!" Meanwhile, the dozens of zombies rushing toward Davey and Rinne unexpectedly multiplied, now numbering in the hundreds. These superhuman beings, surpassing the limits of human strength, moved with relentless determination. Individually, their power might not be too threatening, but their sheer numbers made them a formidable adversary. "Well, I guess we''ll just blow them up first," Davey remarked, feeling uncertain. When no other solution presented itself, causing an explosion seemed like the best course of action. Davey rapidly manipulated mana in his hand for a moment. If they were to eradicate this place quickly, nothing beat a physical explosion utilizing recoil. Considering Rinne''s surveillance, which confirmed no biological reactions in the area, this approach wouldn''t pose a significant problem. [9th-Circle Beyond Nebula System] [Quasar] It was at that moment, just as he was about to cast a spell mimicking a mini-nebula explosion, that he abruptly halted. Without hesitation, he completely dispersed the spell''s tuning. In this new place, he felt different from usual, prompting Davey to give up on the choice of attacking without hesitation. And in the very moment he abandoned the spell... Ting!! Something metallic flew into the thin air. Psssssssssst!!! The metallic object emitted white smoke like a smoke bomb, quickly obscuring their vision and scattering the zombies'' offensive. "Davey, biological response detected, approaching quickly," Rinne reported. Simultaneously, Davey spotted a small boy wearing a peculiar cape rushing toward him with 16 minutes remaining. The boy discarded an additional layer of cloth and displayed a strong vitality that had previously gone unnoticed. "Over here! It''s over here!" the boy shouted urgently, grabbing Davey''s hand. Davey reached out and turned over the hood of the boy''s cape. "Ah?! What are you doing?!" the startled boy exclaimed. But as Davey stepped back, the boy swiftly put the hood back on and held onto Davey''s hand. "I''m Eva. Evanov Ban. Let''s talk later, let''s run for now!" the boy urged. Eva, the self-proclaimed greatest lunatic mad scientist? Wait, he looked familiar... CH 372 "Starting today, I will be teaching you alchemy. My name is Eva. I have a longer name, but just remember me as Eva." He was regarded as the god of alchemists, the father of alchemy, and the living embodiment of the alchemical revolution. Hoenheim, a man who had accomplished remarkable feats, rising from nothing to attain nobility, was undoubtedly Davey''s alchemy master. Eva van Hoenheim was the esteemed title earned for his achievements, while the name Evanov remained unfamiliar. Nevertheless, there was no denying that the young boy before Davey bore a striking resemblance to him. As Davey followed the boy who introduced himself as Eva, he continuously checked his watch and suddenly a thought came to mind. ''Is he the one? Or is he related somehow? Whatever it is, that''s not what is important now.'' Not everything could be understood through observation alone. ''Using high-level magic now would be premature.¡¯ Not only magic, but an attack capable of inflicting fatal damage on creatures of the abyss was far too risky. A single failure would result in the entire deal falling apart. The flow of mana, the mechanics of air, spatial coordinates, density¡ªeverything was different and twisted compared to the world Davey was familiar with. He had attempted to unleash small-scale 9th Circle magic known as Quasar, but doing so would have significantly reduced its firepower or carried a small chance of wasting time without the magic manifesting. That''s why he dispersed the magic without hesitation. He needed a few more minutes to grasp the rules of this place. Bang!!! Bang!!! "Grrrrrrrrr!" "Kiaaaaaaaaaa!" The horrific screams of the attacking zombie horde created a truly chaotic scene. Until a moment ago, zombies had been crawling up the quiet wall, not only chasing Davey and Rinne but also forcing them to change direction from their intended escape route. Though lacking intelligence, their hunting instincts were unnervingly sharp. "Over here!" However, the boy leading Davey seemed surprisingly sturdy. At first glance, he appeared to be around 11 or 12 years old¡ªa far cry from the age at which one would expect someone to handle such a situation with expertise. "Over here!" Eva swiftly entered the ruins, using the surrounding tools to block the zombies'' advance. He then broke a bottle from his bag, creating a toxic smoke that obstructed their path. "What''s that?" Davey asked. "It''s a toxic smoke that inhibits the viruses parasitizing the host''s body. It''ll buy us enough time to escape," Eva explained. The young boy, with determination in his stride, led Davey and Rinne toward a hidden entrance in a dilapidated warehouse. It opened to a small basement. Though musty, Davey entered without hesitation, attentively observing and confirming the mana around him. Once Rinne and Davey were inside, Eva followed suit and firmly locked the door behind him. "Phew..." Descending into the basement via a ladder, Eva released a brief sigh and lit a nearby lantern as if it were a routine task. As Davey''s eyes adjusted to the darkness, he began noticing signs of someone having lived here. Artificially grown plants, filters attached to peculiar devices¡ªit was nearly impossible to determine how long they had been taking refuge in this place. "Have you eaten?" Eva asked. "It''s been a while since I''ve come across another survivor, so I''m a bit excited. Just wait a moment, I''ll fetch some simple food." * * * Evanov crawled through a small hole and returned with two bowls of peculiar porridge. He explained to the pair, "It''s made from specially cultivated ingredients found here. It should suffice as a snack." Upon hearing his words, Rinne brought her nose closer to the bowl and her eyes lit up. She exclaimed, "I detect significant enhancements to taste data. Rinne greatly appreciates this!" Rinne''s reaction indicated that the porridge was either an extraordinary delicacy or an exceptionally potent flavor that tantalized the taste buds. As the owner of an exquisite palate, Rinne possessed highly sensitive taste receptors. "So, where did you two come from? This place has been contaminated, even in the air, due to the recent bombings by the military..." the boy inquired, showing a maturity beyond his years. In response, Davey posed a question of his own. "Evanov, is it?" "And you?" the boy replied. "I''m Davey O¡¯Rowane, and this is Rinne." Instead of responding, Rinne simply sipped the porridge, her eyes gleaming. "Davey... Davey O¡¯Rowane. That''s a rather unique name. Where are you from? Kuntalas? Kelesedora? Shuprent?" "From the eastern continent of Tionis." Upon hearing Davey''s answer, the boy''s expression furrowed. "Tionis? Where exactly is that... You''re not experiencing memory confusion or any physical discomfort, right? I''m not sure if I''ve brought back someone infected with the RC Virus." "RC Virus?" Davey inquired. "That monster that was chasing you. Even if you destroy its vital organs, it keeps moving. It''s a savage cannibal that utilizes human muscle to its maximum capacity. Once it catches you, it tears you apart, gnashing and gnawing." As Evanoff spoke, Davey narrowed his eyes in quiet contemplation. To read the uncut version, go to pawread dot com. "You''re not familiar with the RC Virus?" "Not at the moment." "Hmm... The RC Virus is a rage control virus. According to the analysis of the samples, it was initially created for a noble cause, but something went wrong during the production process, transforming it into a deadly virus. It''s what has devastated the Yurgian continent." "I see. Yurgian continent..." Davey mumbled to himself, taking a spoonful of porridge into his mouth. It had a peculiar taste, simultaneously sour and sweet. "It tastes good, doesn''t it? I''ve been eating it here for so long that I''m getting tired of it, but the flavor is quite remarkable." "...The quality of this grass porridge seems similar," Davey paused, pondering, his curiosity piqued by the enigmatic boy before him. "Do you happen to know someone named Eva van Hoenheim?" "Eva...van Hoenheim?" After brief contemplation, the boy nodded. "Of course. If I didn''t, that would mean I''m a spy for the RC Virus carriers." There was no way a zombie could be a spy. "Eva van Hoenheim, the most remarkable alchemist in the history of the Yurgian continent. He passed away at the age of 44, but his numerous achievements continue to exist and protect the survivors, giving them life," Evanov calmly explained, pointing to a flower bed reflecting on the side. "That''s also an invention of the great alchemist Eva van Hohenheim. And this, and this." Davey silently nodded in response to Evanov''s words. "How long ago did this person live?" "What... You don''t know that either? Even as an 11-year-old, I know that," Evanov remarked. "Well, it''s possible not to know," Davey replied. "He lived 2,000 years ago. Anyone aspiring to become an alchemist must know Eva van Hoenheim, the father of alchemy." Chuckling, Evanov poured out his story. In just a few minutes, he spoke so much that it made Davey think he must have had a lot pent up from not being able to converse with people. "It''s been like this since I was little. Eva van Hoenheim. And my name is Evanov Ban. Our names are similar, aren''t they? So, before this incident, people around me used to ask if I was the hidden descendant of the great alchemist. Ha. Funny, right? There''s no way a descendant of someone from 2,000 years ago would still exist," he said sarcastically. However, Davey could confidently affirm that Evanov was indeed a descendant. Everything about the boy¡ªthe mannerisms, gaze, appearance, and even the taste of the habitually prepared porridge¡ªpointed toward his lineage. "And those things?" Davey inquired. "Ah... those are things I''ve created. It''s a bit embarrassing, but I''m also an alchemist," Evanov admitted. His innate talent for alchemy was genuinely impressive. Even if Davey were to mention that Evanov resembled Eva van Hoenheim so closely that he must be a descendant, he would likely be dismissed as a madman. ''Professor, your descendant is right here. I have had my share of misfortune because of you, right? Could I give you back a little trouble?¡¯ He would obviously say no, but Davey had a desire to do so. * * * Evanov continued to chatter away, oblivious to the limited time Davey and Rinne had. He spoke about trivial matters, but he couldn''t seem to stop himself. Perhaps he longed for a conversation with another person. He shared his dream of becoming a great alchemist like Eva van Hoenheim. Once the monstrous black abyss creature wreaking havoc above vanished, he planned to leave this place and make his way to a city of survivors. Despite the triviality of his stories, he appeared genuinely happy. Beep. [05:00] The deadline was slowly approaching. "Huh? Where are you going?" "It''s coming." With Davey¡¯s words... Kaboom!!! Rumble Rumble!!! A section of the underground hideout crumbled noisily. "Uh, aargh!" Evanov exclaimed in surprise, quickly reaching for a weapon resembling a holstered gun at his waist. "Run! There''s a secret passage that leads outside from within! The RC virus carriers may be fast and strong, but they lack intelligence! They can be dangerous in their instinctual actions, but ultimately, they''re just mindless brutes!" Evanov emphasized that the real danger lay not in the virus carriers but in the colossal black lifeform that had recently emerged. This abyssal creature was not supposed to exist in this place, and its presence posed a far greater threat than the zombies. "That thing survived a massive hydrogen bomb attack by the military. If you come across it, consider death inevitable!" Even as they ran, Evanov continued to speak. Without hesitation, Davey reached out and grabbed the back of his head. "Ugh!" Kabang!!! Suddenly, several appendages burst through the wall, only to be repelled by an invisible barrier. Evanov stood there, startled, witnessing the giant black lifeform with countless tentacles slowly approaching. His eyes widened in disbelief. "Uh-oh!" In a sudden burst of courage, he aimed the small gun-like weapon he had been holding for self-defense at the approaching creature. Hiccuping nervously, he fired a burst of metal rounds at the massive tentacle. Whether they hit or missed, it was evident that such a weapon would have little to no significant effect. "Damn it! I don''t know what''s happening, but this is our chance! Run!" His cry was filled with desperation. Davey watched as Evanov fled for his life, silently checking the remaining time. [04:02] Only a brief moment remained. Just a fleeting moment to gather mana and once that time reached zero, Davey would fail to complete the trade. But was he going to let this opportunity slip away? Absolutely not, especially with a person who appeared to be a descendant of his alchemy master standing before him. If there was any debt he could repay to them, he could at least save their lives once. The priorities started to blur, and the scarcity of time caused his mind to whirl in confusion. Kaboom!!! "Arrrgh!!!" Evanov, who had been leading Davey and running at a rapid pace, froze in his tracks as he witnessed the massive black tentacles bursting out from the front of the underground passage. He had never encountered a situation like this before, with abyssal creatures relentlessly pursuing him. Evanov had gravely underestimated the capability of these creatures, as they had the power to create such a dire situation at will. "Kyaaaaa!!!" "Kuhaaaa!!!" Bang Bang Bang Bang!!!! Soon, the RC virus carriers, or simply zombies, began flooding into the underground space. What was peculiar was that the abyssal creature had its tentacles embedded in their bodies. Something was amiss. It appeared that the creature was controlling the zombies, using them as its puppets. As they became surrounded on all sides, Evanov trembled uncontrollably. Despite surviving alone for a considerable time, this situation was unlike anything he had experienced before. "How... How could our fortified secret passage...?" In response to Evanov''s despairing mutterings, Davey gently patted his head. "Mr. Davey?" "Don''t worry. I can save more than just one person." Upon hearing Davey''s words, Evanov let out a cynical laugh. Laughing? This was no laughing matter, kid. Observing Evanov''s resigned smile, it became evident that Davey needed to perform a miracle for him to regain hope. After careful calculation, Davey extended his hands, ensuring a perfect outcome. One hand prepared for spatial transfer magic¡ªwarp¡ªand the other brimming with immense energy. Whether time rapidly dwindled or not, whether Evanov was taken aback by the sudden change or not, Davey locked his gaze on the abyssal creature''s tentacles and spoke with determination. "Rinne, countdown from 10 seconds. Incinerate everything that approaches during that time." "Executing command." Clink Clank!! As the forbidden technique was currently deactivated, utilizing transcendent black magic was not feasible. In terms of sheer firepower, Davey concluded that the only option was to unleash the pinnacle of the 9th Circle transcendent elemental magic. Witnessing Davey''s transformation, Evanov''s eyes filled with horror. CH 373 This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV. "What on earth is this?!" Eva exclaimed, utterly bewildered by the inexplicable event unfolding before them. It defied all understanding, defying the laws that governed the principles of physics and delineated the boundaries of reality. The small orb before them emitted a deep blue glow, seemingly absorbing the very air around it. From the moment Eva first encountered Davey, he sensed an air of strangeness. It began with a tremendous roar, as if a colossal weight had been hurled into the sky and then plummeted back to the ground. It was precisely that sensation that had led Eva to the silver-haired girl of remarkable beauty and the handsome black-haired boy. The boy, clad in a suit slightly divergent from conventional attire, donned clothing with a vintage design too distinct to dismiss as a mere prank. Instinctively, Eva realized that these two individuals were the cause of the resounding noise. He also noticed an approaching horde of carriers infected with the RC virus and ominous black entities. Eva hesitated, caught between the urge to save them and his limited resources. After all, he was not the renowned alchemist Eva van Hoenheim, who had supposedly saved humanity in the past. Furthermore, there was the possibility that they themselves were carriers of the RC virus. However, Eva''s momentary indecision quickly dissipated. ¡®Do you need a fancy reason to save a life?¡¯ Based on the fact that the other carriers of the RC virus were attacking them, Evanov concluded that the silver-haired girl and the black-haired boy had not been infected yet. He swiftly pulled the pin of a smoke grenade he had as a backup and hurled it into the air, taking advantage of the diversion to lead them quickly to his hidden shelter. The shelter was a meticulously constructed refuge, borne out of countless hardships, stocked with essential supplies, and equipped with an escape route. Having resided there for a significant period, Evanov had developed a fondness for the place. Meeting new conversational partners and unexpectedly receiving visitors brought about an unusual sense of excitement. Despite not being able to determine their trustworthiness, Evanov willingly shared his story with them. He admired the silver-haired girl as she enjoyed the soup he had offered and appreciated the boy who attentively listened to his tale. It had been three long years since the accursed RC virus had spread, and Evanov had been hiding in this shelter since the age of eight, losing his parents about two years ago. He had survived as a lone wolf, relying on his unique, genius-level talent. Now, Evanov pondered whether there might be a way for him and his newfound companions to make their way to the city of survivors. He didn''t want to lose these rare conversation partners, these long-awaited guests, in vain. Suddenly, his joyous musings were abruptly interrupted. The location, buried five meters underground, had never been detected by the carriers of the RC virus or the black entities. But could this time be different? His personal devices sounded alarms, indicating a breach and sending distress signals. While a hideout might provide safety, it grew increasingly dangerous as space constricted. Ultimately, Evanov had no choice but to leave. Making a rational decision to abandon the place swiftly and cleanly, he gathered a few necessary items and hurriedly guided the two individuals into a secret underground passage. Surely, they wouldn''t follow him there. Never. However, it seemed that "impossible" wasn''t a concept that applied. Evanov was dumbfounded by the sudden appearance of a colossal monster, its tentacles attacking like a trap. To compound matters, carriers of the RC virus started pouring in. Evanov''s nail gun was only capable of incapacitating a single enemy, and he couldn''t fashion a suitably powerful weapon with the available equipment. Despair settled upon Evanov as he realized that his nail gun lacked the firepower needed, and neither the boy nor the girl possessed proper weapons. But then, the boy, who had been silently following him, stroked his own head and uttered, "Can''t we save at least one of us?" Monsters closed in on them, akin to a fox chasing a rabbit, while they remained unarmed, defenseless, with no obstacles to hide behind. What could they possibly do in such a dire situation? Just as Evanov was about to ask, he witnessed something he had never seen before. Something that defied the laws of physics began to take shape in the boy''s motionless hands. One hand held a radiant red orb, while the other held a black sphere. The boy swiftly brought his hands together, crushing and twisting them as if to shatter them. Then, as time began to flow, the carriers of the RC virus, the cursed zombies, surged toward Evanov and the others. However, their advance was halted by the silver-haired girl''s swift movement. Evanov could only watch in bewilderment, rubbing his eyes, as she wielded blades of blue light in both hands. Meanwhile, the boy silently formed a massive sphere in his hand. Initially red, it gradually turned white over time, eventually compressing into a dazzling blue sphere. What had initially been several tens of centimeters in size was now reduced to a mere fraction of a finger joint. "Rinne, come back," Davey said, nonchalantly yet familiarly. The silver-haired girl, who had been fervently wielding her luminous sword, extinguished it and swiftly clung to the boy''s leg. In that moment, Evanov, who had been standing in a daze, witnessed a narrow space enclosing himself, Davey, and Rinne distort and isolate itself. "I''ll handle that abyssal creature. You take care of the rest," Davey stated matter-of-factly. Stunned, Evanov instinctively closed his eyes upon seeing a small, brilliant blue sphere suspended in the air. Its radiance was so intense that it pained his eyes. A faint, resonating sound echoed. Gradually, amidst the subtle currents, Evanov cautiously opened his eyes and beheld a sight that defied the laws of physics. A colossal blue flame engulfed the entire area, reducing everything to mere ashes. "Oh, my God..." Evanov uttered, seemingly overwhelmed, as he sank to his knees. The aqueous blue flame, resembling water-drenched fire, eventually dissipated, and Evanov slowly emerged from the distorted space. The virus carriers that had posed a threat to his life moments ago, the ominous black entities that had faced repeated hydrogen bombings by the military, had all vanished without a trace. As Evanov turned his head to comprehend the situation, he realized that both the boy and the silver-haired girl had disappeared, as if they were mere illusions. He wondered, ¡®Is this a dream? Am I the Evanov of the dream, or is the Evanov of the dream the real me?¡¯ Unable to comprehend the situation, Evanov simply gazed at the charred remnants scattered on the ground. Thoughts began to swirl in his mind, contemplating whether the vanished individuals could have been the apostles of God, a notion rejected by alchemists. Then, a sudden realization struck Evanov. He felt an unfamiliar vibration emanating from his pocket. Reaching in, he retrieved a small cube. Startled, he threw it into the air and widened his eyes in astonishment as the cube rapidly expanded, splitting into two and transforming into peculiar, agile golems. "User registration is required. Please state your name," both golems, nearly identical as twins, announced. Although their appearances were alike, Evanov, well-versed in alchemy, recognized the distinction. These golems were not merely superior in design. Despite their human-sized stature, their strength was overwhelmingly formidable. The question lingered in his mind: Why had these golems been in his pocket as small cubes? Evanov, stunned by the surreal turn of events, had no doubt that Davey was the mastermind behind this perplexing occurrence. He couldn''t help but feel deeply troubled about how to articulate his bewildering experience. * * * With a massive spark, Davey was able to return to the Garden of the World Tree while carrying Rinne in his arms. "Whoa!" Davey instinctively extended his hand and activated the status window to assess the situation. He found himself mildly taken aback by the information displayed within. [Special Additional Mission Completed, Additional Mission: Ensure the survival of the Second Star of Hope on the Yurgian Continent.] There was no doubt about who the Star of Hope referred to. "You weren''t gone long, how did things go?" the World Tree asked. Davey quietly replied while looking at the changing text in the status window, "I just played a game." "A game?" ¡°Yes, a game-like stupid mission.¡± Once the data output was complete, the contents of the status window underwent a complete transformation. [Unlocking 1 Transcendent Weapon, 1 additional Transfiguration Stack, 200% increase in total Dimensional Keys] [Achieved the title, Starbreaker.] Davey came to the realization that the additional rewards were contingent on the outcome of a specific action. Furthermore, he discovered that the key he possessed was not a one-time use item. This meant that it could serve as a perfect training location that could be utilized periodically. CH 374 [Unlocking 1 Transcendent Weapon, 1 additional Transfiguration Stack, 200% increase in total Dimensional Keys] [Achieved the title, Starbreaker.] ¡®As for the Transcendent Weapon, I''ve always had a set one in mind. I''ll pass this time.¡¯ The scenario differed greatly from the days when Davey lacked a proper weapon. However, what truly captured his attention was something entirely different. Metamorphosis by Force: 1 stack. It took Davey quite some time to grasp the implications of this discovery. In his current state, achieving metamorphosis by force seemed almost impossible. His previous metamorphosis had been forcefully induced, and it wasn''t a proper metamorphosis by force in the true sense. Therefore, the significance of this newfound ability to reincarnate was not lost on him. However, a question lingered: Did metamorphosis by force stack? Metamorphosis by Force: 1 stack... Although there are no immediate changes in my body, it appears that the process is not simply a one-time transformation per stack. On the other hand, I can''t determine the exact number of stacks required. Considering the current circumstances, I probably don''t need too many processes of metamorphosis to regain all my power in the Abyss.¡¯ Regardless of the potential of his physical body, the entity that had been supporting him had exerted considerable effort. The goddess was willing to go to great lengths to maintain her own existence. However, with her influence now weakened, Davey realized that he had a chance to confront her before it was too late. He narrowed his eyes at the World Tree, which observed his complex expression intently. * * * "Hmm... Hand it over, I''ll take a look," the World Tree requested, extending a branch toward Davey, who handed over the Dimension Key that he had kept in the subspace. Al, being aware that this was no ordinary item, examined it with curiosity. "Hmm... The more I see, the more impressive it becomes," Al murmured as she immersed the key into a green sphere and levitated it in the air. She then swiftly diminished the radiance and returned the key to Davey, stating, "The core power of the key remains unchanged. It appears that it can be used again after a few hours." "Thirty minutes... No, a few hours of cooldown time for just an hour''s usage..." Davey quickly checked the status window. [Survival of the Second Star of Hope. Upon successful survival, add 1 metamorphosis by force stack. Grant additional reward.] "Now you''re blatantly bribing me with rewards." At Davey¡¯s grumbling, Al tutted. "Such a disrespectful fellow." "This goddess! Do I look like the kind of person who would fall for such a small reward?!" Bang! Davey slammed his hand on the sturdy wooden table, letting out a frustrated shout before he sighed. "...Given the wide range of rewards." "Tch." ''A proper metamorphosis by force without any risks...'' Although Davey was uncertain about the required number of stacks, his intuition told him that it wouldn''t be too many. "Master Davey, Master Davey," Rinne called out, grabbing the hem of his clothes with a slightly dissatisfied expression. "What''s the matter?" "Master Davey, why did you transfer Rinne''s youngest successor?" Rinne''s face appeared emotionless but clearly reflected her dissatisfaction. "Ah... That?" Davey suddenly remembered the twin golems he had entrusted to Evanov. "Rinne had high expectations for the new successor. However, Master Davey''s arbitrary decision is greatly disappointing." "What is their main task?" Davey asked, tilting his head. "Disrupting the scene...and gathering information." "Well, keep an eye on them." Rinne made a strange expression upon hearing Davey¡¯s response, but she remained silent. Evanov Ban was someone who closely resembled Eva van Hoenheim, Davey''s alchemy teacher. It was hard to ignore the encounter with Evanov, who had been born 2,000 years after Hoenheim''s death and was presumed to be his descendant. Even if not immediately, it was clear that their paths would inevitably cross again. However, the real concern lay elsewhere. Evanov Ban bore such a strong resemblance to Eva van Hoenheim that it wouldn''t be inaccurate to call him a descendant. Many other elements aligned perfectly as well. But there was something off. Reflecting on his conversation with Evanov, Davey sensed that something was amiss. "...Rinne cannot fully comprehend Master Davey''s thoughts. However, Rinne highly values Master Davey''s decision." Eventually, Rinne, suppressing her dissatisfaction, withdrew. Davey turned to leave, heading back to his territory. He told Al, "I will return. Just to clarify, do not unleash the elves to hunt down the remnants of the vampires, disregarding the demons. It could escalate the situation." Just as he was about to leave... "Wait a moment." The World Tree, who had been quietly observing Davey, halted him. "What is it?" It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV. "It seems you have forgotten something," Al said calmly as she slowly rose from her slender form. "That thing about titles. Have you examined it closely?" Her words left Davey puzzled. "Titles?" "Yes. If I understood correctly, that status window is essentially a collection of powers bestowed by the gods. There cannot be anything meaningless in it." Titles, in a sense, were like boasting. However, Davey couldn''t imagine there being a title that nobody could see. Without a word, he activated the status window, and soon he noticed a change in the title section of his status window. Title: Starbreaker (+) "A plus mark?" * * * A new symbol had appeared next to the title. Did it exist before? As Davey retraced his memory, he realized that it had indeed been there, but he hadn''t paid much attention to it. A title that couldn''t be boasted about to others was more than just a title. It indicated that it had an effect or a purpose. [Starbreaker] -Current efficacy is not manifested. Unlock when using 1 Metamorphosis by Force Stack. "Are you using this as a currency?" ¡®No, if it''s metamorphosis by force, it''s metamorphosis by force. What does it mean to use this as a currency again?¡¯ As Davey silently touched the plus mark for a long time, a semi-transparent window began to appear in front of him. [Disciple of the Mad Heroes of the Roaring] [Indomitable Will] [Welfare Assaulter] [Scammer] [Dream Builder] [Savior] [Crazy Experimentalist] ¡­ ¡­ When had he accumulated so many titles? There were an astonishing number of titles stacked up. Naturally, when Davey noticed something new, he couldn''t help but want to check it. But just as he was about to examine the first title... "Your Highness!" Amy, who had spotted Davey from a distance, hurriedly ran toward him. "Amy?" "Your... Your Highness... Haah... Haah..." She was panting heavily, struggling to calm herself down due to her usual lack of stamina. Woong!! As Davey cast a simple recovery spell on her, Amy suddenly perked up, her eyes widening. "It''s a big deal! You have to see it for yourself!" At Amy¡¯s exclamation, Davey noticed an irritating phrase in the list of titles he was checking. He furrowed his brow in annoyance and decisively closed the status window. [The Innocent Virgin] -Increased chance of being favored by the opposite sex by 50%. -Emission of aura that escalates heated atmospheres. Increases success rate of wooing by 1%. ¡®Is this damned title pitying me now?¡¯ * * * "Hmm, this is the first time we''re having a conversation," the voice said from the darkness. A streak of light pierced through, revealing a figure in a black robe holding a holy Bible in one hand. It was a young girl, her bright smile contrasting with the seriousness of her attire. She began to speak. "Although it was difficult to arrange this meeting, I''m glad to finally meet you. I am Clonnie O''Priscille, the 1st Class Inquisitor of the Heresy Tribunal." Her formal greeting, typical of the holy country, created a strange juxtaposition. "Firstly, I want to apologize for summoning you to this uncomfortable place. Normally, the protocol would be to immediately execute anyone involved in heretical and anti-godly actions. However, I wanted to have a conversation with you." The girl maintained her bright smile, radiating infinite mercy. "Please don''t look so stern. Despite being a 1st Class Inquisitor, I prefer to guide heretics toward repentance rather than resorting to violence." No response was given, but her smile remained unwavering. "It''s hard to believe, isn''t it? I understand. Even I find it ridiculous at times. The blood-soaked Heresy Tribunal may appear terrifying to you. But I hope that, one day, this place will transform for the better." She gathered her hands together with a bright smile. "Recently, God has given an order to the leader of the Heresy Tribunal: [Slay the demons and vampires. Destroy those who defy God] and [When their blood is sprinkled on the ground, the true blessing of God will come].¡± "The Leader couldn''t hold back his tears when he received the order. For us, believers who worship God, receiving such an order is nothing short of a miracle," she exclaimed, her laughter echoing through the room as she spun around with her arms outstretched. "I''ve never personally received a divine order, but the word of Goddess Freyja is absolute. Therefore, the Leader''s order is also absolute." "Many people accuse us of being fanatics who burn and kill anyone we dislike. But that''s a misconception. We differentiate between the truly guilty and offer them a chance to repent. The Goddess of Mercy shows mercy to those who acknowledge and repent their sins." With a bright smile, she slowly rose from her seat. "Oh, it seems our time for conversation is coming to an end. It was delightful talking to you. Remember, I hope you find forgiveness. If you repent, your sins will be washed away, and the Goddess of Mercy will embrace you once more, even if you have strayed from the path." Her pupils momentarily contracted as she maintained her bright smile. "That is, if you are innocent." Swoosh¡­ She turned around, her oversized cloak trailing behind her, and issued a command. "Commence the purification." "Ugh..." "Ughhh!!!" Simultaneously, screams reverberated throughout the area as numerous knights of the Heresy Tribunal, positioned behind Clonnie O¡¯Priscille, hurled bright red torches. The tangled flames erupted, filling the air with the sound of agony. However, Clonnie O¡¯Priscille, the one who had ordered the purification, slowly turned her body, knelt down, and began to pray. "God has spoken. Demons and vampires are creatures that defy God. Those who aid them also defy God and must undergo purification. No being can escape this absolute law." A surge of white holy power overflowed from her surroundings. With a bright smile, she gazed upon the raging red inferno, her expression filled with joy. Trembling, she spread her hands wide, causing some helmetless knights to flinch at the sight, but none dared to utter a word. "Ah ha... Ah ha... Ahahahahahaha!!! God is calling you! Your sins!! He shall incinerate your sins! And from the ashes, pure and untainted white shall emerge, free of any transgressions." Her monologue continued amidst the harrowing screams. ¡®Yes, the essence of purity, bone powder. Do you know why bone powder is white? It is because it is sinless and pure. Dear citizens of the Colldom region in the Kingdom of Furas, if you repent for the sin of being deceived by the devil''s guise, assuming the form of a young girl, God will embrace you.¡¯ She prayed fervently. One knight cautiously approached and tentatively spoke up. "1st Class Inquisitor." "What is it? I am in the midst of an important prayer." "Well... Are you sure you''re alright? In the event that Prince Davey, the Saint, intervenes..." Upon hearing his words, Clonnie''s eyes widened. "Yes! I am waiting for him!" She screamed with a face twisted by madness. "What sins does he possess! He is a holy being! If he has sins, they must be burned and purified! It must be done! Even if he wields great power, everyone is equal in the eyes of God and faith." CH 375 "Haa... Haa!!" A boy sprinted desperately through the forest path, his teeth gritted as he glanced back at the little girl clutching his hand and running after him. The girl was his sister. Although they were not nobles, they had lived relatively comfortably among the common folk due to their parents'' good fortune. The situation they now faced was nothing short of shocking. Who could have imagined? The Freyja Sect was dominant across the continent, but that did not mean all other religions were oppressed. There were sub-gods acknowledged even within the Freyja Sect. The Sun God, Sylus, and the Moon Goddess, Krias, were prime examples. In the beginning, the main Goddess Freyja created the Sun God Sylus to illuminate the world. Then, to allow Sylus to rest, she created the Goddess of the Night, or the Moon Goddess, Krias. This was mentioned even in the ancient scriptures of the Sect''s main monastery. The Sect saw no reason to oppress the minority who worshiped Sylus and Krias, as everyone knew these two deities were derivative beings of the main Goddess, Freyja. The siblings'' parents were among the few followers of the Sun God, Sylus. The territory where they lived largely operated on an alchemical energy system that harnessed sunlight. This was where special cells, forming the energy core of golems used for building castles, were produced and were famous among the alchemy circles. Given the focus on harnessing the sun''s power, it was natural that the entity of the Sun God, Sylus, was held in higher regard than anything else. Most of the people in the Furas Kingdom''s Coldum territory, where the siblings lived, were believers in Sylus rather than the main Goddess Freyja. Despite it being a small territory with only 100-200 inhabitants, this was a significant issue. "Haa... Haa! Brother... Brother!" The cute little girl, panting as if on the verge of death, whimpered. "Don''t stop! Run! We have no choice but to keep running!" The desperate escape seemed to have no end in sight. But one thing was clear: no matter what, he had to get his only sister out of this forest. To escape from those madmen. "Ahh!" But unlike her brother, who had grown tough through hard work alongside their father, his sister, weak of body, could not keep pace. Seeing her legs give way, the brother hoisted her up. "Get up! Quick!" But the situation was too dire for the girl, whose strength had left her legs. "Br-Brother... I''m scared..." "I''ll carry you! Quickly!" He tried to carry his sister and run, but as just a boy himself, there was a limit to how fast he could go. Szzzing!! Whoosh!! "Aaargh!" Inevitably, while struggling to run with his sister on his back, the fleeing boy was pierced in the leg by a silver arrow. "Aargh!" He screamed in agony, falling and releasing his sister, rolling on the ground with gritted teeth. "Ahh!" The little girl, terrified, tried to rise with great difficulty. If only it weren''t for the ominous metallic sound emanating from her neck. "No..." "No, don''t!" Despite an arrow piercing his leg, the boy desperately screamed at the sight of the silver sword hanging around his sister''s neck. And into the boy''s ears came a detestable voice, a girl''s voice. "That''s not going to work. It''s not. What would we do if you just ran away?" With the clink of chains, a teenage girl with striking golden hair appeared. The compassionate smile on her face and the symbol of the main Goddess Freyja, the tightly held cross, made her appear infinitely merciful. However, the boy knew better. That mad zealot, what unspeakable deeds she had committed in her own domain! Not only the neighbors, but even his own parents had been mercilessly killed. There was no way they could have been unaware of it. Wham! As a stoic knight harshly subdued him, the boy desperately reached out his hand to protect his little sister. Could it have been because of her uncommon beauty, which was not typical of commoners, since their childhood? The young girl, who had grown up beautifully, taking after her mother''s genes, was indeed a beauty who held the hopes of many within the domain. Yes, her face was the problem. The lord, who had his eye on his younger sister, tried to arbitrarily take her away under the pretext of sponsorship. Was it fortunate? At the very moment he tried to snatch away his sister with his eyes wide open, the prince of the kingdom, who had come to inspect the domain, sternly reprimanded the corrupt noble and protected the sister. However, the lord, bearing a grudge, reported his sister to the Inquisitors. He claimed she was a demon in human form. His evidence was as follows: the potential of her uncommonly beautiful appearance. The fact that she had bewitched the majority of the people in the domain was the reason. Was there a need for any other reason? There was not. Eventually, the Inquisitors stormed in. The domain was reduced to ashes, and the number of survivors from the domain was minimal. It did not seem like the lord had wanted all of them to die, but the situation had already reached this point. "Stand up. I distinguish between sinners and evildoers and am infinitely merciful to sinners." With a broad smile, she pulled out a small cross from within her robe and thrust it toward the little sister. The brother tried to stop it with all his might, but...the cross had already gradually turned black. "Oh my, she really was a demon. There''s no helping it. We must burn the sins and purify her into a pure being. Prepare the cross. I need to offer prayers for the repenting sinner." At that moment, as the knights tried to bind the girl... Whooom!!! A giant shadow from the sky momentarily darkened the ground before disappearing. "Hmm?" "What was that huge thing in the sky just now?" The knights and the 1st Class Inquisitor, Clonnie O¡¯Priscille, realized a bit too late that something had flown across the sky. They looked up, but the sky that had been dark just a moment ago was now perfectly clear. "1st Class Inquisitor, just now..." "Don''t waver. Evil always tries to shake our faith at our sides. That''s why we must steel our hearts and perform our sacred duty." With a composed statement, the girl was lifted. The knight who appeared, carrying a large coffin, took out a folding cross from within it, set it up, and tied the girl on top of it. "I''m sorry. In order to repent for your sins, we must hang you on a cross made with sincerity... This is also a trial, so please repent." "P-Please, save me. I... I don''t want to die..." "Oh my, you can solve everything by repenting. The divine Goddess Freyja is waiting with an open heart for your repentance." As she said this, flames began to flicker on Clonnie''s hand. "The divine flame will purify you." "I... I don''t want this... I don''t!! I don''t!!!!!" She screamed and struggled with all her might, but the girl''s weak strength was not enough to break free from the restraints of the cross. Then, just as the flame was about to engulf the cross and her body, everyone witnessed it. They saw the bright red flame being sucked away before it could consume the cross. "What''s this?" Clonnie, slightly perplexed, frowned as she watched the girl''s execution. "1st Class Inquisitor!" At the knight''s shout, Clonnie lifted her head and saw a giant being standing confidently in front of her. Her eyes widened slightly. The being, covered in flames, was none other than the legendary bird of flame¡ªa phoenix, as if from a fairy tale. Screech!!! After the phoenix let out a resounding roar and devoured all the fire, it turned its gaze downward toward Clonnie, who stood there in silent astonishment. Slowly, a determined expression spread across her face as she began to unsheathe her sword. Shrring¡­ Clang!! But before she could even draw her sword, a strong impact struck her weapon, causing it to retract back into its sheath and fall to the ground, partially embedded. "..." "Burning a perfectly healthy girl in broad daylight." It was a calm female voice. "It seems true that when the public enemy disappears, only conflict remains." Clonnie, with dilated pupils, stared at the woman speaking with composure. Her gaze toward Reina, the woman in question, was filled with intense hostility. "Ah, the Warrior of Light. Rumors precede you, Reina. Why do you interfere with this sacred heresy trial?" Clonnie questioned. Reina took out a small crystal ball from her bosom. Then, she inquired, "Why interfere...? What crime has this child committed that would warrant setting her aflame?" "That? Bewitched by demons, or perhaps a demon themselves. Of course, all, whether sinners or villains, shall be saved by the mercy of our benevolent Goddess Freyja..." Clonnie responded. "Crazy woman." "..." "I must have been insane to think we could have a conversation. More importantly, it seems you possess fire-based abilities." Boom!!! With a deafening sound, several knights were swiftly stepped on and suppressed by the phoenix''s fiery talons. The remaining knights hastily drew their swords. But in a flash, a thundercloud descending from the sky burned them to a crisp while they still wore their armor. Witnessing the swift cleanup of their surroundings by the two divine entities, Clonnie said to Reina with contracted pupils, "A hero who should stand for God''s duty is corrupted... It is truly regrettable." At her genuinely remorseful tone, Reina coldly sneered, "There''s no one more dangerous and difficult to communicate with than a fanatic. You fit that bill perfectly, you madwoman." As Reina calmly spoke, she twirled her spear with a nod. Simultaneously, Clonnie O¡¯Priscille, who had slowly drawn her sword from its half-buried sheath, enveloped her body in eerie flames and began to speak, "The holy trial sent down by God, the path of thorns... I will gladly tread upon it..." With her words, flames began to ripple across the area. The silent Reina sought a way to subdue Clonnie when the eyes of the phoenix, which was suppressing the knights, ignited. "How dare you! Your paltry fire dares to challenge mine!" Enraged that Clonnie''s fire tried to overpower its own, the furious phoenix decided to unleash its anger without restraint. Shocked by the sudden onslaught of the phoenix, Clonnie looked up at it, but the phoenix began to peck mercilessly at her with lightning speed. While she was advantageous in handling flames, this situation equally favored the phoenix. The heat, which even penetrated through the mana shield, differed slightly from that of Reina''s. ¡°You! You! You!¡± Peck! Peck! Peck! Peck! "What''s this?!" This situation was beyond Clonnie''s expectations. * * * "¡­" Amy was exceptionally reliable. While not particularly outstanding in the economic field, her ability to maintain the status quo made her incredibly capable. That was why Davey entrusted her with the territory. The talent to sustain a territory for a prolonged period without crossing any boundaries was, in a sense, the most impressive. "..." Davey narrowed his eyes at the numerous fallen goblins, trolls, and ogres. This place was still undeveloped but part of the territory. Davey had periodically dispatched the Decepticon Fleet to clear out goblins, especially. But why had so many monsters appeared in the middle of the territory? When you''re just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. "While the magicians of the Magic Tower and the territorial guards worked hard to prevent further damage... three people were seriously injured during that time." "Where did these bastards come from?" Amy shook her head in response to his question. "Nowhere. It was as if the air itself split open, and they emerged from it." As she spoke, Davey pressed the skin of an ogre. There was something subtly different about this ogre compared to the ones on the Tionis continent. "Any other abnormalities?" "Well, they displayed power far beyond the average monster...and there were witness statements..." "Tell me." Amy hesitated before speaking. "Their eyes glowed blood-red...like berserkers. They said it was the most chilling gaze they had ever witnessed in their mercenary lives..." Similar instances had occurred before with the petrified giant and Chandra Minea''s avatars. While examining the traces of the monsters, Davey discovered something unusual. "Bring the witness." Amy looked puzzled by his stern expression, but he was focused on that trace. It was a feather that didn''t belong to goblins, trolls, or ogres. However, that feather felt incredibly familiar. Undoubtedly, it was a feather from one of the three Grandmaster-class beasts, Azure Sky¡¯s Storm Dragon King Megalodria, the transcendental being. CH 376 The sudden clash with the eerie monsters had taken its toll. The state of the remaining survivors was worse than anticipated. Many were stricken with terror to the point of incapability, some even appeared unable to move properly. "When did this start happening?" Davey asked. "A few days ago... This has been the situation since we returned from the reconnaissance mission. I didn''t want to trouble you, so I didn''t mention it..." "Amy." At Davey¡¯s soft call, Amy jumped and bowed her head. She apologized, "I-I''m sorry, my Lord." "I''m not blaming you," Davey said calmly, placing his hand on her head. "You''ve taken on too much alone all this time. It''s not just about the last few months. You may have had to do things you didn''t want to do because they were orders, things you didn''t want to do while governing the territory, but you did them because of discipline." "..." "That was wrong." Davey sat on the infirmary bed, reaching out to the men shivering with fear. [O mighty Freyja who oversees all creation.] "I consider you an important talent. Remember what I told you: think of this not as a military relationship, but as a relationship between a boss and an employee. If something is efficient, you should always speak up, and if something isn''t right, you should address it. What good is it to keep everything to yourself because of what you think I would think?" [Here, miserable souls are gathered, all seeking mercy, all stricken with fear.] "But, but..." "Would it have been a loss if I had stopped what I was doing to come here after you told me about this? Or would it have been a loss if I had been unaware of their suffering, even though I was closest to them?" "I-I''m sorry..." "Everyone in the territory is my family, including you. Even though I don''t govern directly often, I trust you that much. It''s right for you to come to me for help when you''re struggling. But I hate it when petty and pointless reasons keep you from efficient methods. Who is the person in front of you? Is it simply a superior who is hard to deal with and a royal of this country? Or is it the person who has given you faith?" At Davey¡¯s words, Amy lowered her head again. "Can you do it?" "Yes!" "That''s good. I trust you. You should trust me completely, too." ¡®Pointing out what''s wrong and giving opportunities. I believe that''s the right way for a leader to rule. Goddess Freyja, don''t fret about your weakened influence, please take good care of everyone here.¡¯ [8th Level Holy Magic of Blessing] [Grand Purification] Whoosh!!! As the warm and bright light began to envelop the soldiers, a sense of calm gradually began to creep into their trembling bodies. "Master Davey, the current condition of the subjects is extreme fear. It''s anticipated that purification magic may not be sufficient." "Perhaps." The reactions were too uniform to be just fear. It was a deeply ingrained fear that seemed artificial. Davey could only interpret it as a deliberate imposition of fear that needed to be erased with purification magic, much like Lysol. There was no other way to perceive it except as a characteristic that forcefully engraved fear. ¡®If you want to challenge me, you''d have to bring at least a transcendent-level black magic that engraves fear. You''re out, you bastard.¡¯ Whoosh!!! Crash! With the sound of something breaking in the air, the soldiers and knights began to fall all at once. As the stimuli that had kept the fear-ridden soldiers alert disappeared, those who had been enduring pain and sleeplessness could no longer resist the overwhelming urge to sleep and collapsed. "Prepare a simple meal. They''ll probably sleep soundly for half a day. When they wake up, they''ll be hungry, so distribute the food. And give them a break to rest." "Yes." "Just a word of thanks for your hard work... No, I''ll deliver this message myself." Search "pawread dot com" for the original. "Yes!" Amy responded energetically. Leaving the cleanup to her, Davey headed straight to the bedroom where Perserque was sleeping. "Hmm... Davey?" "Perserque, take a look at this." As she moved away from Davey, the power of the abyss vanished, leaving only the bare minimum. That was why Davey needed her assistance. "This is..." As she stared at the massive feather Davey handed her, her eyes narrowed slightly. Simultaneously, a faint light filled her red eyes, causing them to widen. "Azure... Sky''s Storm Dragon King..." At this point, there was no room for denial. "It''s a feather from Megalodria." "I thought as much. We hit the jackpot." As she looked at him, seemingly questioning where he obtained it, he sighed, took the feather, and tossed it into subspace. "Davey, what''s going on here? If it''s Megalodria, then surely..." "Yeah, one of the three notorious Mythical Beast Kings of Lux Continent." "How do you have a feather from such a mythical beast?" In response to her question, Davey hesitated, then slowly opened his mouth. "Well, that''s..." As he fell silent, wearing a serious expression, she mirrored his seriousness. "I guess we''ll have to figure it out." "..." ¡®I understood it was a feather from Megalodria, but how was I supposed to know anything else?¡¯ "How am I supposed to know what''s going on with the guy who left the house?" Davey recognized that something had happened, but he did not know exactly what. In such cases, there was only one reliable source of information. * * * "So, you came to me again for this issue, is that it? Do you have any idea how far it is from the Eastern Continent, where you are, to the Divine Tree''s Land in the West?" "Well, I had to exhaust all the mana I have and use warp three times just to get here. I''m completely worn out. Why don''t you step out of the room and get some fresh air, Elder?" "You little brat!" Despite the World Tree''s teasing reprimand, Davey maintained calm. "If it''s the Eye of the World Tree, it should at least be able to see beyond the sky." The most valuable source of information would be Aina Helishana, the dark elf working with Davey. Even an information guild had its limitations when it came to gathering information. And she was the only ally who could casually access those restricted areas. "Al." "Alright, alright. You cheeky brat, you certainly know how to make use of people." "So, you''re going to do it then?" "I have to. Why else would I team up with you?" Her goal was to maintain and preserve peace. If Megalodria was as deranged as Shandra Minea''s avatar, it would pose a significant problem for her as well. "So, what did those who witnessed the massive mythical beast say?" "They only saw its shadow." The sole piece of information Davey obtained from the soldiers and knights of the Heins territory, who regained consciousness after a powerful purification magic, was that they caught a glimpse of an enormous shadow engulfing the sky. When they attempted to look up for further observation, their memories vanished. Ultimately, all they could recall was the sight of the immense shadow and the feather Davey had shown. "But if your account is accurate, does that mean the rampaging beast spared them despite its loss of sanity?" "If it''s the Megalodria I know, he wouldn''t succumb to madness so easily." After all, he was the mentally strongest among the three mythical beasts. As Davey spoke, she closed her eyes and fell into silence. An intangible current began to radiate from her body. At first glance, the World Tree appeared as a mere towering tree, but that was far from the truth. Its roots spread across the continent, and the seemingly modest World Tree possessed the power to interact with everything in the world. A potent surge of energy erupted, moving swiftly and seamlessly. Like a spirited gust of wind, the energy flow extended high into the sky. When she opened her eyes again, some time had passed. "He is not present." Upon hearing her words, Davey let out a sigh. "He wouldn''t be easily found, would he?" "Just a mythical beast evading the scrutiny of the World Tree?" "The issue is that he is more than just a mythical beast." The distinction between a Mythical Beast King and an ordinary mythical beast was strikingly apparent. "With this, we can be reasonably certain that he still possesses some sanity." "That''s likely. If he had completely lost his mind, he would have at least revealed his whereabouts." Davey''s judgment was that an individual driven to lunacy, someone who had completely lost their sanity, would not possess the capacity for thought or the ability to decide to conceal themselves. Those who had been driven insane by forcefully traversing dimensions relied solely on their instincts. Particularly, someone as mentally resilient as Megalodria, who could be deemed a visionary, likely had a decent chance of resisting the tides of madness. "If related information comes up, I''ll deliver it to you directly." Davey quietly nodded. "But what happened with that?" "Are you talking about the title?" "Yes, the title." Davey waved his hand lightly, and simultaneously, the lingering power of the abyss within him swiftly brought up his status window. "Indeed, there are abilities attached. However, it appears that they all require a Metamorphosis by Force Stack 1 to activate." Al, who was well aware of Davey''s circumstances, didn''t need to overanalyze his words. "If the dimensional key remains functional, why not give it a try considering what has transpired?" At her suggestion, Davey nodded quietly. Metamorphosis by Force Stack 1. He only possessed a single stack at the moment, but that was precisely why he harbored no significant regrets. ¡®I don''t know where I can use it right now, let alone how much I need to accumulate.¡¯ As he pulled down the titles marked with a plus sign, he suddenly stopped at the very last title he had obtained, Starbreaker. [Star Breaker] - Current efficacy not manifested. Unlock when Phantom and Skeleton Stack 1 is used. "Starbreaker..." It was an excessively arrogant title, but after a while of contemplation encouraged by Al, Davey cautiously extended his hand. With boldness, he invested the only Metamorphosis by Force Stack 1 he possessed. If there was a chance to accumulate more in the future, it was worth exploring the potential of the title. Indeed, there were titles that could be activated even without utilizing a Metamorphosis by Force Stack. [The Innocent Novice Sentenced to Innocence] - Likability increases by 50% to the opposite sex. - Emit an aura that escalates the heated atmosphere. Success rate of flirting increases by 1%. It was such a lousy title. However, if even this lousy title yielded some effect, Davey concluded that a title with unlock conditions would possess extraordinary performance. Thump!!! Crack! As soon as he lightly tapped the plus sign next to the Starbreaker title, the sound of something shattering began to echo. And then... The hidden effectiveness of the title began to manifest. Its impact was rather astonishing. "Wow... has the goddess finally gone mad?" Davey couldn''t help but utter in disbelief. CH 377 [Starbreaker] (A title bestowed on one who mimics a celestial explosion - Do you desire the power to shatter stars? If so, a regular saving plan is your answer.) -1st unlock completed. -Title equipped: Mana Affinity +50% -Absorbs 10% of the user''s maximum mana every 2 hours [continuous effect]. (The absorbed mana will not disappear even if the title is removed) -Consumes a stack of metamorphosis by force for the 2nd unlock. "Is this goddess joking with me right now?" ¡®Even an unscrupulous merchant would not pull off this sort of trick.¡¯ "There isn''t a shred of business ethics here," Davey muttered, feeling frustrated as he let out a sigh. His mana affinity operated differently from a standard magician''s system. He utilized a full-body blood circle and created a heart circle when necessary, manipulating them as needed. This resulted in a significant difference in mana consumption and recovery compared to conventional methods. Essentially, it was a system devised by four magical prodigies, highly dangerous yet offering substantial returns. In essence, this method minimally interfered with mana consumption. The periodically siphoned mana would quickly regenerate thanks to mana affinity, which facilitated mana regeneration. "You don''t seem pleased." "One must have a reason to be pleased, don''t you think?" Davey replied, feeling the need to vent his frustrations somewhere. Catching his gaze, Perserque flinched and distanced herself. Then, with her usual relaxed expression, she said, "Davey, don''t start acting out." "Oh, you caught me." ¡®Quick to notice. Well, I have no choice but to change targets now.¡¯ In this world, there were precisely three individuals perfect for tormenting. And in that moment, he felt an urgent need to dispel this god-awful mood. * * * A sword engulfed in crimson flames unleashed a massive firestorm in an instant. "Upon the command of God! The faithful lamb of the Shepherd shall answer!" the girl proclaimed resolutely. With her fiery red bob, the girl''s hair seemed to ignite. A radiant white light swirled around her, manifesting into multiple buff spells that heightened her strength. Clang! In a swift motion, the girl swung her sword, aiming to strike down the colossal phoenix¡ªor rather, the giant fire chicken¡ªthat relentlessly attacked her. However, before her blade could slice through its wing, it was thwarted by a powerful blizzard. Silence fell. Clonnie, who consistently wore a gentle and benevolent smile, suddenly unleashed a fierce assault on Reina. Her narrowed eyes showed determination and focus, surprising Reina with Clonnie''s astonishing strength. Reina, with her extensive combat experience and memories, recognized that Clonnie possessed power, speed, and combat skills far beyond what her age should allow. "Huff..." Gasping for breath, Clonnie retreated, wiping a bleeding cheek, and began to gather divine power. "The power of a hero is not an empty boast," Reina remarked. "That''s my line. It''s rather extraordinary for you to possess such power at your age," Clonnie replied. Reina''s strength was unparalleled on the continent; few could defeat her. In fact, she was Illyna de Pallan, a remarkably talented swordswoman with extensive experience from surviving battles for over a decade longer than the current Illyna present. Her mastery of the sword surpassed that of a Swordmaster and delved into the realm of swordplay. However, the fact that she struggled to subdue her opponent despite multiple attempts highlighted the immense power wielded by Inquisitor Clonnie O''Priscille. "Hmph!" Seizing an opportune moment while Reina was lost in thought, Clonnie swiftly threw her sword. Caught off guard by the sudden abandonment of her weapon, Reina was momentarily taken aback and attempted to step back. Boom! A massive cross of light appeared, binding her in place. "Whew... Finally caught you. Even if you''re a warrior of light, I didn''t expect you to disregard me to such an extent," Clonnie said, her voice resolute. "That''s really surprising," Reina replied, feeling unphased. Clonnie approached her, the sound of her metallic armor echoing in the air. She then looked at Reina and asked, "What''s so surprising?" "How old are you?" "...I''m 18 years old." "Isn''t it abnormal to have such strength at that age?" "Such words from a young person like you sound like a demon¡¯s whisper. I will never be captivated by evil." "It''s a joke, right? A teenager overpowering a Swordmaster. Even a monster wouldn''t be able to do that." Clonnie responded to these words with silence. "So... that would be normal... But why does this world have so many monsters that defy common sense?" "I don''t understand what you''re trying to say, but my power comes from my faith in God. Therefore..." Cutting her sentence short, Clonnie stretched out both of her hands. "As long as my faith in God remains unshakeable, I will never lose! You, the Warrior of Light, known for slaying dragons. Just as I have suppressed you now!" A chilly smile crossed her face. "Repent! Repent! Repent! If you repent, God will embrace you again! We are here to purify the sins of you and those who shield and cover up all sins! Repentance is up to the individual!" Shing!! Clonnie took out a small dagger from her bosom and brandished it. She declared, "Now! It''s time to repent." At those words, Reina, who was still bound to the cross, sighed briefly. "Didn''t you hear me? I can''t communicate." Did Clonnie sense something off in Reina¡¯s tone? In the moment Clonnie turned around with wide eyes, a voice came. "Highly rated by Rinne!" Bang!! A dropkick from Rinne, whose weight exceeded 200kg, mercilessly struck Clonnie. Caught off guard by the unexpected attack, Clonnie rolled several times on the ground like a powerless golem before slowly lifting her head. A man''s voice reached her ears, its tone surprisingly relaxed and colder than she had anticipated. "What did she say?" the man questioned. "Well... I was acting independently, and even the allied forces had no knowledge of my whereabouts. How did you know to come here?" Clonnie inquired. "Have you forgotten who created your body?" The detached tone neither teased nor mocked, and it belonged to the boy who appeared in Clonnie''s fading vision. She reached out desperately toward him, her words slurred. "Your... pro... mise..." she struggled to articulate. However, her physical body could no longer withstand the damage, and she fell unconscious. * * * Initially, Davey was unaware of the situation as he approached for a conversation. The reality unfolded before him, leading to a somewhat amusing situation. Observing the peacefully fallen Clonnie, Reina walked toward Davey, seemingly unscathed. "It''s the 1st Class Inquisitor of the Heresy Tribunal, Clonnie O¡¯Priscille. She came here with the purpose of conducting a heresy tribunal, as her title suggests. Coincidentally, I had a similar destination, but it seems she arrived here ahead of me. I can only imagine the state of the sanctuary now, and what little we managed to salvage..." Reina''s words trailed off, her gaze carefully shifting to the side. Two trembling siblings, unable to relax, were within sight. "That''s all. Reports came in from the knights who went in a different direction toward the territory. There was no sign of life left... Everything was razed to the ground." In contrast, Davey lifted the unconscious Clonnie O¡¯Priscille, setting aside his frustration regarding the title he had been given. Despite the weight of her heavy armor, the girl herself was so fragile that it did not pose a burden. Slowly carrying her to a large tree, he gently released her into the air and snapped his fingers. Whoosh!!! At that moment, the tree trunks near him swiftly extended, reaching out and firmly entwining around Clonnie. [Wake] Simultaneously, the woman, who had fainted due to the awakening magic Davey had employed, jolted heavily. "Wake up." Flash!! Theft is never good, try looking at [ pawread dot com ]. Once the awakening magic was activated again, the previously fallen lady, Clonnie, slowly began to open her eyes. Davey had heard rumors that she was unreasonably strong and a madwoman who would not listen to reason. However, he needed to extract the location of the accursed Heresy Tribunal from her. The Kingdom seemed determined to wage a holy war against the uncooperative Heresy Tribunal, and Davey knew that it would not be an easy task. "Ugh..." Soon after, Clonnie, who appeared to have a throbbing headache, shook her head violently and looked at Davey. Then, she opened her eyes wide, showing an expression of pure joy. "Ah... Holy Saint, meeting you is a..." "Enough. Just tell me the location of the Heresy Tribunal now." At his words, her eyes widened. She had a rather cute look, but Davey was well aware that she was a lunatic who would happily burn people with that face. "Why are you seeking the location of the Heretical Inquisition?" "Why indeed. To crush them all." In response, her eyes widened once again. "Crushing them... I cannot comprehend that from my perspective. But I am certain that there is a devil beguiling your noble self." "Devil or nonsense, I don''t care." "Indeed." Clonnie seemed unconcerned about being entwined or about Davey''s true nature. She continued, "Even if it offends you, it appears necessary to subdue you and liberate you from that wicked devil." "Wicked devil? Speak with coherence, please." "Your bones will emit a purer white light than anyone else''s. They will be beautiful because the bones of the purified are the whitest." Restrained, Clonnie could only move her head. She leaned closer to Davey, shouting with a voice filled with madness. "Repent! Purify! Repent, noble Saint! Your pure, innocent bones are not meant to warp in the hands of the devil and turn black!" "You shouldn''t concern yourself with other people''s bones." If she would not listen to reason, there was nothing Davey could do. He had to extract the information forcefully. "So, I''ll extract the information myself." "Ah! It''s a trial! It''s a trial! I am being tested! Oh, Goddess Freyja! Forgive my sins!" Clonnie seemed consumed by madness, shivering violently and crying out, her eyes bulging. "Come forth! I need your power!" "Davey!!!" And then it happened. Just as Davey was about to extract memories directly from Clonnie''s mind, he glanced at her once more at the sound of Reina''s desperate voice. At that moment, Davey quickly raised his head to the sky, which until a moment ago had felt completely empty. What Davey saw there was a gigantic shadow, a bizarre mix of black and blue. It was a massive creature with four pairs of wings¡ªa familiar entity to him. ¡®Why the hell are you there?¡¯ Shriek...... Boom!!!! And then, before Davey could fully comprehend it and widen his eyes in shock, that grotesque shadow moved with astonishing speed, releasing a tremendous breath that incinerated everything in its path. CH 378 Accompanied by an eerie and gloomy aura, the pitch-black flames devoured all the light they touched as they descended to the ground. Their heat was comparable to Hellfire, a 9th Circle magic that would simply burn the opponent with flames surpassing the concept of temperature. And as for their size? They were so huge that they could completely engulf the entire forest. "Tch." Davey clicked his tongue, his teeth gritting fiercely when he saw the descending Breath evaporate the huge amount of mana he had sent out from his outstretched hand. The power of Breath was truly amazing. No, it was far more than he expected. It didn''t matter if Shane Scrift had died a long time ago. In the first place, this guy''s lifespan and life recovery were on a completely different level from his. Among all the mythical beasts under Shane, he was hailed as the King of the Mythical Beasts. Basically, this bastard would only grow stronger over time. After carefully observing the opponent, Davey judged that they weren''t using their entire power in the fight. Simply put, they were in a very disadvantageous situation. However, it was no laughing matter to see a weakened being like the guy in front of him possess such powerful firepower. Grit, grit, grit¡­ Reina''s legs screamed from the overwhelming pressure that suddenly appeared. With her pale face, she alternated her gaze between the Breath weighing down on them and the surrounding area. Of course, Breath wouldn''t last long after being shot out. So, even though Davey had used a huge amount of mana, he was still able to stop the Breath''s descent in one go. "Heup...!" Davey took a short breath as he stared stiffly at his trembling right hand. The bastard was much stronger than he had expected. Well, it was true that Megalodria had grown stronger over time. However, Davey didn''t like the fact that he had miscalculated this. In addition to the trembling, his fingertips still burned as if they hadn''t escaped the influence of the Breath. "Heup?! Goodness! Your arm!" Perserque cried out in shock. After all, it was rare for her to see Davey injured like this. "I know. That''s why you should stay away for a moment," Davey said calmly as he picked up his swords. With one of his arms broken, he threw Red Ribbon into the air using his working arm before picking up Blue Ribbon. It was quite inconvenient, but it didn''t matter that much to him. Meanwhile, Reina quickly pulled out Divine Spear Longinus and pointed it at the gigantic presence in the sky, casting a huge shadow upon them. However, before she could raise her aura and momentum, a black stream shot out from the figure that had turned the sky black, overpowering her. She wasn''t subjected to any kind of power or such; she was simply overwhelmed by fear. The fact that it could instantly neutralize a strong individual at the Sword Saint level was a testament to how strong Megalodria was. "Ughhh... Ugh..." Reina was gripped by bone-chilling fear. However, in her desperation, she managed to release some of her aura and create a huge protective barrier around her. She wanted to protect the two demonkin siblings who were right behind her. Anyone could see the consequences if the siblings, who were clearly ordinary people, were exposed to this overwhelming fear and terror. Even trained knights and soldiers would instantly panic in the face of this power. "You have always been resolute and determined since the first time we met," Davey said as he twisted and turned his broken arm, using holy magic to attach the bones together. It was only a temporary measure, but it was enough as long as he could move. After grabbing Red Ribbon with his right hand, he immediately crouched down on the ground and looked up at the bastard above them. Why did this bastard suddenly show up here to protect the inquisitor? That question flashed through Davey''s mind. However, there was no way he could figure it out at this moment. Initiate a conversation then? Obviously, that would only work if Davey had the upper hand. If he tried to use his trap and provoke his opponent without any guarantee, he would be begging to be killed. And their current situation? Well, they still didn''t know who would be the one left behind and fall. So, the wisest decision was to keep his trap shut. Although the Azure Sky''s Storm Dragon King didn''t truly exist in this world, Davey had already fought against it. And based on his experience, martial arts was the thing it had the hardest time dealing with. [Heavenly Destroyer] Davey raised his arms, pointing both of his swords at Megalodria as he unleashed the fierce and violent dark red energy swirling around his body. [Quick Draw, Sword Manipulation] [Heavenly Twin Collision] Swoooooosh!!! It was a sword art crafted with arrogance and determination, aimed at piercing through the sky. And since Davey''s opponent was the ruler of the skies, he needed to confront it with this level of determination. The shadow of Megalodria flapped its four pairs of wings, reaching for the two swords hurtling toward it. However, Davey would not allow it to have its way. ¡ªGrrrrrrrrrr!!! The Azure Dragon, which had a violent and ferocious temper, quickly bound its body and interfered with its movements. ¡ªKihyeeeeeeeeck!!! Simultaneously, the Vermillion Bird, momentarily flinching from its Fear, erupted with overwhelming rage and launched massive fire spears toward Megalodria''s wings. As a grandmaster-level mythical beast, Megalodria, the Azure Sky''s Storm Dragon King, possessed Fear with unparalleled power. It was already a daunting task for one of the Four Divine Beasts to maintain consciousness, let alone engage in a battle and emerge victorious against it. However, this didn''t imply that the might and power of the Four Divine Beasts had vanished. A fleeting opportunity emerged, courtesy of the Fire Chicken''s anger management disorder and the Azure Dragon Rumble''s inherently violent temperament. Two flashes of light seized that exposed opening. Stab!!! A terrifying sound reverberated through the area as Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon pierced through Megalodria''s body. However, they didn''t linger there, swiftly making a sharp turn and hurtling towards the ground without further action. ¡ªRoaaaaaaaaaaaar!!! The blow, stronger than what Megalodria had anticipated, caught it off guard. However, soon after, the colossal dragon erupted in anger from the inflicted damage. It chose to bite Azure Dragon Rumble, who was entwined around its body, and flung it aside. Megalodria''s red eyes flashed with intensity as it observed Rumble colliding with Fire Chicken, who had unleashed a barrage of fire shots at it. [Break, you trifling bastard!] Dark clouds instantly began to gather in the sky. Fire Chicken instinctively felt the danger and tried to escape. However, Megalodria swung its five-toed front foot in the air. ¡ªKihyeeeeeeck!!! The attack ripped through space, sending Fire Chicken crashing to the ground. Immediately after, Megalodria redirected its attention to Davey, its red eyes flashing once again. Simultaneously, enormous tornadoes materialized in the vicinity, devouring everything in their path. Davey simply waved his hand dismissively at the creature before him, who appeared to be issuing a warning through its actions. Megalodria, having never encountered or even acknowledged Davey before, regarded him as an insignificant being unworthy of its attention. However, for Davey, he had grown weary of the mythical beast''s presence. ¡°So¡­¡± ¡®Isn¡¯t it time for you to come down now?¡¯ Davey might not have any way to kill it immediately, but the bastard Megalodria must have already noticed by now that he was not an easy opponent. Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!!! Megalodria, glaring intensely at Davey and building momentum, suddenly staggered. Something began to pull it downward from the previously inflicted wound¡ªan ethereal thread of mana entangled in the dripping blood. Of course, whether Megalodria fell immediately or not didn''t truly concern Davey. If one attempt wasn''t enough, he would strike twice, even thrice. Azure Dragon Rumble, enduring the earlier impact, ascended and collided with Megalodria''s body once more. Thud!!! Davey¡¯s eyes narrowed as he watched the bastard reel back from the heavy impact. He was still not going to come down? Baaaaaaaang!!! Naturally, Fire Chicken wasn''t one to be outdone. It transformed into a vibrant red flame and encircled Megalodria, creating rings of fire that entrapped and immobilized the creature. Having endured three consecutive attacks in succession, even the King of Mythical Beasts, Megalodria, had no alternative but to succumb and collapse onto the ground. [¡­] Refusing to accept the loss of its regal presence and aloofness as a king, Megalodria contorted its body, averting the imminent crash onto the ground, and forcefully slammed its foot down. The impact of his four feet striking the ground generated a colossal shockwave that shook the earth. However, Megalodria and Davey remained unaffected, standing firm amidst the ensuing chaos. Megalodria possessed the head of a dragon, four pairs of injured wings, a formidable body covered in scales and feathers, and a pair of blood-red eyes that sent shivers down the spine of anyone who beheld them. For Davey, this appearance was all too familiar, to the extent that he felt a sense of satisfaction at being able to witness it once more. [You dare.] "Indeed, I dared," Davey remarked with a touch of amusement. "It''s rather comical, isn''t it? Megalodria, renowned as a mighty and wise king who adhered to providence and rule, now stands before us." Megalodria recoiled in response to the heavy sarcasm laced within Davey''s words. However, the conversation could wait for another time, couldn''t it? Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack!!! Ignoring Reina, who remained in a state of stunned disbelief, Davey gripped Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon tightly in his hands, attentively observing as Megalodria gradually lifted its body. This individual before Davey, the King of Mythical Beasts, was renowned for its wisdom. Witnessing someone of such stature crumble and become partially unhinged from the impact of the dimensional shift power had made Davey acutely aware of the gravity of the situation. Vwooooooong¡­ A dark red energy started to swirl around the blade of Red Ribbon, snapping Davey out of his contemplation. He took a brief breath and examined the figure before him once more. Davey intended to obtain everything he needed in a single stroke. Considering the devastation his arm had endured, the cost he had to bear seemed relatively inexpensive. [Come, you insect.] ¡°I¡¯ll go, so don¡¯t move.¡± Crack!!! Under the sudden pressure, the ground beneath Davey''s left foot cracked, unable to withstand the force as he positioned himself near Megalodria. Sensing Davey''s direct charge, Megalodria promptly opened its massive jaws, unleashing a powerful surge infused with raging tempests. When Davey launched his assault, it mattered little to him whether he landed a perfect strike or not; as long as he made contact, that was what counted. Deception and trickery held no value for him, as they would only increase the risk of injury. Qi surged within Davey''s body, causing black veins to protrude from his skin. Even the blood vessels in the whites of his eyes bulged, threatening to burst. [Heavenly Destroyer] [Quick Draw] [Slashing Barriers] A loud cry rang from within Red Ribbon¡¯s blade as a dark red light devoured the entire area, including Megalodria¡¯s attack. *** Could a single person''s sword strike be powerful enough to devastate a forest spanning hundreds of meters in radius? Davey, a monstrous figure concealed behind a human facade, engaged in battle with a creature capable of instilling fear with a single glance, and accomplished exactly that. Observing the unfolding spectacle, Reina instinctively gathered her power, bracing herself for the shockwave generated by the forceful attack. Crack, crack, crack, crack!!! However, the sheer force of the collision between Davey''s attack and the monstrous creature shattered all of Reina''s defenses without mercy. Read the most updated version of this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at "pawread dot com" "Kyaaaack!!!" Reina screamed, tightly shutting her eyes in anticipation of the impending blow, clutching the two demonkin siblings in her arms. Yet, her body unexpectedly lifted off the ground due to the powerful shockwave. Unable to resist her curiosity, she reluctantly opened her eyes. The battle between the two behemoths was an intense display of violence and ferocity. Feeling her mana rapidly depleting, Reina hurriedly tried to retreat from the radius of the aftermath. However, escaping the range of destruction proved to be a formidable challenge. If that was the case, Reina was determined to protect the two children in her arms at all costs. Confident in her exceptionally resilient body, which surpassed human capabilities, she braced herself for the next wave of devastation, prepared to sacrifice herself to ensure the safety of the youngsters. However, Reina''s eyes widened in astonishment as a silver-haired girl emerged from behind her. The girl held a staff that Reina recalled seeing before. Strangely, the girl seemed unfazed by the fierce battle unfolding before her, her attention solely fixed on the staff she held. "Fufu... You have no idea how long I''ve yearned for this day to come. My goodness. Look at this form, this magnificence. Come to me. I shall cherish and wield you with utmost sincerity for the rest of my days," the girl exclaimed with excitement in her voice. "You..." Reina recognized her, but the being standing before her now was vastly different from the one she knew. This was Demon Lord Perserque, the tyrant who had ruled with terror and malevolence in the parallel world where Reina originated. Yet, in this world, she appeared as nothing more than a pitiful girl, swept away by Davey''s obsession. The unmistakable proof of her identity as Demon Lord Perserque was the enormous horns adorning her head, which seemed remarkably easy to grasp with one''s hands. [I command thee in the name of the Demon Lord of the Abyss.] Not long after, a mysterious voice emanated from the lips of the silver-haired Demon Lord Perserque. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, Reina sensed an uncontrollable sense of delight and excitement embedded within that enigmatic voice. Simultaneously, an immense and formidable barrier materialized before them, surpassing the power and scope of Reina''s own barrier. It spread across the entire area, enveloping everything, including the spot where Reina stood. CH 379 The fight, a battle that would only conclude with one of them dead, came to an abrupt end. Megalodria, displaying a cowardly retreat, chose to flee with his tail tucked between his legs. In the lull that followed the intense clash, Davey wordlessly reached for his bleeding arm, attending to the wounds he had sustained during the encounter. [Highness Heal] Vwoooooong!!! Due to the erosion power of the bastard, healing and recovering for Davey proved to be quite challenging. However, that was inconsequential. The phrase "Time will heal all wounds" was remarkably fitting for the circumstances. Davey''s body, being the Saint''s body, commenced a self-purification process, purging the poison inflicted by Megalodria''s power. This marked the first instance, since Davey''s return from the Hall, where he engaged in an unprepared battle, utilizing nearly all of the mana within his being. Even during his encounters with the deranged World Tree, Yggdrasil, he had not found himself in such an extreme predicament. Vwoooooong¡­ Reina approached Davey, surveying the utterly devastated forest surrounding them, and inquired, "Are you... alright?" "It''s as you see," Davey replied, attempting to downplay his condition. However, the blood dripping from his broken arm and the gaping wound on his abdomen, exposed through his torn clothes, betrayed the severity of his injuries. "This is the first time I''ve witnessed you being hurt like this. Unbelievable," Reina murmured, her body still trembling slightly from the lingering aftermath of their earlier battle. "Some battles can be won through trickery and deception, while others cannot. That guy didn''t even unleash the full extent of his power... If that bastard fought at his best, this injury would pale in comparison," Davey explained, dismissing the gravity of his own wounds. "Nevertheless... he''s frightfully strong. My body feels immobilized in his presence..." ¡°It¡¯s because he¡¯s a grandmaster-level mythical beast.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Reina, fully aware of the weight behind the term "grandmaster-level," immediately adopted a serious expression. "Where on earth did such a monster come from..." Davey remained silent, listening to Reina''s murmurs without offering any response. The fact that Reina, who hadn''t flinched or lost her ground when facing the corrupted Black Dragon Gargas, was now paralyzed with fear in the presence of Megalodria, spoke volumes about the immense power possessed by the formidable creature. Megalodria was in an entirely different league compared to the Shandra Minea clone Davey had encountered in the past. There were only a few clues as to why a powerful being like Megalodria would come to this place and protect the members of that cult-like order. However, the greatest confusion lay in determining whether Megalodria had gone insane during his dimensional travels or if he had become poisoned and subsequently lost his sanity. If the King of the Mythical Beasts, Megalodria, were to hear those words, it might already be frothing at the mouth. In any case, Davey had never been on good terms with that guy from the very beginning. Among the three Mythical Beast Kings, Megalodria had provoked the most intense reaction from Davey upon their encounter. Thus, Davey considered it fortunate that Megalodria had chosen to retreat instead of engaging in a life-or-death battle here and now. After all, once a person chose the path of confrontation, there was no turning back. Unlike Reina, who anxiously watched Davey for no apparent reason, Perserque appeared rather relaxed. However, she was genuinely shocked to witness Davey''s arm breaking in such a manner for the first time. After dispelling the barrier magic that had protected Reina earlier, Perserque took a deep breath and approached Davey, clutching Transcendence Demise tightly to her chest. Due to the staff''s immense size compared to her own, she resembled a child dragging a toy that was infinitely larger than her. "Davey." "No. You can''t have it. Give it back." "Give it to me! I''m absolutely confident that I will cherish and treasure it for the rest of my life!" "You can only use the staves I made specifically for you." "Please, Davey!" ¡®I don¡¯t care, I can¡¯t hear you.¡¯ In the end, Perserque had no choice but to return Odin''s staff, the [Transcendence Demise], to Davey upon hearing his firm and resolute words. However, her face bore an expression of complete heartbreak, as if she had been torn apart from her lover. Perserque pouted and repeatedly opened and closed her hands, unwilling to let go of the sensation of holding the staff. Before long, she shrank her body and flew swiftly toward Davey''s pockets, presumably attempting a silent strike. *** The atmosphere within the small territory, which Clonnie O''Priscille had swept away along with the inquisitors under her command, resembled anything but a somber mourning house. It was chaotic, devoid of the solemnity one would expect. The unfortunate souls who failed to escape found themselves apprehended by the inquisitors and subjected to untested procedures masquerading as trials, only to meet brutal and swift execution. "From this point onward, I will refrain from interfering," Davey declared. As a foreign nation, he lacked the grounds to meddle in their internal conflicts. His position within the royal family bestowed him with both power and responsibilities. While going wild here wouldn''t be overly difficult for him, his status posed a challenge. "I understand. That''s why you entrusted this task to me, right?" Reina responded. It was one of the reasons why Davey had urged Reina to assume the role of the Warrior and receive the protection of the Three Emperors of the empires. With her position, Reina held the authority to intervene in matters that Davey, due to his status, was unable to address. In essence, Reina''s existence would help maintain peace across the continent, akin to the UN¡ªa union formed by the alliance of several countries¡ªon modern Earth. "You can''t bring the dead back, can you?" Davey remarked. "Except for you and Perserque, anyone revived will have no future," he continued. There was no means to resurrect those who had already perished. Or rather, to be precise, there existed a method for revival. However, Davey had no intention of sacrificing his own lifespan for that purpose. Would a Saint be expected to make such sacrifices for the greater good of others? If Davey were merely a Saint, such thoughts might have crossed his mind. However, being both an alchemist and a necromancer who dabbled in taboos, he wouldn''t so easily choose to reverse the cycle of reincarnation. The knights under Reina''s command had already arrived at the small territory and begun the task of recovering the deceased. One of the knights responsible for classifying and moving the charred bodies approached Reina slowly. "Commander Reina, our search is complete," the knight reported. "Thank you for your hard work. How... How many are there in total?" Reina inquired, her voice filled with trepidation. ¡°There are a total of a hundred and seventy three bodies.¡± ¡°That¡¯s terrible¡­¡± Reina closed her eyes and mumbled bitterly. This wasn''t the first instance of people being subjected to heresy trials and massacred under the guise of heresy. In the past, the Inquisitors had been granted overwhelmingly convenient power as the Holy Empire''s covert force. The same applied to all nations that served and followed the religion of Goddess Freyja. Of course, the inquisitors had to exercise caution when dealing with nobles and aristocrats. However, for those without power, especially those whose lives were considered less valuable than livestock, they posed no obstacle to the inquisitors. This was true for the people of this small territory. Nevertheless, it was too much. History had seen many heresy trials, but these unforgivable trials and senseless slaughter were unprecedented. If they continued to act recklessly, they would eventually face repercussions, despite being the Holy Empire''s force. Although the Inquisition operated independently, they still had to bow their heads before the empire. However, their current behavior seemed far from normal. "Well, if Megalodria, a Mythical Beast King-level being, is aiding them, then it''s possible. They could act like gangsters, and no one would be able to resist them," Perserque, who emerged from the largest pocket of Davey''s coat, remarked, while Davey nodded in agreement. Though not visible to others, Davey, with his activated Demonic Eyes, could clearly perceive the dense aura of death swirling in the air. Numerous individuals had suffered unjust and agonizing deaths. There were two ways to address this situation. One option was to subdue them by force and disperse them. The other was to soothe their vengeful spirits and allow them to ascend. Davey chose the latter path. He had no reason to act hostile toward these innocent and unfortunate souls. Thus, Davey retrieved a light-stringed musical instrument from his pocket plane. "A musical instrument?" Reina looked at Davey with confusion as he unexpectedly produced the instrument. Davey gazed at her and shook the lyre in his hands. "The death energy here is too intense. These souls are filled with lingering resentment, preventing them from ascending successfully. I will use this to help them cross over." The departed often clung tenaciously to the world of the living. However, if they lingered without crossing over, they would eventually transform into malevolent spirits. As the Saint, Davey desired for them to abandon their resentment and forsake the idea of becoming evil spirits in his presence. Even if they resisted, Davey would compel them to do so. Strum, strum, strum¡­ Everyone, from the soldiers to the knights carrying the bodies, and even Reina herself, fell silent, their attention fixed on Davey as the soft melody of the lyre filled the air. Even Perserque and Rinne turned to watch Davey silently. Ignoring the gaze of those present, Davey''s fingers danced along the strings, lightly plucking them as he played a long and gentle piece of music. "The sound... it evokes heartbreak." Davey infused his mana into the music, allowing it to spread far and wide, soothing the vengeful spirits surrounding him. The techniques of a Magic Minstrel were quite straightforward. For stringed instruments, they simply needed to infuse a unique mana into each strand of the instrument''s strings and let it resonate. Once the instrument was played, the mana would spread, and its effects would manifest. There was also another method that required calculations, similar to using magic. However, the crucial aspect for Magic Minstrels was the caster''s will. ¡®Leave behind all of your resentment and take a huge leap toward reincarnation. I will take on your lingering feelings, so forget everything and leave in peace.¡¯ Magic-infused music was nothing but music spread by mana. However, Davey now had the effects of his title with him. Davey had been using the title ¡®Exploding Star¡¯ just in case he needed it, but he would definitely change it if the need arose. And right now, Davey was using the title [The One that Calls for Repose] to make his listeners feel comfortable and at ease. Achieving that effect was more than enough. The audience remained silent for a very long time after listening to Davey¡¯s somber performance. Simultaneously, significant transformations began to unfold. Silent blue light emerged from every corner of the territory, emanating from the places where individuals had met their demise. The luminous energy congregated around Davey, swirling and floating before ascending into the sky. "Oh my god... So, this is the true power of a Saint..." murmured one of the knights who accompanied Reina, his gaze fixed on Davey in a dazed state. Some of the knights even dropped to their knees, clasping their hands together in prayer. They acted as if they had witnessed a divine miracle. In a world where divine miracles were commonplace, it was not unusual for them to reach out to their deity in moments like these. However, the situation on Davey''s side was actually quite distinct. ¡ªResentment¡­ Vengeance¡­ Search bit.ly/3iBfjkV for the original. [Right, I understand that you harbor resentment. However, what other choice do you have? You are already deceased. Would you prefer to linger as a vengeful spirit and potentially harm innocent beings? If you were to commit such acts and I caught you in the act, I would not hesitate to tear your limbs apart. But it wouldn''t stop there. It is in your best interest to ascend at this very moment. I will ensure that your desires are fulfilled and your grievances are resolved.] Since the Inquisitors had crossed the line, they would all meet their demise at Davey''s hands. Well, a war was already inevitable the moment the Orthodox Heresy Inquisition issued orders to suppress Heins Territory. ¡ªYou! Why are you trying to make us ascend?! Souls with lingering resentment were incredibly aggressive and ferocious. There was even a soul that continued to attack Davey, despite his efforts to calm it down. Through his Demonic Eyes, Davey could see the state of their souls. Although they were once innocent and good citizens, the intense hatred, fear, and pain they experienced before their deaths had stained their souls black. ¡ªYou better quit that! I will make sure to kill you! ¡ªCurse them! Curse them all! It was so hot back then! ¡ªI¡¯m going to burn them all! I¡¯m going to possess someone and burn them all to death! Davey did not know the original state of their souls. However, he still tried his best to sympathize with them and understand the pain that they were in before carefully spitting out words that would calm them down. [Guys, you haven¡¯t been beaten in your soul form, no? Want to give it a try?] ¡ª¡­ Sometimes actions spoke louder than words, didn''t they? The music infused with mana gently unraveled the hardened soul, purifying it and allowing it to ascend. Davey looked around slowly, taking in the scene before him. ¡®Get in line, you punks. I¡¯ll quickly clean you guys up and send you up.¡¯ CH 380 After purifying the spirits, there was nothing left for Davey to do here. Should he punish the wicked? No, that was not his job at the moment. While he might be in the position of a Saint, he was still, first and foremost, a member of the Rowane Kingdom. Basically, Davey could only interfere with matters relating to the inquisitors. As for the nobles involved with them? It was not his responsibility to deal with them; it was their own job. "If this happened in the Rowane Kingdom, then¡­" "At the very least, the nobles of the Rowane Kingdom knew that their lives would be wasted if they tried to become my enemies." There was only one thing that Davey demanded from the nobles of the Rowane Kingdom: he wanted them to take it easy. No matter how much they wanted to exercise their nobles'' authority, if they suppressed the commoners who supported that authority, destruction would be their inevitable fate. Although the Rowane Kingdom worked with a centralized governing system, after the purge of most of the nobles led by Queen Lynesse and the Bariatta Duchy, the nation''s stability had improved to some extent. Davey found it amusing that despite the chaos and accidents that plagued the continent, the Rowane Kingdom remained peaceful. As long as Davey was a part of the royal family and had the right to inherit the throne, he would still have the responsibility to deal with and uphold things in the Rowane Kingdom. Bzz, bzz, bzz, bzz, bzz!!! Poof!!! After the fight with Megalodria, Davey''s mana and holy mana were both almost depleted. However, thanks to his title, his ability to recover had increased significantly, allowing him to replenish his power quickly. Davey cast a frightening series of warps by repeatedly replenishing and squeezing out the mana in his body, quickly reaching the Holy Empire where a huge army was gathering. He didn''t think much about Clonnie O''Priscille, the flame attribute trait ability user, after she went missing. From what Davey could see, he would encounter her sooner or later based on her temperament alone. Even if she were to die, she would still make an appearance when necessary. She wasn''t a problem. However, the crazed King of Mythical Beasts, Megalodria, who protected the rabid and wild inquisitors, posed a bit of a problem. "What would happen if he could use his full power?" "If a grandmaster-level being decided to run wild, the continent would collapse instantly." Why? Was that impossible? In fact, even Davey, who was at a significant disadvantage compared to Megalodria, could still make the continent collapse if he wished. What more if it was someone on Megalodria''s level? However, just because this war had begun didn''t mean that Megalodria should recklessly charge forward like a headless monster. For someone who could instantly turn the entire continent into ruins, he could take his time and slowly erode away at it. Why was this possible? Because the Tionis Continent was currently experiencing a severe shortage of talent. If no one could fight back against Megalodria, the entire continent would have no choice but to be dragged along. That was the reality of the situation. So, what would happen if the King of Mythical Beasts, someone on par with or perhaps stronger than Davey in terms of firepower, went on a rampage? The result would be as clear as a movie on a Blu-ray DVD. How did an organization like the Last Wisp, Alpha Reinforcement, come to be? It was because even in the past, the ancestors were fully aware of the dangers that this continent would face. Compared to the past, it was true that the current Tionis Continent lagged behind in everything, whether it was techniques, skills, or force. Even if one put it nicely, this truth would remain. After all, in the past, everyone was forced to develop and grow to survive. However, now, the continent was at peace. "Prince Davey?" Archbishop Alice, who was looking at the papers in her hand with an ugly expression on her face, trembled. She saw Davey walking quickly through the white corridor, which seemed to symbolize purity, leading to the hall where she was. ¡°Stop what you¡¯re doing right away.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Whatever you¡¯re trying to do, stop it and order your troops to go back.¡± Alice¡¯s eyes narrowed at Davey¡¯s words. "I have no idea what you''re trying to say, Prince. Even if we ignore what happened to you, what the Orthodox Heresy Inquisition did has already crossed the line. They have ignored the orders of the Holy Pope and started to act on their own, wreaking havoc throughout the continent," she said, her brows furrowing deeply. "I have even placed the name bestowed upon me by Goddess Freyja on the table." Alice looked indignant for some reason. "What I mean is the Goddess did not bestow her mercy upon me to bring good to those bastards. At this point, no matter what you say, they won''t listen, so it''s better to show them our might." What she wanted to say was: ''This is real life, you f*cking bastards.'' "The soldiers..." "It''s already too late. We have already dispatched a large number of Templar Knights to the Orthodox Heresy Inquisition''s Hall. We have also divided the Holy Empire''s soldiers into the first division and the second division and are ready to go to war at any moment." At first, Alice was in a hurry to dispatch their troops, fearing that Davey would overturn the entire Holy Empire. However, they realized the seriousness of the matter and immediately sent another group right after the first dispatch. "Once the last army departs, I will also go and join the battle myself." Alice gritted her teeth despite her calm words. "Idiots. Weren''t they aware of the war that has been going on lately?! Didn''t they know that the Continental Alliance has banned war?! And what did they do? They jumped on the current momentum in the continent and created a civil war, breaking away from us in one go?!" she murmured irritably. "A person''s life is incomparable to an insect''s life. These garbage are making me laugh. Didn''t they know that each and every life is precious?! So, why did they kill so mindlessly like that?!" One of the priests beside her coughed loudly, surprised at her sudden outburst. However, completely overtaken by her anger, she did not pay them any mind and continued spouting words and curses. "So? Why are you telling me to make the soldiers turn back?" At that moment, Davey realized he had come too late. If he had known this would happen, he should have restrained Megalodria and not let him leave like that. Well, that was nothing but a mere thought now. "The inquisitors are humans too." "I know that." "Even if they are crazy fanatics, they still use their brains." Alice frowned at Davey''s words. "What are you trying to say¡­?" "Do you not know what they believe in and why they are fighting against the Holy Empire''s main church?" Alice suddenly turned rigid at Davey''s words. "Right now, they have a grandmaster-level mythical beast with them. If you continue to march like this, then every one of your men will die." Bang!!! The door burst open, and a priest rushed inside even before Davey could finish his words. "There''s a problem, Archbishop!" the priest shouted, delivering his report as he ran toward Alice. "An urgent report came in from Alecsied Island where the Orthodox Heresy Inquisition''s Hall is located..." Alice turned pale at those words. And Davey? He grabbed the priest''s shoulders and asked, "Where is the exact location?" "Location? What do you mean?" the priest stammered. "The coordinates. Tell me, now!" The priest hurriedly pulled out a long report upon hearing Davey''s words. "I''m sure it''s here. Please, please wait...!" The priest scanned the document and quickly handed it over to Davey as soon as he found the coordinates. Using only the coordinates for warping was a very dangerous and unwise decision. However, if things continued as they were, a disaster would unfold, and the entire continent would be turned upside down. But for Davey, this was enough. He grabbed Alice''s arm, who was still confused, while waving his other hand in the air. Vwoooong!!! Thud!!! At the same time, a huge and intricate magic circle that emitted a blue light appeared on the ground beneath them. "What... What are you going to do?!" Alice exclaimed, her voice filled with fear. "Unlike me, that bastard can afford to waste mana since he has a huge reservoir. Even his basic powers are highly destructive. If we leave him alone, all of you will die." As long as the opponent had the grandmaster-level King of Mythical Beasts on their side, their original plan would not work. Right now, Davey still couldn''t figure out why Megalodria was protecting the crazed inquisitors. Well, understanding that would mean understanding the process. As for the outcome? Essentially, the bastard had become partially insane and was hostile toward Davey. Before unraveling that mystery, Davey needed to bring the battle to a temporary halt and prevent the slaughter of innocent soldiers from the Holy Empire. What Davey intended to do might buy them a few days at most, but that would be enough. "W-Wait a moment! You''re just going to use space transfer magic like that?!" Alice cried out in fear as Davey continued to wave his hand in the air, their movements swift and precise. Wherever Davey''s fingertips passed, particles of light appeared and formed characters in the air, helping him create and rapidly calculate a formula. It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread dot com". "These are communication coordinates! I''ve heard that you''re skilled in magic, but using communication coordinates for space travel is completely impossible! We''re going to die in vain...!" Alice exclaimed. "You''re being noisy. Shut up," Davey retorted sharply, causing Alice to flinch and promptly close her mouth. Bzz, bzz, bzz¡ª! Davey completed his calculations and successfully created the formula. As Alice had mentioned, casting space movement magic without accurate coordinate data could lead to disastrous outcomes, such as being trapped in the Earth''s mantle or being launched out of the atmosphere. However, if Davey couldn''t perform such a simple task as calculating a formula, then he had no business presenting himself as the disciple of his magic teacher. The tools at Davey''s disposal were his theories, experience, and insights. Without hesitation, Davey employed his formula and activated the magic. Boom!!! Not long after, dozens of coordinates appeared in front of him. When he swung his hands, the coordinates scattered all over the place. Since he could not use the existing space movement magic, then Davey had no other choice but to use expedient methods right now. Without any hesitation, Davey clasped his hands together and recited his own version of a prayer. [Let¡¯s just skip it and start.] Vwooooooong!!! At that moment, Alice and the priests inside the hall stared at Davey in astonishment as they sensed an immense surge of divine power emanating from him. It was a power unlike anything they had ever experienced before. In disbelief, they watched as a holy energy, surpassing their wildest imagination and seemingly impossible for a single individual to possess and control, began to envelop the entire hall. [I want a miracle. Do you want to see the church break down? Then, give me a miracle. Want to see me give up the position of a Saint? Then, give me a miracle.] [Your poor and pitiful lamb is going to gamble with his life right here and now. If you don¡¯t want to see me die, then you better grant me your grace.] Crack, crack!!! The space in front of Davey began to twist and contort. In an instant, the scene before him transformed, revealing the towering figure of the colossal King of Mythical Beasts, Megalodria, soaring proudly in the sky. His massive form cast a dark shadow over the terrified and frozen soldiers of the Holy Empire who had arrived to face their adversaries. CH 381 Fwoosh¡­ Bright red drops of blood, a stark contrast to the darkness, began to gather and coalesce into the form of a woman. "Urk..." The woman, a marquis-level vampire and a member of the radical faction, vomited a mouthful of blood. Among all vampires, this woman was considered special and eccentric. "This is not interesting," the woman murmured, a frown marring her face. Her sole concern was finding something truly captivating. Initially, she had no desire to participate in any kind of battle. However, due to a single human, the radical vampires, whom she often utilized, had collapsed and vanished. That particular human had defeated them in war. To make matters worse, there was a human Warrior scouring and eliminating the remnants left from the conflict. But that wasn''t the end of it. She believed that the human she was interested in, Davey O''Rowane, had created and spread the virus among them. The woman was evidently just a half-vampire. It had originally been very challenging for her to tap into the powers of a low-ranking vampire, let alone a high-ranking one like a marquis-level vampire. However, there was one aspect that compensated for this flaw in her body. Despite being nothing more than a half-vampire, with the core of the Philosopher''s Stone embedded within her, she could exhibit resistance and power on par with pure-blooded vampires. It also allowed her to resist that monstrous virus. However, this didn''t mean that she was completely unaffected by the attack. In fact, unlike the moderate faction, who had fled long ago, the members of the radical faction had either transformed into monsters or been killed. The tragedy had left only a few of them behind. The problem arose when she encountered Reina while wandering around the continent for her own purposes, and she narrowly escaped death. For someone like her, Reina''s force and power were beyond shocking. Since the vampires had made this decision, they had gathered information about humans from various fields and had become aware of the extent of mankind''s strength. However, all of their plans had been ruined by the very first variable to appear: Davey O''Rowane. If it had been just Davey''s existence, they could have easily found a way to maneuver around him and the risks he posed. The problem arose when the second variable and powerhouse emerged in the form of the Warrior of Light, a scenario they had not expected. Reina, a young woman, possessed an unmatched force. Well, that was except for that monstrous human they were familiar with. The bigger issue lay in Reina''s knowledge. How could one corner vampires? How could they inflict fatal injuries upon them? These were the things that Reina, the human, knew well. Unlike Davey O''Rowane, who used overwhelming power to dismantle them, Reina, who stood with the weak, utilized her knowledge and tricks to confront the vampires, who sided with the strong. And with her immense force, the outcome became a catastrophic disaster that struck fear into the members of the radical vampire faction. Most of the vampires had been slain, leaving only a few clinging desperately to life. At this point, Milpieu realized that she could no longer continue her experiments and studies with the radical faction. She could only save her own meager life by breaking away from their ranks. However, due to the grave injury inflicted upon her, the terrible virus that spread among the vampires during the war had an opportunity to wreak havoc in her body. "Ugh..." Milpieu could only groan, her screams muffled by the blood, something vampires lacked, that gurgled out of her throat as she collapsed onto the ground. "I can''t die like this... There''s still something I have to do..." If Milpieu were to die in this state, everything she had done so far would be in vain. So, she desperately summoned the strength within her body, retrieved the medicine she kept, and shoved it into her mouth. The medicine''s bitter and pungent taste swirled in her mouth. However, her blurred vision did not recover for some reason. "Blood... I need blood..." Milpieu mumbled with great difficulty before eventually collapsing on the ground. The collapsed Milpieu felt someone stepping lightly on the ground and approaching her. As the steps grew closer, the scent of blood also grew thicker which made her twist her neck and raise her head on instinct. And through her hazy vision, the half-vampire saw the figure of a girl with black hair and bright red eyes that glinted underneath the mage¡¯s robe that covered her body. *** Fwoooooooooosh!!! The wind whipped loudly around them as they stood on Alecsied Island. This small maritime island, with a diameter of only a few kilometers, was situated in the northernmost part of the continent and belonged to the Holy Empire Valcias. It also housed the Orthodox Heresy Inquisition, an independent division within the Holy Empire. In fact, even within the Holy Empire, it was quite difficult to obtain information about their precise whereabouts. This small island was originally not a place where many people would gather, especially if they had no special business there. Essentially, it could be described as empty. However, such a description was highly inappropriate given the current situation. A confrontation had unfolded between the 28,000 soldiers of the Holy Empire Valcias and the 5,000 Heresy Paladins. The inquisition had blocked all entrances to Alecsied Island, as if they were willing to protect it at any cost, even their own lives. This was a Holy War, the result of the civil war initiated by the inquisition within the Holy Empire. When viewed from above, it felt as though the entire island was packed with people. One could observe a significant disparity in numbers between the Holy Empire''s main church and the independent group, the Orthodox Heresy Inquisition. However, anyone with eyes could discern that fighting based solely on numbers was utterly meaningless in the current situation. ¡°Urgh!¡± Archbishop Alice, whose face had already turned pale, hurriedly covered her mouth before vomiting. She fell to her knees after transferring through space. Pat, pat! Davey silently patted her back, and Alice could only cover her mouth with one hand, shame coloring her frowning face as she asked, "What...in the world is that?" "Well, how do I say this? Basically, that''s him," Davey calmly replied, looking up to see glaring red eyes staring down at him from the sky. The moment Davey appeared, Megalodria ceased sending out its Fear. Its nonchalant aura gradually transformed as its red eyes flashed, and its four pairs of wings, now recovered, flapped. Dark clouds instantly began to gather in the sky. Perhaps due to a battle already underway before Davey''s arrival, bodies were scattered across the island. Those who survived were being overwhelmed by the paladins of the Orthodox Heresy Inquisition. This was the result of their initial attempt to charge into battle, a battle they were forced to retreat from without accomplishing anything after Megalodria made its appearance. The reason for the current lull in the battle was most likely the presence of the damned King of Mythical Beasts, Megalodria, floating in the sky and overlooking the battlefield. "Goodness... What creature is that?" Alice wondered. "Out of the way," Davey instinctively grabbed Alice''s shoulder and pulled her behind him upon realizing that the bastard had been staring at him for a prolonged period. He quickly extended one of his hands behind him, summoning his mana. For once, he had to consider the amount of mana remaining in his body and how much it was lacking. If he intended to attack Megalodria consecutively, he had no choice but to utilize something other than mana. The problem was that he found himself in an unfavorable situation where he couldn''t use his dark mana, which had gradually transformed into demonic energy after his awakening as the Demon Lord. Observing Rinne''s firepower, he could tell that it was impossible for her to even graze Megalodria''s skin with her most powerful strike. As for Perserque, her magic was exceptional and efficient. However, the issue was that she had not fully recovered yet and could only defend herself and those around her once. ¡®This is why it¡¯s better if no one is watching¡­¡¯ Davey thought to himself as he pulled out all of the remaining mana in his body. If it was not enough, then he would have no other choice but to borrow some mana that had gathered in Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon. [8th Circle] [Mirror Force Reflection] Boom!!! A storm of incredibly powerful and intangible spears shot through the air the moment Davey cast his own magic. It was just one shot, but the attack carried immense power, akin to Divine Spear Longinus'' one-shot, one-kill nuclear-bomb-like spear attack. However, the most dangerous aspect of this attack lay in the fact that it did not rely solely on attack power or brute force. It focused on stealth, making its trajectory and shape difficult to grasp. This attack was Megalodria''s primary specialty, and Davey was intimately familiar with it. What did that mean? It meant that he could easily detect and deflect it. The instant the attack made contact with Davey''s magic, the powerful force of the attack slammed his outstretched hand away. Clang, clang, clang, clang!!! Even the 8th Circle defensive magic was instantly destroyed. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± As his magic was forcibly destroyed, Davey became the one to bear the rebound. However, despite the pain, he couldn''t afford to be dazed. He had to demonstrate to the bastard in front of him that, even if it was a lie, he couldn''t be killed by its power at that moment. In truth, Davey desperately needed time. However, he wasn''t foolish enough to reveal such a weakness to his opponent, who was currently flustered by the deflection of his main specialty. Essentially, what Davey needed to do was put on a facade of false bravado and make Megalodria believe that he would be the one to lose if the fight continued. Shiiiiiiing¡­ After grabbing Blue Ribbon, Davey immediately pulled out all of the mana stored in the two blades¡¯ body one after the other. ¡®Red Ribbon, can you lend Dad your mana?¡¯ ¡ªYeah! Red Ribbon can do it well! Red Ribbon can endure it! At the same time, Blue Ribbon brought out one of her two powers, the spirit mana, and fused it with Davey¡¯s own spirit mana. [Come out, you idlers. It doesn¡¯t matter how much spirit mana you use, make it look like you guys are all big and strong. Come out looking all cool and majestic.] As if responding to Davey''s words, the space tore apart, and streams of water began to gather in the air. The ground twisted and turned, forming a giant figure that protected the soldiers of Valcias. The display of power was so magnificent and majestic that the onlookers could only gaze in awe at the two Spirit Kings from the ground. With the arrival of Gnoass and Ellaim, the aura surrounding Megalodria gradually grew heavy. Their appearance alone conveyed an immense sense of power. Gnoass manipulated the ground as if it were an extension of his body, while Ellaim summoned vast amounts of water, shaping it in the air and around the island. Davey also summoned the two divine beasts, Vermillion Bird Fire Chicken and Azure Dragon Rumble, positioning them to surround Megalodria. Azure Dragon Rumble was naturally aggressive, and his appearance seemed to indicate a strong dislike for Megalodria. On the other hand, Fire Chicken responded with intense anger, fixing a sharp glare upon Megalodria. It was as if the creature felt that Megalodria had taken attention away from his own father. In essence, Fire Chicken was fulfilling his duty even without any specific orders from Davey. ¡®Since he¡¯s doing a good job and acting very well, I¡¯ll make sure to give him a delicious snack later.¡¯ ¡ªKihyeeeeeeeeck!!! Witnessing the enraged Fire Chicken, the silent yet angry Rumble, and the presence of the two Spirit Kings, Megalodria couldn''t help but look at Davey in astonishment, now fully aware of the concealed power beneath his exterior. The abrupt appearance of these four colossal beings cast a blanket of silence over the entire area. It was so hushed that not even a breath could be heard. However, Davey wasn''t finished yet. He further intensified the already oppressive atmosphere. ¡°Listen well. This might be your first time seeing me.¡± ¡®But I know you very well.¡¯ Davey emphasized this fact to Megalodria. ¡°If you want to fight, then let¡¯s go. Last time it was Shandra Minea, now it¡¯s you. Let me guess, is Behemoth going to come over next? However, let me tell you this. If you¡¯re thinking of going against me by yourself, then all I can say is you¡¯re batshit crazy.¡± [What an arrogant human.] Megalodria reacted to Davey¡¯s words properly at first. However, when its eyes flashed red, it struggled to voice out its thoughts. [I¡­ am¡­ the king of¡­ mythical¡­ beasts¡­ Shane¡¯s¡­ second¡­ mythical beast¡­] Observing Megalodria struggling to speak, Davey approached his two Spirit Kings and two Divine Beasts with a deliberate pace. "What you''re doing now is nothing more than a mere disturbance to me. I am not a knight, so I won''t play the role of a gentleman who waits for his opponent to reach their optimal state before striking. If my opponent is weakened, I won''t miss the opportunity to deliver a decisive blow. And right now, you are indeed weakened, aren''t you?" Did Megalodria truly believe that Davey would let this opportunity slip and wait for him to recover? In response to those words, Megalodria tightened its front paws, displaying signs of nervousness. Davey''s mana was on the verge of depletion, but Megalodria also needed time to recover from his excessive use of power. Moreover, the current situation was unfamiliar to both of them. They both understood the need for recovery. However, Megalodria only perceived Davey as a dangerous opponent, guided solely by its intuition. It remained oblivious to the fact that the human before it also required time to recuperate. [Human¡­ You¡¯re dangerous.] The paladins of the Orthodox Heresy Inquisition all turned to look at Megalodria in shock when they heard its somber voice ring. [I¡­. Cannot die in this place yet.] After leaving those words, Megalodria pulled all of its remaining power, drawing out all of the power in it to¡­postpone the battle. Crack!!! Crack, crack, crack!!! Megalodria used its own power, the power of storms, to cut off the space around it. It created a dome that surrounded it and the Orthodox Heresy Inquisition¡¯s paladins. Then, it secured a space that could protect them and maintain their safety before landing on the ground and grumbling. ¡°This shameless bastard!!!¡± Davey angrily shouted as he rushed forward. Bang!!! Bang, bang!!! Bang!!! Davey swung the heavy Longsword multiple times in his attempts to strike at Megalodria. However, due to the shattered space and the severed mana connection, he was unable to land a solid blow on his opponent. Both the forces of Valcias and the Orthodox Heresy Inquisition stood motionless, unable to intervene, as they witnessed the confrontation unfolding between Davey and Megalodria. They could only watch in awe, unable to take a step forward. [Three days¡­ This space will remain for three days. I admit the fact that you¡¯re a dangerous bastard. That¡¯s why I cannot beat you with my current state.] No. If Megalodria fought with Davey right here and now, then it would have a higher chance of winning. Wasn¡¯t it a moron? Well, this was the reason why people should know how to bluff their way out well. "Damn bastard!!!" Davey shouted furiously as he swung his sword at the disconnected space in front of him. He even resorted to punches and kicks, but to no avail. It was only natural. Since the space had already been severed, it couldn''t be broken by attacks that hadn''t crossed that crack between dimensions. "Since it has come to this, then fine. Recover? Sure, go ahead and recover. Let''s finish this once you''re fully restored," Davey said calmly as he turned around. Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV. Simultaneously, the furious expression on his face vanished, replaced by a calm and serene countenance. His rapid shift from enraged fury to nonchalance was akin to removing a mask, leaving no trace of what had just transpired. Alice, who observed the situation from a distance, couldn''t help but frown in confusion as she witnessed Davey''s sudden change in expression. The same bewilderment filled the faces of the paladins and soldiers from the Holy Empire''s main church¡ªthey could only stare at him blankly. ¡®Good acting should be able to trick both enemies and allies, no?¡¯ Megalodria was now very conscious of Davey. The space would only break once it fully recovered. That meant that Davey¡¯s safety was also guaranteed for three days. ¡®You might be able to trick him but you can¡¯t trick him forever¡­ Right¡­ You still have to subdue him in three days, no?¡¯ ¡®That guy will be hell bent on killing me. However, I have to suppress him without killing him. Only by catching him will I be able to know why those crazed beings are being sent here.¡¯ Why couldn¡¯t Davey just talk with it? Although he could hold a conversation with Megalodria, Davey could tell that the mythical beast was brainwashed, albeit not completely. Engaging in a conversation with someone who was not in their right state of mind would make it challenging for Davey to discern the truth from lies. If Megalodria had been brainwashed and fed him false information, it would put Davey in a precarious situation, not Megalodria. Ultimately, Davey concluded that he would only be able to extract accurate answers from Megalodria once the brainwashing had been lifted and he had returned to his normal state. It was only then that he could engage in a meaningful conversation with the King of Mythical Beasts. ¡®But what in the world are you going to do in those three days? Your body is already working to its limits to recover your powers. There¡¯s no other way to speed it up any more than this¡­¡¯ ¡°There¡¯s one,¡± Davey answered as he grabbed the key, which was emitting a golden light, from his Pocket Plane. The key was none other than the dimensional key, a dimensional key that was now fully charged. CH 382 Thanks to the imposing display of power by the two Spirit Kings, Davey was able to successfully bluff Megalodria and force it to cut the space between them and seclude itself. All that remained now was to ensure that Megalodria remained unaware of being deceived. After all, once Megalodria realized that it had been tricked, it would realize that it could safely dispose of Davey. And if it had nothing to worry about, it would most likely become furious and instantly reconnect the space that it had severed. Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the "pawread dot com" "That guy, despite his bad temper, is known to be very rational," Davey sighed. Well, what could he expect? That guy is still half-crazy, so things worked out. Then, he called out, "Archbishop Alice." "Huh¡­?" Alice replied. She was dumbfounded, a complex expression on her face as she looked at Davey. "Send back all of your troops," Davey said firmly. Alice frowned upon hearing the determination in Davey''s words. "What do you mean by telling me to recall all the troops?" "You have three days of guaranteed safety. As long as he remains like that, the Holy Empire¡¯s Temple Knights and the Inquisitors will not be able to engage in combat." A fight would only ensue if both parties could come into contact. However, under the current circumstances, it was impossible for them to make contact. That''s why Davey said those words. "Then¡­" "I''m telling you that I''ll destroy them in three days'' time." Once those three days were up, Davey would then destroy the entire inquisition. Alice took a deep breath upon hearing Davey''s words. "But, this is a civil war¡­" "How many people know about Alecsied Island?" "Only a few¡­" "Then it''s fine. Even if I go wild here, no one will know." Davey lived by the words: If no one saw you kill, then it¡¯s an assassination. That meant that if no one saw him go wild here, he would just let others steal his thunder. "If you want to be recognized for punishing the inquisitors, then feel free to do so. As for me? I''ll just blow up these rotten bastards and take away the King of the Mythical Beasts." Alice pondered for a moment after hearing those words. She realized that there was nothing she, the Holy Empire''s paladin, and the Temple Knights could do against a monster that could make their bodies tremble with just one glance. She was also quick-witted and must have understood that Davey''s words implied he couldn''t guarantee their safety if he went wild on the island. After all, he was considered a monster of the same magnitude as the gigantic monster before them. "We''ll...leave the island and return to the continent," she said. "Then go as far inside the continent as you can. I don''t know how far the aftermath will reach." Davey grinned. He hadn''t tried such a plan before either. Then, he called back the Spirit Kings that had been facing off against Megalodria. "You can stop pretending now. It''s becoming quite difficult to maintain the act." [Contractor. I have quite a lot of complaints.] ¡°What complaints? Why do you have a lot?¡± Gnoass, who had initially appeared imposing with an enormous body, now shrank his form before speaking... [Back in the territory, all I did was play around with dirt, goof around, and wait blankly for the contractor¡¯s orders.] [We thought that we could finally show off the majesty and power of the spirits when we were summoned here on the scene of battle. However, all you asked us to do is bluff.] It appeared that it wasn''t just Gnoass who felt that way, but also Ellaim. The two Spirit Kings were spirits who had previously formed a contract with the continent''s great hero. Essentially, they were expressing their discontent because they were being utilized in a manner that differed greatly from their previous experiences. [I¡¯m a Spirit King, but all I do is be a mere construction worker. Is that even fair?] [Such a trivial matter can easily be settled by a high-ranking spirit and not a Spirit King.] Davey smiled at the two Spirit Kings that were openly protesting and complaining to him. ¡±How long are you going to play the hero, huh? If you¡¯re asked to do this, then you have to do it, no?¡± They were both talking too much. Ting! Davey handed a large spirit stone to each of the two Spirit Kings as he flicked the key in his hand and opened a rift in space. "I obtained these spirit stones from the Divine Tree. While you may not be able to summon your usual group, they should be enough to call forth several intermediate-ranking spirits. You have one hour. Just one hour of time," Davey explained. The Spirit Kings, visibly dissatisfied with Davey, fell silent as they accepted the spirit stones. Then, Davey turned to Rinne, who remained in a combat stance, and said, "Rinne, Decepticon Fleet." "On standby are Sniper, Juggernaut, and Megatron. Rinne highly values their combat abilities," replied Rinne. "Have you confirmed if they have recharged?" Davey inquired. "Report. After circulating the magic stone for mana recharge, each individual has over 90% power remaining." Upon hearing this, Davey activated the key. "Open Sesame." Davey wasn''t sure why the command to activate the key was like this, but it didn''t matter as long as it worked. The crack opened, revealing its magnificent presence. Perserque, witnessing this phenomenon for the first time, stared wide-eyed at the other side of the rift and murmured curiously, "Oh my god. This crack in space is absurd... No magic theory can explain such a phenomenon." "If it could be explained so easily, do you think I would still rely on something like this?" Davey replied. Theories could only explain concepts at the human or transcendental level. Anything beyond the realm of gods would be futile to explain. Davey considered the key a highly flawed item. While it could transport him to another world, the time he could spend inside would decrease with each use of his powers. Even unconsciously releasing his power would diminish the time available. In other words, the time consumption rate was too rapid. In such a situation, the best approach was to conserve his power for as long as possible and extend his stay. Fortunately, the time he could spend in that world had doubled after successfully completing the previous mission. It was a significant advantage for him. Shwaaaaaaaaa!!! Thud! ¡°Huh?¡± At that moment, the crack that had opened suddenly snapped shut. Simultaneously, a new sentence appeared in Davey''s activated status window. [The survival of the Second Star of Hope that has fallen into crisis. Metamorphosis Stack: 1; Additional 100% capacity added to the Dimensional Key¡¯s maximum capacity.] [Capacity in current possession: [90:00].] ¡°Eh?¡± ¡®I haven¡¯t done anything yet though?¡¯ The Second Star of Hope was a young boy named Ivanov Ban, who was likely the descendant of Eva van Hoeinheim, whom Davey had met previously. However, Davey couldn''t comprehend why he suddenly received a reward when he hadn''t done anything yet. Perserque, unaware of the full situation, looked at him in confusion. However, Rinne was different. Rinne''s eyes widened as she grabbed Davey''s collar and exclaimed, "Sir Davey! Sir Davey! Rinne will explain the reason!" "What is it?" Davey asked. "The twin golems! Rinne''s successors! Rinne believes that this is obviously the work of the golems we attached to the target!" "Ah... No way?" Davey blurted out unconsciously upon hearing those words. He had left those two golems behind to gather information and protect Ivanov Ban. In Davey''s absence, the golems had guarded the boy and completed the mission on his behalf. What was even more surprising was the fact that they had managed to restore their power by circulating and operating their mana, which had consumed Davey''s precious golden time. Davey could not help but stare blankly at the sudden turn of events. However, he quickly snapped out of it and checked the title window to activate the Starbreaker. [Starbreaker] (A title given to the one that can mimic a portion of an exploding celestial body.) ¡ªThe 1st Seal has been completely lifted. ¡ªMana Affinity will increase by +100% upon title equipment. ¡ªAbsorbs up to 10% of the title user¡¯s mana in just two hours. ¡ªThere is a high chance of lifting another seal upon using the additional Metamorphosis Stack(1) In the first place, Davey had brought out the dimensional key for this very purpose. Since he lacked the means to subdue Megalodria in one fell swoop, he intended to compensate for his shortcomings through this artifact. Without hesitation, Davey embraced the challenge. A radiant light materialized before him, accompanied by the appearance of a treasure box. Like in games of chance and gambling, the large treasure box began to vibrate vigorously, while the emitted light grew increasingly intense. Perserque and Rinne anxiously watched the treasure box, wondering what item would emerge. The same curiosity gripped Davey. If his predictions were correct, the desired effect would manifest. However, there was also the chance that it might not occur. Rattle, rattle, rattle, rattle! Clack! The treasure box opened not long after. Davey looked at it in silence as he confirmed its contents. [Unsealing has failed. Additional Metamorphosis Stack (1) has been consumed¡­] It failed? He had to try again? ¡°This f*cking bastard!!!¡± ¡®This damn gambling system!¡¯ The Temple Knights, who were preparing to retreat, and Alice, who was staring at the bright light, looked at Davey blankly when they heard him curse. ¡®What? What are you looking at? A Saint is a human too! Am I not allowed to curse?!¡¯ *** The dimensional key required a few hours before it could be reactivated. Despite the twin golems'' valiant efforts in safeguarding Ivanov, which cost Davey ninety minutes of his time, he had failed to unseal a portion of the title. Ultimately, Davey had no choice but to wait for the next opportunity. Thankfully, the gates remained connected to the Yurgian Continent, Ivanov''s home world, so as long as the twin golems continued protecting him, his stacks would be restored. Ring! After six hours, the cooldown of the dimensional key finally expired. Davey promptly seized the key and activated it once more. Clack! Just like before, his entire ninety minutes disappeared while the rewards appeared. [The survival of the Second Star of Hope that has fallen into crisis. Metamorphosis Stack: 1; Additional 100% capacity added to the Dimensional Key¡¯s maximum capacity.] [Capacity in current possession: [90:00].] Unfortunately, the time did not increase, but Davey managed to successfully acquire another Metamorphosis Stack. At this moment, most of the Temple Knights had already boarded the ship to flee from the island, leaving only a handful of Holy Empire officials behind at the scene. Under their watchful gazes, Davey stood before Megalodria and joined his hands together in prayer, "Goddess Freyja, I pray..." [Unsealing has failed. Additional Metamorphosis Stack (1) has been consumed¡­] ¡°You damn goddess!!!¡± ¡®Who among your believers prays sincerely and interacts with you like I do, huh?! There''s truly no point in believing in God¡­¡¯ The second attempt was also a failure. [Your desperate Little Lamb is praying for luck.] [Unsealing has failed. Additional Metamorphosis Stack (1) has been consumed¡­] ¡°Damn you!¡± The third attempt was also a failure. [Hey! Just make it work for a bit! Are you kidding me, huh?!] [Unsealing has failed. Additional Metamorphosis Stack (1) has been consumed¡­] The fourth attempt? Another failure. Bang!!! Bang!!! Bang! Bang!!! Davey stomped the ground in anger, making the ground shake tremendously and attracting the attention of everyone in the area. ¡°F*cking goddess.¡± Were his words considered blasphemy? Well, Davey did not care. ¡°God is dead.¡± "Are those words... something that should come out of a Saint''s mouth?" "I don''t care! She''s a damn bastard if she doesn''t help me, whatever!" By now, an entire day had passed, and most of the Holy Empire''s troops had escaped on a ship. Only a few individuals from the Holy Empire remained to face the enemy, including Davey and Alice, which surprised Davey. "What''s wrong with Rinne?" "Rinne has determined that mishandled potatoes are toxic and should not be consumed," Rinne explained, while Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon playfully teased Rinne by pinching her cheeks. As for Perserque, she initially watched Davey with curiosity but soon lost interest, choosing instead to stroke the Transcendence Demise. Alice, however, looked at Davey in confusion after witnessing his peculiar actions without showing signs of recovering his strength and power, even after a whole day had passed. "Um... Prince Davey? What on earth are you doing?" "Just wait there. I only need this to succeed." On one side, Rumble and Fire Chicken playfully fought each other, while on the other side, Decepticon''s Golem Megatron, previously defeated by Rinne, sat silently with a menacing electric saw in its hands, resembling a motionless stone guardian. "What is that fierce golem over there?" Alice sighed, her words trailing off. It seemed she had given up on understanding Davey and his actions. Davey was aware that Alice must have been feeling bewildered. After all, her preconceived notions of how a Saint should behave were being shattered before her eyes. Before long, Davey sensed the dimensional key reactivating as its cooldown timer ended. Without hesitation, he opened the gates, causing his remaining ninety minutes to vanish as another Metamorphosis Stack appeared on his status window. It felt like an automated process¡ªnothing more, nothing less. With trembling hands, Davey clasped them together and devoutly recited a prayer, a prayer he had never performed before in his life. This was the first chapter of the Prayer of Origin, unknown to any member of the Holy Empire. [Goddess Freyja, the God of Origin. This foolish young lamb is calling for you. May you please grant me your light as I walk through this trial¡­] [Through your mercy and benevolence, please bestow the light of hope to your suffering believers¡­] [I vow in my name to serve you for a lifetime¡­] [Amen¡­] Ring!!! [The unsealing has succeeded! The second ability of the title ¡®Starbreaker¡¯ will now be released!] ¡°¡­¡± ¡®You damn bastard of a goddess.¡¯ CH 383 "Keuaaaaack!" The paladin, who had been dragged into a room and thrown onto the floor, shrieked in pain. "First Judge Clonnie, I have brought the sinner." "Thank you for your hard work," responded Clonnie, dressed in red armor. She smiled benevolently before turning toward the statue of the goddess, placed on one side of the underground prison, and reciting a short prayer. [Please forgive this sinner and allow him to atone for his sins...] A suffocating silence draped over the area for a moment. The man who had overpowered the paladin looked at Clonnie with contempt. However, neither he nor the rest of the people inside the underground prison stopped her from what she was doing. "Then... let''s begin the trial." A loud grating sound resonated through the area as Clonnie stood up and approached the captured paladin. She asked quietly, "Do you know why you have been brought here?" "I have nothing to say to heretics who have gone against the teachings of the goddess." "Oh, my. A heretic speaking about heresy to people who specialize in catching heretics," Clonnie said calmly, mercilessly slapping the paladin. Slap!!! ¡°Kghhk!!!¡± Clonnie O¡¯Priscille was a teenage girl, but she possessed an unusual amount of power and strength for someone her age. Consequently, a single strike from her would certainly not be weak. "I would rather you... kill me... than insult me like this!" Clonnie simply grinned in response to the paladin¡¯s pleas. "Every life is considered precious. Purity is paramount, especially for those who repent and receive the mercy of the goddess," Clonnie spoke calmly, gathering power in her palms as she grabbed the paladin''s chin. She then pressed the divine object, shaped like a cross, closer to the paladin and continued, "The goddess'' messenger has bestowed upon us this divine object. It possesses the power to distinguish between believers and heretics. If you are a heretic, this item will turn black." Upon hearing her words, the paladin spat at Clonnie''s cheek. "L-Lady Clonnie!" exclaimed the people who were protecting her, startled by the act. In their rush to reach Clonnie, they accidentally trampled the captured paladin. "Please, stop. We all adhere to the teachings of the goddess. His punishment will come after the revelation, once all of his sins have been exposed," Clonnie calmly stated as she wiped the spit from her chin. Using the same hand she had used to wipe her chin, Clonnie grabbed the paladin and activated the divine object. Vwooooong¡­ The cross that she firmly believed would turn black¡­ ¡°He is¡­not a sinner.¡± ¡­did not change. ¡°What¡­?¡± This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV. Even the standby paladins, who were there for protection, looked on at the scene in disbelief. "Ha... Hahaha... Hahahahahahaha! That''s right. God has taught us to remain benevolent and always show mercy. He did not teach us to kill indiscriminately like you! Go ahead, kill me! I will die, but know that I am pure and clean. I will die as a martyr!" Clonnie, listening to the paladin''s words, rose slowly as she gazed at the cross. Then, she said, "Lock this man up again." "What?!" "Those who aren¡¯t heretics are not subject to our punishments. They are the people we are meant to protect." "B-But he is the enemy!" "The enemy?" Clonnie''s smile vanished from her face. "The only ones we are supposed to punish are heretics and demonkin. That is what the revelation has said. Since when did we allow our personal feelings to interfere with the sacred trial of heresy?" Caught off guard by Clonnie''s decision, the paladin looked both absurd and embarrassed. "Heretics must be purified and compelled to repent. However, if they are not heretics or demonkin..." Clonnie grasped her head tightly as she groaned, "Ugh!" Clonnie appeared to be in pain, her brows furrowing, as someone slowly emerged from the flustered paladins and impaled the captured paladin''s body with a sword. "L-Leader!" Clonnie, supported by one of the surprised paladins, struggled to look up at the uninvited guest who had entered the room. It was then that she saw a middle-aged man exuding an air of benevolence and kindness. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t do that, First Judge Clonnie.¡± ¡°L-Leader.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you? Punish the heretics and the demonkin. That is what the revelation that the goddess has bestowed upon us.¡± ¡°B-But that man¡­¡± ¡°He¡¯s a heretic.¡± Clonnie''s eyes widened at the man''s short and firm words. "But... the divine object..." "He''s a heretic. There was just a slight problem with the divine object." The man¡¯s words were a stretch, but he continued with the charade, a grin on his face. "Clonnie, have you forgotten? Have you forgotten how your parents were mercilessly slaughtered by those demonkin when you were young?" "Demon...kin..." Madness began to taint Clonnie''s shaking pupils. "Demonkin... that''s right. The demonkin, all of them, should be purified." "That''s right. Who am I? Who is this person standing in front of you?" "God''s... messenger. The one who received God''s revelation." "That''s right. The great and mighty Goddess Freyja has sent an Apostle of God to fulfill the mission she has bestowed upon us. This being is currently protecting us from the corrupted saint who has been possessed by the demonkin and the fallen Holy Empire." "He may appear possessed by the demonkin, but through the formal trial..." "Dear me. This is also your issue. Being too rigid and honest isn''t always the correct answer," he said calmly, pushing Clonnie to the ground. "Lock her up in the tower. First Judge Clonnie dared to question my decision as God''s Messenger." "B-But Leader..." "Oh? Are you going to defy the words of God''s Messenger?" The man''s eyes briefly gleamed with sharpness. Witnessing the glint, the paladins could only nod slowly and drag the unconscious Clonnie away. As for the paladin who had been stabbed earlier, he vomited a mouthful of blood while glaring at the man with bloodshot eyes. "Orthodox... Heresy Inquisition Leader Collosus Griam..." "Hoo... It seems you know me well. Are you a first-ranked paladin?" "Bastard! Your wicked deeds have gone too far! God taught us to show mercy and never engage in mindless killings!" Collosus Griam simply grinned at the paladin''s dying words. "Indeed. God truly taught us how to show mercy. But what mercy did that god, who taught us mercy, show me?" "What¡­?" "Anyway, it''s nothing. I have dedicated my entire life to serving God. I have chosen to tread this dark path, doing the dirty work and even shifting blame onto others. I don''t mind if others don''t know what I''ve done, but what about God? She didn''t even acknowledge me or the things I did," Collosus said calmly as he walked forward. "When I first encountered her, it was merely a coincidence. I saved her on a whim." "Who...are you talking about?" the paladin asked. "Ah, there''s no need for you to know. Let me continue my story. She was quite a beauty, so I saved her. But it turned out she was an existence I couldn''t treat so carelessly. I felt fear, the same fear I experience in the presence of God." And so, he obeyed her. Did others know what happened to him after doing so? That existence¡ªGod''s Apostle! An immensely powerful being who called himself Megalodria! His existence could be described as the epitome of power! And he couldn''t even defy her! A faint smile appeared on Collosus'' face. "She said she has come here to find someone of her own kind. From what I heard, the person she was seeking arrived here a few decades ago. But she never heard anything from them, so she came in search of them." "Where... Where did that person come from?" the paladin questioned. "That... I don''t know. The only thing that matters to me is the fact that she entrusted me with the authority to command God''s Apostle, Megalodria." The paladin clenched his teeth. "I found it strange when the inquisition suddenly started acting irrational, but..." "They might be individuals driven solely by the desire to punish heretics, but they are humans too. In order for them to kill the people I wanted them to kill, I had to manipulate their minds. Especially that unique and special individual, Clonnie O''Priscille." Silence hung in the air. "She was already formidable from the beginning. I don''t know why she possessed such power, but... Ah, right. I believe she was called a Trait Ability User? From what I gathered, they are individuals capable of dealing with a variety of abilities and powers. Regardless, when she was young, she witnessed her parents being devoured by the demonkin. As a result, she harbors a strong aversion toward heretics. However, for a lunatic like her, she is completely sincere and naive, particularly when it comes to non-heretics. And that is her greatest flaw." Collosus, upon discovering that Clonnie couldn''t fully utilize her powers, brainwashed her entirely. By her own volition, she incinerated those whom the false divine object had deemed heretics, using her overwhelming power. What was the truth? Did it matter whether she knew or not? She was nothing more than a mindless killer with blood on her hands. Collosus grinned, his smile concealing a hideous darkness entirely distinct from Clonnie''s madness. "You''re insane! Absolutely insane! How dare you deceive your own subordinates?" the paladin exclaimed. "That''s right. So what if I''ve gone mad? As long as I achieve what I desire, it''s all fine..." Collosus retorted. "The Saint and the Archbishop will undoubtedly hold you accountable for all your evil deeds. You should beg for God''s mercy, you damned heretic!¡± "A heretic is someone who betrays God. But you know what? It''s not heresy when your opponent worships the same God." The paladin regarded Collosus with revulsion upon hearing his words. "Anyway, the Saint will meet his demise at the hands of God''s Apostle. God''s Apostle is an incredibly potent being. So why don''t we wait for the outcome, hmm?" Collosus suggested with a chilling grin. *** [The unsealing has succeeded! The second ability of the title ¡®Starbreaker¡¯ will now be released!] Ping!!! Davey listened intently to the sound ringing in his ears, his gaze fixed on the shifting contents of the title. After a moment, he was finally able to take in everything and assess the situation. [Starbreaker] (A title given to the one that can mimic a portion of an exploding celestial body.) ¡ªThe 1st Seal has been completely lifted. ¡ªMana Affinity will increase by +100% upon title equipment. ¡ªAbsorbs up to 10% of the title user¡¯s mana in just two hours. ¡ªUpon title equipment, the title user can control mana by his own will. ¡ªAdditional mana will be absorbed according to the will of the title user. The words added to the title were simple, yet they held immense significance for Davey. This line represented the installment savings plan that Davey had longed for, allowing him to withdraw funds whenever he desired. It was his best option at this moment. "Good. I have dedicated my life to reaching this moment," Davey declared confidently, springing up from his seat. All the beings present, previously occupied with their own activities and idly passing time, turned their attention toward Davey. However, he paid no heed to their gazes. He simply approached the crack that separated the disconnected space and halted the ongoing conflict. As time passed, the number of paladins in the Orthodox Heresy Inquisition had dwindled significantly, recognizing that they couldn''t continue fighting due to the space being disconnected. Nonetheless, the remaining individuals watched Davey''s approach with nervous anticipation. Meanwhile, Megalodria, adorned with red and blue scales and feathers, and towering several meters in height, remained curled up with closed eyes. It was engrossed in restoring its strength. Thump!!! Thump!!! Amidst the tense gazes of everyone present, Davey finally reached the crack that had split and torn the space between them. He tapped on it forcefully with his bare hands, mustering his loudest voice. "Hey, you punk! Open this damn door!" Naturally, there was no way the cracked space could be repaired instantly. After repeatedly striking the crack with strength, Davey squinted. He had finally grasped the pattern of the fracture. "It would take around a day and a half, almost two days..." There was enough time. Since the plan was already in motion, all he needed to do was prepare to execute it. Vwoooooooong! Davey immediately extended one hand and released his mana. Simultaneously, magic circles emitting a brilliant purple light appeared in the sky above him, on the ground beneath his feet, above his head, and in front, behind, left, and right of him. Magic circles began to manifest and envelop the surrounding space. Like dust being drawn into a vacuum cleaner, the mana in the vicinity started flowing into Davey''s body. With a substantial amount of mana in his hands, Davey swiftly calculated countless magical formulas in his mind. Then, he cast his mana, unleashing its power. ¡®I will show you why a pre-casting mage is called a cheat.¡¯ *** A day had passed since Davey initiated the maintenance of the magic circles around him. Rinne, who had finally realized that Davey was already engaged in a task, swiftly recalled the golems she had released and positioned herself by his side. Perserque quietly nestled into Davey''s pockets, observing the unfolding situation. Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon transformed back into their sword forms and hung from Davey''s waist. As for Alice? She had chosen to hide far away, disregarding Davey''s warnings, and kept a watchful eye on the events. "You''ll probably need another day for this... to work. But are you okay? Continuing without sleep?" Perserque anxiously inquired, observing Davey standing motionless like a statue ever since he activated the magic circles a day ago. "I''m fine," Davey replied, moistening his lips a few times before answering. "This should be sufficient." Davey''s statement captured the attention of everyone present. "Everyone, please move as far away as possible." Rinne promptly took Perserque, who was still in her small form, and stepped back to a safe distance. Then, Davey slowly, painstakingly began to manipulate one of the magic circles. Vwoooooooong!!! Simultaneously, an immense amount of mana surged, forming a colossal vortex of five-colored mana that converged around Davey. Then, as if propelled by a powerful current, the vortex soared skyward, drawing in more mana. This was the culmination of the magic that Davey had diligently prepared, crystallized on his fingertips over the course of several days. Perserque observed the extraordinary mana flow in the air, sensing a growing sense of danger. Rinne, likewise, swiftly pulled Perserque along, increasing the distance between themselves and Davey, driven by an instinctive sense of crisis. Following suit, the Azure Sky''s Storm Dragon King, Megalodria, a being attuned to the mana''s movements, slowly opened its large reptilian eyes and fixed its gaze upon Davey. ¡®Goodness. You found out about my plan, but you¡¯re already far too late.¡¯ ¡°How much time do we have left?¡± Megalodria could not hear Davey¡¯s voice since the space between them had been cut off. However, it was looking at Davey and his shit-eating grin. [Reversed 8th Circle] [Blazing Fireball] [White Nova] The reversed magic known as White Nova was a modified version of the spell Davey had used against the World Tree, which had perished at his hands. It was a creation of the deranged mage Odin, often referred to as the God of Mages. This magic prioritized destructive power over efficiency, rendering it highly inefficient. During his previous encounter, Davey had been a mere 8th Circle mage, exhausting all the mana within his body. However, this time he had advanced to become a 9th Circle Mage, and he had spent several days gathering and accumulating mana to charge the reversed 8th Circle magic. Additionally, he possessed the title of Exploding Star, which optimized mana efficiency and compensated for magic with low efficiency. "Well then, it would be nice if time passed swiftly, don''t you think?" Megalodria took several cautious steps back, nervously observing Davey. The King of Mythical Beasts was well aware that it wouldn''t emerge unscathed if directly struck by this attack. Its pale face appeared even more ghostly against the backdrop of its blue feathers. CH 384 Just one glance was enough to tell that the attack was extremely dangerous. Perserque, who sat on Rinne¡¯s shoulders, pondered deeply before releasing the cloth that wrapped the staff cradled in her hands. The staff in question was none other than the Transcendence Demise, which Davey had reluctantly given to her. However, he had imposed a condition that she could only touch it momentarily. Unfortunately, Davey was preoccupied with the arrival of the King of Mythical Beasts, Azure Sky¡¯s Storm Dragon King Megalodria, from another dimension, and didn''t have the opportunity to retrieve it from Perserque. Perserque''s contemplation didn''t take long. She leapt off Rinne''s shoulder, using her mana to levitate and return to her original form. Rinne immediately stopped running and observed the peculiar Perserque. "Rinne has a question. We are in the midst of fulfilling Sir Davey''s orders. It would be best for Rinne to escort Lady Per and retreat swiftly," Rinne suggested. "Just wait a moment," Perserque responded calmly, closing her eyes. Simultaneously, demonic energy, a power unique to demons, began to seep slowly from her body. We are bit.ly/3iBfjkV, find us on google. The body Perserque currently possessed wasn''t the one created by the demons. As a result, she had to undergo several processes to harness her soul''s demonic energy and adapt to her new form. Consequently, she hadn''t fully regained her former power. Given their dire situation, Perserque had no choice but to employ this efficient method to extract power that surpassed her current capabilities. However, she understood she could only summon a limited amount of power. Therefore, she decided against utilizing an excessive amount of demonic energy to aid Davey. Additionally, Archbishop Alice was retreating alongside them, and Perserque couldn''t afford to inadvertently cause harm to Davey. Nevertheless... "This individual is different," Perserque murmured. The Transcendence Demise in her hand was unique. Gazing affectionately at the staff''s unparalleled power, which only Davey could fully unleash, Perserque resonated with the mana surrounding her. "As I suspected, returning this to Davey would be a tremendous waste." [Grow quickly.] Boom!!! With her words, the gradual increase in mana, which also expanded the sphere of blazing white flames, suddenly surged at an overwhelming speed. The Transcendence Demise possessed the ability to amplify or diminish the effects of magic. Although Perserque could only tap into a fraction of its power, it proved to be more than sufficient. Reverting to her smaller form, Perserque calmly floated back and settled on Rinne''s shoulder, wearing a serene and refreshed expression. "We know nothing. Let''s go, Rinne." "Rinne greatly values Lady Per''s decision," Rinne affirmed, giving Perserque a satisfied thumbs-up after witnessing the distant transformation of the white light. "Oh my god... You''re all insane... What?! Are you truly determined to reshape the entire landscape right here and now?!" Alice, the only one who expressed disbelief and hesitation, exclaimed. Her eyes remained fixated on the escalating magic, far beyond their current location. *** The surge of mana didn''t directly extend across the severed space, yet the gathering and manifestation of power right before Megalodria sent a shiver through its feathers, leaving them rigid. ¡®Something¡¯s wrong! The opponent is a very special human.¡¯ Megalodria had no choice but to think this way. Storm Dragon King Megalodria had been a long-time companion of the Mythical Beast Summoner, Shane Scrift, revered as the Supreme Hero. Through his journey, Megalodria had climbed the ranks, eventually earning his current title as the King of Mythical Beasts. Reflecting on his vast memories and experiences, he realized that encounters like this were rare. At first glance, the human before Megalodria appeared to be nothing more than a child. However, witnessing the human effortlessly block his attack with a single broken arm made Megalodria realize that his situation was far from favorable. In fact, Megalodria could barely sense any mana within the boy''s body. Even for someone like him, who had lived for an extensive period, this phenomenon remained inexplicable. The only conclusion he could draw was that his own condition had deteriorated to the point where he couldn''t measure the immense mana possessed by the boy standing before him. As expected, the boy proved to be truly formidable. Megalodria, already utilizing a significant portion of his power to resist the brainwashing, quickly surmised that victory wouldn''t come easily in this battle. During their confrontation, Megalodria was involuntarily transported back to this small island. It was an act completely contrary to his own will, and it was there that he encountered the boy once again. The boy''s words were strange and surprising. He spoke as if he not only knew Megalodria but also the other two beings hailed as the King of Mythical Beasts. Megalodria couldn''t help but suspect a connection between the boy and the enigmatic woman who had invaded the Lux Continent. With such thoughts racing through his mind, Megalodria found himself in an intensely tense state. He couldn''t afford to die like this. The best course of action was to regain his strength, overpower the boy, and escape this place. To achieve that, he had to postpone the fight, even if it meant resorting to force. Megalodria hadn''t anticipated that things would unfold in this manner. ¡°My¡­ My god¡­ What the hell is that¡­?¡± Some of the paladins from the Orthodox Heresy Inquisition, who were on standby, murmured in shock at the sight of a pure white sphere materializing in the dark sky. The sky itself was obscured by the gathering dark clouds, a result of Megalodria''s powers. The sphere emitted a blinding light as it spun vigorously above them, growing in size while devouring mana from its surroundings. This spectacle left the paladins awestruck. Megalodria had severed the space and bought himself at least two or three days to accumulate his power. However, it didn''t take long for him to realize that his actions merely granted the boy more time, not himself. Although Megalodria couldn''t hear the boy''s voice through the barrier of the severed space, he could read the boy''s lips mouthing, "It would be great if you could unleash this as soon as possible, right? Don''t worry, I''ll make sure to deliver a powerful blow." Only then did Megalodria realize, "Ah, it wasn''t me who needed time. It was him." Assured that he had bought enough time, the boy openly began to prepare, seemingly unconcerned about his defenses. It appeared as if the Spirit Kings and unidentified beings he summoned to confront Megalodria on the island were nothing more than empty threats. Megalodria had made a grave error in judgment because he couldn''t gauge his opponent''s mana. In the end, he had inadvertently given his opponent ample time to prepare, leaving himself with no choice but to confront and fight the enemy immediately. He wished he could somehow mend the rift and engage his opponent right away. However, Megalodria knew it wouldn''t unfold so smoothly. There was a high chance that the boy wouldn''t miss the opportunity to strike the moment he saw Megalodria attempting to repair the rift. It simply wasn''t a viable option. The problem lay in the fact that Megalodria couldn''t guarantee his own safety once the magic, in the form of the pure white sphere, directly struck them. ¡°Call¡­ Call the leader right away!¡± the paladins cried out in a hurry. Not long after, a man garbed in black robes emerged from the church of the Orthodox Heresy Inquisition, his gaze fixed upon the radiant sphere of light that rivaled the sun. "What... What should we do, Leader?" "What kind of magic is this...?" Despite the fear evident in the paladins and priests of the Orthodox Heresy Inquisition, their leader, Collosus Griam, exuded an air of confidence. He then spoke words that diverged completely from Megalodria''s expectations. "Do not be afraid, for God''s Apostle is with us." The impact of those words was immense. ''No.'' Megalodria yearned to refute them, but the power eroding his will had grown too strong, rendering him incapable of mustering the energy to speak. His head throbbed intensely, as if it were on the verge of splitting, yet that human before him spouted utter nonsense. "At first glance, that magic may appear terrifying, but it is nothing more than an empty fa?ade. Don''t you agree?" Grrrrrrrrrrr! Megalodria felt an overwhelming urge to scream at Collosus Griam upon hearing that question, but he was unable to do so. The power eroding his rationality prevented his voice from escaping, allowing only a growl to emerge. ¡®Gather all your priests and prepare defensive magic. It is the only way you might survive this ordeal. If that thing strikes you, there won''t even be time to utter your final words,¡¯ Megalodria desperately thought. "Behold! God''s Apostle reveals his magnificent and formidable form!!" exclaimed one of the priests. "That''s not it! Can''t you see my feathers? They''re all standing on end!" Megalodria tried to convey, but his voice failed to reach them. "I see!" "As expected of God''s Apostle!" Megalodria, unable to comprehend the source of their blind faith, once again abandoned his overestimation of the human race on this continent. Even the most foolish fool wouldn''t display such idiocy. ¡®You damn fools! That''s not it at all! Cast defensive magic and create defensive magic circles immediately! Hurry! Time is running out. Otherwise, even my hard-earned life will be¡­¡¯ Megalodria''s thoughts trailed off, unable to be voiced. "Well then! Let us all pray! We are under the protection of God''s Apostle. There is nothing for us to fear! Who am I?! I am someone recognized by God''s Apostle! I am different from that wicked and corrupt saint who employs sorcery and witchcraft!" Collosus declared, rallying the paladins who immediately raised their weapons and cheered with fervor. ¡®Damn it,¡¯ Megalodria thought, desperately searching for a way to escape this dire situation. All he desired was to survive and break free from the bondage that forced him to serve these individuals. If that meant pushing his body to its limits, as long as he could separate the space from that magic... "Please, look at that!" a voice exclaimed. As if influenced by some unknown force, the magic cast by the boy suddenly expanded multiple times in size. Cold sweat trickled down Megalodria''s body. He felt as though a dagger loomed directly above his head, his feathers bristling while the scales on his body quivered and trembled. ¡®This... This isn''t right, you bastard,¡¯ Megalodria thought, astounded. How could a mere human, a replaceable existence, possess the power to magnify such a colossal magic several times over? At that moment, Megalodria''s mind went blank. He knew that even if he exerted all his strength, it would be difficult to halt that magic. He gazed at the detestable individual who unleashed this spell, only to see an eerie smile gracing the boy''s face. It was as if the boy knew exactly what thoughts were racing through Megalodria''s mind... ¡°Don¡¯t worry! No matter what kind of magic that is, it is nothing in front of God¡¯s Apostle!¡± ¡°Wooooooooah!¡± ¡°As expected of God¡¯s Apostle!¡± These fanatical believers, convinced that Megalodria was God''s Apostle, held firm in their belief that he could overcome any obstacle. The cracks in space would soon mend themselves... In fact, some of them were already beginning to heal. However, despite this knowledge, Megalodria remained unable to use his voice to warn them. Caught in the midst of the frantic situation, he had no choice but to exert every ounce of his strength to ensure his own survival. In the end, all Megalodria could do was gather and shape an immense breath composed of lightning. ¡®Ha¡­ I don¡¯t care what happens to you bastards anymore.¡¯ Megalodria did not care about what would happen to them anymore. ¡®I will survive this one way or another. I will cut off the space once again and protect myself.¡¯ Megalodria intended to create the illusion that he had completely eradicated the space surrounding him, enabling him to escape. However... "The crack has closed!" exclaimed one of the paladins, referring to the rupture that had formed due to the spatial disturbance. "Now! Let''s attack! The enemy is vulnerable! We have nothing to fear!" Upon Collosus Griam''s command, the paladins charged toward Davey O''Rowane, the boy at the center of the conflict. But Davey was not one to be intimidated by their oncoming momentum. "Have you waited for this moment? How should I put it? My apologies, but I think my gift for you might be a bit too generous. You won''t be able to protect a single soul here." Regardless, no one would dare to restrain Davey or hinder him from causing havoc. And so, Davey redirected the immense blazing white sun that had grown exponentially in the sky toward the ground. Thud!!! Witnessing the overwhelmingly powerful sphere of light descending toward the ground, Megalodria unleashed the entirety of the Breath he had amassed. The outcome was clear. Megalodria, enveloped in energy to repel the attack, regained his senses and immediately voiced his thoughts. It wasn''t the commanding and majestic voice of the King of Mythical Beasts, but the tone he had often used with his contractor in the past. "Ha... Damn it... Do as you please. I no longer care." The water that encircled the island, as well as the island itself, evaporated and vanished from view. All that remained in the aftermath was the receding brilliance of the blinding flash of light. CH 385 Boom!!! A huge explosion erupted, accompanied by a deafening sound that echoed throughout the area. The magic spun fiercely, carrying flames capable of burning anything they touched. Its power had grown to an immense scale, thanks to the Transcendence Demise, a move Davey presumed was executed by Perserque. "Hoo..." Davey knew that despite being the one who unleashed the magic, he wouldn''t be safe from its aftermath. As soon as he witnessed the crack mending, he released the magic and swiftly ascended into the air. His eyes narrowed sharply as he observed the white sphere of flames sweeping away everything in its path, including the sea and the entire island. Although the magic didn''t consume the entire continent, the resulting shockwave alone was enough to trigger a tsunami at its weakest. "Hmm... Let''s handle it," Davey muttered. The moment those words escaped his lips, a colossal, colorless shockwave hurtled toward him. Reacting swiftly, Davey drew out Blue Ribbon and swung the blade, simultaneously twisting his body to evade the tremendous power of Breath. It could devour anything and even rend and twist space itself. [Longsword] [Splitting the Mountains] Crack, crack, crack, crack!!! Shwaaaa!!! Although Davey wielded Blue Ribbon, a sword with a cheat-like and overpowering ability, it remained impossible for him to fully suppress the shockwave at once. The resounding sounds confirmed this fact. Boom!!! A portion of Megalodria''s Breath was forcibly redirected upwards, accompanied by grating sounds. Davey could only shake his head in disbelief as he witnessed the clouds in the sky rupture under the tremendous force. "Look at that, someone is recklessly strong, huh?" Even after delivering an immensely powerful blow, it appeared that Megalodria still possessed enough strength to launch a counterattack. Gradually, the light faded, revealing the unfolding aftermath of the tragedy before Davey''s eyes. The island had been completely upended when the difficult-to-control White Nova collided with it, causing it to shatter. To be honest, the power Davey unleashed was more than enough to obliterate this small island. However, he was somewhat surprised to see certain parts of the island withstand the impact of the magic. "This..." he murmured. What emerged was an ancient ruin, over 10,000 years old, similar to those found in certain parts of the continent. Some of the stones protecting the ruins displayed an unusual resistance to mana. While Davey hadn''t conducted a thorough analysis yet, he could discern their identity based on the color and structure of the walls. There was a high possibility that the foundation supporting the island itself was connected to these ancient ruins. Descending from the sky, Davey kicked the scorching ground several times before closing his eyes. Slowly, he reopened them, taking in the scene once more. [Gnoass.] [Ellaim.] The Earth Spirit King and Water Spirit King appeared in an instant. It was as if they had been waiting for this moment. Both of their expressions were grave and somber as they drew the maximum power that they could produce. ¡°The enemy¡­¡± ¡°He¡¯s coming. Gnoass, spirit harmonization.¡± [Contractor. With the current state of communication between us, that¡¯s impossible.] "I am the one who makes the call. Move it," Davey said with a smile, as a blue light flickered from within the smoke. Simultaneously, a violent and piercing wind hurtled toward Davey. The speed and range of the attack were overwhelmingly intense, leaving him with no means of evasion. Such was the sheer threat posed by the attack. [Then, you have to take responsibility for your own safety.] Simultaneously, Gnoass'' colossal body disintegrated into a pile of dust, which then transformed into ethereal light that permeated Davey''s being. As a result, his black hair changed to a shade of brown. Interestingly, while Davey was intimately acquainted with Gnoass, the spirit remained unfamiliar with him. This disparity rendered any straightforward calculations utterly futile and rendered them useless. Crack, crack, crack, crack!!! Davey crouched down, witnessing his skin rapidly thickening and becoming robust as the bone-chilling wind mercilessly battered his exposed body. Boom!!! A colossal shockwave erupted, causing the wind to abruptly shift its course and collide against his form. Shwaaa!!! "Hiss!" Davey hissed, crimson droplets of blood splattering onto the ground. Yet, he had no time to dwell on such matters. With a sense of urgency, he firmly grasped Red Ribbon, who had been swirling around him, and closed his eyes momentarily. [Heavenly Destroyer Ghostly Sword] [Slaughter in the Dark] It would be foolish of him to attempt to locate his opponent amidst the dense smoke obstructing his vision. Davey abandoned his reliance on sight and relied on his senses to intercept the incoming attacks. Dozens of red sword blades shot out from his weapon, slashing through the gray haze. Baaaaaang!!! Megalodria abruptly emerged from the shroud of smoke, emanating an aura of fury provoked by the attack that compelled him to reveal himself. "It hurts, doesn''t it?" Megalodria appeared worn and exhausted, with three out of his four pairs of wings lost and some of his feathers charred. Although he had suffered considerable power loss, his resilient scales endured the assault. Surviving and even mounting a counterattack after facing such a one-shot kill magic was an impressive feat for a grandmaster-level entity. [¡­] Observing Megalodria''s silent, red gaze fixed upon him, Davey lifted Red Ribbon and directed it toward the beast. Recognizing that engaging in conversation at the moment would serve no purpose, his priority was to bring Megalodria under control and remove him from the situation. Davey remained uncertain whether the King of Mythical Beasts comprehended his intentions or not. However, Megalodria puffed out his chest and emitted a resounding roar. In that very instant, another colossal bomb materialized, composed of suffocating winds and intense pressure¡ªan attack capable of warping and distorting space. The destructive force surged relentlessly toward Davey. *** Amidst the ongoing catastrophic battle, an individual quietly emerged from a small hole in the ground. This person was none other than Collosus Griam, a man who had held a position of power for a considerable duration as the leader of the Orthodox Heresy Inquisition under the Holy Empire Valcias. Collosus had long considered himself someone who had made significant sacrifices for God''s cause. "Ah, aaaah... This is not good," he murmured. The loud and formidable explosions erupting all around far surpassed his expectations. Collosus possessed keen eyes and could discern that the boy was utilizing extraordinary magic. However, because he had managed to survive and remain unharmed, thanks to the power bestowed upon him by the woman who granted him his current abilities, he understood that the magic was not entirely invincible. When that woman imparted a portion of her power, replacing his own strength and compelling the colossal King of Mythical Beasts to become his subordinate, Collosus believed there was nothing in this world he couldn''t accomplish. He firmly held the conviction that there was nothing to fear. After all, even the immensely powerful black dragon that had caused a tremendous upheaval across the entire continent paled in comparison to the King of Mythical Beasts, who radiated a presence akin to the sun. But... but... things had taken an unexpected turn. Could a young boy, born and leading a life entirely disconnected from divinity and holy power, truly grow so potent in such a short span of time simply by receiving the stigmata, the symbol of a saint? And contrary to Collosus'' belief that not a single hair of the apostle could be harmed... Bang!!! [Groaaaaaaaar!] The scene unfolding before Collosus'' eyes was completely different from his expectations. The Azure Sky''s Storm Dragon King and the King of Mythical Beasts, Megalodria, were unable to keep pace with the boy. Collosus had assumed that Megalodria would easily evade the first attack with a slight movement. However, he was proven wrong as the beast suffered a fatal blow. This severe injury hindered the King of Mythical Beasts'' movements and became a primary reason for him continuously being pushed back by the boy. The greatest concern lay in Prince Davey''s power. Collosus discerned that the prince''s abilities were not derived from holy magic. Moreover, he wielded a swordsmanship that surpassed that of a Sword Master. Prince Davey''s combat prowess was so formidable that Collosus couldn''t help but question if such immense power could truly emanate from a human body. Additionally, the prince exhibited magic at the 9th Circle, which emerged whenever his opponent''s defenses revealed a gap. Of course, this didn''t imply that Megalodria''s status as a grandmaster-level being had been utterly discarded. Clang!!! Prince Davey crashed onto the ground, blood trickling from his chin amidst the resounding echoes of space tearing apart. Yet, Megalodria showed no signs of relenting. Swiftly, the beast ensnared Davey with his tail, slamming him repeatedly onto the ground in rapid succession. Ordinary individuals, and even masters who had surpassed human limitations, would struggle to survive such a relentless assault. However, an obsidian vortex of energy, distinct from dark mana, manifested around Prince Davey''s body as he shattered the tail constricting him. Then, akin to a deranged individual, he unleashed a barrage of attacks. The speed was so staggering that Collosus struggled to keep up. What was worse, with each collision between Davey''s attacks and Megalodria, a tremendous shockwave radiated outward, relentlessly hammering against the shield shielding Collosus. ¡®It¡¯s fine¡­ It¡¯s going to be fine¡­ Her power is not something that will be broken by that bastard¡¯s attacks.¡¯ Collosus firmly believed that he would remain unscathed regardless of the circumstances. Even if every paladin and priest of the inquisition were wiped out, he considered his own safety paramount. After all, as long as he survived, he could recruit replacements. However, a disquieting sound of cracking and shattering reached his ears, unsettling him. "No, it can''t be!" Collosus exclaimed in surprise as he gazed up at the shield that had been shielding him. At first glance, the gray protective barrier appeared to be holding steadfastly. Yet, after enduring several stray attacks, it began to fissure and splinter. Boom, boom, boom, boom!!! Baaaaang!!! ¡°Keuaaaaack!!!¡± Once again, black energy surged out from Davey''s body, coalescing into sword-shaped blades that swiftly hurtled toward his adversaries. The blades not only targeted Megalodria, who evaded the assault by rolling away, but also homed in on Collosus, who had never even considered evading the attack. The impact caused the shield to quiver and tremble with great intensity. It was at that moment that Collosus realized the gravity of his predicament, his feet desperately attempting to carry him away from the scene. In the current situation, the woman to whom he had pledged his loyalty was absent, rendering him devoid of her protective presence. Even the King of Mythical Beasts, Megalodria, was incapable of shielding him. The only defense he had was the gray shield, and if it were to be destroyed, he would be left utterly defenseless against the aftermath of the clash between these two monstrous beings. Swoooooosh!!! Bang!!! In Collosus'' desperate attempt to flee the island, he witnessed a stream of black energy surging right in front of him. Caught off guard, he stumbled and collapsed onto the ground, his eyes widening in fear and astonishment. As he turned his head to glance behind him, he caught sight of the boy wearing a devilish smirk, watching him intently while engaged in the ongoing battle with Megalodria. This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV. "This... This bastard?! Impossible!" Collosus exclaimed, his disbelief echoing in his voice. The realization struck him like a thunderbolt¡ªthose stray attacks were not random but intentionally aimed at him. The understanding caused his jaw to quiver. Collosus had never anticipated experiencing the same sense of fear and terror he had felt when facing the woman who had become his master. Yet, as he stared at the boy before him, he couldn''t escape those emotions. Although the impact of the boy''s power was lesser than that of the woman, there was an ominous and gloomy aura surrounding his strength. ¡®That¡­ That guy is the Saint that is being hailed as this continent¡¯s hero?¡¯ A chill ran down Collosus¡¯ back as he urged his stiff legs to run once again after watching the two continue to fight once again. *** After observing the surviving member of the inquisition fleeing from the battle, Davey calmly closed his eyes. He knew that whether or not he pursued, the individual would resurface eventually, once he had decimated the entire area. Davey had yet to fully examine the power that had compelled Megalodria into submission. He believed it to be the power of the Abyss, which also seemed to encompass Collosus Griam, the leader of the Orthodox Heresy Inquisition, who had survived the explosive aftermath. In truth, Davey only needed to activate a small portion of Taboo''s Karma to counteract that anomalous power. He had confirmed this when he directed several sword energies toward the protective shield shielding Collosus. Slowly, Davey opened his eyes and directed his gaze toward Megalodria. He judged that it was sufficient for now. He had no intention of killing the mythical beast. However, as others had warned, subduing someone was far more challenging than simply ending their life. And that was precisely his objective¡ªto suppress Megalodria. Like the stumbling Megalodria, Davey''s own body exhibited signs of distress. One of his arms had been crushed to the point where instant healing was impossible. Numerous wounds and injuries adorned his body, causing blood to trickle and stain his clothing crimson. ¡®He¡¯s a really difficult guy to catch.¡¯ Davey crouched down slowly as Megalodria¡¯s glinting red eyes looked at him. Then, he reached for something inside his pocket plane. The Mythical Beast Summoner was a trait ability user. Trait Ability Users were beings that were born as mutants and would appear sporadically all over the world. Davey could not raise Megalodria because he was basically not born as someone that could raise a mythical beast. However, that did not mean that there was no way at all. Of course, Davey still had to go through some trial and error to achieve the effect that he wanted. That was why it was necessary that he keep Megalodria moving in the way that he wanted him to. [Transcendental Weapon¡¯s Liberation] Davey took a deep breath as he pushed his hands deeper into his pocket plane and searched through the translucent items that were floating around before finally grasping what he was looking for. [Heavenly Demon¡¯s Card Album] The Heavenly Demon¡¯s Card Album was something that he received from his card maker teacher. ¡®Right. Let¡¯s go with this one.¡¯ Davey acted swiftly, without a moment of hesitation, as he opened the card album and retrieved one of the blank cards. He threw it into the air, and instantly, a brilliant light emanated from within the card, expanding in size until it transformed into a gigantic card several tens of meters tall. The radiance intensified, giving rise to multiple colossal cards that tightly enveloped Megalodria''s body. The spinning cards exerted a strong force, making it difficult for Megalodria to resist. "This is a monster ball, you bastard," Davey exclaimed upon sensing Megalodria''s reaction to the unusual phenomenon. Without delay, Davey activated his pre-casted magic, causing a massive magic circle to illuminate beneath his feet. Apart from Perserque''s unique power, the Demon Lord''s magic possessed theoretical peculiarity surpassing that of ordinary magic. It exceeded Davey''s expectations by a significant margin. This magic required demonic energy, and since Davey had become the Demon Lord, it meant he already possessed a certain amount of demonic energy within his body. [Demon Lord¡¯s Transformation Magic] [Great Gravity] The gravitational field of the entire area shifted, causing everything to feel unusually heavy. In this altered environment, Megalodria''s movements became sealed, and the intense light emitted by the rapidly spinning cards mirrored the cards'' movements, persistently wrapping around Megalodria''s body. ¡®This mythical beast¡­is mine now.¡¯ CH 386 The fact that Davey was brought to the brink of death just by trying to subdue and suppress Megalodria was something he had to reflect upon. There were times when he was caught off guard because he had grown too complacent during the fight. This was due to his familiarity with Megalodria. The fight itself should not be prolonged any longer. They fought openly, like true and honorable men, without resorting to trickery. Megalodria was originally a mythical beast known for his overwhelming power in fights. However, he was currently in a half-paralyzed state, affecting both his rationality and body. With several other factors affecting the situation, Davey was left with only one choice¡ªto engage Megalodria in a direct fight rather than a war of attrition. If this battle turned into a war of attrition, Megalodria would have enough time to rapidly recover, putting him at a significant disadvantage. If that happened, Davey''s first shot would be rendered useless. Not long after, the light that had wrapped around Megalodria''s body transformed into chains that slowly dragged him into the gigantic card. Since Megalodria had almost lost half of his rationality, he was successfully dragged inside without being able to struggle properly. Swoosh¡­ Then, the gigantic card transformed back into light, returning to its original size, and flew straight toward Davey''s hands. Several slashes appeared on Davey''s hands the moment the card landed in his grip, as if they had been inflicted by a blade. However, Davey did not release the card; instead, he held onto it tightly. Swoosh¡­ After a while, the card, which had been trembling fiercely, gradually came to a halt. Even the invisible blades that had cut his hands vanished, as if Megalodria had finally ceased resisting. ¡°Phew¡­ It¡¯s quite hard to catch one, huh?¡± Locking Megalodria in the card was a perfect solution for the current situation. However, it wasn''t enough. Megalodria was notoriously challenging to form a contract with. Even if Davey managed to confine him in the card, it didn''t guarantee an easy process of raising and signing a contract. "Dragon King, hold on for a moment. I will release you soon," Davey whispered to the card, roughly wiping away the red blood dripping from his forehead. Then, he flung the card onto the ground and stomped on it a few times. "Argh! You damn lizard bastard! If you''re caught, then stay put. Are you still acting rebellious?!" Despite not wanting to vent his anger on Megalodria, the subtle sense of rebellion emanating from the card was hard to ignore, compelling Davey to react. Realizing his response was too intense, Davey picked up the card and brushed off the dust. He briefly observed the gigantic figure of the giant now depicted on the card before carefully plucking three or four strands of his hair. "Hmph!" With that, he released his qi, creating four clones in a single motion. While they might not possess significant combat power, they were more than capable of assisting in the search for the individual who bestowed power upon Collosus Griam from the Abyss. The notion that someone had surpassed Megalodria and compelled him to serve Collosus Griam was utterly absurd. Were they suggesting that someone had traversed dimensions just to capture the mythical beast? It seemed preposterous, didn''t it? However, Collosus Griam had managed to survive the devastating White Nova, reducing the island and its surrounding seas to dust. Clearly, his survival couldn''t be attributed solely to his own abilities. Davey was certain that it was the power of the Abyss, a repugnant force he was all too familiar with. That damned Abyss, right? He was already aware that a rift connected this world to the Abyss. However, he didn''t anticipate the extent to which beings crossed over. Due to the Abyss''s power, capable of warping the rules and providence of this world, Davey had no choice but to transform Hercules'' power, the Taboo''s Karma, into sword energy and send it toward Collosus. Fortunately, it proved effective. When Davey visited the ancient ruins in Hyeon Kingdom, he initially believed there wasn''t much benefit in encountering and battling his teacher''s clone, Hercules. But now, it seemed his assessment had been completely mistaken. Baaaang!!! "Keuaaaaaaaaack!!!" A terrified shriek echoed in the distance, followed by a resounding explosion. ¡®So, you were here!¡¯ These were the words Davey longed to utter as he pushed through his limping leg, gradually making his way toward the source of the sound. *** Collosus Griam collapsed onto the ground, his body trembling. Despite his unwavering faith in the shield that protected him, he appeared greatly flustered, as if he hadn''t anticipated this turn of events. As Davey arrived at the scene, his clones, which had encircled Collosus and relentlessly attacked him with all their might, silently dissipated into the air. ¡®Goodness, my precious hair.¡¯ Naturally, Davey made sure to burn the strands of his hair that were fluttering about. ¡®May you be reborn as two strands in your next life, enriching my head with fullness and my hair with abundance.¡¯ Having experienced the curse of hair loss a few times in the Hall, Davey never wished to endure such a horrendous affliction ever again in his life. "Collosus Griam," Davey called out, causing the man to gaze at him with a blank expression. "We have much to discuss, don''t we?" Collosus trembled at the question, shouting at Davey, "Why the hell are you doing this to me?! What have I done to you, you bastard?!" "How should I put it? You commanded them to lay hands on the Demon Lord. Do I need to elaborate further?" The man clenched his teeth in response to Davey''s direct and straightforward words. "As I suspected! There truly is a demon by your side!" "And so?" "..." "Are you going to pretend to be a righteous and virtuous believer now?" Davey asked calmly as he once again struck the shield protecting him. "Do you believe you have the authority to pass judgment on others when you have slaughtered countless innocent humans with your false revelations?" "As long as you stand beside the demons and defend them, your words are nothing but meaningless noise!" "The deity that the demons worship is none other than Goddess Freyja, you despicable bastard." Bang!!! ¡°Urk!!!¡± Collosus shrieked, feeling frightened when Davey punched the shield that covered him once again. Bang!!! Bang! Bang!!! The once sturdy shield began to crack under the relentless assault of Davey''s punches, its form gradually distorting. Each time Davey''s fist connected with the shield, Collosus would shut his eyes and let out a scream, desperately attempting to scramble away. However, he couldn''t escape far due to the protective barrier that surrounded him. Bang¡­! Davey relentlessly pounded on the shield until his hands were covered in blood. Eventually, he was compelled to cease his assault, causing the frightened leader of the inquisition to look up at him. Ignoring Collosus'' gaze, Davey stared at the gray shield, then down at his bloodied hands. "Ha... Hahaha... Hahahahahahaha! You think you can shatter this protective shield, huh? This is a reinforced shield, you damn bastard!" Silently, Davey listened to Collosus'' outburst, unmoved by his threats. "..." "My master will come and save me soon! Once the princess arrives, you''ll be in deep trouble, you bastard!" After hearing Collosus'' cries, Davey immediately abandoned the idea of relying solely on his own powers to break the shield. As he had anticipated, it would only be possible to shatter this force that twisted and distorted the rules and providence of their world by utilizing Hercules'' Taboo''s Karma. Swoosh¡­ The screaming and laughing Collosus abruptly flinched upon seeing black energy lightly swirling around Davey''s fists. "Well, there''s still one shot left." Bang! The destructive force of the blow was just as potent as before, but the effect was unmistakable. Particularly, Hercules'' power proved to be fatal against both gods and the Abyss. The protective shield, which had withstood Davey''s relentless assaults, finally shattered. As for Collosus? All he could do was scream and desperately try to scramble away from Davey after losing the protective shield he had taken such pride in. Davey seized him by the collar and continued calmly, "The judges of the inquisition have a fondness for fire, don''t they?" "S-Spare me!" "I''m going to ask you a few questions now. Don''t pretend you don''t know. You have commanded Megalodria and pushed him into a corner, so you must possess valuable information, right?" Davey said with composure as he pushed the trembling leader of the inquisition against a rock. Then, he drew upon his surging inner qi. [Samadhi Fire] [Dark Magic Curse¡¯s Stigma] [Combining Qi] [Fire of Interrogation] ¡®Didn¡¯t you guys like playing with fire? Am I wrong?¡¯ "Kghkk... Keuaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!" Collosus screamed in desperation, his eyes bulging with agony coursing through his entire body. The flames Davey wielded inflicted the sensation of being burned, yet they did not actually consume or scorch anything. "Who granted you this power? You better reveal everything you know about that individual," Davey demanded. "I-I''ll... I''ll speak! I''ll tell you everything!" "You weren''t planning on speaking? It appears that the leader of the Heresy Inquisition is quite reluctant to share information, huh?" Crackle, crackle, crackle!!! "Keuaaaaaaaaaaack!!!" Collosus shrieked, his body convulsing and saliva dripping onto the ground. When Davey''s eyes, now purple in color, locked with his, he realized that Collosus was teetering on the edge of madness. But did he think Davey would allow him to descend into madness? The growing flames abruptly extinguished. "Heuk... Ha... Ha... Ha..." "Now, let''s hear it," Davey urged. "I-I''ll... I''ll tell you. I''ll tell you... H-her... Her name is..." "You still refuse to speak? Alright, then let''s let you burn a little more." "Keuaaaaaaaaaack!!!" Another desperate cry pierced the air as black flames once again engulfed Collosus'' body. "I''ll tell you!!! I told you I''ll tell you everything!!!" "Ah, this guy... Why are you so stubborn? Do you have to be this obstinate? Fine. Consider me impressed. I''ll ensure you burn thoroughly, don''t worry!" At this point, Collosus finally realized that Davey had no intention of listening to him at all. "It''s not just one or two people you''ve burned to death, is it? From a necromancer''s perspective, when you burn that many souls and they coalesce, you won''t be able to sleep at night." Collosus'' face turned ashen at Davey''s words. "That''s why... let''s keep you burning for half a day." Crackle!!! "Kghhk... Kghhkkkkk!!!" Collosus was subjected to torture on the desolate shores of the now-ruined island, masquerading as an interrogation. The torment only ceased when the sky darkened and the tide crept up to their feet. The leader of the inquisition stared blankly at Davey, murmuring incoherent words. Davey gazed at Collosus, then swiftly took out Red Ribbon and severed his neck, closing his eyes momentarily. There was a restraint placed upon Collosus'' body. Davey wasn''t foolish; he no longer conducted himself as he had in the past. Wasn''t there a saying that went, "If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you"? It sounded dreadful, didn''t it? It was as if one had to become a monster to deal with another monster. Such was the twisted logic that governed this realm. ¡®But¡­ you know what? It¡¯s also possible to look at it from the other way around.¡¯ If the Abyss stared at him, he would stare right back. Just as the Abyss intruded upon this realm and recognized him, he encroached upon them and devoured them in his own way. The Abyss was not bound by the rules of this world, but that didn''t mean they were entirely immune to its influence. They simply operated by their own set of rules. In other words, once Davey deciphered the rules of the Abyss, dealing with them would become much easier. While it was impossible to release Collosus Griam from the restraints placed upon him, Davey could still buy enough time and delay his death, forcing his awakening to extract all the information stored within his mind. This novel is available on "pawread dot com". "She came to find her own kin..." It wasn''t enough for that entity to overpower and subdue the three Kings of Mythical Beasts; she even brought them to another dimension because she was lacking something. Her name was [Urd]. Urd''s purpose was rather straightforward. She came here to search for her younger sister, Princess Verdandi. However, even after gaining control of the Lux Continent, she still failed to locate her sister. Consequently, she set her sights on the Tionis Continent, encroaching upon this world. ¡°Verdandi¡­ Was it Verdandi?¡± Davey muttered, frowning at the very familiar name as he pondered over Urd¡¯s matters. ¡®Hold on, wait¡­¡¯ Davey turned the name over in his mind until he finally realized where he had heard it before. He wondered why the name felt so familiar and then recalled that Aeria El Lyndis and Illyna de Pallan had mentioned it. "She''s definitely... one of the six beauties of the continent," Davey murmured. The name Verdandi carried a significant degree of recognition. However, the reason for her popularity was not overly complex. Unlike the other beauties who hailed from noble and royal lineages among the Six Beauties of the Continent, Verdandi''s existence remained rather obscure. Information about her was scarce, contributing to her enigmatic aura. CH 387 verdandi was the name of a beauty with a commoner background who became famous for being courted by countless suitors from royal and noble families. while the name verdandi was not particularly unique, it did not entirely rule out the possibility that she could be the one. for davey, the most efficient approach was to inquire among those who were paying attention and had a keen interest in the happenings on the continent. ¡®now, who else is alive in this place aside from me?¡¯ the island had been completely razed to the ground, leaving behind only the black remnants of the heresy inquisition''s church. the sea had also collapsed, contorting its shape and creating a treacherous whirlpool that deterred any reckless approach. naturally, the impossibility of entering this place now also meant an impossibility of leaving. collosus, who had perished, was not particularly significant. he had merely been an obstacle employed by the abyss princess, urd, to orchestrate this chaos. davey silently turned around and approached the remains of the heresy inquisition church, his fingers gesturing toward the ashen remnants of the ruined structure. the soot left by the burnt church stained his shining red hands, gradually transforming them into a dark hue. "so, there''s an underground chamber," davey remarked. not too far from him, davey discovered a door leading to an underground space, constructed from black rocks. the raw material, despite being relatively easy to process under extreme heat and pressure, had surprisingly withstood the impact of the white nova¡ªan irony that davey found rather amusing. he extracted the divine spear longginus and utilized its substantial weight to forcefully strike the misaligned hinges of the door. once the hinges gave way, davey grasped the red ribbon and severed it. as he anticipated, the red ribbon, capable of cutting through anything physical, effortlessly sliced through the robust black rocks, splitting them into fragments. thud!!! after shattering the doors, davey gazed intently at the obscure passage that descended into the depths. it didn''t take long for him to ascend the stairs and venture into the darkness, seemingly driven by an unseen force. *** the underground prison of the orthodox heresy inquisition turned out to be far more expansive than davey had anticipated. its eerie silence was particularly unsettling, considering its purpose as a prison. not a single indication of movement could be felt, and not a sliver of light penetrated its depths. davey strolled leisurely and unaffected through the desolate halls of this subterranean prison, shrouded in a foreboding atmosphere that seemed to hold the imminent presence of spirits. thud!!! as davey continued to walk, a loud and startling noise rang out not too far away from him. ¡°¡­¡± most people would have instinctively screamed and fled the moment they heard that deafening sound. however, davey continued his stride without hesitation. "it would have been quite interesting if i had brought illyna along with me," davey mused aloud. "well, whether it was illyna or imperial princess aeria, it would have been fun. princess aeria, being naturally shy and timid, would have been easily frightened in a place like this. and as for illyna? she always puts on a facade of toughness and strength. i wonder how she would fare in a situation like this." after descending the stairs for an extended period, davey finally arrived at the origin of the earlier noise. employing the red ribbon, he severed the massive stone gates, revealing a chamber littered with shattered fragments of statues, presumably depicting goddess figures. it appeared that while the underground prison hadn''t collapsed, the subsequent earthquake had taken its toll. discover the complete story on pawread dot com. within that space, davey spotted a girl. she sat silently, adorned with red hair and donning heavy armor. "wasn''t your name clonnie o''priscille?" davey inquired. she was the girl known for possessing a formidable power as a trait ability user. davey observed her in silence before extending his fingers toward her and snapping them loudly. snap!!! "ugh..." clonnie groaned, slowly lifting her gaze to meet davey''s. her eyes appeared vacant, as if she hadn''t yet comprehended the situation she found herself in. evidently, this girl was an ardent fanatic. if davey were collosus griam, he would have certainly exploited her to his advantage. it puzzled him why she was confined in this place. "you two are acquainted, aren''t you?" davey asked. "...ah... aaaaaah... it''s the leader..." clonnie smiled brightly, despite the pain and exhaustion. "are you here to pass judgment on me?" "why would you think that?" davey inquired. "because you''re shining." davey fell silent at her words, his gaze fixated on the cross hanging around her neck. according to warrior reina, clonnie used this cross to determine if someone was a heretic or not. if the cross turned black, they were deemed heretics. if the color remained unchanged, they were innocent. in reality, the reason the cross did not react in front of davey was that collosus griam, who had used it to deceive clonnie by claiming it was a divine artifact, had already perished. however, she remained oblivious to this fact. "i thought you were tainted. that''s why i wanted to put you on trial. but your existence is noble and sacred! noble! no one is allowed to besmirch your reputation! you are the one who has received god''s love!" "there are only a select few in this world who have received the goddess'' love." "no, not at all. the goddess loves all her creations, even the heretics who have rejected her. that''s why we burn them, to cleanse their sins and transform their bones into white purity." clonnie''s conviction was unwavering, leaving davey speechless. "it is evident that you are not a heretic. i have no right to judge and purify you. perhaps your bones are already pure and white," clonnie said, her face adorned with a pure and benevolent smile. "the revelation you speak of is a lie," davey chose to reveal the truth. "yes? what... what do you mean? the leader of the inquisition claimed to have received the revelation and was granted the protection of god''s apostle, along with a bestowed divine artifact..." "the so-called god''s apostle you mention is a mythical creature. and as for the divine artifact, it''s nothing but a counterfeit. around 80% to 90% of the people you have slain are not heretics, but innocent bystanders," davey divulged, his words devoid of any sugar-coating. he then tossed a dagger before the bewildered girl. "you don''t need to contemplate the veracity of my words. you have hidden behind your beliefs and slaughtered innocents without delving deeper into the truth." "...i... i killed the very people i was meant to protect and not the heretics?" "that''s correct." davey left those words hanging as he passed by her, not bothering to free her from the chains that bound her. "make your own choices." without hesitation, davey left clonnie, who stared blankly at the dagger lying in front of her, and continued his unhurried progress. he had heard the sound of the wind emanating from behind clonnie, indicating another concealed space within this underground prison. so, he went further inside only to see the same black rocks, which formed the foundation of the island, in front of him. davey, without any regrets, used red ribbon and cut them down. rumble!!! the wall swiftly crumbled, revealing a natural cave hidden within. davey''s gaze fell upon a small jewelry box situated at the far end of the space, emanating an aura of traps. despite the apparent risks, davey effortlessly reached the jewelry box, only to discover that it could only be opened with a key. however, he disregarded this requirement entirely and forcefully broke it open, retrieving the black stone nestled inside. to the casual observer, it may have seemed like an ordinary black stone. however, upon closer inspection, one could discern another underlying power swirling within it¡ªthe altered power of the abyss, an enigma to all present. "so, there''s something like this here," davey remarked, rolling the black stone in his palms. it was then that his attention was drawn to the inscriptions on the cave walls. though the words were penned in a complex religious language, davey found them relatively easy to decipher. from what he gleaned, it appeared that one of the previous leaders of the heresy inquisition had obtained this black stone from the ancient ruins concealed on the island, sealing it within this location. the inscriptions further revealed that they were ignorant of the stone''s purpose, but it exuded an uncanny chill upon contact and whispered strange voices in their ears. consequently, it was deemed a heretical object¡ªa complete rejection of god. this prompted the previous leader of the heresy inquisition to seal and conceal it here. davey believed that even the current leader of the organization, collosus griam, remained oblivious to the stone''s existence. in fact, davey had descended into the underground prison solely to ascertain if any relics resided there. his expectations had not been in vain. it could be said that davey had thoroughly plundered the grave, leaving no miscellaneous items behind. ancient ruins held an air of profound mystery. concealed from prying eyes, they housed numerous astonishing truths and artifacts. while davey''s knowledge of such places was limited, he held a steadfast belief¡ªone born of instinct¡ªthat the abyssal beings had been expelled tens of thousands of years ago due to a monumental clash with the entities from the tionis continent. as davey emerged from the natural cave and returned to the underground prison, the metallic scent of blood greeted him. for fanatics who lived solely for their faith, their lives held little significance. and when such individuals realized that their existence had strayed from their own truth and beliefs, they had only one extreme option¡ªto engage in what they knew best. *** considerable time had elapsed since the incident involving the orthodox heresy inquisition. the holy empire valcias had officially declared to the continent that they had thwarted the inquisition''s coup d''etat. furthermore, they announced a reduction in heresy trials and expressed their intent to transform the heresy inquisition into a more peaceful organization. the tionis continent bore resemblances to earth''s medieval period, but it differed significantly in many ways. unlike that era, where the prevalence of slavery and serfdom was rampant, the tionis continent boasted a high standard of living. it was a world where even commoners could live with bright, content smiles on their faces. the development of alchemy and magic contributed to the cleanliness of the streets and houses in this world. however, the most astonishing aspect lay in the citizens'' exceptional aesthetic sense. "three months..." davey murmured, tapping his fingers on the table while gazing at the card and the black stone before him. it had been three months since he had dismantled the orthodox heresy inquisition, and thus far, he had discovered no information regarding the black stone. regarding verdandi, davey currently endeavored to determine the whereabouts of one of the continent''s six greatest beauties. she represented a crucial element in his plans. however, he could not help but suspect that someone deliberately obstructed the dissemination of her information. progress with megalodria, who was sealed within the card, had also been minimal. davey planned to form a contract with the mythical beast once it returned to its normal state¡ªthat was his first step. however, the card occasionally trembled, as if urging davey to release megalodria from its confines. in truth, davey harbored little desire to extract the card album that contained those deranged individuals. the primary reason was its challenging nature to handle. moreover, he could only bring it out of the hall because it was constructed with his own soul. meanwhile, the heins territory busied itself with the auctioning of moon grass, a practice conducted every quarter of the year. davey merely needed to monitor the weather and soil conditions where the grass grew. as for sales, he entrusted the task to the most competent individuals and relied on their periodic reports. responding to their trust and loyalty, which far exceeded his expectations, davey reciprocated with his own trust and loyalty¡ªa sentiment he had previously conveyed to the demon belial. "your highness, everything has been arranged," amy reported, accompanied by one of the dwarves. "very well," davey replied calmly as he rose from his seat, retrieving the antique scissors from his desk and placing them into his pocket dimension. "let us proceed with the completion ceremony." davey had already recruited a sufficient number of professors and instructors for the academy. with the construction now finished, it was time for him to establish wide-area protective magic and partake in a celebratory toast with a champagne bottle. as the chairman of the largest academy on the continent, shouldn''t he indulge in a bit of grandeur? davey believed that the protective magic he employed should surpass that of the magic towers¡ªa sentiment that would alleviate his slight embarrassment associated with the title. CH 388 "i apologize." "do you still have no leads?" "no." aina helishana, delivering the report on behalf of her information guild, lowered her head slowly in response. davey had tasked her with uncovering information about verdandi, one of the six beauties of the continent, but she had only managed to find very limited details. the other beauties among the six beauties of the continent were widely known, making their information easily accessible. however, from the start, information about the commoner named verdandi had been shrouded in ambiguity and vagueness. aina helishana presented all the information she had gathered over the past three months. typically, three months would be enough time for her to acquire knowledge about even the color of underwear belonging to a member of the royal family. however, this did not hold true for verdandi. verdandi was a woman enveloped in countless rumors, making it incredibly challenging to uncover accurate information about her. although she was the lone commoner among the six beauties of the continent, it was said that her beauty surpassed all others, captivating anyone who laid eyes on her. this was why she had ascended to that esteemed position so swiftly. davey found it ironic to judge others solely based on their appearances. however, this tendency was consistent across all worlds. people would always harbor jealousy and envy toward those who possessed beauty and charm. nevertheless, he wouldn''t condemn them solely for such superficial reasons. "most of the information i''ve gathered consists of rumors and hearsay. i''ve organized them to the best of my abilities," aina explained. davey scanned the document in his hand as aina concluded her report. "the name is verdandi. we haven''t been able to confirm her age, but based on accounts from individuals who claim to have met her, it''s estimated to be between 40 and 70 years." "are you kidding me?" davey abruptly halted and turned to face aina, causing her to flinch. ¡°hiccup¡­¡± "speak properly. i asked you to gather information, and all you bring me is this useless trash that can''t even confirm whether she''s 40 or 70 years old?" "well... every person i encountered provided different testimonies. furthermore, she disappeared a long time ago, and most of the recent information about her consists of mere sightings. do you have any idea how difficult it is to gather information about someone who moves around like a ghost?" verdandi was once a renowned beauty of the continent, but a considerable time had passed since then. it wouldn''t be surprising if she were an old woman now. however, sporadic rumors about sightings of her, still retaining her ethereal beauty, had managed to keep her on the list until now. davey glanced at the report, feeling dissatisfied, and let out a sigh. "do you want to be fired?" theft is never good, try looking at [ pawread dot com ]. "ugh..." aina flinched in embarrassment, her hood almost slipping off her head. "information regarding verdandi is classified as top-tier special information within the information guild. it''s not that i didn''t want to tell you; it''s that i can''t disclose it." davey needed them to hand over that information. how could he navigate the continent if he didn''t even know her whereabouts? "the only thing i know is that she is one of the six beauties of the continent. it''s said that she used to dance and sing with the gypsies long ago until a member of the royal family spotted her and brought her to a royal banquet. the nobles who witnessed her radiant appearance spread countless rumors about her, cementing her position. however, she vanished once again. that happened thirty years ago. it''s quite amusing to still refer to her as one of the six beauties of the continent even today..." the crucial point was that people continued to encounter her occasionally after that. all those individuals testified that she remained as dazzling and beautiful as she was thirty years ago. it wasn''t implausible since those who experienced a transformation at a young age would retain their youthful appearance throughout their lives. "so, you''re telling me she''s playing hide and seek?" ultimately, davey had no choice but to let the matter go. it wouldn''t be efficient to pursue her at the moment, especially when he had no leads on the woman named [urd], who had caused significant turmoil three months ago. fortunately, he had discovered a way to counteract the abyss''s corrupting influence on megalodria, currently slumbering within the card. at the very least, he would be able to extract some clues from megalodria regarding the woman named [urd]. "welcome." davey turned to face the old man who greeted him, while aina, who had been trailing behind, disappeared into smoke. "you''ve worked hard, attendant bernile." "not at all. this job... i asked you to entrust it to me, didn''t i?" "it seems like you enjoy it, huh?" the old man, who used to maintain an expressionless face while answering davey''s questions, now displayed a sense of satisfaction in his eyes behind the monocle. "there are many people in this world who desire to learn. however, due to various circumstances, their opportunities for education are limited. many talented individuals among the lower-ranking nobles and commoners are deprived of the chance to learn simply because they lack the means." "is that so?" "i thought you created this academy for those people, your highness?" davey shook his head in response. "that''s not it, though." "eh?" "no, did you think i was some kind of philanthropist?" bernile looked at davey with disbelief upon hearing the disdain in his voice. he coughed to hide his embarrassment. "goodness, my mind must have grown rigid with age. i failed to grasp your highness''s thoughts and intentions properly. but what is the reason..." davey gazed at the enormous fence surrounding them. the academy grounds were larger than any other academy in existence. this was all thanks to the efforts of elder golgouda and elder goulda of the yellowstone tribe, who had shared their architectural techniques with the renowned architects of the redstone tribe, recruiting them for this project. the academy was a culmination of the spirit king''s powers, magic, alchemy, the skills of the continent''s best engineers and architects, and a substantial amount of money. it was surrounded by four tall spires in each cardinal direction, with numerous elegant buildings in the center. despite being constructed in a matter of months, it exuded beauty and sophistication. "the reason..." the academy remained nothing more than an empty building. the necessary materials and supplies had yet to be procured, and there were no professors or instructors to teach the students. without them, no students would come to this place. thus, it was merely an empty building undergoing renovations, awaiting its owner. "attendant bernile, you are aware that when people gather, they form groups. and as these groups develop, they eventually become nations, correct?" bernile nodded in agreement. "yes, that''s right." "humans live within such a system. if there is a better system available to them, it is only natural to adapt to it. however, the instincts with which humans are born are not easily discarded." "hmmm... can you please explain it in a simpler manner?" davey grinned. "consider this as mere speculation. let me ask you a question. what do you think is the most challenging aspect to achieve within a group?" bernile closed his eyes, silently contemplating davey''s question. it seemed he finally grasped davey''s intentions as he replied softly, "equal opportunities. even if the world emphasizes equality, as long as individuals exist, true equal and fair opportunities will never exist." "that''s correct. it''s equal opportunities. now, let me ask you another question. why do you think i created this academy, emphasizing equal opportunities, even though i''m no philanthropist?" bernile fell silent immediately, his gaze filled with doubt as he tried to discern davey''s intentions. "no way... are you suggesting that you''re aiming for support funds?" "you''re quick-witted. that''s very good." davey had established the academy with good intentions. just like other academies, they did not adopt a system where they would receive support funds and subsidies under the condition of monopolizing the students'' career paths after graduation. in other words, it would be up to the students and the nation that hosted them to decide where the talented graduates of the academy would go. they had no concrete evidence to prove how successful the students studying at their academy would become in the future. but they could consider who the chairman of the academy was. if the professors and instructors were responsible for the students, then the chairman was responsible for them. if the professors'' skills did not meet davey''s standards, he could easily mold them to his liking. "but, your highness..." at that moment, attendant bernile spoke quietly. "your intentions are good. however... there may be only a few commoners who would be willing to come and learn in the academy." davey looked at bernile silently upon hearing his words. the attendant was a wise figure, and he had presented davey with the fundamental challenge of this plan. "your highness, i''m sure you have observed how the commoners live their lives." "that''s correct." "the people of heins territory now have more leeway than before, thanks to your highness'' grace. with the abundance of welfare programs, the desire of young citizens in our territory to study and learn has also grown. finally, they have the means to do so." a child was precious to every parent, and every parent wanted their child to excel and become an outstanding student and individual in the academy. however... "it''s different for the other territories. your highness, commoners typically live day to day. most of them are illiterate. how do you plan to bring them in? even if their children are talented, what will their parents think?" "it''s foolish to send their children to a foreign land just to study. it would be better for them to put their children to work." "that''s true." commoners often remained indifferent to their lack of learning opportunities and literacy. in fact, many people in this world believe they could live just fine without recognizing letters and words. "no matter how much knowledge they cram into their heads, it won''t matter if they go hungry tomorrow. they need to think about other means of survival. in the end, education is only accessible to the middle class and above, those who can afford it." davey silently nodded at these sharp and accurate words. they may have excellent lessons, swordsmanship, and magic, but without enough students, it would all be in vain. gathering students posed the greatest challenge they faced. "that''s a valid point. however, it''s not something we need to address immediately. so, attendant bernile, what do you think is a good solution to this problem?" "well..." "you have no suggestions?" bernile bowed silently in response. "forgive me, your highness. this old man lacks ideas." "it''s alright. the issue you''ve raised is a fundamental problem." while children from noble and royal families would readily enroll in the academy if the professors and instructors were outstanding, the challenge lay in attracting commoners. convincing them to become students was an entirely different matter. davey had no choice but to find a way to entice them to join the academy. changing society''s mindset in a short period of time was simply impossible. ¡°then, what will you do?¡± ¡°a war broke out just recently, attendant bernile.¡± bernile¡¯s eyes grew wide at the implication of davey¡¯s words. "first, i plan to set a precedent and shift the societal atmosphere and mindset. our primary focus will be on war orphans. these children face immense difficulties in their day-to-day lives, and they have limited options for their future. they will become the first graduates of my academy. i will take them in and transform them into exceptional individuals." bernile stared at davey in silence before bursting into laughter. *** [tch, tch. humans are always like this. they are useless.] those were the first words that reached the man with bloodshot eyes as he walked slowly. times had changed. it had been thirty years, and the world had nearly forgotten about her. once hailed as the most beautiful woman on the continent, she possessed a beauty that left the entire world in awe. with countless rumors, some abruptly ending and others blown out of proportion, only a select few knew the truth about her identity. however, one thing was certain among the people: the woman who had wandered with the gypsies thirty years ago had vanished. she was only remembered because she would occasionally reappear before someone''s eyes. "oh..." the man, his face adorned with a thick beard, moved silently upon seeing a young woman, seemingly in her early twenties, sleeping peacefully in a rocking chair. she slumbered deeply, her black hair cascading over the backrest of the rocking chair, swaying gently as if lulling her into an even deeper sleep. a book on magic rested on her chest. the man watched her in silence, memories of the past flooding his mind. [child, you have been abandoned. at this rate, you will die. who would say anything about an abandoned child dying? you are nothing but an insect in the eyes of others.] [¡­let go. i¡¯m a busy person. if you grab my clothes one more time, i will make sure to burn you to death.] at first, she looked so cold and terrifying as she stood alone amidst the horrifying scene of devastation. there were countless people dying and tearing each other apart around her. [¡­fine. let go. well, i¡¯ll just think of this as research on human beings. you can just clean my house. however, keep in mind that i will throw you in a pot and eat you if you become lazy.] countless memories flashed in the man¡¯s head. [why aren''t you eating? don''t think about it. you''ll taste better if you gain a bit more weight. stop talking nonsense. come, eat this too. and that one too.] [i hate foolishness the most. whether it''s singing, dancing, or swordsmanship, it matters not to me. well, you miscreant, you seem full of hatred, so a sword suits you better. right. i''ve been using this as a toothpick. give it a swing.] [you foolish brat! who will do my laundry if you get hurt, huh?! eat this and go to sleep! hurry!] ¡°mother¡­¡± the man murmured as he slowly went down on his knees. CH 389 there were dozens of colorful and beautiful buildings, along with countless facilities and an integrated system incorporating amazing technologies inside the academy. it was much more than a simple academy. these buildings had been created with significant financial resources and could be considered the epitome of extravagance. considering the academy''s simultaneous construction with the waterways and the water-powered mana plant in the territory, the financial situation was inevitably strained. however, davey had no regrets about proceeding with the construction of these facilities. they were bound to be constructed sooner or later. although the cost was substantial and strained the territory''s coffers, it was not inherently a bad decision. the sales of the moon grass they had sold quarterly were enough to cover the territory''s financial losses, but the items created by the little girl in front of davey contributed the most to the territory''s revenue. "your contribution here is the greatest, aeonitia." "well, i just did whatever came to mind. you''re the one who shared the most knowledge with me, brother." this was why davey loved slave contracts. the little girl was not accustomed to praise and shyly twisted her body. at present, aeonitia knew that davey was not a threatening person. she understood that he wouldn''t harm her even if she made mistakes. however, she couldn''t easily let go of her cautious nature. despite her overwhelming position, she never allowed herself to become complacent, and that was why she thrived in this environment. "alright, feel free to tell me if there''s anything you want to create. i''ll ensure you have the necessary knowledge and funds." "..." "however, you need to persuade me. you have the right to surprise and impress me. if i like it, i''ll provide the funds." davey, accompanied by aeonitia, walked around the academy and observed an empty lot. "what''s the matter?" aeonitia had made significant contributions to the academy''s architecture. however, it wasn''t solely because she was the watch princess and had generated a substantial amount of money from selling her watches. she possessed such immense talent that even the dwarves of the redstone tribe were awestruck by her abilities. her childlike naivety and purity allowed her to conceive unique, dreamy, and beautiful designs that deviated from the typical structures commonly seen in public. this distinctiveness was precisely what lent the academy''s buildings their unfamiliar yet captivating beauty. "it feels a bit empty here." "ah..." "at the very least, this is a place where children will come to study. even if we deem it an inefficient use of space, we can still adorn it with a sculpture that evokes emotions and instills a sense of calmness." aeonitia gazed at the vacant lot, contemplating davey''s words as if delving into their meaning. "now, think about it, aeonitia. let''s create a pond here. it wouldn''t be too difficult to divert the waterway system to this spot. by allowing the water to flow, we can prevent it from stagnating and becoming foul." listening attentively, the girl slowly closed her eyes, visualizing davey''s description in her mind. "on one side, we can place a naturally formed stone and construct an artificial waterfall. it doesn''t have to be overly tall; it can even take the form of a fountain with water cascading from above." "ah..." "in the center of the pond, let''s position a beautiful statue. additionally, we can introduce some carp and fish into the water. we could even employ some elementalists to invite water spirits to reside here." a flush appeared on aeonitia''s face as she absorbed davey''s words. although he was certain that his vision differed from hers, davey knew that she had undoubtedly conceived her own stunning rendition of this composition. "oh my! how beautiful!" aeonitia exclaimed, opening her eyes and looking up at davey. "right? it will be magnificent, won''t it? a serene space where students can find respite as they pass by." "yes! just as my brother said! it will be a marvelous place, and it could also serve as a romantic rendezvous for couples to exchange sweet words." davey smiled softly at his sister''s exuberant outburst. "then let''s make it happen." "yes?" ¡°what? you should make it.¡± just like that, the smile on the girl¡¯s face disappeared. *** davey stared at the unassuming doll in front of him, tension evident on his face. they had already faced multiple failures, leaving no room for further mistakes. "good... good," he muttered. it wasn''t only davey who anxiously observed the situation. elder golgouda, the primary figure behind the avengers squadron, and rinne, who had arrived with unwavering determination to witness the completion of her new successor, were both present. annabelle, having undergone adjustments once before, sat on a rocking chair, playing with her elven ears while staring blankly at davey. "well then... let''s begin." davey couldn''t help but question why a seemingly ordinary-looking man had become so grotesque and unsettling. this was actually a fragment of the abyss that davey had salvaged when erasing the existence of the gigantic creature that had invaded the tionis continent. when they initially attempted to utilize it, it started moving in search of perserque, forcing davey to neutralize it. however, davey didn''t stop there; he took it to the holy empire''s sanctuary for further purification. at present, it appeared completely frozen. due to this process, the power of the abyss had significantly weakened, yet its extraordinary abilities remained intact. davey had then remodeled it using various reagents and magic circles, successfully transforming it into the heart of dirro, the second golem of the avengers squadron. as soon as davey installed the heart into dirro, the faceless construct began emitting a radiant light. "rinne holds her new successor in high regard!" rinne exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with excitement. however, the others present in the underground laboratory watched the scene with apprehension. another failure would mean the abandonment of the dirro project. for elder golgouda, who regarded the golem as his second child and wished to prevent its destruction, and for davey, who had invested considerable resources and effort into its creation, this experiment had to succeed. swoosh¡­ finally, the light enveloping dirro''s body gradually receded. simultaneously, the doll autonomously stood upright, its form trembling as though it were liquid before reverting to its original shape. creak¡­ davey detected the approach of someone who seemed to have been awaiting this very moment. it turned out to be annabelle, clutching a doll in her hands. expressionless as always, she drew closer to dirro, her face nearly touching the new golem''s radiant visage. while studying dirro''s features, her head slowly tilted at an unusual angle. although her body remained still, her head had twisted completely to the side. "..." "hey. who designed that system?" davey''s biting comment caused someone to flinch, but annabelle paid no attention, pushing her neck to its limit. before long, a juvenile and childlike voice emerged from annabelle''s mouth. "annabelle has concluded that she doesn''t like this." bzzzzzzzz!!! then, dirro sprung into motion, his hands transforming into liquid that contorted and morphed into numerous tentacles. these appendages swiftly ensnared annabelle''s entire body, lifting her into the air. rinne''s eyes gleamed even brighter at the sight, further affirming her high evaluation of her second successor''s capabilities. "hey, you lunatics..." davey muttered, his gaze shifting toward elder golgouda, wondering what other additions they had made without his knowledge. "cough..." elder golgouda quickly averted his eyes, avoiding davey''s questioning gaze. while davey had established the basic personality of the new golem, the design had been left to the others. as annabelle''s eyes gradually turned black and her head shook within the grasp of the tentacles, her body became completely covered. despite her skirt being flipped upside down and the sudden turn of events leaving her flustered, annabelle, being a golem, had no sense of shame or discomfort in her peculiar posture. "searching. search has been completed," annabelle stated, her voice devoid of emotion. after concluding her search, dark mana began to coalesce behind her. simultaneously, her distinct dark magic intertwined with a pre-cast magic circle. then, a colossal black shadow materialized behind annabelle. this towering entity forcibly tore apart the tentacles enveloping her, snatching dirro, who stood motionless, and hoisting him into the air. the tables had turned in an instant. "let''s... play," dirro murmured as his body was drawn closer to annabelle. annabelle, now ghostly and limp, gradually approached dirro''s location, as if she had transformed into a lifeless specter. clap!!! "shut down," davey''s voice commanded, abruptly ending their tense standoff. davey alone held the authority to deactivate these golems with a single word. no one else possessed that power. after shutting them down, davey grabbed rinne''s remorseful head and turned to face elder golgouda, who was accompanied by several dwarves. "elder golgouda." read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the "pawread dot com" "ahem! i, i just wanted to see my children develop their own personalities! i never anticipated they would end up fighting each other." davey wasn''t certain why they harbored animosity toward each other, but one thing became clear from witnessing their interaction. despite being part of the same squadron, both dirro and annabelle, as biological golems, exhibited considerable hostility toward each other. unlike the decepticon fleet, which focused on firepower, the avengers squadron was designed for infiltration and communication. as a result, it was expected that conflicts would arise among team members due to their need for basic communication and judgment skills. "we, we will rectify it swiftly, wise teacher!" "no. just let them be. it''s already done. besides, it''s amusing to watch their shifting egos clash." ultimately, it didn''t matter much. the success of their future endeavors would hinge on how effectively the elder brain, rinne, could coordinate and manage their tasks. currently, she seemed to be cheering for the two biological golems to fight and clash. "wait..." davey''s smile grew faint as he noticed his trembling pocket, prompting him to speak. "perserque, do you wish to emerge?" "i absolutely detest it! don''t even entertain the thought!" as expected, perserque would find it challenging to get along with dirro. *** and so, the second member of the avengers squadron was completed with the item obtained from the holy empire. throughout the process, davey had opened the gates to the other dimension each time the key was activated. currently, he surveyed the stack of items the twin golems had amassed through their diligent efforts. "twenty-four stacks," he noted. the quantity seemed relatively small for a three-month period. however, realizing that the dimensional key''s cooldown time did not guarantee his ability to open it as desired, davey ceased using it punctually. furthermore, the total duration he could spend within the dimension had only increased by thirty minutes since then. this meant that he could now utilize 120 minutes inside. considering he had a mere thirty minutes during his initial attempt, the available time had already quadrupled. "but it seems they haven''t established connections to other dimensions yet, only linking it to the yurgian continent." "until when will you rely solely on those golems? you need to personally assess the situation from time to time." "i should. but before that, i must ensure the territory can function properly even in my absence." after the completion of the academy, davey received various updates. the pallan empire, known as the empire of swords, had expressed their intention to send some of their top imperial knights to the academy in the heins territory. it was highly likely that the astute prince sullivan had taken the initiative to reinforce his empire''s forces. he must have anticipated that davey would prioritize strengthening and developing the academy''s faculty to provide a solid education to their students. and that was precisely davey''s plan. "the academy''s purpose is to educate students. the war orphans we will accommodate have already faced immense hardships. once we have gathered them, we will welcome them here. they have lost their parents, individuals who were distinguished and perished as heroes defending this land, leaving them with no other means of livelihood. naturally, we will assume responsibility for their well-being." these children had lost their parents while protecting the land. although davey couldn''t save their parents, he was determined to treat their children well. it would be inappropriate if their welfare couldn''t be ensured under such circumstances. thus, war orphans from across the continent were being sought in the heins territory. presently, davey surveyed the knights assembled before him. among them, at least one or two were highly skilled experts and master-level knights. ¡°so, you¡¯re from the pallan empire.¡± the knights from the pallan empire bowed their heads respectfully in response to davey''s words. "it is an honor to meet the renowned prince davey. i am olman, the chief imperial knight. although my skills may pale in comparison to the prince''s, i will give my utmost best in this place and strive not to disappoint the orders of his highness, the crown prince," humbly said the knight, who held the rank of sword master. "well, it''s the intention that counts. after all, both students and professors are human beings," davey replied, placing a hand on olman''s shoulder and offering his assistance. the man gazed down at davey in silence. ¡®he¡¯s tall and he¡¯s got a good build. this is the perfect body for swinging swords,¡¯ davey thought with a smile as he checked the man¡¯s physique through his armor. "moving forward, all of you will instruct the students of this academy, irrespective of their class or social status. they may not all be aspiring warriors, but it suffices to impart them with basic swordsmanship skills. the rest, you can handle as you see fit. any objections?" davey inquired. the knights responded by shaking their heads, indicating their agreement. "they are the families left behind by the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the sake of this continent. even if they come from humble backgrounds, we must uphold the honor that their families rightly deserve, don''t you agree?" davey emphasized. ¡®as expected of country-driven knights.¡¯ it appeared that these were the sentiments of the citizens from an advanced nation. well, sullivan would never have dispatched knights who would cause trouble while teaching commoners. if he had done so, he would only suffer significant setbacks. "however, if we simply settle for that, we won''t be able to compete with the other academies. the mere presence of a sword master teaching at this academy would be sufficient to put us on par with them. but that''s not good enough. i need something that will make the students want to stay here. something that will make people insist on attending this academy instead of returning to their normal lives at home." a wide smile spread across davey''s face as he retrieved a wooden sword. "all of you, come at me. my priority is to turn the faculty into formidable warriors before allowing you to instruct the students." ¡®don¡¯t worry. you won¡¯t die easily. i believe i will be able to get satisfactory results after a week of hard work, no?¡¯ davey was skilled at tailoring his teachings to suit each individual''s attributes, a talent he excelled in. however, he couldn''t afford to solely focus on the knights, as mages from the lyndis empire and the mage towers would be arriving soon. he needed to address their training as well, requiring him to act swiftly. as davey uttered his next words, the knights'' expressions turned grave. "come at me with all your might." in an instant, they unsheathed their swords, reacting swiftly to davey''s cold expression. their movements were so rapid that they seemed to have witnessed a ghost. from that moment onward, anguished cries echoed loudly from within the lecture hall where davey was instructing the knights. as a result, tales of a ghost haunting the academy began circulating even before it officially opened its doors to the public. CH 390 upon the arrival of the faculty in heins territory, davey warmly welcomed them with a sumptuous meal and exceptional hospitality. it was crucial for them to relax and feel at ease on their first day. following this, davey elucidated the ideals and vision of the heins territory''s academy, seeking their agreement. after all, the academy would not function smoothly if any of the professors were dissatisfied with the system. ultimately, while the talent of the students held significance, davey placed paramount importance on the professors'' abilities. during his time in the hall of heroes, his singing terrorized all the heroes present, creating a serenade akin to hell. however, with the guidance of his music teacher, muse, he had become a decent minstrel. this exemplified the competence of muse as an instructor and illustrated the vital role professors played. when you''re just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3ibfjkv. davey didn''t disregard the talents of his faculty, but it wasn''t sufficient for this institution. consequently, he had them sign a contract that would remain in effect for a considerable duration, requiring them to never disclose what they learned within the academy to the outside world. however, this was not an immediate concern, at least until their individual abilities improved. now, davey once again revealed his true nature to the others, leading him to realize an important point. he seemed to understand why the astute crown prince sullivan had promptly dispatched his leading imperial knights to him. nevertheless, there was a strong possibility that they would come to resent him. "keuaaaaaaaaaaack!" a burly man with a robust build rolled on the ground, his screams obliterating any semblance of dignity as his hefty bastard sword soared through the air. "this is quite serious..." davey remarked, observing the scene with a calm demeanor. the onlookers in the lecture hall stared in disbelief at the sight of a sword master-level individual helplessly tumbling to the ground. davey shifted his gaze to the fallen knight, who struggled to rise, while toying with a wooden shortsword in his hands. after a brief moment, he discarded it and instead picked up a branch hanging from a weapon stand. "let''s start with the junior course." "kghk, kghhhk... p-please wait," the knight managed to utter. "what do you mean, wait? you''re not the only one in need of improvement," davey responded calmly, snapping his fingers in the knight''s direction. [highness heal] without delay, a potent healing magic was applied to the knight''s body. slowly, his eyes fluttered open as the intense pain he had been experiencing dissipated. overwhelmed by an immense surge of holy mana, his body underwent a forceful and rapid recovery. davey observed the disoriented knight and offered a cold smile. "well then, let''s start anew. there''s only one thing i can do for you." that one thing was to help them recognize whom they were pitted against¡ªan adversary infinitely stronger than themselves. as davey spoke, the expressions of the knights in the hall turned grim. with their discerning eyes, they realized that davey''s power extended far beyond that of a mere saint. the rumors surrounding him were not exaggerated in the slightest. only a short time had passed since the previous incident. while his wild display had been kept secret, it meant that there were still many who remained unaware of who davey truly was. now, davey taunted the knights before him by playfully swinging the branch in his hand. "...i won''t bear responsibility for the outcome! don''t regret this!!!" one of the knights exclaimed, clearly taking offense to davey''s behavior. with sword energy surging, he charged forward and launched an attack against davey. swiish!!! slap!!! to everyone''s surprise, an unexpected and unfamiliar sound emanated from the slender branch as another knight was sent flying through the air. "the sword is a knight''s life. however, ultimately, a sword is merely a tool wielded by the knight," davey declared, emphasizing that weapons alone were ineffective when there existed an overwhelming difference in abilities between knights. "well, i hadn''t anticipated this outcome. but don''t worry, i''ll grant you some hands-on experience," davey remarked with a smile, causing the knights to pale in response. observing the situation from a distance, archbishop alice murmured, "oh... as expected, it won''t be easy for these knights. after all, they rely on their physical bodies." the high-ranking priests accompanying her all nodded sympathetically. "yes, indeed..." "by the way, it''s common knowledge that the saint, prince davey, is an exceptionally remarkable individual. but how can someone be so talented at such a young age?" one of the priests pondered aloud. "i''ve never heard of a saint skilled in swordsmanship." a hush fell over the group upon hearing the comment. "ahem. i must say, i wholeheartedly agree. in fact, there are rumors circulating in our mage tower about prince davey. it''s quite well-known among the f class students of shakuntala." the f class students of shakuntala were notorious for their failures and troublemaking tendencies. despite davey''s brief stint as their instructor, he had transformed them into formidable individuals. this fact had become widely known among the mages. "in truth, i assumed that the prince employed a different method. i mean, no matter how i observe him, i can''t sense even a trace of mana in his body," the mage continued. alice nodded in agreement. "the same goes for his holy mana. it''s as if he possesses mana that is not only ordinary but even less than ordinary." davey glanced at the onlookers who observed the distressed knights. he then disrupted the knights'' equilibrium by releasing his sword energy and launching it directly toward the group. "do you think you have the luxury to dawdle like that?" davey questioned, causing alice''s demeanor to stiffen. "holy magic might not involve circles, but it relies entirely on the overall amount of holy mana within a person''s body and their proficiency in manipulating it, archbishop alice." silence enveloped the area as alice gazed at davey, her expression unreadable. "why are you staring at me like that? right now, i am your superior, archbishop alice," davey proclaimed with a grin, effectively sealing their fate. "just wait a little longer. once the knights have adapted, the priests will be next." upon hearing those words, alice and the high-ranking priests turned pale, fully aware of the impending trials awaiting them. *** the rumors spread like wildfire. numerous academies had been established with the aim of admitting students "regardless of their class." however, this was unprecedented. typically, academies only disregarded the distinction between members of the nobility and the royal family, but none of them accepted commoners. was it because they looked down on commoners? yes, many academies were guilty of such prejudice. however, there were practical reasons behind their reluctance to admit lower-class individuals. financially supporting and subsidizing the expensive tuition for commoners, who often struggled to make ends meet, was a significant burden for most institutions. indeed, there were places willing to provide education to talented commoners. however, given the current state of the continent, it was challenging to offer opportunities to all individuals who desired to learn, regardless of their talents. hence, it was only natural that all eyes turned to heins territory. moreover, the founder of the academy was no ordinary person. the reputation and influence of davey o''rowane, the only saint and an incredibly influential figure on the continent, carried immense weight. rumors abounded regarding davey''s extraordinary powers that defied common sense. anyone who had heard these rumors would already be aware of his exceptional abilities. in fact, the nations on the eastern side of the continent, who sought to destabilize the rowane kingdom, were less concerned about king krianes o''rowane, known as the tiger, or the sword of the kingdom, marquis peiltris. their primary focus was the individual known as prince davey. "kathryn! kathryn! have you heard the news?!" a young girl burst into the room, her vibrant turquoise hair trailing behind her. she was so excited that her ears perked up cutely above her hair. "oh my, your imperial highness. regardless of my familiarity with you, i am still in a position that requires me to prevent a member of the imperial family from running about like that." "ah, i know! but more importantly, have you heard the news?!" the girl, aeria el lyndis, continued with her enthusiastic outbursts. grand duchess kathryn carabella, despite the girl''s excitement, maintained a nonchalant expression. she wondered what had stirred the usually calm imperial princess into such a frenzy. as always, it was a struggle for grand duchess kathryn carabella to resist the temptation of kidnapping the adorable girl with her radiant turquoise hair and keeping her close. however, both the emperor and the crown prince of the lyndis empire, the strongest powerhouses in the east, would not tolerate such actions, even if she were a girl. "very well, your imperial highness. what news do you wish to share?" "prince davey has established an academy! and commoners are allowed to attend and learn there! he created the academy with the intention of providing everyone an equal opportunity!" kathryn''s gaze momentarily averted from the princess upon hearing those words. ''ah, that story.'' in truth, it was not entirely accurate. davey had built the academy so that children, including myuu, could attend and receive an education. however, that was something aeria should not be aware of, and kathryn was not at liberty to divulge. "well... that person... he may be a bit eccentric and have a volatile temper, but he lives a life based on common sense, you know?" common sense? which man would dare to challenge the strongest powerhouse and the emperor of the mightiest empire as davey had? to kathryn, davey was a person who lived a life that defied common sense. however, she couldn''t deny the fact that she also acknowledged him. despite being born a noble and a prince, davey ensured that his people had access to the most basic and essential necessities, and he would protect them at all costs. he also possessed a strong sense of right and wrong. if someone did wrong, they had to be punished. if they did good, they would be rewarded. kathryn held a high opinion of davey''s character in that regard, except for one thing. "your imperial highness, may i be honest with you?" kathryn asked. "yes?" aeria replied. "what is it that you like about prince davey?" aeria''s face turned bright red at the question. "w-well... what do you mean?" "ah, forget it. it''s true that he is the most eligible bachelor on the continent. he is sought after for political marriages, and maidens from noble and royal families alike drool over him. but has that guy ever sent you a letter, your imperial highness?" aeria blushed even deeper. "a letter? what... what nonsense are you talking about?! i don''t think i''m worthy of receiving a letter from the prince..." kathryn let out a frustrated sigh. thanks to emperor deorte''s efforts, there had been talk of an engagement ceremony between aeria and davey. however, davey had completely overturned the emperor''s plans. he had suggested starting over as friends first, which may have sounded good, but it was nothing but empty words. "i''ll be honest with you, your imperial highness. do you know what my husband heard when he visited heins territory to settle some trading matters?" aeria''s expression grew solemn as she heard kathryn''s words. she frowned, as if she were a child hearing something she didn''t want to hear. "i-i don''t want to hear!" "there is already a woman by prince davey''s side." "i-i don''t want to listen!" aeria must have already heard the rumors. after all, unless davey was celibate or already had someone in his heart, it was impossible for him not to be moved by aeria''s presence. "so, i wondered if it would be acceptable to use the excuse of polygamy to place our imperial highness by his side." aeria fell silent. "however, that guy''s thoughts are innocent and pure, unlike his appearance. indulging in debauchery is not part of his vocabulary," kathryn said calmly before asking, "do you have confidence in yourself? i''ve heard that he already plans to marry an incredibly beautiful lady with silver hair, you know?" kathryn was well aware that provoking the girl in front of her was unwise. aeria belonged to the nine tails race. she could say no, but her instincts told her that she would die if she didn''t receive prince davey''s love. it was the harsh fate of their race. but what could they do? it was the reality they faced. "it''s not too late, your highness. you can still clarify your thoughts and feelings... if we''re too late, your own nature will suffocate and crush you until you die. that''s how horribly selfish the nine tails race can be." "i don''t want to!" kathryn looked at aeria in surprise as she heard the determination in her voice. "i am willing to do anything to seize any opportunity... i wanted to take the long road and wait for the prince, but..." kathryn asked, "for example?" aeria''s eyes widened as she pondered deeply. tears started to well up in her eyes. "w-what... what should i do? i don''t know how to seduce a man." in the end, aeria wept alone. she had been suffering from her illness for a long time, so she was unaware of the basics of the art of seduction. ¡®goddess freyja!¡¯ kathryn smiled when she saw the princess¡¯ flushed face. ¡°then, your highness¡­ how about we do this first?¡± an insidious smile hung at the corners of grand duchess kathryn¡¯s lips. CH 391 the inside of the academy, which had not yet been named, was devoid of students but filled with zombies. no, they weren''t exactly zombies, but rather people who had turned limp as they dragged their bodies around¡ªa rather spectacular sight, if one were to ask davey. they were the prime example of what humans would become if driven to their limits. "s-save..." davey walked out of the lecture hall, feeling at ease, leaving behind mages on the brink of death and faculty members barely clinging to life. just as he expected, whether they were experts or professors, there was nothing that a human being couldn''t endure. however, archbishop alice did not respond to him. she hadn''t slept well for a few days and was begging for mercy. of course, when it came to mental power, davey was no stranger to such hardships. having experienced even more grueling training, this was nothing but a simple warm-up for him. davey believed that the speed of their growth was already sufficient for the faculty. all that remained was to secure students who would evolve into formidable individuals. he ran his academy like a business, but that didn''t matter. it was the necessary approach in this field. he embarked on this journey because of his promise to myuu¡ªto provide her with an education. if he could assist the families of the fallen soldiers and treat them well, that would be more than enough. different nations? they had all fought together, risking their lives for a common cause. what did it matter where they came from? "davey, have you not taught baris or winley in the same way?" aeonitia asked, concerned. "each person has their own path to growth," davey calmly replied, his gaze fixed on aeonitia and the dwarves creating a large pond on one side of the academy. aeonitia seemed teary-eyed and reluctant, but she was working hard. at least her body betrayed no falsehoods. "aina," davey called out to the figure lurking in the shadows after a brief silence. "yes?" "do you still have no information about those two women?" "we still haven''t found any information about the woman named urd." davey hadn''t expected any immediate breakthrough in gathering information about her. "after investigating the characteristics of the woman named verdandi that you mentioned, i discovered something." "why mention it now?" "then, i won''t tell you." aina pouted. her response was deeply disappointing, capable of leaving anyone dumbfounded. but davey was different. he touched the ring on his hand and called out, "dirro." swoosh¡­ at that moment, a liquid substance dripped onto the floor, gradually solidifying into a figure. due to the added functions, davey had to wait and determine if dirro needed the ability of language and communication. hence, dirro stood silently, awaiting davey''s instructions after forming its body. "tie her up," davey ordered. in an instant, dirro transformed one of its hands into numerous tentacles and directed them toward aina. "ugh?!" aina stifled the scream that threatened to escape her lips and took a large step backward. "that... no matter how you look at it, it''s a bit too..." she weakly protested, her face alternating between pale and red, her breaths ragged. "speak. i will be the judge of whether your information is good or bad," davey interrupted dirro and warned aina quietly. he knew all too well that aina helishana, this accursed dark elf, had peculiar inclinations and saw such perverted actions as a form of reward. "there was a passing mention of an angel''s existence in the heresy inquisition''s heresy judgment list," aina glanced at dirro as she slowly relayed the information she had acquired. "an angel?" davey queried. "yes. it is said that an entity referring to herself as an angel has made several appearances, healing the wounded and the disabled." "so, what does that have to do with verdandi?" davey believed that the woman named verdandi was likely a princess wielding the perilous power of the abyss. her primary objective was probably to sow chaos in the tionis continent, yet she was healing and aiding humans? it made no sense and raised doubts. "there are countless trait ability users in the world. it''s plausible for anyone possessing a trait ability to perform such actions," aina explained. "davey, do you think someone on this continent would assume the title of an angel?" that was the pivotal question. in this world, the concept of angels was associated with the divine race. therefore... "it''s worth investigating." "the last reported sighting of verdandi was in the northernmost region of the eastern continent, where rumors about an angel-like figure originated." even the location was intriguing. "however, rumors concerning verdandi in that area are conflicting. considering the rumors about the so-called angelic being, a thorough investigation is warranted." "speak. what do you desire?" "lend me annabelle." davey furrowed his brow in confusion. annabelle was a biological golem that still required several adjustments. davey had initially designed her for stealth purposes, giving her the appearance of an elf. however, something had gone awry during the process. she had developed peculiar traits, often behaving like a ghost, reminiscent of the spirits seen in horror movies back on modern earth. the major concern was that her actions and demeanor emitted an eerie and foreboding aura, capable of invoking extreme fear. "annabelle?" davey questioned. "i may require dark magic at some point during the process," aina explained. davey glanced back at rinne, who was silently trailing behind him. rinne nodded, her eyes turning blue, and muttered... [code access: 857-262. granting annabelle permission for a solo mission. temporarily transferring ownership from davey o¡¯rowane to aina helishana.] in the case of living dolls and golems lacking a proper ego, the owner''s imprint was of utmost importance. having temporarily transferred ownership of annabelle to aina, she bowed quietly to davey and reminded him, "and...do you remember what i told you before?" davey smiled. "so?" "you promised that you would lend me a helping hand someday... don''t forget this promise," aina said, her voice carrying a tinge of bitterness, as she vanished into smoke. *** another week had passed just like that. now, anyone davey encountered on his path would jump and tremble in fear at the mere sight of his figure. initially, they had been filled with enthusiasm. however, as time went on, they began to comprehend the harsh reality of training under davey''s leadership and the arduous journey to become stronger within a short period. it amused davey to witness their once passionate gazes transform into pure terror as soon as they caught a glimpse of him. knock, knock, knock. ¡°sir olman.¡± ¡°cough!!! urk! cough!!!¡± the warehouse, meant to be an abandoned place to hide their supplies and goods, should have been deserted. however, as davey entered nonchalantly, he spotted sir olman coughing violently among a stack of boxes the moment he called out. "hmm, you should let me know when you''re hungry." "prince, prince davey... why are you here in this place¡­?" olman was still a nobleman who had entered the elite course and risen to become the pallan empire''s chief imperial knight. he was a man of strong moral principles and possessed enough talent to become a sword master at a young age. yet, at that moment, this gentleman was squatting amidst a pile of boxes, stuffing potatoes into his mouth. it can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread dot com". ¡®maybe i should put some chocopie here somewhere?¡¯ ¡°cough¡­ cough, cough, cough!!!¡± startled by davey''s sudden appearance, the very object of his fear, olman found the potato he had stuffed in his mouth getting lodged in his throat. in the end, davey had to approach the knight, pat him on the back, and offer him a bottle of water he had retrieved from his pocket plane. "what i wanted to ask you is, what are you doing here...?" olman, his face pale, looked up at davey and asked, his voice filled with desperation, "prince, prince davey... do you perhaps hold a grudge against me?" *** "aaaaaaaaack!!!" archbishop alice screamed, hurling whatever item she could grasp, displaying the behavior of someone in a state of hysteria. "a monster... that guy is a monster!" alice, who had been designated as one of the saintess candidates since childhood, had lofty ambitions. she would do anything and everything as long as it didn''t cross the line of becoming the saintess candidate. she worked tirelessly, even sacrificing sleep, until she saw the light. as a result, she was known to possess an astonishing amount of holy mana, except for a select few, within the holy empire. however, the method davey had instructed them to follow in order to enhance their proficiency in handling holy mana was utterly reckless and ignorant. for priests, the emphasis should lie not in their mastery of holy magic, but rather in maintaining a devout heart and mind. however, davey had told them... [let''s first improve your proficiency. then, i will reveal to you the truth of the world and the god you serve. a sincere and faithful heart? do you believe i can assist you in refining and remodeling yourselves with that? it varies from person to person. you all aren''t new to this, are you?] then, he had imprisoned her within a magic circle brimming with holy mana, subjecting her to suffering. [let me make this clear: proficiency is the most vital aspect of holy magic. from now on, i will strip you of all your holy mana and use it against you, archbishop alice. if you wish to survive and continue living, you must ensure that i don''t take everything away from you, understand? haha.] thump¡­ thump¡­ the sound of footsteps echoed from a distance. it wasn''t davey''s main body; instead, it was just a clone formed from a strand of his hair. his true self was occupied with searching for the scattered knights who had hidden themselves from him. it was indeed surprising that alice was being manipulated by nothing more than a clone. however, that wasn''t the crucial point. what mattered was that he was drawing near. creak¡­ alice looked at the boy, who was sporting a bright smile on his face as he entered the room, with dark circles under her eyes. she immediately prayed a desperate plea to goddess freyja, ¡®goddess freyja. please grant this suffering lamb of yours a handful of your benevolence and mercy¡­¡¯ a miracle would definitely come to find her as long as she believed. ¡°prince davey¡­ as one person to another, please¡­¡± ¡°let¡¯s start.¡± but there was no miracle. *** the mages who had come to heins territory on the recommendation of hellison valestia were mostly at the 4th or 5th circle. some had been enticed by rumors about prince davey, while others were solely influenced by the sage''s endorsement. yulis was originally intended to join them, but his involvement was significantly delayed due to an ongoing project he was working on. these mages, willing to sacrifice even their souls in pursuit of knowledge, believed that by arriving early, they would have more opportunities for learning. however, everything had taken a twisted turn from the very beginning. [you''re all different from the others, right? each one of you is a strong and resilient adult. your endurance must be exceptional, so i''ll raise the intensity a bit. from now on, your task is to decipher the formulas i''ve written on the paper i''ll provide. how? that''s for you to figure out. however, if you can''t solve it within an hour, then...] what followed was a baptism of hellish magical attacks. mages were considered superior beings in the world, but at this very moment, they were nothing more than helpless fish on the chopping block. hell would be unleashed the moment they failed to solve the enigmatic formula they could only attempt to decipher through random guesswork. naturally, in order to survive, the mages had to give their all. they were consumed by an unprecedented desperation to solve this problem, surpassing any previous instances in their lives. though they weren''t entirely without assistance, as numerous reference books were provided for consultation, they questioned if there had ever been a moment in their lives when they practiced magic and studied formulas with such relentless dedication. thump¡­ thump¡­ the echoing sound of the footsteps of the sinister saint resonated in their ears. it appeared that their time had run out once again. "oooooh... goddess freyja, i implore you..." pleaded an elderly man, seemingly around seventy years old. however, as a mage who had not worshiped any god in his lifetime, his plea for the goddess'' mercy was heartfelt but straightforward. CH 392 there were many people who came to heins territory''s academy to become professors. all of them were obviously prominent figures on the continent and were skilled enough to teach others. however, the standards would differ from one person to another. the one who experienced the most significant change was sir olman, the chief imperial knight of the pallan empire. it was true that he was strong enough to be treated as a sword master wherever he went, but... "fufu... fufufufufu... this is mine... i''m telling you, this is mine... i won''t give this to anyone." what did sir olman look like now? he appeared so pitiful, still holding onto his potato that he would not let go anytime soon, to the point that one would wonder if he was truly a sword master. he had completely abandoned his noble dignity and pride, opting to devour the potatoes in his hands like a man who had been starving for days. one might wonder how a dignified person could turn into something like that in just a few days, right? a person would only change and become like that after being subjected to extreme circumstances. sir olman''s current appearance was nothing more than that of someone desperately trying to survive and live. "hmm. very good," davey said as he left the academy''s main building with a satisfied expression. as he stepped outside, he saw the dwarves gathered together, working hard to install something. "elder goulda, what is that?" "wise teacher, you''ve come at the right time. i was just about to come and fetch you." "you''re looking for me?" "that''s right. we want you to test drive this right away after we finish the final touches." the dwarves of the yellowstone tribe presented davey with a large carriage, with several other cars lined up behind it. "in fact, we made this using the excess magic stone that brother golgouda used when making dirro. using your formula, wise teacher, we devised an automatic cart that can move without horses. well, you still have to control the cart yourself, but you know what i mean." opening the front of the carriage, davey saw a small magic stone linked between two mana stones. it seemed like they had borrowed megatron''s self-moving system. "it''s not perfect yet, but this is its limit. we need to personally see and experiment to determine if it will move and roll." they could make it themselves, but they needed the help of a skilled mage to activate the magic circles. that''s why they were also looking for davey. ¡°isn¡¯t the academy quite big? that¡¯s why we thought, ¡®what if there''s such transportation inside the compounds?¡¯ the little princess aeonitia came up with this idea.¡± "it''s fine," davey said, placing his hand on the magic stone with skilled ease and quickly calculating the formula. then, he extended his hand. "please give me the black iron knife." "so, the problem is with this, huh?" the dwarf held out a black carving knife to davey, speaking as if he had already expected it. after that, davey drew out a bit of his mana and began modifying some of the formulas written on the magic stone. he only needed to slightly soften the surface before carving the formula again. it was a simple process and didn''t take too long. both he and the dwarves were quite familiar with it. "this is good enough. the output might be low since the magic stone is small, but it''s enough to transport people." "ho... the content is a bit difficult to understand. that''s quite a shape!" davey finished the work in an instant. then, he infused the stone with his mana, causing the luminous stone installed in front of the carriage to shine on its own. "oh! it''s working!" perserque poked her head out when she heard the dwarves¡¯ loud and excited shouts, her face displaying an expression of interest. "ho... that''s quite an interesting object, isn''t it?" "do you want to try riding it?" perserque immediately smiled at davey''s question. "i''m not going to refuse." "i''m going to take this out for a test drive." "ahaha! of course, of course! if you encounter any problems, please feel free to let me know!" davey lightly jumped onto the carriage, and perserque returned to her original size, landing gently next to him. she touched here and there, gripping the handle until finally pressing a button lightly. beep! perserque gripped the steering lever with one hand, looking around to figure out what to do. davey silently observed her, his foot pressing down on one of the conveniently placed pedals near their feet. creak! simultaneously, a large amount of mana surged forth as the carriage accelerated at an astonishing speed. "kyaaaaack?!" "handle it well, or we''ll crash," davey warned. startled by his words, perserque tightened her grip on the lever. fortunately, she managed to steer the carriage before they collided with a wall. "davey!" "it''s only fun if it''s fast." of course, once released, the carriage could only operate below the speed limit to prevent accidents. *** in the end, perserque crashed the carriage in a rather graceful manner. however, the speed of the carriage was not fast enough for someone like her. moreover, she had no control over its movements as davey''s feet were the ones on the pedals. "this..." the wooden parts of the carriage were shattered, while the metal components were crushed and twisted. fortunately, the front section, where the driver should be, sustained minimal damage. nevertheless, it was safe to say that the dwarves'' hard work had been sent on a one-way journey to destruction. "this is all because of you!" "can you see this? are you going to blame me again?" "i was clearly trying to slow it down." "did you press the brakes?" davey was the one who operated the brakes, while perserque had stepped on the accelerator. compared to modern-day automobiles on earth, this carriage was still relatively underdeveloped in that aspect. however, davey had no intention of personally working on it and remodeling it to his liking. since the dwarves were capable of doing it themselves, it would be more beneficial for their growth if he allowed them to continue. it was already quite remarkable that there were no casualties before the accident. however, considering that perserque and davey were the ones behind the wheel, it wasn''t that surprising. "would a monster who can withstand a direct collision with a dragon be hurt just because they crashed into a tree?" "ah, i think i broke my arm?" "liar." perserque glanced at davey, tears welling up as she surveyed the broken carriage. "oh dear... what should we do?" davey couldn''t help but laugh as he watched perserque mutter to herself, attempting to figure out how to inform the dwarves about the incident, knowing how hard they had worked on it. "you''re laughing? do you find this situation amusing?" "we won''t release it to the public until we''ve completed a safety inspection." a quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled. perserque fell silent at davey''s words. nothing was more important than ensuring the safety of the carriage. after all, davey had no intention of allowing anyone to get hurt within his academy. "stay here. i''m going to check the barrier for a moment." perserque simply sat down and waved in response. this was the spot where davey had placed the core of the barrier that surrounded and protected the academy. the method he used to create the barrier was simple. he constructed a small barrier and expanded it using the transcendence demise. several magic stones and mana stones served as catalysts to maintain the barrier. in essence, the barrier was powerful enough to withstand a few small-scale meteor spells. did it sound familiar? of course. this was because its system was quite similar to the barrier erected around the elven forest, known as the moon''s forest, not far from heins territory. davey entered the forest within the academy, walking slowly and carefully so as not to further damage the grass. as he strolled, he caught sight of a small pond and approached it. "hmm... the barrier itself is being maintained properly." this academy would become heins territory''s pride. however, davey had actually created the barrier with the intention of using it as a shelter for the territory in case of emergencies. given the vast area of the academy, it would be an ideal place to hide and protect those seeking refuge from danger. thud!!! at that moment, davey''s ears picked up the sound of something falling not too far away. rinne attempted to rush toward the source of the noise, but... "rinne, wait a moment," davey halted rinne. he then drew out blue ribbon as he slowly made his way through the grass surrounding the pond. with a calm voice, he said, "did you come all the way here just so i could kill you?" the woman, lying on the ground with severe injuries, slowly raised her gaze toward davey upon hearing his question. "an uninteresting human and an intriguing research subject..." "rinne insists that rinne is not a research subject. rinne strongly disapproves. if you refer to rinne as a research subject once more, rinne will invoke the savior of humanity." the pink-haired woman, still collapsed on the ground, gradually lifted herself up and adjusted her slightly damaged glasses after rinne''s warning. paying no attention to blue ribbon in davey''s hands, she stated, "i am seeking asylum." davey remained silent for a long time after hearing the woman¡¯s words. "i have heard about it. my familiar informed me of your clash with the heresy inquisition. human, i know the person you are searching for." davey frowned at that. although the woman in front of him seemed to be the least significant, she was the most cunning and strategic vampire. after all, she had managed to survive thus far. "her name is urd." davey immediately raised his sword. "reveal everything you know." the value of her life would only increase slightly if she possessed the information that davey required. *** "you have to promise me first that you will ensure my safety." "have you forgotten your position? you are not in a position to make demands in front of me." furthermore, she was currently deep inside enemy territory. this place was the most dangerous for her. "i am an enemy combatant. the moment i reveal my face, i will be executed. despite being a half-blood, a vampire is still a vampire." davey nodded in agreement. this was a hidden space, and there was no one nearby, which was why she didn''t fear being discovered. however, davey didn''t really care whether she lived or died. his only concern was the potential usefulness of the information she possessed. "i can no longer achieve my goals while in hiding. for the time being, i need a place to conceal myself." davey simply looked at her in silence before stating, "but i don''t want to." "the conditions i am presenting do not warrant your dislike. i can hide myself effectively even in the heart of enemy territory. besides, you can acquire the talent you seek." "talent... well, you''re talking nonsense there." she may have been taken aback by davey''s sarcasm, but she continued to persuade him. "i have conducted extensive research. i am skilled in creating the philosopher''s stone. among my kind, i am hailed as paracelsus." "you made a philosopher''s stone?" davey''s interest was piqued upon hearing the mention of the philosopher''s stone. the current state of alchemy on the continent lacked the necessary technology and materials to create the philosopher''s stone and other items like rinne''s heart, the deus ex machina (the god of machinery). "i am confident in my abilities. it''s not a bad deal, is it? don''t you find it intriguing?" "not at all. i don''t think so. do you think i''m crazy enough to bring someone who poses such a danger and make them a professor? this place is meant to protect the students. no sane person would accept such a proposal." "i do not kill. with the philosopher''s stone, there is no need for me to succumb to my vampire instincts." "and so?" "blood. i no longer need to feed on blood. i can maintain the facade that i am not a vampire." "then, why are you so intent on hiding your existence?" davey would have preferred if she asked them to stop pursuing her. milpieu calmly answered davey''s question. "urd, the one known as the abyss princess... i owe her my life. however, she would attempt to kill me whenever i didn''t act according to her wishes." "urd... that woman?" "..." milpieu silently rolled up her sleeves, revealing a grotesque sight. black veins crawled along her thin, pale arms. "she did this to me. it''s an incurable condition. in fact, it''s still consuming me as we speak." as she spoke, davey clenched his fists. slash!!! milpieu¡¯s eyes grew wide when her left arm fell on the ground. ¡°urk¡­¡± she swallowed her scream as blood dripped down from her now severed left arm. unlike humans, vampires had an unusually small amount of blood in their bodies, so losing this much was negligible. however, a peculiar phenomenon occurred. the stump that remained after severing her left arm suddenly sprouted another arm, as if it were regenerating. "it''s engraved in me. it won''t disappear. even if you cut it off, it will just sprout again," she continued, not hearing any response from davey. "that woman named urd knows much more about this land than you may think. she''s a truly fascinating research subject, but at this moment, i believe my life is far more valuable." smoke began to emanate from davey''s hands as he channeled the heavenly destroyer arts. he then said, "continue. where can i find this woman named urd?" "i cannot pinpoint her exact location. however, the last time we met, she was in the east and mentioned that she was searching for her younger sister." "i don''t want something obvious." "and...she mentioned that she¡¯s searching for her own heart." ¡®a heart? what kind of bullshit is this?¡¯ ¡°i heard that it is in the form of a black stone.¡± milpieu''s words triggered a memory in davey''s mind as he reached into his pocket plane and retrieved a suspicious object. this object was obtained from the secret underground chamber beneath the heresy inquisition''s prison¡ªa black stone. silently holding the black stone in his hands, davey prompted milpieu to speak. slowly, she began to explain, "i followed her orders and remained loyal to her, so she deemed me her minion." "and?" "stop her. however, she is immensely powerful. i know you are strong as well, but her existence is otherworldly. therefore, i will help you prepare. i will provide you with all the information i have gathered about her and help you identify her weaknesses." "what do you want in return?" "urd instructed me to gather information from you in exchange for my life. however, even if i were to comply, the only outcome i foresee is death." considering that she was already on the brink of death, it seemed wiser to align themselves with the side that allowed communication. davey briefly contemplated the deal being offered before responding, "it is only fair that you provide something in return. that information." "she will begin her actions during the full moon. the full moon is emblematic of her powers," milpieu revealed. ¡®if it was the full moon, then¡­ it should be tonight.¡¯ "where can i find her?" "do you intend to confront her in battle?" "no, for now, i will observe the situation," davey replied. since he couldn''t guarantee victory if they were to fight immediately, it was prudent to gather information on her first. "there is a chance that she will come looking for you first. i will assist you in identifying her," milpieu offered. "good. i need to see my enemy firsthand before deciding how to deal with you. any objections?" davey asked. "no.¡± davey couldn''t help but sneer at her swift and unwavering response. ¡®a double agent... it seems i need to make it clear to her that acting high and mighty will only result in a broken nose.¡¯ CH 393 the night of the full moon, davey felt like they were aiming for this very moment after learning that the full moon was tonight. milpieu had told him that abyss princess urd would not kill him right away since she had judged that he was not a threat to her at the moment. and davey knew that it was the truth. after all, she had only ordered milpieu to get to know him. ¡°it¡¯s either she¡¯s strong enough to act all relaxed and nonchalant even after hearing all of the things that i have done in this place, or¡­¡± or perhaps she was an idiot who could not even make a proper judgment even after being presented with all of those facts. however, davey was leaning more toward the former than the latter. considering that urd had the power to subdue three grandmaster-level mythical beasts¡ªcreatures that could overturn an entire continent even with just one of them¡ªand force them to become subservient, she was extremely powerful. and if her power was intact, there was a high chance that she had grown considerably stronger over time. ¡°i think i will be in trouble if we clash now.¡± davey could tell that urd¡¯s basic hardware specs were overwhelming. that was on top of her combat sense, skills, and awakenings. with all of that in mind, he would be at a great disadvantage. he ended up accepting milpieu. she had made a vow that she would not let her identity as a vampire be known and a very suspicious promise that she would never do anything unnecessary to the humans here. it would not be too late to put restrictions on her for the most part. however, he actually did not want to do it since the power of the philosopher¡¯s stone could twist whatever curse or restriction he would place on her body, making it hard to guarantee if it would work well. for davey, he found it regrettable that he would just leave milpieu alone and accept her proposal just like that. ¡°but i still find it strange.¡± even though she had obtained a physical body, perserque still had not let go of her hobbies. ¡°why? why is the abyss princess, the woman named urd, not actively using her powers?¡± her question was, in fact, the same as davey¡¯s question. in fact, given the current level of the people on the continent, even davey, who was judged to have lower hardware specs than urd, could easily shake and overturn the entire continent. this meant that urd could shake the entire continent and do whatever she wanted to do, whenever she wanted to. so, why the hell was she being so silent? it was a mystery that they still could not figure out. whether milpieu was lying or not, perserque would know. nothing could get past her, after all. and thanks to perserque, davey was able to find out that the words milpieu said were true to some extent. ¡°we can only assume that she has several restrictions placed upon her. whether this is a trick or a plan, there¡¯s no reason for her to waste time like this with such overwhelming hardware specs.¡± davey did not know how long she had been living in this world, but considering her knowledge and grasp on the flow of this world, he could assume that urd had spent more time than what he initially thought. if that was truly the case, and she had really been in this world for a very long time, then there must have been a reason why she had been hiding and biding her time. ¡°this type of person, the one that i can¡¯t figure out what¡¯s going on in their heads, is the worst.¡± davey would rather they play a trick on him or just come out aggressively. all living things that followed the flow of causality would eventually show their purpose once someone overturned the flow of causality. however, if the opponent had opted to behave inconsistently and committed incomprehensible movements, then it would not be easy to find out what they were thinking. if he could not find out what they were thinking, then he could not deal with them, let alone fight a proper psychological warfare. ¡°this is quite amazing. i never expected that the day would come when you have to think about another being¡¯s behavior pattern.¡± ¡°i can¡¯t read minds.¡± davey could only make inferences, but it was very dangerous to infer about the opponent¡¯s plans recklessly, especially if he did not even have the basic data on them. ¡°and? the full moon has already risen that high in the sky. what do you think is going to happen? if that vampire named milpieu deceived you and made you look the other way, then¡­¡± ¡°rinne is watching over her, so it will be fine. there¡¯s nothing that will feel more awful than that,¡± davey murmured as he looked at the academy from the windows of the lord¡¯s castle. a strange sense of calm and quiet enveloped him as he looked at the four huge spires rising from within the academy. the lord¡¯s castle was usually quite active at this time of the day. but strangely enough, even the castle grounds were covered with silence. it was to the point that he could hear the insects¡¯ cries so loudly in his ears. a beat of silence passed between davey and perserque as a strange sense suddenly enveloped him. ¡°something¡¯s strange.¡± davey immediately jumped up, his instincts screaming at him from the subtle coldness that suddenly started to prick at his skin. it had been quite a long time since he felt such a fierce reaction from his instincts. ¡°davey?¡± ¡°i just felt something very strange. wait a minute,¡± davey said as he jumped out of the window and climbed the walls of the castle with familiar ease until he reached the top of the castle¡¯s spire. then, he squinted his eyes and looked around. ¡°i can feel it. i feel like something¡¯s about to happen¡­¡± just when those words left his mouth, a very faint yet familiar mana, moving from a distance, registered in his senses. ¡°davey? davey!¡± perserque, who was behind him, cried loudly in surprise. however, he had already left. davey hoped that this was not the case. however, he knew that the thread would follow wherever the needle went. there was only one person that the owner of this mana would follow. *** a neat and antique, albeit not fancy, carriage carrying the symbol of the lyndis empire, the strongest powerhouse in the east, galloped along the road. just one look at the carriage, and anyone could gauge the status of the person riding in it. ¡°your imperial highness, we will soon reach heins territory.¡± ¡°kathryn¡­ is this really alright?¡± aeria looked both nervous and uneasy as she asked the grand duchess. ¡°since ancient times, relationships between men and women often started with matters of the flesh. prince davey is an unconstrained person. i don¡¯t think it¡¯s possible to be with him using normal methods.¡± ¡°b-but for a woman to do something like this first¡­¡± ¡°certainly, when it comes to matters regarding escorts, the men find it very rude when women make the first move.¡± however, one had to take into consideration the type of guy that they were dealing with first. to access the premium content, go to [ pawread dot com ]. ¡°prince davey is more like a free and wild mercenary than a noble. forget all about those old-fashioned, elegant yet boring etiquettes. as a single woman, all you have to do is keep in mind your sole purpose, and that is to capture the opposite sex.¡± aeria remained uneasy even after hearing kathryn¡¯s advice, but she did not refute her words. she was fully aware that her current relationship with davey was not like the ordinary ones. if she continued to wait like that, then she would not end up with the situation that she hoped for. ¡°first off, you have to remember that being too aggressive would bring about severe adverse effects. you have to know that the most important part here is to make a light fuss. your imperial highness, you know about my husband, right? you should use the method that he used to seduce and chase after me.¡± ¡°if it¡¯s the grand duchess¡¯ husband, then¡­¡± the grand duchess¡¯ husband was rumored to be quite devoted to his wife. if one looked at his skills alone, then he could only be described as a low-ranking noble that could not even compare to kathryn. however, kathryn loved him deeply. of course, he was also known as someone who was severely henpecked. in fact, there was no one in the empire that did not know about the story of the grand duchess¡¯ marriage and honeymoon phase. however, the most important part was not about this. it was about another matter. the grand duchess¡¯ husband was known for having a great talent for seducing women. he was aware of kathryn carabella¡¯s free and unrestrained personality and had quickly understood that he would never be able to captivate her using the usual methods of romance that were known in the continent. so, he had judged that he needed another way. ¡°according to my husband, you have to balance that ticklish feeling. your imperial highness, you have to take advantage of your weakness. it¡¯s not good to grumble and complain unnecessarily. if you like them, then you can show off your good feelings for them. however, do not cross the line. you have to keep that ticklish and nervous atmosphere between you two¡­¡± creak¡­ the conversation between kathryn and aeria stopped when the carriage also came to a halt. ¡°sir belross, is something the matter?¡± kathryn asked as she slowly walked out of the carriage, helping aeria stabilize her posture. ¡°t-that¡­¡± it was quite funny to see belross, the imperial family¡¯s sword master, and someone who could be considered among the ranks of the lyndis empire¡¯s heroes, serving as a coachman for the imperial princess. however, belross, who felt the same way as kathryn toward the princess, had volunteered to become the coachman himself. ¡°huh?¡± kathryn turned to look in front of them after hearing sir belross¡¯ stuttering words and saw a girl blocking the path of their carriage. no, in fact, she looked to be in her mid-twenties and was a bit too mature to be called a girl. the black-haired girl, dressed in a black mage¡¯s robe, looked at them with a troubled expression on her face and asked, ¡°i¡¯m very sorry. i know that it¡¯s very rude to block your carriage¡¯s path, but i¡¯m currently lost. can you please help me?¡± she spoke with a bright smile that was filled with charm on her face, mesmerizing the escort knights who turned to look at her. kathryn, on the other hand, felt a subtle yet strange sense. ¡®something¡­ feels weird¡­¡¯ her instincts, honed by her long experience on the battlefield, were telling her that something was off. however, looking at it objectively, this was not that strange. it was not a rare occurrence to find mercenaries, wanderers, treasure hunters, or merchants getting lost in the forest. ¡°of course. kathryn, please help this person,¡± aeria, who was gentle and kind down to her very core, extended a helping hand to the woman. it was as if she did not feel a strange sense of incompatibility from the unknown woman. ¡°hoho. i¡¯m very grateful.¡± the woman smiled gracefully as she approached them. ¡°however, it¡¯s getting dark. it seems like it would be difficult to go deeper into the forest.¡± kathryn pondered deeply after hearing the woman¡¯s words. just as she said, it would not be wise to go deeper into the forest since it was already getting dark. on top of that, the knights needed to rest. there was a high chance that their carriage would overturn if they continued to venture forward. in fact, they could just use light stones. however, it would not be very beneficial to them in the long run, especially with how dark this forest was. ¡°i happened to come across a good place to camp around here. would you like to go there?¡± aeria looked incredibly delighted by those words. ¡°is that true? i would be grateful if you could guide us to that place!¡± ¡°it¡¯s not a problem. in fact, i¡¯m the one that¡¯s grateful. you look like you¡¯re a pretty high-ranking noble, yet you listened to a low-class commoner like me,¡± the woman said as she guided the people to the nearby camping site. ¡°grand duchess? what¡¯s the matter?¡± sir belross, who was acting as the coachman, asked. however, kathryn just shook her head, ¡°it¡¯s just¡­¡± perhaps it was an animal¡¯s instincts or their beastly sense of crisis? all in all, it was very hard to explain what she was feeling. kathryn could not help but doubt herself. why was she wary of that wanderer? not long after, the carriage, led by the woman, entered the forest and soon arrived at the perfect camping site. perhaps it was because krias¡¯ bright moonlight was being reflected by the blades of wild grass, but the surrounding area looked very bright. ¡°there is a stream nearby, and we can reach heins territory by daybreak. it seems appropriate for us to camp here.¡± aeria clapped her hands in delight after hearing sword master belross¡¯ words. ¡°i see. everyone must be exhausted. we should get as comfortable as we can and get some rest.¡± belross grinned. he looked like he was looking at his cute granddaughter when he looked at her. ¡°even though this old man is quite old, i¡¯m still very healthy and strong, your imperial highness.¡± ¡°no. you promised that you would stay with me for a very long time, sir belross.¡± ¡°i found this place after getting lost here. it seems like i was very lucky to find it. have you eaten yet?¡± the gazes of the knights, who were busy talking amongst themselves, immediately gathered to where the woman was the moment she took off the hood of her robe. the woman, with her long black hair hanging down her shoulders, was certainly stunning. she looked extremely attractive and beautiful. ¡°we have already finished our meals a long time ago.¡± ¡°ah. is that so? to be honest, i have been wandering around the forest for a few days now and i haven¡¯t eaten anything yet¡­¡± the woman said as she rubbed her stomach. ¡°oh my. we can¡¯t let that happen. sir litta, please give her something to eat.¡± at aeria¡¯s words, one of the knights took out some jerky and quickly handed it over to the woman. ¡°please have some.¡± "oh dear. thank you. this looks like very delicious beef jerky," the woman said as she fiddled with the jerky in her hands. seeing that, kathryn slowly rose from her seat. "but¡­my body is a bit unusual. so, i can¡¯t eat beef jerky. i have to eat something else." "get down!!!" kathryn, who realized something, immediately screamed. bang!!! but before she could even finish her words, a red light flashed briefly, which was immediately followed by the pungent scent of blood. CH 394 "keheok¡­" kathryn groaned. she glanced around the now bloody campsite, then looked at the woman who had just closed her mage''s robe lightly. the grand duchess was undoubtedly a high-ranking warrior, her strength comparable to that of reina, the sword saint. this became evident when she defeated a frost wyrm bone dragon despite its aerial advantages. however, the woman had employed an attack so swift that kathryn couldn''t even react to it. it didn¡¯t seem like magic, yet it was also somehow different from the typically condensed aura of knights. instinctively, kathryn wrapped herself around the princess to protect her. slowly rising from her position, she noticed aeria''s eyes wide with fear and her body trembling fiercely. the entire campsite had transformed into a field of corpses. crack, crack, crack¡­ kathryn clenched her palms into fists, feeling her bones protest from the force of her grip. she glared at the woman standing freely among the corpses, seemingly unaffected by the blood splattered on her face. the woman''s vertical pupils alone made kathryn tremble. ¡°fufufu,¡± the woman chuckled lightly, turning her head and retracting the red whip that had flashed from her fingers. ¡°this¡­ i had intended to let you go with as little pain as possible.¡± ¡°identify yourself. are you an assassin sent to kill her imperial highness?!¡± kathryn demanded. if the woman truly were an assassin, kathryn would have to applaud her bravery for daring to attack the imperial princess, who was under the protection of the grand duchess, a powerhouse of the lyndis empire. in fact, the woman herself seemed like a confident and formidable monster, having killed almost everyone in the area before kathryn could even respond. where on earth had such a monster come from? kathryn quickly pulled the trembling aeria behind her, scanning her surroundings. most of their dependable and capable imperial knights had perished, clueless about what had struck them. even the benevolent and outstanding sword master, sir belross, had suffered a fatal wound. though he was still breathing, it wouldn''t be surprising if he passed away at any moment. swoosh¡­ swoosh¡­ whether they were fine or not, the black-haired woman didn''t care. she simply reached out her hand, and a red whip shot out, seemingly absorbing the gray smoke floating in the air. "hmm..." the woman sighed briefly. "i''m sorry. it won''t work if i don''t consume your souls." following her words, another thick whip shot out from her index and middle finger, and she continued calmly, "so, i suggest you close your eyes. i''ll make sure it won''t hurt." reacting on instinct, kathryn moved to block another flash of red light. however, she realized that all sensation in one of her arms had disappeared, even though she had wrapped it tightly with thick and sturdy mana. "ah..." "your imperial highness!!!" kathryn screamed as she saw bright red blood seeping through the simple and light pink dress of the girl behind her. the turquoise-haired girl stared blankly at her pierced abdomen. the blow was so strong that she couldn''t even scream. all she could do was collapse helplessly to the ground. aeria was not someone who couldn''t fight. in fact, she had a very high affinity with spirits from birth and could summon spirits of the lower and even the intermediate level. however, her enemy was just too overwhelmingly strong, and she hadn''t had the time to summon any of them. "you damn b*tch!!!" what the hell was going on? kathryn could tell that the opponent was not merely an assassin who came solely to kill aeria. perhaps it was just their bad luck that they had encountered someone like her? after all, there were people like her all over the continent, and they were often referred to as witches. however, the witches kathryn was familiar with were not as strong or as terrifying as the woman in front of her. most of them were just people with strange powers. "your imperial highness... this is a joke, right? haha..." kathryn wept as she held aeria''s body. this couldn''t be happening. kathryn was protecting the princess, so how could she die right in front of kathryn''s eyes? aeria had been suffering from illness for as long as kathryn had known her. she had already been saved and had finally started seeing the light. and now, her pitiful life ended so abruptly, right in front of kathryn. "please say that all of this is a lie. please!" kathryn cried, tears dripping down her chin. she had always felt sorry for aeria, a child who had been suffering because of the customs and traditions of the beastfolk since she was young. kathryn had fallen in love with aeria''s naive and innocent personality and had vowed to protect her with her own hands. for kathryn, who had no children of her own, aeria was like a lovely daughter or a cute niece. she felt immense joy when the child finally took off her mask and saw the light again. so, why? why did she have to die like this? what did she ever do wrong? as she wallowed in her sadness, an energy akin to flames flared up all over her body. kathryn slowly got up. even though she had lost an arm and was still shedding tears, she seemed to have completely forgotten her injuries as she glared at the woman in front of her. "i''m sorry. i didn''t want you to feel any pain, but you''re much stronger than i thought," the woman said calmly, aggravating kathryn, who gnashed her teeth at the woman''s words. ¡°i live off of the souls of humans. that¡¯s why i have to eat you for me to live.¡± ¡°f*cking b*tch,¡± kathryn cursed, her body curling up briefly as she shot forward. she was extremely fast, to the point that she left a clear afterimage behind her. baaaaang!!! ¡®i will kill this b*tch with my own hands. i will avenge aeria and make this wench pay for her imperial highness¡¯ death by tearing her limbs off one by one!¡¯ a loud, earth-shattering explosion erupted in the silent forest. *** "i don''t have a hobby of inflicting pain on others," the woman continued to speak calmly, still fine and unscathed. in fact, even her mage robe remained clean, without a speck of dust on her long hair or skin. on the other hand, kathryn was now in her grip, covered in blood. "but this is quite amazing. i never expected that there would be strong humans like you," the woman said smoothly as she let go of kathryn''s shoulder. thump... kathryn collapsed to the ground. the woman retrieved her red whip once again, indifferent to whether kathryn had the strength to get up or speak again. she whispered to herself, "i will do my best to ensure that you leave this world without pain. i''m sorry, but i have to eat. i have to live too, don''t i?" kathryn''s eyes filled with resentment at the woman, who now smiled in a crazed manner. if they were closer to heins territory, she would have definitely asked for help from the lord of the territory, the boy considered the strongest in the world. however, he was too far away for her to seek assistance. "just close your eyes and wait. i will let you leave this world without pain," urd said as she raised her hands and then gently lowered them. kathryn could tell that urd intended to decapitate her. yet, she had no strength left to resist the blow. all she could do was close her eyes, giving up and wallowing in regret, blaming herself for lacking the power to fight against such a being. but then, she saw a boy standing behind urd. "ugh?" urd flinched at the unexpected turn of events as the arm about to strike down on kathryn was forcefully stopped by a fair yet firm hand. a flash of light appeared in the pair of bloody-red eyes, eyes that looked at her with a dark, daunting, and eerie gaze, as the boy''s sword severed her arm. shwaaaaaa!!! the flash of red light came from none other than the sharp and smooth blade. urd immediately increased the distance between her and the owner of those bloody-red eyes, and the interest in her eyes began to wane. "ah¡­ that''s no fun," urd murmured calmly as she looked at her severed arm. then, the boy with red eyes walked slowly out of the darkness. "i don''t have a single ounce of patience in my body. what bad luck, huh?" the boy said calmly as he approached kathryn, who had collapsed on the ground. he then dragged the cut-off arm of the grand duchess and let it fly toward the severed part while rousing his holy mana. he asked kathryn, "why are you here?" kathryn remained silent, facing the complex and pointed question. no, she was in a situation where she could not speak. a warm light slowly spread out and restored her body. the brief fight had left her with significant wounds¡ªshe was basically in tatters. the hideous injuries she had sustained couldn''t be easily healed even with recovery magic. "it¡¯s only been five minutes and you¡¯ve already made such a mess.¡± the boy slowly stood up and looked at his surroundings, his eyes growing wide as if he had found something. he stopped in front of the place where aeria''s lifeless body had collapsed. ¡°¡­¡± aeria was still and silent. her body had not yet cooled down, but her heart had already stopped working. kathryn desperately wanted to shout, ¡®please save her imperial highness!¡¯ but she knew that it was impossible even for a saint to revive a dead person. however, kathryn truly wanted to save aeria. of course, no miracle happened. the boy''s eyes narrowed, his hands trembling as he caressed aeria''s cheeks. and in that silence, a red whip snapped forward and wrapped around his neck. "oh my, davey o''rowane? i thought of checking you out because you''re quite famous. so, you''re the gatekeeper of this land?" the antagonist. that was right, the presence of the antagonist was the one that blocked all threats on every continent. however, kathryn couldn''t understand the underlying meaning from the woman''s words. "but that''s strange. i don''t think the gatekeeper carries two roles, no?" in this continent, the demon lord and the antagonist should be on opposing sides. "the demon lord is the gatekeeper and also the antagonist... you''re quite special, huh? i think i understand why it''s so difficult to bring this continent under my control," urd said calmly as she tightened her grip on the whip. a simple swing could easily cut off the boy''s neck. explore the extended edition on pawread dot com. however, the boy remained silent and continued to touch aeria''s cheeks. as he slowly wiped the blood off of her cheeks, he closed his eyes and murmured, "choose... what choice should i make¡­?" the boy only pondered briefly. "well, it''s better to lose money now than regret it later, right?" the boy said as he reached into his pocket plane without hesitation and pulled out a red stone. inside the stone was a bright red ember, resembling the flickering light of someone''s burning soul. CH 395 davey had estimated that aeria''s death had happened around fifteen minutes at most. just in case, he tried to cast some recovery magic, but it did not work. ¡°her body doesn¡¯t accept recovery magic? this is why they have bad luck¡­¡± davey mumbled bitterly as he puffed up his half-numbed lips. the final magic: resurrection existed in the divine world. however, using it was a choice that should never be made. it was a spell that could reduce davey¡¯s life expectancy, and it did not work by simply dying seconds, hours, days, or months earlier than his fated death. it meant that the flow of fate around him would change. in other words, all of the situations and circumstances that were related to him would change. everyone¡¯s fate might seem simple, but it was very complicated. in fact, each strand of fate was intricately intertwined with each other. davey had broken away from the flow of fate and had run wild. now look at him; goddess freyja had been grinding him non-stop. aeria was not someone who was supposed to die here. davey did not know about others, but he felt sorry for this girl. for some reason, he wanted her to live happily on whatever path she chose. she was a pitiful child who had lost her appearance, something that was considered to be the most important thing for the women of this continent, ever since she was a child. although davey had treated plenty of people so far, he had grown a bit attached to her as a patient. compared to other patients, he had been checking on her condition periodically. he was actually unsure if this was proper behavior between a doctor and a patient. davey couldn¡¯t tell if this was because of how grateful she was or because she showed pure affection toward him. but whatever it was, it wasn''t appropriate. ¡®choice¡­ what choice should i make?¡¯ once he made his choice, he would not be able to reverse it. with the time limit set, davey knew that there was only one obvious answer. in the end, he pushed his hands inside his pocket plane. he suddenly wondered if this was the reason why the goddess gave this to him. even so, he still used it without any hesitation. vwoooooooong¡­ a bright light flashed as the stone slowly disintegrated, releasing the small fire from the embers deep within it. then, the flames dripped down and permeated aeria¡¯s collapsed body, quickly healing the fatal wound that she had sustained. davey placed his hand on her chest and felt her heart. the heart that had once stopped had slowly begun to beat once again. [highness heal] after using recovery magic to stabilize her condition, davey slowly stood up and turned his head. most of the knights here had died, except for one person, sword master belross. thanks to his sturdy and exceptional physical prowess as a sword master, he was able to barely cling onto his life despite having received a blow that could have killed him instantly. davey silently approached the man and used high-ranking recovery magic on him. after that, he planned to send those who survived and could endure being transferred, except for aeria, to the heins territory using transfer magic. ¡°rinne. it¡¯s me. place the entire territory inside a defensive barrier. we¡¯re in an emergency. if you lose contact with me, set the red alert.¡± an urgent voice rang from the other end of the communication device, but davey did not care. he casually threw the device back into his pocket plane. ¡®i don¡¯t need to crush her.¡¯ the woman, who had her red whip around davey¡¯s neck, watched him with interest. ¡°you¡¯re urd?¡± ¡°who knows?¡± ¡°ah¡­ that¡¯s right. it doesn¡¯t matter who you are,¡± davey said calmly as a blue light flashed brightly. [heavenly destroyer] [mystical speed, quick draw] [piercing moonlight sword] the entire area was ruined by the blue sword aura that split into dozens of swords. each sword aura covered and destroyed dozens of meters of the land around them, yet they did not reach any of the recovering knights, as well as kathryn and aeria. shiiiiiiiing¡­ with a somber and firm expression on his face, davey pointed the tip of blue ribbon¡¯s blade forward. then, he raised his left hand and supported his right wrist, his left foot pushing back as if he were gaining momentum. he looked like he was about to push something. crack, crack, crack!!! the force on his foot broke the ground even further, creating several dozens of meters of cracks behind him. however, it did not matter. the entire area had already been demolished, so what did it matter? besides, davey planned on leaving no trace for anyone to see in the future. not long after, a huge amount of mana particles began to gather on the blade of his sword. seeing that, davey used his swordsmanship skill without any hesitation. [transcendental longsword] [cleaving the heavens] shwaaaaaaaa!!! the sword aura rose high up in the sky, its tip touching the clouds before slashing down with all its might. the overwhelming weight of the sword fell down, looking as if the attack would split the earth in half. of course, it did not end there. davey immediately followed it with another attack, targeting the still dazed urd. blue ribbon¡¯s sword blade trembled and flew out from the impact. however, with just one swift movement, a very familiar long spear was in davey¡¯s hands. the spear was none other than divine spear longinus in the form of a woldo. [paladia-style galactic spear] [tearing the mantle] scratch, scratch, scratch!!! a sharp blade in the form of a claw appeared and scratched the ground several times, turning the earth upside down. the attack looked so violent and fierce that it seemed like it could truly cut through the mantle. just a single one of davey''s attacks was enough to inflict severe damage. however, he still did not let his guard down. if the opponent was someone at that level, then the fight would never have turned out this way in the first place. davey''s attacks created a cloud of smoke that blocked his vision. he had no choice but to raise his senses to the extreme, with both hands holding longinus and blue ribbon. however, he did not see or feel anything specific. nevertheless, his instincts were telling him that a huge amount of something was moving toward aeria. that something was the power of the abyss. davey immediately hugged aeria and jumped into the air the moment the space warped and distorted, creating a black hole. and what surprised davey very much was what he saw sticking out of the darkness behind the crack in space. whooooooooooosh¡­ a gigantic monster with a snout that was hundreds of meters long appeared and opened its mouth to devour both davey and aeria. this creature was none other than behemoth, the tyrant of the undersea and the third king of mythical beasts. megalodria, hailed as the current king of all mythical beasts, was a very wise and rational creature. that was why it was not easy to erode his spirit and consciousness. however, that was not the case for behemoth. behemoth had been living on instinct since birth, following his instincts and attacking davey faithfully. just the thought of his limbs getting torn apart in an instant made shivers run down davey¡¯s spine. davey had used a short-range spatial movement magic, a magic weak enough that aeria''s still unconscious body could endure. however, subjecting her body to the same magic twice would not be good for her. ¡°this damn b*tch.¡± urd was good; she was aiming to defeat him, but she pointed her fangs at aeria. ¡°you¡¯re quite delicate. you¡¯re different from other humans. you also look quite good,¡± urd stated calmly as she appeared through the thick cloud of dust. then, she smiled brightly as she brought out her bright red whip. ¡°don¡¯t resist. i don¡¯t have the hobby of causing pain while i¡¯m killing someone.¡± a flash of red light appeared, turning over the already ruined place once again. right now, this area was the only one that had been destroyed. however, davey could tell that there was a high chance that this place would be completely removed from the map if they continued to fight here. in the end, he was left with only one choice: quickly come up with a solution and finish this quickly. davey put down aeria as he pulled out red ribbon and dug into urd¡¯s defenses. the moment her red whip wrapped around red ribbon, davey immediately and without any hesitation punched urd in the stomach. [fierce abdominal strike] booooooooom!!! the sound created by the collision of davey¡¯s fist and urd¡¯s stomach was so loud that it made davey wonder if he truly hit skin and flesh. davey stared at his stinging fist in silence and immediately called for blue ribbon, who was floating in the air. ¡°it¡¯s disgustingly hard.¡± ¡°don¡¯t do something so meaningless. stop resisting.¡± davey stared at the sky at urd¡¯s words. milpieu had mentioned to him that urd¡¯s powers came from the full moon. and it seemed like her powers were being amplified now that the full moon had gotten closer, bigger, rounder, and brighter than before. ¡®if that¡¯s the case, then¡­¡¯ then, davey had no other choice but to drag urd to a place where there was no moon. the moon was currently up in the eastern part of the continent. it was also time for the sun to set on the edge of the western part of the continent. so¡­ this place was not really a viable place to fight with her. davey immediately gathered mana in his hands, throwing a tracking artifact on aeria before digging into urd. he grabbed urd¡¯s neck and tried to twist it away from her shoulders. and with familiar ease, he silently cast the 8th circle space movement magic, warp. bzz, bzz, bzz, bzz!!! however, urd twisted her body and flicked the magic away before the warp could even form. urd instantly broke the spell and attacked davey, his body flying in the air from her attack. thwack!!! the attack was nothing but a light punch. however, davey could feel that the blow had broken a part of his body. ¡®wow. this is much more than i thought.¡¯ even though this was the thought that flashed in his head, davey still began to try and quickly figure out a way to deal with the woman in front of him as he slowly tried to stand from his position. however, he couldn¡¯t do it so quickly. he watched as urd approached him. ¡°you¡¯re out of luck. i really need to eat something. also, there¡¯s something that i need to find in this place quickly before going back.¡± davey looked around him as he listened to urd¡¯s spiel. aeria was quite lucky; she did not receive any major injuries yet. however, the surrounding area was not so lucky¡ªit was already completely ruined. with the night going deeper, the moon would also grow bigger, which meant that urd¡¯s powers would also grow stronger. davey slowly moved his broken arm and pushed it into the air. davey was confident that his software was considerably higher than urd¡¯s. he could tell that her combat skills were quite lousy. this meant that there was a way for him to win this fight right away. however, urd¡¯s hardware was just far too overwhelming. davey could tell that it would be hard for him to win right away. in fact, he could only guarantee his victory if he could undergo another metamorphosis right this instant. he currently had twenty-four stacks of metamorphosis with him. since there was no mention of him undergoing metamorphosis, there was a high chance that he needed to gather more. in the end, he had to cancel the idea of trying to win this fight by undergoing metamorphosis. that meant that there was only one method left¡ªa place where there was no full moon, or a place where even though there was a full moon, they would still be very far away from it. that was the place where he could blow her away. davey mindlessly and slowly reached his hands out to her, as she sat on top of his body, looking at him with excitement. thinking that davey had found resistance to be futile, urd reached her hand out and touched his cheeks. ¡°you¡­ as expected, you¡¯re really amazing. you look quite delicious, but i feel like i want to keep you. let me introduce myself. i am urd, the princess of the abyss. although i¡¯m not the strongest among all of the princesses, i¡¯m still strong enough to protect you.¡± urd, who did not care why davey grabbed her arms, continued on calmly, ¡°my hometown is currently undergoing a transition period, and that is why we need a stronger power. a potential puppet. so, why don¡¯t you become my pet? you will either be of similar position or higher than the three mythical beasts kings that i have obtained earlier.¡± davey, who had grabbed her arm, moved to grab urd¡¯s collar firmly. ¡°did you think it would go the same way as before? you don¡¯t know me as much as i don¡¯t know you.¡± ¡°huh?¡± urd mumbled in surprise, her eyes growing wide as she looked down at davey, who slammed the key that he had taken out of his pocket plane on the ground. ¡°open. sesame.¡± vwoooooooooong!!! swoooooosh!!! at the same time, huge cracks appeared on the ground. just like that, davey, together with aeria and urd, whom he was grabbing by the collar, were sucked into another dimension. ¡°you have been staring at the full moon for a while. why? is there something good there, huh? you damn b*tch?¡± ¡°¡­¡± find the original at bit.ly/3ibfjkv. then, they began to drift away from the moon. davey had no need to mention to urd that milpieu had betrayed her. however, he still needed to mention what he knew about her to keep some tension in her. that way, she wouldn¡¯t dare to touch him so recklessly. ¡®i know more about you than you thought.¡¯ davey was very good at bluffing like this. urd¡¯s eyes widened imperceptibly, her pupils shaking as she lost the light of the moon on her body. davey immediately reversed their positions, his body now towering over her as he raised his right fist. he had already healed his broken arms by constantly activating his holy mana. urd was a beauty? she was beautiful enough to topple nations? well, davey did not care! if someone hit him on his left cheek, then he had to pull out all his opponent¡¯s teeth on the right side of their face for him to be satisfied. it did not matter if the opponent was a man or a woman; he would do the same to either of them. in fact, davey did not want to rush and confront the woman named urd. he knew that she was strong. however, since they had been forced to fight, it was not in davey¡¯s nature to act all scared and stall for time. his creed and motto of eliminating his enemies by any and all means would never change. urd, who felt the enormous power in davey¡¯s right fist, realized that the boy in front of her had hidden his power. on top of that, her strength began to weaken too. ¡°you better grit your teeth, you f*cking b*tch.¡± ¡°w-wait!¡± baaaaaang!!! even though they were still in the process of being sucked inside the crack in space, a fight had already broken out between them. davey¡¯s fist finally slammed into her face, forcing urd to shake and tremble. as if on instinct, urd made her body scatter until she disappeared from the place where she was currently in. CH 396 davey did not even entertain the idea that urd, who had scattered into nothingness inside the rapidly changing crack in space, had fled. this was because urd had nowhere to run. besides, she was clearly just flustered and not frightened when she escaped. urd might be very strong. however, she made one mistake. while she had overwhelming physical abilities, when it came to calculations, utilization of force, and state of enlightenment, she was nowhere near davey. however, the state of her physical abilities gave her the confidence to judge davey as an incomplete predator. and this judgment made her relax and choose to play around with him. in the first place, davey¡¯s existence to urd was just a bit unusual. he was just someone who gained a bit of fame in his own world. nothing more, nothing less. when urd disappeared from davey¡¯s sight and turned into black smoke, davey could tell that she was wandering around him and trying to find an opportunity in the turbulent torrent inside this cracked space, just like a beast watching its prey. her attention was now solely focused on davey. it seemed like she had lost interest in the still unconscious aeria. each and every world had a moon. however, there was nothing she could do inside the crack between two dimensions, right? however, the moment they crossed through this crack and arrived in the other dimension, davey would have no choice but to use his power. and the bigger the gap in their power, the more he would use. that meant that the decrease in the time that he was allowed inside that space would also hasten. even though the time he could spend inside the other dimension had increased to 120 minutes, he was still at a huge risk. there was even a chance that all of that time would evaporate tens of seconds after their arrival in that place. shiiiiiing!!! baaaaaang!!! that was why davey decided to feed her a big sh*t before they got out of this turbulent crack in space. davey immediately punched her regenerating body. urd screamed loudly. she felt like the forearm, which she used to block the attack, was going to fall off again after she had reattached it. although urd had the ability to block even the strongest attack from an ax with her bare body, that power existed in a dimension from a different orbit than this dimension. bang!!! bang!!! davey, who was continuously evading urd¡¯s fierce and sharp attacks, still had enough leeway to observe the torrential current of space that was swirling around them. he could see that urd¡¯s power had weakened. the moon was the source of her power, and it existed in each and every single world. it could be said that she was strongest during the full moon, but that did not mean that her strength would disappear just because the moon was not full anymore. however, that was not the case here. the torrential space between two dimensions did not have any celestial bodies, let alone the moon. this meant that urd had become infinitely weaker than when davey first met her. crackle!!! the red whip in urd¡¯s hands snapped forward, digging into his defenses sharply like a snake aiming to dive in for its prey. one wrong move, and the sharp attack would definitely cut off davey¡¯s limbs. however, he knew that it was still not yet time. he still had to wait a bit longer. davey quickly gathered a thick clump of mana around him to offset the attack. bzz, bzz, bzz, bzz¡­ davey immediately moved, using what he had prepared earlier, the moment he saw a tiny bit of change from beyond the crack in space. urd might have excellent hardware, but her software was just average. in other words, she was very inexperienced compared to davey. it seemed like she did not need to resort to small tricks because she was far too strong. since there was no danger to her life, she did not have to be wary and just do whatever she wanted to do. however, having very strong power could sometimes become a hindrance to a person¡¯s growth. urd had never met anyone that she felt would become a threat to her. even so, a talented person would never be bitten twice as long as they had experienced it before. of course, the price that she had to pay was not cheap. the more she let her guard down and allowed a fatal blow on her body, the stronger davey¡¯s resistance and attacks became. such an alignment of coincidences had created a single fatal wound in urd¡¯s body. davey continued to mix real and fake attacks, tricking her eyes while landing one attack after another and escaping from her reach. and the moment she looked away? davey would be sure of his victory. meanwhile, urd¡¯s intuition was telling her that something was wrong. her body reacted first as she tried to get away from davey. however, davey grabbed her by the collar and tied her tightly to his side. ¡°ugh?!¡± urd finally realized that there was something black in davey¡¯s hands. she struggled to twist away, but since there was no moon in this place, she could not get away and build a proper defensive measure against him. in the end, her panic created a gap, a weakness, in her defenses. davey, with familiar ease, grabbed a bottle of holy water from his pocket plane and splashed it on urd. ¡®the goddess is with us, you f*cking monster!¡¯ of course, the effects of the holy water were quite weak. however, he did not spray it on urd to put a debuff on her in the first place. it was just a trick to amplify davey¡¯s powers. ¡°get lost.¡± [devil ylgr¡¯s crowd suppression] [close proximity] [f*cking fierce abdominal strike] davey''s fist flew from a very close range, something he had not done earlier. surprisingly enough, the punch accelerated for a very brief moment and struck urd fiercely in the pit of her stomach. when the attack collided, it did not sound like davey''s fist hit metal, as before. the power of the abyss that protected urd''s body followed its own rules, and this power could only be destroyed in two ways. one could use a force stronger than the power of the abyss to crush it or utilize the taboo''s karma, a power independent from the rules, just like now. however, urd was so powerful. after all, she had subdued grandmaster-level mythical beasts so easily, right? so, the first option was a no-go. davey had no choice but to use the taboo''s karma, his free-pass authority that allowed him to escape the rules of the abyss freely. crack, crack, crack!!! the black energy that gathered in davey''s palms struck urd''s body, making her snap and fly away as if she had been hit by something huge. urd slammed to the other end of the crack, breaking through the rapidly changing and turbulent walls of space around them. without any hesitation, davey grabbed aeria and jumped into another crack that appeared nearby. locking urd up indefinitely through the cracks between dimensions was the only thing davey could do to deal with her. it was his best choice when fighting against urd. it would not be easy for her to escape the tumultuous torrent raging between the dimensions. after all, it was like hell on earth where one could not distinguish where the north, south, east, or west were. if she was unlucky, then the space would twist, and she would be trapped in this space forever. a crack appeared in the sky and spat davey out. with aeria in his arms, he had no other choice but to land on his back. crack!!! the sound of the wooden floor breaking resounded loudly in the area. stab!!! at the same time, a sharp pain bloomed on davey''s back, his body only stopping when the pungent and fishy smell of the liquid that permeated the wooden floor beneath him wafted to his nose. ¡°hoo¡­¡± davey felt his body taut with tension, his heart jumping fiercely in his chest, after experiencing a reckless fight against an inexperienced yet powerful being. he originally did not intend to fight her. however, he noticed kathryn''s excessive use of power and had come to find her just in case. and when he arrived, it was bingo. davey firmly believed that he should not collide with the opponent for a while if he could not kill the enemy on the spot. but the moment he realized that aeria had died, his scales tipped for a bit. he had taken urd off guard and forced her to get stuck in the crack of space between the dimensions. however, davey was fully aware that he would not be able to do this again next time. urd was inexperienced, but she was not stupid. ¡°ah¡­¡± davey closed his eyes and took a short breath as he slowly rose from the wet and fishy floor with aeria still in his hands. swish, swish, swish, swish, swish. there was this faint noise that he found annoying ever since they landed in this place. davey was now able to look around the dark space after using some of his dark mana. the magic that he used was none other than dark eyes, a dark magic that allowed him to see through the dark as if it was in the middle of the day. davey did not have much time. he only had a hundred and twenty minutes in his hands, two hours. compared to when he started this, it was quite a long time, but it still was not enough. not long after, davey frowned at the view that he saw. ¡°even if we¡¯re unlucky, it shouldn¡¯t be like this, no?¡± the liquid that stained the floor was none other than blood. there were also chunks of what seemed to be flesh scattered around in the area. there was no problem up until this point, but... swish, swish, swish¡­ find the original at "pawread dot com". ¡®those damn bastards are the problem.¡¯ in fact, a weak light wrapped around them as if it were protecting them. this faint light allowed davey to see his surroundings through the crack on the floor above them, which broke apart when davey and aeria fell from the sky. what he saw around them were creatures that were taller and bigger than a person. they had antennae that were far longer than an entire person, and six legs thicker than an ordinary human''s limbs, with a hideous and gruesome outer appearance. ¡°cockroach¡­¡± ¡®this¡­¡¯ ¡°this should not be a place where they can thrive and live.¡± davey tried to use his mana, but seeing that there were hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of these gigantic cockroaches, he realized he didn''t have enough time to deal with them. so, to handle the situation, davey pushed his hand inside his pocket plane and took out his card album. currently, he had two active cards in his possession. one contained megalodria, who was currently sleeping. the other one was the only card that survived when he returned to his body from the hall, which contained the triplets. "come out, you crazy bastards." davey picked the card with the three strange-looking figures using his index and middle finger, and threw it in the air. with a flash of light, the figures depicted in the card appeared in front of him. these bastards had been created when davey split his soul. the card maker, heavenly demon, had advised him to make a card with his clones, which would not be lost no matter what happened. thus, davey created a powerful guardian using his soul, resulting in these three strange beings. the bastards that appeared had quite thin and scrawny physiques, wearing shabby leather uniforms. one held a shamshir, another a bastard sword, and the remaining one carried a vicious-looking ax. they had pale and gray skin with thin, bony bodies, resembling skeletons from afar. however, they were not actual skeletons; they were created from the reflection of davey''s soul. they would not disappear even if his soul moved, and their power grew along with davey''s soul, making them as strong as him. "clean up all of the bugs here," davey ordered the three, but they seemed more interested in laughing and playing amongst themselves. kahahahahahahaha! davey frowned at their disregard for his words. as they giggled and cackled, one of them approached davey, gently touching him and pointing at him in a playful manner. their actions conveyed a clear message: they had no intention of obeying his orders. ¡®look at this bastard laughing so happily.¡¯ as if sympathizing with him, the other two began to giggle and laugh too, which deepened davey''s frown. "you better stop," davey warned, but the three continued their mirth. in frustration, he mercilessly kicked one of the bastards on the back. "f*ck you. go and do what i tell you to do, you bastards!" this was the reason why davey was very reluctant to release them from their card. the one he kicked saw his blood on the floor and began to panic. the other two raised the fallen guy up and made a fuss before he could even calm down. then, the bastard glared at davey, seemingly annoyed. "what? you want me to pluck your eyes out? bastard." the bastard flinched when davey acted as if he was going to hit him with his elbows. they would never forget the pain of being hit. the three bastards backed away from davey as he threw a bright light to allow them to see the situation. with the dark underground space brightened, they saw thousands of gigantic cockroaches all over the area, including some that davey had failed to spot with his dark eyes. at the same time, one of the three lunatics shivered. his blue eyes moved as he said, "enemies! kill!" "go!" "bwahahahaha!" ''look at these bastards! so, they can talk, huh?'' when one of them spoke, the other two giggled as if they found something fun and interesting. they charged toward the group of cockroaches without any hesitation or fear, displaying an attitude and temperament that far exceeded common sense. ¡®who in the hell did you look after, huh? tch.¡¯ baaaaaaaang!!! then, loud explosions began to shake the area. shwaaaaaaa!!! after realizing that time was running out, davey quickly burned off a section of the area and sterilized it before laying aeria down. her heartbeat was still weak. thanks to the mutated ember, she did not need any other first aid treatment. however, what davey used was not just a simple mutated ember. he also utilized the title [the ember that protected one¡¯s final moments], and its effects were quite profound yet simple. CH 397 [the ember that protected one¡¯s final moments] (a title given to those who have resisted the roots and origins and have successfully resurrected themselves with the fleeting ember) ¡ªupon title activation, you can use the miracle of the two moons. ¡ªthe first moon¡¯s miracle. (within an hour, the extinguished embers of the dead will be rekindled into a weak fire. penalty exists.) ¡ªthe second moon¡¯s miracle. (nullified and voids the first moon¡¯s miracle and penalty.) ¡ªthe wish of the burning embers. (applied at all times to the effect recipient.) there were three effects. and for davey, it felt like he had taken on a very dangerous gamble, one that he did not know when the penalty would come. vwooooooooong¡­ davey placed his hands above aeria and raised his holy mana to check her condition, all the while keeping an eye on the fluctuation of time. the yurgian continent had a power that was similar to mana, but mana did not truly exist there. that was the primary reason why alchemy and science were extremely developed in that realm. and since that was the case, davey confirmed that his time in the yurgian continent would reduce depending on the amount of mana he used. considering that this unidentified world was a place where both mana and holy mana existed, it was likely that his time here would be reduced at a normal speed. [110:32] ¡°bingo!¡± vwooooooooong!!! the moment davey confirmed that mana and holy mana existed in this world, he immediately raised his holy mana to the extreme and poured everything into stabilizing aeria''s body. davey had used a considerable amount of mana and dark mana during his fight with urd, but he still had a substantial amount of holy mana in reserve. he also took out some disinfecting solution, needles, and a scalpel from inside his pocket plane. bang! bang! bang!!! ¡°bwahahahahahahaha!!!¡± ¡°you!!! die!!!¡± ¡°go, go!!!¡± although the three lunatics were running wild as they attacked the flock of cockroaches around them, no one came to disturb them. this was because davey had cut off the space around them for a moment. well, in fact, there was no need for davey to cut off the space since the three lunatics did their job perfectly. they might look crazy, but their power was actually on par with their card maker¡¯s own fighting power. after all, the stronger their master¡¯s soul power was, the stronger they would become. there wasn¡¯t much of a problem with them except for the fact that they were quite difficult to control. davey quickly rubbed aeria¡¯s body to loosen up her muscles before tearing her dress around her abdomen to expose her bloody injury. then, he immediately poured the disinfecting solution and moved his scalpel forward. [pain relief] [hemostasis] he took a short breath after using two magic spells in a row. then, without any hesitation, he cut her wound open and began his surgery. it was necessary for him to know whether aeria¡¯s life had been damaged only by the creatures of the abyss or by something else. davey had, in fact, encountered creatures from the abyss before. he even received an injury from them once. it was just a small cut, but the biggest problem was the traces of the abyss. it permeated through the wound and spread from that area. and just as davey had expected, aeria¡¯s wounds, which could not heal properly even after he applied holy magic, were covered with something dark. he took another short breath as he closed his eyes and raised the mana in one of his hands, slowly placing it above the affected area with his other hand. then, he slowly opened his eyes as he tore apart the dark power and burned it without any hesitation. *** crack, crack, crack, crack!!! ¡°bwahahahahahahaha!¡± one of the lunatics, the one with blue eyes, approached davey while laughing grotesquely. his eyes stared silently at aeria, who was covered with a blanket and fast asleep, before turning to look at davey. ¡°what?¡± ¡°fufu,¡± he chuckled briefly and gestured instead of speaking to convey his message. the bastard made a circle with his thumb and index finger, poking it with his other index finger to insinuate something. davey immediately grabbed a nearby fragment of what seemed to be a cockroach shell and slammed it into his head without any hesitation. slam!!! the bastard flew back, accompanied by a loud thud. however, it did not end there. the other two lunatics also approached and did something strange. one of them poked aeria''s cheek, seemingly trying to move sneakily and kiss her. kick!!! of course, davey kicked the bastard away. as for the remaining one? he looked at aeria silently. then, he slowly got up and began to unwrap his leather pants. ¡°you have three seconds to stop what you¡¯re doing.¡± ¡°bwahahahahahahaha!¡± the final lunatic laughed strangely and raised both of his hands as if he was surrendering. at that moment, a cockroach, which seemed to have survived their onslaught of attacks, appeared right behind him. it was very shocking to see a cockroach that was bigger than a human being attacked like that. boom!!! but the bastard did not even think of pulling the ax that was hanging on his waist. all he did was stretch his fist back, and the cockroach¡¯s head had already exploded. although they always threw temper tantrums and acted immaturely, they were very strong and capable. of course, davey did not even intend to give credit to these bastards. it was not once or twice that their clothes burst and exploded because of their reckless behavior. without any hesitation, davey took an empty card out of the card album and stretched it out toward them. ¡°get out of here, you damn punks!¡± each and every single one of them was troublesome. who the hell did they resemble?! a loud shriek, or was that laughter, rang in the area as the three bastards got sucked inside the card. and this is what was written on the card... [mischievous clowns] davey looked at the card in silence. he immediately placed it back in the card album and shoved it back inside his pocket plane. aeria¡¯s condition had now stabilized. davey was still unaware of the penalty he had received. however, it seemed like it was not related to his life since he had not experienced any problems as of yet. tick¡­ tock¡­ tick¡­ tock¡­ they could only stay in this world for two hours at most. he had spent most of his time doing surgery, which significantly reduced his remaining time. he did not have much time left to stay in this dimension. tick, tick¡­ tick, tick, tick, tick, tick! davey placed aeria on his back as he slowly stood up the moment he saw the time start to blink and show signs of their return home. he then moved around the area, climbing above the place where they fell. ¡°¡­¡± then, the time ran out, and the surrounding landscape began to change. however, the change that davey expected did not happen. the clock, which was floating on one side of his vision and had been blinking and making noise since earlier, suddenly stopped moving. the goddess¡¯ influence had weakened, and it seemed like she was in a very bad shape. davey silently looked around and realized that they were in the middle of a silent red sea devoid of waves and tides. just like in noah¡¯s ark, the sea was very quiet, save for the cockroaches around them. however, he found it quite ironic that the sea, which should be blue, had turned red. as expected of a strange world, no? davey placed aeria on the wooden deck and sat down himself. since the key was still releasing power, he could surmise that the situation would resolve itself sooner or later. it did not matter how many hours this would take. anyway, davey needed a break the most right now. *** ¡°u-ugh¡­ hmmm¡­¡± aeria groaned, waking up around fifty minutes later. considering that she had undergone major surgery, it was quite surprising to see her wake up this early. she quickly sat up, the blank look on her face morphing into that of surprise when she saw davey. ¡°ah¡­ aaaaaaaaah!!!¡± davey immediately ran to her and hugged her from behind when he saw her suddenly go into a seizure. her body struggled against davey¡¯s hold, her tears dripping down her cheeks as davey covered her eyes with his hands. ¡°it¡¯s alright. you¡¯re alright.¡± ¡°ah¡­ aaaaaaaaaaah!!!¡± since aeria was an elementalist, spirit mana would immediately gather around her whenever she experienced a seizure. even her nine tail race¡¯s special trait ability was overflowing. davey had expected that she would experience seizures, but he did not expect her to not stop crying. ¡°aaaaaaack!!!¡± davey could tell how frightened and sad she was from the hot liquid that dripped down the hands that he was using to cover her eyes. davey hugged her tightly and continued to try to stabilize and comfort her. ¡°it¡¯s alright, princess aeria.¡± ¡°aaaah¡­ ah.¡± ¡°it¡¯s me, davey.¡± even the mention of his name did not calm aeria down. all davey could do was wait for her until she calmed down. he was fully aware that the moment he loosened his grip on her, she would try to harm herself. after all, she would not be able to overcome her fear. that was how bad her condition was. if aeria harmed herself using the power of the nine tails, then it was not just a matter of self-harm, the situation would grow dire to the point that it would probably become suicide. davey only removed the hand that he used to cover her eyes when he felt that her hiccups had slowly died down. and the sight that greeted him was blank and hollow amber eyes. ¡°that¡­¡± aeria said slowly not long after. ¡°how much do you remember?¡± aeria shook her head at the question. ¡°how¡­ much¡­¡± ¡°yes.¡± ¡°there was obviously a bright red flash that flew in¡­¡± it seemed like she only remembered up to the point where she died. it could not be helped. this was normal. although davey did not think too much about it, he still explained just in case, ¡°we¡¯re in a different dimension. you are alive. many of the knights that escorted you have died, but grand duchess kathryn and sir belross are still alive and well. for the time being, we are safe.¡± aeria flinched at davey¡¯s words. ¡°ah¡­ aaaaaaaah¡­¡± she buried her face, which had turned red after realizing whose arms she was in and who was stabilizing her condition, in her hands. ¡°what¡­ what do i do¡­¡± perhaps she thought that davey would not hear her since she mumbled in a very small voice. however, davey could clearly hear her and the confusion in her voice. she looked lost for quite some time, only for her face to turn red once again when she recalled the fact that she was sitting in davey¡¯s arms. ¡°my goodness¡­ oh my god¡­ i¡¯m so close to prince davey¡­¡± with davey¡¯s good hearing, he could hear all of aeria¡¯s small muttering to herself. in the first place, the two of them were very close to each other, so it was no different from her thoughts being displayed out in the open. aeria¡¯s face had turned as red as an apple, her body trembling fiercely. she looked quite cute. even her ears were constantly perking up and drooping down. it seemed like she was thinking of getting away from davey because it was inappropriate while also thinking of digging deeper into his arms. eventually, aeria, who looked out at the sea beyond the deck silently, decided to sit comfortably and dig deeper into davey¡¯s arms. it seemed like she had decided to accept this dream-like situation and enjoy it a bit longer. davey could clearly feel her warmth as well as the slight tremble in her body, a tell-tale sign of her nervousness. then¡­ ¡°prince¡­ did i die once?¡± ¡°yes.¡± davey did not even think about lying to her. aeria tilted her head slightly and glanced up at him when she heard his words. ¡°is that why¡­? strangely, my head is in a mess. why was i going to the heins territory?¡± davey¡¯s expression turned stiff at those words. ¡°what do you mean?¡± ¡°that¡­ i don¡¯t really remember the reason why i was heading to heins territory.¡± a frown appeared on davey¡¯s face. ¡°that¡¯s impossible. how can you not remember the reason?¡± aeria tilted her head and tried to think desperately about the reason. ¡°heins? heins¡­ heins¡­¡± but¡­ ¡°i¡¯m, i¡¯m sorry. i have no idea where the heins territory is¡­¡± ¡­it seemed like she could not remember the heins territory. having short-term memory loss after a big accident was nothing but a simple medical problem. however, the memories that she had lost were quite unusual. ¡°you don¡¯t know where heins territory is?¡± aeria had once visited the heins territory. in fact, she had happily come to the territory to hand a gift to davey. but she couldn¡¯t remember that? ¡°excuse me, imperial princess aeria.¡± ¡°yes¡­ yes?¡± ¡°do you remember the firefox, the grand duchess?¡± ¡°eh¡­ yes? aaaaah. yes. i remember,¡± aeria replied cautiously. ¡°how about your brother?¡± ¡°i, i remember¡­ brother alberth.¡± ¡°and do you remember lyndis empire¡¯s emperor deorte?¡± when you''re just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3ibfjkv. anxiety and fear started to appear on aeria¡¯s face as she answered davey cautiously, ¡°yes, i remember.¡± ¡°then, please tell me¡­¡± davey asked slowly. he needed to verify this. ¡°when was the first time that you met me?¡± aeria looked at davey in doubt when she heard his question. ¡°of course, in the imperial palace¡­¡± davey did not expect this to happen. aeria and davey¡¯s first meeting was not in the imperial palace. at that moment, davey firmly realized that there was truly nothing free in the world. CH 398 as davey continued to listen to aeria''s words, he sensed that something had changed. he considered whether it might be an aftereffect of her near-death experience, but he knew deep down that it wasn''t the cause. he was convinced that some external force had tampered with her memory, likely resulting in short-term memory loss. despite this, davey thought it wouldn''t be a significant issue. aeria had lost her memories of their first meeting and all information about the heins territory. what remained were her feelings of tenderness and affection for davey, as well as the knowledge that he had cured her illness. her open display of affection, characteristic of the nine tails race, further confirmed this. however, there were still scattered fragments of her memories. when she heard about the survival of grand duchess kathryn and sir belross, she appeared relieved, but she didn''t seem to care about the death of the knights who protected and escorted her. davey knew aeria well enough to understand that she was a selfless and compassionate girl who would grieve even for the commoners who sacrificed themselves to protect her. this discrepancy in her reactions puzzled him. "uhm¡­ is there something wrong?" aeria asked, sensing his concern. davey shook his head, deciding not to burden her with his unconfirmed conjecture. he didn''t want to add to the distress of the already vulnerable princess who resembled a small, pitiful animal. "no. there''s no problem," he replied with reassurance. support us at bit.ly/3ibfjkv. ¡°phew¡­ that¡¯s fortunate.¡± "what''s fortunate?" aeria asked, her face still red with embarrassment. "it''s because you are being subjected to this because of me... i''m afraid i have caused you another inconvenience..." not knowing what to do next, aeria played with her fingers, and a very small sound rang from her stomach, signaling her own hunger. "ugh..." flustered, aeria turned even redder, her body trembling. she nervously looked at davey with eyes that seemed like they were going to cry at any given moment. for someone like her, who grew up beautifully inside a protected space, this situation might definitely be a source of shame. of course, davey was not the kind of person to mind such things. however, there was nothing he could do about how she felt. aeria most definitely did not want to show others her embarrassing side. this was only natural, especially if someone was in front of the person they held dear in their hearts. "let''s first have a meal," davey suggested. in fact, there were quite a lot of ingredients ready for them to consume from the bottom of this ship. it was not like they could not eat it, right? all davey needed to do was cast some purification magic, and it could be eaten. however, there was no reason for the two of them to eat those things, especially when they had something else to eat. unlike the world where the judges and the dokkaebis were, the world that he fell in with illyna, there seemed to be no major restrictions regarding food in this place. so, he was free to take out whatever he had in his pocket plane. "s-sorry..." aeria spoke carefully, her voice stained with tears. davey just silently covered her with a blanket and stopped himself from taking out the three clown bastards from the card album. well, there was nothing else that he could do. he did not know what these lunatics would do. they might not be able to control themselves with aeria right next to them. so, davey pulled two strands of his hair and created a clone that he left beside the surprised aeria before slowly standing up. "w-where are you going?" aeria asked with a trembling voice. davey answered calmly, "no matter what i do, i can feel something gross and strange. i have to check it out. wait here for a moment." ¡®don¡¯t even think about following me with your body¡¯s current condition.¡¯ the words were unsaid but aeria could tell that was what davey had wanted to say. so, she remained silent and bowed her head carefully. *** davey felt not even a single movement inside the ship where he and aeria had fallen. the only living beings in the ship were the cockroaches that davey first encountered when they arrived here, which the three lunatic clowns had cut up in excitement. the atmosphere surrounding the ship was eerie and gloomy, to the point that a ghost might pop out at any moment. however, davey could sense that the ship had been constructed with a great purpose in mind. as he walked past the deck, davey reached the door leading to the interior, which appeared to be the cabin. the door was covered with slashes that were obviously made by someone ¨C the culprit likely being those cockroaches. creaaaaaaak¡­ swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh¡ª as davey expected, the moment he opened the door, he could hear something stirring in the darkness. without hesitation, he swiftly took out his card album and summoned the three lunatic clowns once again. vwooooooong¡ª at the same time, the three gray-skinned crazy lunatics appeared with dignified and majestic postures. kahahahahahahaha! one of the bastards laughed loudly with his teeth clashing against each other. ¡°bwahahahahahahaha!¡± there was also one that burst out in a strange laughter. ¡°¡­¡± as for the remaining one, he stared silently at davey with shining eyes as his hands trailed toward the string that tied his pants to his waist. there were no children in existence that could be said to be perfectly healthy. "if you don¡¯t want to go back, then you better behave and organize yourselves. try to take that hideous thing one more time, and i will cut it off myself," davey warned coldly. the last guy clicked his tongue before taking out his weapon. then, he turned his shining eyes toward the darkness to look at the beings that were making a sound there. [light] "five minutes is more than enough, right?" davey asked, but the three clowns didn''t bother answering. instead, they pulled out their aura blades and charged at their opponents. as mentioned before, their temper might be unruly, but their power was remarkable. they would grow even stronger as davey''s soul found his original power. although they were only slightly stronger than a sword master, given who they were, davey could confidently say they were formidable opponents. "bwahahahahahahaha!" one of the guys guffawed strangely as he attacked the hiding cockroaches. in response, the cockroaches fought back, but... fwoosh! bang! the lunatics ran wild, massacring every single one of the cockroaches without a care in the world. ignoring the mess they were creating, davey slowly walked past them. the ship was covered in stains, presumably blood, but there wasn''t a single trace of a corpse to be found. "did they eat everything?" davey wondered as he continued walking. after a few moments, he arrived at a place that was firmly locked behind large doors. davey silently examined the door before snatching one of the lunatics, who was riding on the back of a cockroach like it was a sled, and brought him to his side. "the master key," davey demanded. the lunatic glared at davey in dissatisfaction but then took out his ax and slammed it against the huge wooden doors. crack!!! at the same time, the large and thick wooden door collapsed completely, revealing the messy and broken interior of the room to davey. the cabin was huge, and it appeared to be the command room, which was not surprising. however, one thing caught davey''s gaze and attention inside the room¡ªthe pattern carved on the most eye-catching and visible stone. the pattern allowed davey to quickly deduce where they were and why this place looked the way it did. the pattern he saw was none other than the twin-headed dragons, the symbol of the lyndis empire''s imperial family, and it was stained with blood. two worlds could not exist under the same sky; it was set so that only one would prevail. thus, there was only one explanation for this. *** "what do i do¡­? what should i do¡­?" aeria twisted her body in embarrassment before gazing at the serene and calm sea in front of her. the sea was exceptionally tranquil and peaceful. this should have made her feel very scared, but for some strange reason, she felt relieved just because the person named davey was there with her. ¡®i wonder why?¡¯ the reason was actually simple. for aeria, davey was a reliable person, someone she could feel comfortable with. regardless of his powers, she found herself both relieved and excited that he was with her. however... "but... why do i feel this way whenever i see prince davey...?" since when did she harbor such feelings for him? when did she develop a crush on him? aeria was certain that her feelings for davey were genuine, but no matter how hard she tried to find the reason why she felt that way, she couldn''t remember. aeria had a vague sense that she liked the man, but did that mean she loved him just because he was handsome? was there no other reason? that was the point that felt a bit strange to her. there must be something more precious, something like a deep connection or necessity. the girl desperately tried to trace back her memories and recall the reason behind her feelings. ¡®just a bit more¡­ i just need to think about it a bit more¡­ only a bit more and i¡¯ll get there¡­¡¯ aeria thought as she constantly tried to find the scent of something from a while ago, something that for some reason she could not remember. as she thought like that, a sudden ringing struck her head which made her reel and stumble. ¡°heuuup¡­ urgh!!!¡± then, her eyes grew wide as she collapsed on the ground. ¡°ah¡­ aaaaaaaaaaah¡­ aaaaaaaaah¡­¡± a loud and desperate scream was ripped out of aeria¡¯s mouth. ¡®why did i forget?¡¯ she was alive, but she had died before. it was a terrible nightmare, a night when they were raided by that strange woman, and she was killed while kathryn was left on the brink of death. even sir belross had been left in a state where they did not know whether he was alive or dead. aeria had experienced it personally. so, why did she fail to remember the deaths of the countless knights who followed and escorted her? "aaaaah¡­ aaaah¡­" although her eyes were wide open, they were completely out of focus. her already weak body had collapsed as she scratched the wooden floor with her shaking hands. she looked like she had broken down. scratch, scratch¡­ scratch¡­ in the end, the nail on her index finger broke. tears continued to drip down her cheeks. she wanted to cry out, to shout at the world. however, her voice could not come out of her throat. thump, thump, thump, thump¡­ squish!!! the sound of someone running rang in her ears as warm hands wrapped around aeria''s collapsed body. "ah¡­ aaaaaah¡­" "it''s alright. it''s fine. everything''s okay." "aaaaah¡­ p-prince¡­ knights¡­ the knights¡­ because of me, those knights!!!" why on earth was she heading to that place called heins territory?! she couldn''t even remember that place or the reason why she was going there! if it weren''t for that, then she would not have died, and those knights too would not have died. "it''s okay. it''s alright. all of them have survived. all of them are alive." despite davey''s calm and serene voice, aeria still failed to calm down. she had completely fallen into a panic as she continued to groan and cry, like a broken doll. "it''s alright." davey could have found it both irritating and annoying, but he continued to comfort aeria as if he was treating something very precious and dear. "everything is fine, imperial princess." why did she feel stable and comforted in this man''s arms? aeria could tell that she obviously loved this man. but she could not remember the reason why she loved him. it was true that the man had treated and cured her illness. however, aeria was sure that it was not because of that. "i believe we have to look around some more. i believe this is a very familiar place to us." aeria''s shaking pupils turned to davey, her expression still stiff and scared. "p, prince¡­" "please get some rest. i will be here until you wake up." the moment davey''s words ended, aeria felt drowsy. in the end, she collapsed and fell asleep without even responding to davey. *** chaotic and confusing memories? bullshit. aeria had a short-term memory loss. no, to be exact, it was not a short-term memory loss but a complete erasure of memories. [the most precious things that the target cherished dearly in their entire life will be deleted.] at first, davey thought that the penalty would be given to him. but after thinking about it, why would the penalty be given to him, right? however, the most ironic thing here was the fact that the most precious thing that she cherished dearly in her life was not her family or something else, but her memories of davey, someone she had only met a few times. it started with aeria forgetting about the information about heins territory as well as her first meeting with davey. this confused her greatly. the problem was that this was just the beginning. from this point on, she would start to forget more about davey. she would forget how she met him, what happened in the imperial palace, and so on, until this very moment. davey could not actually say anything. for one, he felt that it was very miserable that the most precious thing in her life was the memories and things related to one person. however, there was something a bit strange about the process of the deletion of her memories. why were her memories erased, but her affection for davey did not get erased? was it because aeria still remembered him? originally, if her memory of their first meeting had been erased, then it would not be strange for her affection to either disappear or be halved. the nine tails race''s trait ability could only be expressed based on their memories and instincts. davey did not know when everything would be deleted. however, after evaluating things calmly, he could say that this was truly the best way to save her. right now, the sea where they were currently at was most important. the moon of beginning, syras, and the moon of the end, cryas. there was only one world where these two moons existed and that world should be somewhere else. there was only one variable that davey was aware of where the same world yet different circumstances existed at the same time. davey immediately activated the god of archery apollo''s eye of the sky, strengthening one of his eyes to the extreme. after scanning the area, he slowly released his magic and extended one of his hands forward. [tempest(storm)] davey gathered a massive amount of mana, transforming it into a storm. with the force of that storm, he propelled the enormous ship forward, sailing toward the dark mass of land he had seen earlier. once he confirmed the ship''s condition and that they were sailing smoothly on the calm sea, davey carefully carried the unconscious aeria. in the meantime, one of the three lunatics caught sight of davey and immediately approached, his hands trailing toward the laces of his pants as he taunted. kick!!! without hesitation, davey delivered a swift kick to the bastard''s stomach. however, the guy simply stared back and clicked his tongue before turning away. ¡®this lunatic¡­¡¯ "main body," one of the clowns, who had been playing around earlier, asked davey in a strange tone of voice, "think hard." "that''s right. i''m contemplating. i''m pondering whether i should mention her memories getting deleted or not." although she cherished those memories dearly, she wouldn''t know what they were once she forgot about them. the question here was, should davey let her know and allow her to remember, even for a very short amount of time, or should he not say a thing? it was bound to be a source of concern for him in so many ways, wasn''t it? CH 399 everything had been fine because the sea was calm and quiet. however, the story completely changed once the sails were unfurled, and the ship started moving. ¡°ugh¡­¡± in a way, one could say that aeria¡¯s reaction was only natural. ¡°i¡¯m, i¡¯m sorry¡­ ugh!¡± aeria looked like she was suffering from terrible seasickness. it was to the point that she had to cover her mouth and force herself to endure her nausea. she might be a beastfolk and had a very good affinity with spirits and nature, but that did not mean that her physical ability would become as good. teary-eyed, aeria tried desperately to hide her ugly appearance from davey. however, davey grabbed her by the shoulder as he placed his index and middle fingers at a spot right under her ear. ¡°urk!¡± aeria flinched in surprise, her eyes the only ones moving. she looked as if she had been frozen in time. she looked so surprised that both her face and her ears were dyed red. the physical contact must have been very unexpected and unfamiliar to the girl. ¡°there. you¡¯re all good,¡± davey said as he slowly pulled his hand away from her. aeria¡¯s dazed eyes grew wide as she hurriedly tried to say something. ¡°ah¡­¡± ¡°i numbed some of your sensory organs. this would last for a while. it will probably lessen the effects of your seasickness.¡± ¡°th, thank you.¡± aeria retreated shyly. then, her face suddenly turned curious. however, she shook her head as she patted her cheeks lightly. ¡°hoo¡­¡± ¡°if you feel uncomfortable somewhere, please tell me right away. if you pretend to be fine even if you¡¯re not, then we might miss the perfect time to deliver treatment.¡± davey¡¯s calm words surprised aeria once again as she immediately scampered away. ¡°n, no. this. wait¡­ what¡¯s wrong with me?¡± aeria¡¯s actions and behaviors made davey realize that a gap had already started to appear because of the deletion of her memories. she was already showing a bit of distance now, but in a bit more time, her affections for him would most probably also be erased. ¡®perhaps that¡¯s the best way.¡¯ seeing that her memories were being erased more precisely than he had thought, davey thought that there would be no problem. however, the penalty was called a penalty for a reason. it was necessary for davey to ponder what it truly meant for the things that she held dear to disappear without a trace. no one would think that what aeria was experiencing was simple if they could just see her expression once. *** ¡°where¡­ are we?¡± aeria asked, an uneasy expression on her face. the scene around them looked like it was a scene from hell, especially with the dark red sky above them. although davey could not feel much around them, he could tell where this place was. ¡°this is the maritime city of valkass.¡± aeria nodded as she followed davey. ¡°ah, valkass. i also know about it well¡­ yes?¡± however, she paused in her tracks and turned stiff. davey ignored aeria and slowly scanned the enormous curtain that covered a portion of the city. ¡°did you just say valkass? that¡­ isn¡¯t it located in the southern region of the continent¡­?¡± ¡°yes. this is the very same valkass.¡± aeria could not hide her embarrassment at that. this was because the city in front of her was in ruins. it looked like it had been hit by dozens of gigantic meteors. ¡°that, that can¡¯t be¡­ from, from what i know, it¡¯s a peaceful and thriving city¡­¡± ¡°have you ever been here?¡± ¡°yes¡­ i¡­ i was told that i would be able to get medicine here that can cure my illness¡­¡± aeria murmured sadly. ¡°b-but just like the prince said! this is a different world. ah¡­ uhmm. even though you say that it¡¯s a different world, it¡¯s still a bit hard for me to understand how that works. but¡­¡± ¡°this is the tionis continent. however, the timeline is a bit different. i believe they¡¯re living in a timeline that¡¯s a decade or so from the timeline that we lived in. it also is a world that has plenty of other possibilities and circumstances from the world that we lived in.¡± aeria was rendered speechless for a very long time when she heard davey¡¯s words. *** davey actually did not intend to do anything in this world. this world was completely different from the world where he currently lived. in this world, all the people around davey had died. as for the country that was supposed to be here? it died and disappeared without even seeing the light. his only lingering attachment to this place would be perserque, who would have been the dark lord, but even that was something he could not do anything about. the ship docked on the shore, and they were able to set foot on land. but before they could even pass through half of valkass, an unidentified curtain appeared and completely blocked aeria from moving forward. davey thought that he could probably get through that curtain somehow. however, it did not let him in either. it was like a referee blocking him from making a false start and pushing him back to the starting line. davey was someone who would not give up just like that. so, he tried to touch the curtain. and for a very brief moment, he noticed an instant change in his body. the change was similar to the effect of the activated jewel he had before, the complete synchronization of his body and soul. at least that was what he felt during the brief contact with the curtain. however, the truth was it was not really synchronized. in the end, davey had no choice but to bring aeria back to the ship in regret. this was because he could not break the curtain without using a considerable amount of force. in fact, davey wanted to see it at least once. what was the world that reina desperately tried to protect and how it was now? after all, her death spelled the end of the resistance. that meant there was no longer any hope for the surviving human beings here. there was no need to explain anything to aeria. it seemed like she opted to stay quiet and did not ask any questions for fear of davey finding her annoying. however¡­ to put it simply¡­ there was nothing that they could do in this place. they still had more than three more days left here. since the entire city had been ruined, there was nothing to see anymore. if davey did not speak, he felt like they would remain quiet for days on end, especially if aeria left him alone. after all, she was someone who did not draw any attention nor asked to be paid attention to first. ¡°it¡¯s called the parallel universe theory. simply put, this is the same world as ours. however, the events that happened and would happen in every world would change depending on the actions of the person in each world.¡± aeria looked confused at davey¡¯s words. ¡°then¡­ is that really possible?¡± ¡°it¡¯s impossible. if you choose one of the two, then the unchosen world would disappear from existence. this world is practically an illusion.¡± but for some reason, this world was created. perhaps no other case like this would exist in the wide span of the universe. ¡°then, this place¡­¡± "if you look at it closely, it''s just a little irregular. but don''t worry too much. this world''s rules and providence are already twisted. it will probably disappear not long after." all davey needed to do was to protect the world that he belonged to. he did not have any reason to save or protect the rest of the worlds in existence. "prince davey¡­ you¡¯re truly kind," aeria said as she stared at the bonfire. after a while, she carefully opened her mouth again. "you must have said this out of consideration for me, right?" "it''s just because i''m bored. there¡¯s pretty much nothing we can do in this place." davey was just like an extremely busy person who was suddenly left with nothing to do and was left anxious. he just couldn''t sit still and waste his time doing nothing. his body was in dire need of recovery, so he was circulating his mana non-stop, but that alone was not enough. "hehe. but i still think it¡¯s because you¡¯re being very considerate of me," aeria said, sighing briefly. "you think it¡¯s weird too, right? all of those knights are seriously injured while trying to protect me, but¡­ i feel very much at ease just because the prince is by my side¡­" "humans will always think of themselves first before others. that¡¯s instinct. those that are truly selfless are extremely rare. it¡¯s not wrong for the imperial princess to think that way." it might not be the truth of one''s life, but it was also not wrong. all living beings had this instinctive self-defense mechanism. "that¡­" aeria flinched, the end of her words turning into an indistinct murmur. "do you want to say something?" "n-not at all! what am i¡­" "you can speak comfortably," davey said softly. aeria, whose face had turned a deep shade of red, avoided davey''s gaze as she said, "don''t you find me annoying, prince davey?" "what do you mean by annoying? we''re on a very quiet deck, having a conversation partner is not too bad, don''t you think so?" "that, that''s not what¡­" aeria mumbled, her face turning even redder. however, she could not hide how the corners of her mouth curled up. it seemed like she was strangely happy. "just rest for a bit more. there''s nothing much we can do here anyway." aeria nodded quietly at davey''s words as she crouched down and buried her face in her knees. silence fell upon them. and since davey had accumulated enough fatigue to last him a lifetime, he did not resist the drowsiness that washed over him. it felt like all of his fatigue and exhaustion came together and decided that it was time to show themselves. it was like telling him, now! this is the perfect time! under the gentle rocking of the ship, davey placed an alarm magic around them to notify him of any kind of invasion and slowly fell asleep with his back against the wall. thud¡­ thud¡­ the overly exhausted davey, who had fallen into a dreamless sleep from which he would not wake up so easily, woke up to someone''s painful moans and groans. this ship only carried aeria and davey, along with the remnants of the trapped cockroaches. the cockroaches could not groan or moan, so the source of the sound was very obvious. "imperial princess¡­ aeria?" search "pawread dot com" for the original. when davey opened his eyes, he saw her sitting by the ship''s deck wall quite a distance away from him. she had her head bowed down and her hands clenched tightly on the railings near her. "ah¡­ aaaaaah¡­" seeing aeria behave strangely, davey slowly stood up and approached her. ¡°ah¡­ heup¡­ aaaaaaaaaah!¡± aeria¡¯s hands were covering her mouth tightly to stop herself from crying out loud in desperation and helplessness. davey had seen many sides of aeria. however, this was the first time that he had witnessed her like this. she looked extremely unstable. ¡°did you get seasick again?¡± davey asked aeria. he thought, ¡®did the magic that i cast on her already disperse?¡¯ but then, aeria, who had been sobbing pitifully, jumped up from her seat and ran to where he was. then, she buried her head in his arms. "aaaaaaaaah¡­ aaaaaaaaah!" davey could not help but frown when he saw her expression. aeria looked like she was suffering immensely, which left him at a loss of what to do. why was she suddenly acting like this? davey caught a glimpse of aeria''s expression when she rushed into his arms. her expression looked quite distorted with desperation. ¡°what, what should i do, prince¡­? i feel strange¡­ my head¡­ something is wrong with my head! what should i do¡­? what do i do¡­ sob, sob!¡± aeria tried desperately not to show the ugly version of herself to davey, but she could not help but ask for help despite the tears that marred her face. "please calm down. what in the world is happening?" davey handled her carefully and gently, trying to calm her down. however, he found it hard to do so. ¡®don¡¯t tell me...¡¯ davey did not want to let aeria know about it, so he had chosen to remain silent. however, the moment he tried to speak, aeria, who had buried her face in his chest, pushed him down. she quickly climbed on top of him, wiped the tears from her face, and pleaded, "prince¡­ please, i beg you¡­ i don¡¯t want to forget everything like this¡­" "damn it¡­" just as davey had expected, the penalty had made aeria aware that her most cherished memories were slowly disappearing from her head. "i don¡¯t want to forget. please¡­! i¡­ i can¡¯t even remember what the prince looks like! i can¡¯t even remember your name! i really¡­ like you¡­ i hold you very dear to my heart¡­ i love you so much, but¡­" aeria''s desperate cries continued, "i don¡¯t want to forget the prince like this¡­ i want to carry you in my heart for the rest of my life¡­" this was the first time aeria had openly and strongly expressed her intentions on her own free will, not because someone told her to. aeria had always done her best to cover up both the good and the bad in her to avoid causing anyone trouble. but now, she had reached her breaking point. she looked like she was in terrible pain as she begged for the truth. "my memories related to the prince are disappearing one after another¡­ please help me. i¡­ i don¡¯t want to lose my precious memories with the prince like this¡­ there¡¯s something weird happening to me. please¡­" "imperial princess, there''s only one way to solve your problem," davey said. he felt aeria flinch above him as he continued, "and that is to nullify your resurrection." there were two miracles. the first moon¡¯s miracle had saved her life by taking away her most precious thing. so, the answer was obviously to use the second moon¡¯s miracle, the miracle that would take away her life and the penalty in exchange for her regaining all of the erased memories. there was a huge gap between them, and it was a very difficult choice to make. "i don¡¯t want to forget¡­ i also don¡¯t want to experience something as painful as dying¡­ but what i would hate the most is to lose all memories of the prince and the moments i spent with you!" aeria sobbed loudly as she buried her head in davey¡¯s chest. "if i have to live like that, then¡­ i¡¯d rather die with all of my memories with you¡­" then, aeria stood up. as a member of the nine tails race, a race that was excellent in seduction, her eyes looked very alluring despite her sad gaze. she looked down at davey as she sat firmly on his stomach. then, with familiar ease, she bent down and placed her lips upon davey¡¯s. her actions were impulsive, not instinctual, and that brought about a different effect. at the same time, nine turquoise tails popped out from beneath her skirt. the light of the dark red moon above made the tails shine more brightly and take on a reddish tint. "i''d rather¡­" davey could hear aeria¡¯s way of speaking change under the desperate tone of her voice. "...you kill me¡­ that way, i won¡¯t lose any more memories of you¡­" "let¡¯s stop talking nonsense now," davey said, trying to reason with her. however, his words only made aeria grab onto his collar tightly and say, "then¡­ i want you to leave your mark on my body. take me¡­ before i forget you like this¡­ make sure that i remember you even if it¡¯s just through my body¡­" CH 400 aeria felt that it was excruciatingly painful to forget the person she had held dear in her heart. so, she believed that it was better for her to die than to experience that pain. if that wasn''t possible, then at least leave a trace on her so her body would remember him. davey couldn''t bear to watch aeria screaming in such desperation. she had not been like this when she was suffering from her illness. he couldn''t fully grasp the despair she felt when her hope was ignited and extinguished simultaneously. no, he didn''t understand it at all. frowning, davey grabbed aeria¡¯s hands and sat up. he held her back, as she continued to cry and cling desperately to his chest, and said firmly, ¡°keep it together.¡± aeria flinched when she heard davey speak informally to her. ¡°i don¡¯t want to¡­! i don¡¯t like this! i hate this! we finally met! i finally gathered the courage to come and meet you! but what did i find on my way to heins!¡± however, she experienced another bout of panic attack. ¡°i will remember. even if the imperial princess loses all her memories, i will make sure to remember you¡­¡± ¡°i don¡¯t want that!!!¡± aeria shouted furiously as she fell from davey¡¯s lap. her anger, something that was rare for her, flared up. ¡°i like you! i am the one who likes you more! so, why should you be the only one to remember me! i have to remember you! i¡¯m the one who likes you. i¡­ i adore you and love you so much¡­¡± aeria looked desperate and bitter, making davey feel terrible for choosing to save her. ¡°you can take everything else from me, just not these memories. please¡­¡± aeria pleaded with tears in her eyes. davey silently closed his eyes in response. the power of the title would take away what was most precious to her. however, that was in exchange for doing the impossible, settling her soul back in her body. one wrong and rash move here, and davey might have used the second moon¡¯s miracle. in the end, there was no absolute and clear answer to this situation. ¡°please listen carefully, imperial princess.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°memories aren''t perfect. except for special cases, memories tend to be vague and unclear. that''s why it doesn¡¯t mean your memories will be completely erased just because they have disappeared from your head.¡± why couldn¡¯t babies remember what had happened to them when they were young? there were quite a lot of hypotheses about it, but davey believed in one. they could not remember it because they needed language to recall something. if one could not describe and remember something with words, then they would not be able to retain memories of that time. that was the theory davey believed in. of course, one might think their memories had disappeared, but that wasn¡¯t really the case. their memories must have remained in their heads, whether it was their sight, smell, or touch, but since they could not articulate them, they could not bring them out. "then, does that mean¡­ that¡­ i can remember you?" "i''ll make sure that you remember," davey said, trying to reassure aeria. he was spouting lies. still, it seemed like his intentions shone through, and aeria finally looked relieved. her expression aged ten years as relief washed over her. davey''s lies were not entirely impossible. in fact, the penalty explicitly mentioned that her memories would be erased. however, that did not mean there weren''t any variables. regarding the heins territory¡­ the fact that she awakened her instincts as a member of the nine tails race and cried out the reason why she came to the heins territory was a variable itself. her memories of the heins territory had been deleted, so why could she remember the place? that could only mean her memories were not completely erased. if that were not the case, it could also mean that the deletion process itself was still very much unstable. it was quite a sad thought for someone to forget another''s existence. on the contrary, it also meant that she could not remember the memories of the person she cherished the most. either way, it would be very painful. "i can''t solve the problem regarding your memories right away, but i''ll try to find a way. before that, i can make a simple wish of yours come true." aeria pondered deeply for quite some time after hearing davey''s words. then, she placed her hand on her chest, took a deep breath, and said, "for one day¡­" she voiced her words out carefully, "for one day¡­ please do not say no to me for one day." it was her final wish to remember davey. so, after considering the request for a moment, davey ended up nodding in consent. "will that be enough?" "yes¡­" her answer was very brief. *** aeria was a very pure and naive person, but that did not mean she was a fool who knew nothing. however, knowing something and actually doing it were two completely different matters. just for one day out of the four days they were going to be stuck here, davey would forget everything else and focus solely on her, just as aeria wished. why was he so attentive and caring toward her? upon deep reflection, he could say it was because there was no other way for him to express his sympathy toward someone so brilliantly pure yet so pitiful. her sense of purity and naivety was something others would not be able to replicate. even in their situation, where everything seemed like almost a lie, she still appeared content. what aeria wanted wasn''t exactly davey''s attention. she simply desired to stay by his side, converse with him, and make eye contact. that was more than enough for her. "prince! there''s a bite! something took the bait!" aeria exclaimed excitedly. "you''re quite good. reel in the line slowly. slowly," davey advised. aeria firmly grabbed the wooden handle of her fishing rod and tugged fiercely. as someone born with a weak body, aeria was shocked as she got swept away by the force of whatever had taken the bait. if it weren''t for davey hugging her waist, she would have already been dragged into the sea. after holding her from behind, davey quickly took control of the fishing rod and started reeling in the line. ¡°take it easy.¡± ¡°yes, yes!¡± ¡°now!¡± plop!!! this novel is available on "pawread dot com". a gigantic fish was pulled out of the red sea by the hook of the fishing rod and flew through the air. however, the fish looked a bit unusual. aeria couldn''t help but turn pale at the sight of a snail fish that was over a meter in length and almost the size of an adult human being. what was strange about it was the fact that it had a far larger head than normal and four legs to boot. perhaps some kind of radioactive material spread in the sea in this world? actually, this fish was not something that could be caught so easily with a mere ordinary fishing rod. however, the reality was already right in front of them. ¡°kyaaaaaack!!!¡± aeria screamed cutely. davey quickly held aeria to stop her from falling down. then, he stretched his other hand out toward the bizarre snail fish, which was falling from the sky with its mouth wide open as if it wanted to swallow aeria in one bite, and gently swung it down. [7th circle] [great spark] a powerful electric current flashed in an instant, turning the gigantic snail fish that was trying to eat aeria into a baked fish. just like that, it crashed helplessly on the deck after being exposed to the 7th circle electric magic. ¡°haaa¡­ haaa¡­¡± "its size is very shocking." "is, is fishing supposed to be like this? do they risk their lives just like mercenaries¡­?" aeria, who had never seen real fishermen in action, found the experience of hooking and catching a fish quite novel and shocking. seeing her like that, davey couldn''t help but feel mischievous, a smile curling up the corners of his lips. "of course. the sea is filled with dangerous creatures. there are also creatures with dozens of squirming legs sticking all over their bodies." davey¡¯s words were so ridiculous that if someone thought deeply about them, they would think, ¡®this guy is a fraud!¡¯ however, aeria was far too naive. she looked like she completely believed the words that davey had said. ¡°g-goodness¡­ i had no idea that getting fish for food would be this hard.¡± davey desperately tried to rein in his laughter. this was quite a novel and refreshing response. he could never get this kind of reaction from perserque, who was not that much different from davey in terms of knowledge, or illyna, who had gained quite a lot of experience out in the world. davey felt like teasing and deceiving someone with this pure reaction was quite enjoyable. ¡°kyaaack! prince! the, the snail fish is burnt to a crisp!¡± aeria, who had never grilled a fish in her life, instantly burned the snail fish that she had caught. she made a mistake in controlling the strength of the flame while cooking. ¡°ah¡­ that¡¯s mine¡­¡± she had been hungry since all they ate were snacks and side dishes on the ship. that was why she was trying so hard to adapt to eating outdoor meals. after several incidents like that, aeria now could pout and grumble at davey whenever he stole her part and ate it up. ¡°pfft¡­ what even is that¡­? pfft¡­¡± in the end, aeria thought that being pranked like this was also a once-in-a-lifetime experience. since she was making her dreams come true, the depressed look on her face quickly disappeared, replaced by laughter. at first, aeria continued to hide her emotions, perhaps for the sake of protecting her dignity as a woman of imperial lineage. however, after spending time here, she realized that there were no restrictions that would stop her from doing whatever she wanted. and finally, she removed that thin layer of gauze that had covered her entire personality and let loose, showing off her true self. this might be something that she would never experience again in her life. the day passed by quickly. the two moons slowly rose to the dark night sky above the dreary and quiet sea. aeria seemed quite happy that she was able to use temperature control magic and set the temperature around them just right. as she sat on the blanket, aeria looked up at the sky and said, ¡°it really feels like a dream. if this is my dream, then i hope i don¡¯t wake up.¡± in this world, there was no other intelligent life form except for davey and aeria. no, there were definitely some beyond that curtain. however, at the very least, there was no one else aside from them outside of that. aeria was also aware of that fact. however, she seemed completely happy to simply be with davey alone in silence. ¡°prince, do you see that star over there? kathryn told me that it¡¯s a star that roams the sky, creating a tail of light, every ten years. she said that if i make a wish on that star, then it will come true.¡± ¡°are you going to make a wish?¡± ¡°yes.¡± aeria''s face flushed, and she smiled brightly at davey. ¡°what are you going to wish for?¡± ¡°t-that¡­¡± she quickly buried her face, which had turned bright red, on her knees. her body trembled slightly as she curled deeper into herself. ¡°i, i can¡¯t say it.¡± ¡°what is it? is it related to me?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡®it really is?¡¯ ¡°what is it?¡± ¡°¡­¡± aeria thought that it was quite a shameful wish to say out loud. "if not now, then when will you have the opportunity? go on, tell me." the embarrassed aeria slowly opened her mouth after hearing davey¡¯s words. "...want to..." ¡°yes?¡± ¡°my, my lap¡­ i want to lend my lap to the prince.¡± davey fell silent. then, he grinned and asked, ¡°that¡¯s your wish?¡± ¡°ah. yes¡­ that¡¯s it.¡± davey slowly stretched his hand toward the sky after hearing aeria mumble to herself. and when he waved his hands, the stars began to fall, creating tails of light, circling the skies just like in those fantasy stories. it was quite hard to make a real object spin around. however, it was not that difficult to make something fall as much as he wanted. seeing the surprise on aeria¡¯s face, davey said, ¡°since you¡¯ve witnessed the stars creating those tails of light, then your wish should come true.¡± davey kept his thick and shameless face. it did not matter whether aeria was surprised or not. suddenly, davey felt a strange gaze watching him and aeria for a very, very brief moment. it felt like the gaze of a transcendental being, not the gaze of a living and breathing life form. CH 401 ¡°what¡¯s¡­ the matter?¡± aeria asked anxiously when she saw davey suddenly looking around with a solemn expression on his face. however, the gaze that looked at davey suddenly disappeared as if it had never been there from the very beginning. in this world, goddess freyja did not make a deal with davey. considering the fact that she did not throw a request at davey like the other times when the dimensional key was activated, he thought that there was nothing that he needed to do this time. however, that did not seem to be the case. after feeling the gaze disappear, davey just silently pulled aeria¡¯s lap near him and laid his head down on them. ¡°kyaaaack!?¡± aeria shouted, her face turning red as she quickly avoided davey¡¯s gaze. ¡°your wish came true.¡± ¡°yes¡­ it seems so. it really is like a dream. even though this will only be a single night¡¯s dream, i think i will never be happier.¡± aeria¡¯s voice sounded weak as she murmured quietly. it was proof that the penalty was going to come soon. perhaps, once she woke up again after a good night¡¯s sleep, she would have already lost a lot of her memories about davey. or maybe she would have completely forgotten about him. davey, who silently laid his head on her lap, realized that her gaze was directed at him. then, as if possessed, she gently lowered her head and kissed him. it was very fleeting. it seemed like she had been unaware of what she had done, as if she had been intoxicated by the moonlight shining upon them. davey was shocked into a daze by the sudden kiss. ¡°¡­¡± aeria, who seemed to have come back to her senses, immediately raised her flushed face and covered her mouth. there was a helpless expression on her face. with davey sitting up, she immediately jumped and bowed to him to apologize. ¡°i¡¯m, i¡¯m sorry!¡± then, she desperately tried to explain. however, davey¡¯s gaze was already looking at the curtain that was blocking half of the city. he was certain that something had changed. ¡°i¡¯m¡­ i did it unconsciously and¡­¡± aeria said as her head drooped once again. this time, it was not because she was forced to do it. it was natural, so natural that anyone that saw her would feel nice looking at her like that. ¡°¡­¡± just like that, aeria fell asleep. well, it was only natural. after all, she had been crying non-stop earlier and had done quite a lot of tiring things. as davey watched aeria sleep quietly and deeply, he had no choice but to admit that just as he had feelings for perserque, there was also, to some extent, something strange for aeria. davey slowly stood up and carried the sleeping aeria. then, he installed alarm posts in all four directions before pulling out some soft leaves from within his pocket plane. each leaf was half the size of an adult human and was piled up to create a bedding. after completing the fluffy bed, he carefully placed aeria down and covered her with a blanket. then, he took out a card from his card album. swooosh¡­ at the same time, the three lunatics appeared. ¡°protect aeria. everything should be alright. however, if i come back and something is wrong with her, then i will make sure to crush you all with my own hands.¡± the clown with the ax shook his pants and danced playfully as he looked at aeria. then, the clown with the bastard sword clacked his teeth and said, ¡°make. love.¡± ¡°if you keep on joking around with that trap of yours, then i will kill you.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ignoring the bastard who stepped away with dissatisfaction, davey turned to the one that looked the most sane and normal and said, ¡°i believe there will be no danger that will come your way. but just in case, make sure you protect aeria.¡± perhaps she would lose all of her memories of him by daybreak, and she would no longer be embarrassed in front of davey. no, it was more like she would be wary of him. after all, there were only a few small gaps up until this point. that was the reason why they did not encounter any big problems. however, their real problem would be just ahead of him. but no matter how crazy these bastards were, davey had one way to make them listen to him. ¡°if you remain obedient and there¡¯s no problem with your mission, i will let you do whatever you like.¡± it was a lie, but it did not matter. whatever the consequences were, it was the fault of those that got cheated for believing in him. if perserque had seen him, she would immediately click her tongue and would say that he was the epitome of the word ¡®double standard¡¯. *** it was a bit hard for davey to determine where that gaze came from. but he had to find it. so, after leaving aeria¡¯s protection to the three lunatics, davey disembarked and entered the maritime city of valkass until he reached the curtain that blocked his entry. he then proceeded to knock on it a few times. the curtain was a bit fascinating. although he had not properly investigated it yet, there was one thing that he was sure of. the gaze was following his every move. the reason why he deemed the gaze to be from a transcendental being was that the range was so wide, to the point that he could not pinpoint where it was coming from. thump¡­ thump, thump¡­ after knocking twice, davey forced his hand through the translucent curtain. however, there should be no way for his hand to enter that. after all, it had blocked his entry. bzz¡­ bzz¡­ but the outcome completely defied his expectations. ¡°oh?¡± the curtain, which completely blocked his path when he first came here as if he was some sort of intruder, suddenly let his hand through. and for some reason, he felt like he heard someone¡¯s strange voice during the process. [do not be afraid.] davey did not hear the words properly, but he could tell that the voice was saying something along those lines. as the faint whisper traveled through his ears, changes began to appear in his body that had passed through the curtain. it was as if the limit that had been placed on his body had disappeared. all of his powers started to run freely as if they could only move around in this place. it was as if the tides of the world had completely changed once he went past the curtain. the power that was running rampant in his body began to overflow and affect davey¡¯s surroundings. there wasn¡¯t much difference from what happened with first lich nyx when he was crushed simply by davey releasing his mana. however, that was not important. the crucial thing to consider here was what happened. did his body and soul fully synchronize after passing through the curtain? whatever it was, davey concluded that this world was weird. when he turned around and walked out of the curtain, he was left speechless when the synchronization between his body and soul began to disappear. it was like a switch had been turned off. boom!!! this novel is available on bit.ly/3ibfjkv. just as he was pondering about it, something huge swooped in, as if it had been waiting for this moment, from the sky. davey could tell that it was a black dragon-like existence, a being that wasn¡¯t there a few moments earlier. to be exact, it was a monster from the dragon family. they were beings that were raised and nurtured by the demons. although their temperament was quite violent, they were beings with strong power that was comparable to the demon race. there were no signs of their existence. of course, that was only natural. if the curtain was there, then davey would have no knowledge of something of that size waiting for him on the other side. besides, it was an extremely huge being. there was no way that davey would not know if it was under normal circumstances. black dragon-like existences would grow from ten meters up to thirty meters in length and would mainly consume meat. aside from their lethal black demonic energy breath, they also use their sturdy and invincible body to attack. their scales were known to be very durable and resistant to attacks made with blades. even their wings were notorious for rendering each and every method available to those on land useless and leaving their enemies furious for not being able to do anything to them. their biting force was as destructive as the biting force of crocodile-type monsters. as for their mana? well, they had an abundance of it, which made them a rare species classified as a high-ranking monster. normally, such a monster would have tucked its tail and left davey alone. this was because davey¡¯s mana was so vast that even a 9th circle mage would find it hard to breathe in front of him. the synchronization of the body and soul was usually something impossible. however, thanks to the [jewel]¡¯s special power, he was able to sync the power that he obtained in the hall with his body, albeit only for a short period of time. that jewel was sent to him through al, the resurrected and current world tree, by goddess freyja. it was something that the goddess had created by condensing her own power. but¡­ what in the world was this curtain? why did it bring forth ridiculous changes in his body the moment he entered it? perhaps, everything that was happening to him was because of the irregularity of this place? after all, this world should not exist. since that was the case, anything that happened here could never be explained with common sense. everything was possible here. davey was completely lost in his thoughts, ignoring the black dragon-like existence that was slowly rearing its head to attack him. ¡®wait. if i can do anything i want in this world, then¡­¡¯ perhaps he would be able to find a way to let aeria remember. davey¡¯s mouth grew into a wide smile at the thought, his head turning to look at the black dragon-like existence that had opened its gigantic maw to devour him in one go. boom! a loud boom rang in the area, and the mouth that had already enclosed upon him slipped open, allowing him to walk out. at the same time, red ribbon appeared. the sword danced in the air before settling in davey¡¯s hands. thump¡­ davey saw a brooch falling off of the black dragon-like existence¡¯s horn. it seemed to have been cut off by red ribbon¡¯s sharpness. the brooch carried the demon¡¯s pattern, the insignia that symbolized a very familiar and dear girl, dark lord perserque. this world¡¯s perserque was one of the greatest contributors to the demon¡¯s easy domination of this world. she was the same girl from the world that davey lived in. however, because the process was different, the result was also different. in this world, she was nothing but an unlucky girl. swoosh¡­ after davey had walked out of its mouth and left without any hesitation, the scales on the dragon-like existence¡¯s body began to shift. when the distance between them had grown large, the dragon-like existence¡¯s limbs, as well as its entire disproportionate body, were cut to pieces. thud, thud, thud¡­ thud, thud, thud¡­ ¡°an intruder!¡± ¡°a human? how can a human be here¡­?¡± ¡°what the hell? he¡¯s just one human! move!¡± whatever it was, there was one thing that mattered. the difficulty of this world might have reached the extreme. however, the abyss did not interfere here. this meant that it was a complete downgrade from the ultra nightmare difficulty level that davey had cleared before. and for someone like him, who had completed the synchronization, the only outcome would be a disaster. a complete and utter disaster. in fact, davey was not really concerned about these guys. he looked up at the sky in silence, his gaze completely nonchalant when looking at the black dragon-like beings, the black wyverns, and the demons that were flying above him. then, he released all of the mana in his body, an action that created a huge explosion. boom!!! at the same time, the mana-sensitive black wyverns began to fall on the ground one after the other, their mouths foaming as they lost consciousness. davey¡¯s only concern was to find the owner of that strange and suspicious gaze. CH 402 the ordinary wyverns and demons seemed to have been a reconnaissance unit. these guys looked like they did not even know of the existence of the curtain that davey passed by earlier. well, it wasn¡¯t a simple curtain that blocked someone¡¯s path. it was more like it was a gate to another dimension and davey was given a ticket to it. as for the reason why the maritime city of valkass had been deprived access to the entire sea in this world? davey still did not know. the dozens of wyverns and demons that came to greet him did not even matter to davey. thud!!! thud!!! ¡°keheok!!!¡± the black wyverns, beings that had extremely good sensing abilities, were the first to be affected. after being exposed to davey¡¯s overwhelming mana, their mouths started to foam as they fainted and fell on the ground one after another. as a result, more than half of the demons fell with them and started to groan and moan from pain. ¡°keuaaaack!!!¡± ¡°kghhk¡­ s-save me!!!¡± davey thought that it was fortunate that aeria was not here to witness this, seeing how terrible they looked after a simple exposure to mana. then, davey looked around the sky and silently tracked the suspicious gaze that was looking at him. it was quite easy to track the general location of the source of the gaze with the power that he acquired from the hall. the only thing that was difficult right now was finding the specific location. the existence that was looking at him right now? perhaps it had power comparable to the weakest hero-level individuals¡¯ combat abilities, maybe a bit more than that. in fact, even urd, the abyss princess that made davey suffer immensely, was not guaranteed to be able to do something like this. ¡®no. wait a minute. there¡¯s one existence in this world that can do something like this.¡¯ ¡°hmm¡­¡± davey hummed to himself in thought, stopping in his tracks and turning around when someone flashed in his head. then, he slowly approached one of the demons that were groaning in pain. the demons¡¯ eyes grew wide when they saw davey coming over while releasing his explosive energy, some of them even jumping up to attack him. ¡°kghhk¡­ urk¡­¡± the demons looked at davey with both disbelief and fear when they realized that his breathing didn¡¯t even change when dealing with their group. no matter how hard they looked at him, he was still nothing but a mere human being. a pure-blooded human. and even though they were seeing the reality with their eyes, it was still hard for them to accept the fact that a mere human being was showing a power that deviated from the norm. ¡°what the hell¡­¡± the demon spat these words with great difficulty, his breathing turning ragged as the pain he was experiencing intensified from the sudden pressure placed upon him. davey slowly gathered his explosive energy back and returned to calm. only after the mana that had dominated and controlled the entire area turned silent were the demons able to breathe. they exhaled heavily as if they were finally given amnesty and allowed to breathe. ¡°haa¡­ ha¡­¡± ¡°hey. what¡¯s your name?¡± the demon looked up at davey with both trepidation and cautiousness, ¡°how, how dare a human like you¡­¡± ¡°would you like to get beaten until you¡¯re on the brink of death before you cooperate with me? or are you going to simply cooperate with me?¡± the demon gulped when he saw the smile on davey¡¯s face. ¡°i¡¯m, i¡¯m gorone!¡± the demon was so afraid of davey that he instinctively turned to polite speech when he spoke. ¡°alright, gorone. let me ask you one thing,¡± davey said quietly. ¡°what year is it right now?¡± gorone¡¯s expression turned somber at those words. ¡°you¡¯re not going to answer?¡± ¡°the 312th year of the demon world calendar¡­¡± ¡°i¡¯m not asking the year in your calendar, in the human calendar.¡± gorone flinched as he slowly opened his mouth again. after listening to the details from gorone, davey was able to sort out some facts and piece together some important information. only a few months had passed since reina died in this world. davey thought that this world, which had lost its use, would disappear when reina disappeared. but that was not the case at all, or at least that was what happened after looking through the passage of time in this world. davey squatted down and grabbed gorone by the collar. ¡°who is currently in charge of the demons?¡± ¡°grand duke astaroth and first lich nyx¡­ and¡­¡± the four grand dukes were all in attendance. there were quite a few more, but as reina had mentioned, nyx was alive in this world. with nyx''s survival, they had managed to capture perserque and revive her as they had intended. however, they must have used a different method to bring her back, something completely distinct from what occurred in his own world. "good. now, the final question." davey asked quietly, "what happened to this world''s world tree?" gorone couldn''t answer davey''s question quickly and easily, so davey raised his hand and slapped him on the cheek. slap!!! "keheook!!!" several of gorone¡¯s teeth fell out from the force of the blow. "keuaaaaaaaack!!! spare, spare me!!!" "if you answer me well, then i will spare your life. i don''t really hold much animosity toward the demon race." of course, in his world, davey had destroyed them because they dared to meddle with what was his. however, he didn''t necessarily reject demons as a whole. he treated them similarly to how he dealt with vampires. there were only two things davey would decisively deal with, regardless of their race: those who caused trouble and colluded with the abyss, and the lesser demons called goblets that he eliminated when he first took office in the heins territory. "i, i don''t know! i''m, i''m telling the truth! i''m just a lowly and disposable scout¡­" davey released his hold on gorone''s collar with a bit of regret as he nodded quietly. unlike in the tionis continent where davey lived, this world''s sacred tree''s territory did not experience any kind of generational change. in other words, there was a high chance that the previous generation yggdrasil and the sacred tree''s saint, who had disappeared in front of his eyes, were still in power in this world. davey could surmise that yggdrasil had found a way to protect themselves, without the need to cooperate with humans, by residing inside the sacred tree''s territory. if the yggdrasil here was the twisted yggdrasil, then he could understand why he was being watched like that. however, he had a problem. how could he find the world tree in this world, especially with different coordinates? it wasn''t that hard for davey to leave right away. however, he still had to worry about aeria, who he left behind on the ship. well, since the area was cordoned off, no one would be able to harm her. "i''ll just have to check it out as soon as possible." whatever the case, if that crazy world tree continued to peep at him, even outside of that dimensional rift, then he had to force those eyes to close. "fire chicken." davey summoned the divine beast vermillion bird fire chicken with familiar ease. ¡­ however, there was no way that fire chicken could be summoned here. so, he tried to summon the next one in line, spirit king gnoass. [heed my call, gnoass.] ¡­ the problem was, he also could not summon the spirit. at this point, davey realized that it was impossible for him to bring beings from another dimension. after all, they had to pass through a dimensional rift. besides, this world should not exist and was essentially isolated. in the end, he was left with no other means of transportation. most of the black wyverns fainted, resulting in their deaths from broken necks after falling to the ground. this meant that no one here could properly fly. if that was the case, then davey had to summon that one to become his ride. without any regrets, he pulled out the second card from his card album. this was not the card that carried the three mischievous clowns; it was the card with the image of the great and majestic dragon king. "come out! megalodria." at the same time, the card soared into the sky as a huge spark shot out from within it. crack, crack, crack!!! the card grew large, and a gigantic being covered in bright white light appeared. after that, the card disappeared. some of the surviving demons couldn''t help but gulp loudly when they saw the azure sky''s storm dragon king, megalodria, majestically appearing above them. grrrrrrr... megalodria was someone who boasted a gigantic stature and enormous strength. even though more than half of his power had been restricted, his title as a grandmaster-level being would not be diminished. davey silently stretched his hand out after seeing the flash in the rascal''s red eyes. [5th level holy magic] [purify] shwaaaaaa!!! megalodria floated in the air, expressing his hostility toward davey when he saw a pure white light shooting out of the man¡¯s hands. when they fought before, davey could tell that megalodria was still hanging on to his final thread of reason. however, it seemed like it snapped after experiencing the shock of exchanging blows and fighting against davey. ¡°that doesn¡¯t work? well, then¡­¡± [7th level.] [purify] davey shot out another round of purify. however, megalodria still did not improve, even though davey increased the level of purification by two. at first, davey did not think that any magic at this level would fail against megalodria. however, he considered that there was a possibility since the amount of holy mana he used with the 7th circle purify was almost ten times the usual amount needed to cast one. but it still did not work. davey clicked his tongue after he finished thinking of another method. ¡®alright. i¡¯ll give you a huge bleeding[1] service this time!¡¯ then, davey quickly placed his hands together and began to raise his holy mana. [i am informing you, goddess freyja.] [you shouldn¡¯t care even if i create a huge fuss here, right? don¡¯t you think so too? you threw me here because you wanted something, so i¡¯m going to borrow your grace in return.] [9th level, final holy magic] [saint¡¯s sanctuary] the saint¡¯s sanctuary was an area of effect sanctuary magic. in an instant, dozens, if not hundreds, of white feathers fluttered in the sky as a huge and bright light appeared, engulfing the entire area. the warm light also enveloped davey¡¯s body before covering megalodria¡¯s gigantic form, which had sustained quite a few severe injuries. davey had understood the system of the restrictions that urd had placed upon him to some extent. urd¡¯s power was related to erosion. she had the ability to inject her own power into others as long as they touched her. this power would then encroach upon that individual until it devoured everything they had to offer. if that was the case, then didn¡¯t that mean that davey only had to deal with the erosion that was encroaching upon this guy? perhaps this was the only opportunity he would have to purify the storm dragon king megalodria. and davey would not miss such a thing for the world. so, he tightened his grip on his hands and continued to pray. [requesting urgently for more grace.] [9th level holy barrier] [deus¡¯ sanctuary] a holy barrier was erected, followed by an additional 8th class holy magic, a magic that amplifies the efficiency of the previously cast magic. in just an instant, davey laid down the saint¡¯s sanctuary and the holy barrier, together with three layers of amplification magic. however, even with all that, he still could not get rid of the erosion in one go. ¡ªroaaaaaaaar! davey stared at the guy enduring the pain brought about by the massive holy magic pouring down on him. in the end, megalodria could not endure and swung his gigantic arms to attack him. crack, crack, crack!!! it was obviously a life-threatening attack. however, it would be impossible for an attack, which had been greatly weakened, to touch davey right now. he just raised his hand and grabbed one of megalodria¡¯s claws, crushing it in the process as he showed him a dark and eerie smile. ¡°in this place, i have quite a huge advantage over you¡­¡± megalodria¡¯s red eyes shook at those words. ¡°come to think of it, how many times did you beat me with your tail last time?¡± davey could also not forget the fact that megalodria''s tail had broken his arms dozens of times during their previous fight. ¡®no. f*ck it. just thinking about it is making me mad! this bastard! i¡¯ll just beat you up for ten minutes.¡¯ we are bit.ly/3ibfjkv, find us on google. megalodria flinched when he saw davey¡¯s gruesome smile go wider. however, the three holy magic spells that fell upon him contained an overwhelming amount of holy mana that completely restricted his movements. although megalodria¡¯s reason had flown out of the window, he could still remember davey. this fact made it all the more confusing for the mythical beast. he obviously remembered that davey did not have this much power back when he fought with him. the thought just briefly flashed in megalodria¡¯s head, but davey saw it. well, even he did not expect that his body and soul would synchronize here. and he was actually in a state where the power flowing through his body was derived from the power of his soul rather than the power running through his veins. to put it simply, davey was in a state where he could draw as much power as he wanted to evolve without undergoing a complete metamorphosis. megalodria, who saw davey approaching him slowly, anxiously stepped back away from him. he looked very cute like that, like an arrogant cat that was running away. however, davey was smiling for another reason. ¡®i will never have a chance like this again.¡¯ megalodria tried to find a gap as he used all of his strength to raise his entire body and run away from davey. however, it seemed that he had forgotten one thing. he had already been captured inside the card that was made from davey¡¯s soul. a chain of light stretched out from the ground and wrapped tightly around megalodria, stopping him from moving away. davey smiled silently as he made eye contact with the mythical beast. ¡®it¡¯s too late, you bastard.¡¯ 1. i believe this refers to the bleeding terminology in games ? CH 403 ¡°shane¡¯s not here, you know?¡± boom!!! megalodria flew out along with the loud sound of something exploding. obviously, his size was something that not anyone could simply deal with. in fact, compared to behemoth, which was on an entirely different level in terms of body size, megalodria was still considerably better. ¡°without shane, your powers will start to get lost. you probably only have around half of your original powers, no?¡± it only occurred to davey recently but it seemed like this suspicion was quite true. davey immediately shut down megalodria¡¯s mouth, canceling the breath that he was about to release to resist him, by slamming his hand down on his nose. ¡°oho. wait, are you actually trying to rebel now? you¡¯re rebelling, right?¡± bang!!! bang!!! shock was now evident in megalodria¡¯s eyes after enduring several beatings from davey. from what he could remember, davey¡¯s punches were not that threatening at all. however, after waking up and escaping from the card that sealed him, megalodria found out that the human being, whom he thought was a little ways behind him in terms of strength, had suddenly become a monster. even if megalodria was the king of the kings of mythical beasts, he would still find such a transformation to be shocking. they were in a completely different tionis; this was far more than a simple shift in dimensions. they were in the same world that was on the opposite side of the mirror. it was just like how tionis and the abyss were on each side of the coin. however, this time, they were in the tionis that was reflected on the mirror. that was also the reason why davey could not summon gnoass or fire chicken. davey had judged that if he wanted to summon them, he would need quite some time to do so. the spirit king that resided in this world did not sign a contract with davey, so he could not and would not heed his call. as for the divine beast fire chicken? he was not born in this world. the concept was not like some simple dimensional shift or whatnot. it was on the level of a world transfer. davey found it quite amazing that the dimensional key had this power. however, considering reina¡¯s case, he realized that it truly was possible. the difference might sound simple. however, unlike the dream world or the other dimensions, where he had high chances of existing, this difference should not have appeared in a world where he did not exist. however, the impossible had become possible. since davey did not exist in this world, everything about him was being made by copying his soul as it was. in other words, davey¡¯s abilities were measured and completed based on the abilities and powers that he had in the hall the moment he passed through that curtain. ¡°don¡¯t worry about it, i will take care of the erosion.¡± this also meant that davey was now capable of eliminating the erosion in megalodria¡¯s body through sheer force alone. what he needed to do was cast a great purification magic. it did not matter to him if the power of erosion would try to resist or not. davey just needed to use his overwhelming power to crush it the moment it reared its head out. davey slowly released the vast amount of mana that was actively circulating in his body. ¡®let¡¯s poke it and pull it out.¡¯ davey¡¯s plan was simple. of course, megalodria, who would be subjected to this treatment, would probably feel a bit dizzy and unwell. but that''s none of davey¡¯s business. ¡ªgraaaaaaaaaa!!! a loud and painful scream was ripped out of megalodria¡¯s mouth as his body struggled fiercely the moment davey started his work. however, davey just used some gravitational magic to pin him down on the ground and continued to remove urd¡¯s power that she used to erode his rationality and senses. megalodria must definitely have felt like he was going to die. after all, the combo of being pinned down on the ground and unable to lift even a single finger while someone rummaged through their head would definitely be very, very unpleasant. despite megalodria¡¯s desperate resistance, davey continued with his work and rummaged around in his head. in the end, he was able to remove all traces of the erosion that urd had hidden in megalodria. even though davey¡¯s body and soul had synchronized, it was still quite a difficult task for him. it would have been easier if his specs were a bit higher. however, upgrading his own hardware took a lot of time and money. so, when presented with an opportunity, davey had no choice but to use it. after everything was over, megalodria was left exhausted. his entire figure looked like it was drooping, his eyes blinking slowly as he exhaled heavily. ¡°have you regained your consciousness now?¡± megalodria¡¯s red eyes focused on davey when he heard the question. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°considering that you¡¯re opting to not answer me right now, i can say that you have already come back to your senses.¡± [human¡­ what the hell are you?] the voice that rang in davey¡¯s ears was not the same guttural and irritating voice but his thick and deep voice, his original voice. finally free from the voices and the bizarre hallucinations that plagued him, megalodria asked davey with great difficulty. unlike shandra minea and behemoth, megalodria was called the reigning king of the king of mythical beasts. even if he was subjected to urd¡¯s erosion, his reason and sanity did not completely disappear. that was why he could not help but ask davey why his actions and words made it seem like he was very familiar with them. [human. how in the world do you know about shane?] and¡­ [and how do you know about the two other kings of mythical beasts¡­] ¡°there are far too many rats listening to our conversation,¡± davey said calmly, turning his head to look at the demon soldiers who were staring blankly at them. although the black wyverns were dead, there were still a few surviving demons among them. ¡°¡­¡± the demons immediately took several shaky steps back, their eyes filled with fear the moment they saw megalodria¡¯s own turn to look at them. however, davey¡¯s hands were faster than them¡­ [stun] thud! the demons fainted all at once. ¡°i have some connection with shane.¡± [stop joking around, human. shane died more than a thousand years ago.] davey just shrugged his shoulders and said, ¡°if you¡¯re not going to believe me, then why do you have to question me like that?¡± [¡­] ¡°never mind that. let¡¯s talk while moving,¡± davey said as he poured a huge amount of recovery magic on megalodria¡¯s body. then, he took out a compass, checked the direction and continued, ¡°let¡¯s go west. go as fast as you can.¡± [¡­fine. i will cooperate with you now.] even though megalodria found davey¡¯s existence to be suspicious, he judged that he was not an enemy that he should fight against. one, because he did not have the power to go against davey. and two, because davey was the one who had removed the erosion that was plaguing him. [you have my gratitude for helping me get away from that damn woman¡¯s power.] ¡°you¡¯re someone that¡¯s as powerful as someone at the grandmaster-level. yet, you still got hit like that?¡± [it¡¯s just like you said. without shane, the condition where we grow stronger over time has been restricted and we have grown weaker.] they had grown weaker because they had lost the power of their contractor. however, they were weakened even further after being exposed to urd¡¯s power. could even someone at the grandmaster-level be trampled on like that? he must have felt cold all over. he was a very unlucky guy. megalodria had signed a contract with the mythical beast summoner shane scrift. however, davey knew that there was a way to summon and order such a wise mythical beast like megalodria even if he wasn¡¯t a mythical beast summoner. in fact, as long as their interests aligned, then everything could be done. however, if they used this method, then¡­ ¡°you won¡¯t be able to use the entirety of your powers.¡± [to be exact, this applies to all mythical beasts including myself, human.] davey, who was looking at the scenery that passed by quickly, placed his hands on megalodria¡¯s neck and said, ¡°what happened to the lux continent?¡± [¡­] megalodria first remained silent, then said, [human. what do you think would happen if the three king of mythical beasts, the ones called the last bastion of the continent, were all overpowered?] ¡°tch.¡± davey should have known. after all, megalodria had mentioned before that urd had completely overturned the lux continent. it was not impossible at all considering her strength. [that woman said that her younger sister was in this world. it seems like this world also had the same fate as the lux continent¡­] ¡°this is not the tionis that you have visited before.¡± megalodria¡¯s speed visibly slowed down when he heard davey¡¯s words. [what do you mean? the mana distribution, density, and even the flow of the air is the same. everything is the same¡­ no¡­ no, it seems like it¡¯s not. this terrible black mana that has spread all over the place is different.] ¡°i know, right? it would be easier for you if you think of this as a parallel world. over there. stop there.¡± megalodria immediately pulled the brakes by spreading his wings. then, davey slowly stepped down from his back. ¡°yes, think of this as a parallel world. in the world where we were before, i have killed the former world tree. however, that very same world tree has awakened once again and is ruling in this world,¡± davey said as he gathered all of the mana, the mana that he used before his synchronization, on the fingertips of his hands. basically, he was telling megalodria that there was a huge difference between the two worlds. seeing davey gather the maximum amount of mana that he could muster at this very moment in his palms, megalodria, who did not know about davey¡¯s condition, showed an expression as if he could not understand what was happening right now. he asked in both disbelief and confusion¡­ [human. the power that you possess makes me wonder if you¡¯re truly a human being.] ¡°well, it¡¯s true that i¡¯m a bit stronger compared to when i fought you before.¡± [a bit? that¡¯s bullshit. your power is on a completely different level.] ¡°this is why i don¡¯t like quick-witted mythical beasts like you. this is my original power,¡± davey said calmly as he stretched his palm and pointed it toward the huge and dense forest. if davey¡¯s predictions were correct, this place would be under the protection of the world tree¡¯s barrier magic. if he removed that barrier, then he would be able to see the figure of the world tree. davey did not have all the time in the world to search slowly. so, wherever they were, he would have no other choice but to use a bit more strength to find them. ¡®will it break down completely or will it only make a hole?¡¯ if the world tree''s condition is good, davey''s attack would only create a hole. but if the condition is bad, then it would break apart. davey took out blue ribbon and infused the mana that he had gathered into the blade. the moment he saw blue ribbon''s power get amplified, he immediately swung the sword down. hesitation? worries? since he had already made up his mind, then he should do what he intended to do. no holds barred. slash!!! a flash of blue cut through the area, which was supposed to be empty, only to be met with a translucent curtain that had a rainbow-colored tint to it. to be exact, blue ribbon''s attack forced the hidden curtain to appear in front of the naked eye. slash!!! since blue ribbon had the power to cut down everything that was beyond the physical laws of the world, the barrier, which davey believed to be erected by the world tree, was neatly cut down. bang, bang, bang!!! and just like a chain reaction, the other barriers in existence lost their balance and collapsed on themselves. "the level of the barrier is a mess. this is far worse than the world tree that i have fought with before." hearing his words, megalodria raised one of his huge arms and blocked davey''s front. ting, ting, ting, ting! at the same time, dozens of arrows that came from the other side of the forest flew toward megalodria''s arms. however, the arrows did not meet their target and all fell down helplessly on the ground. [do not let your guard down, human. i know that you¡¯re strong. however, your body is still made of flesh and blood¡­] piiiing! before megalodria could finish his words, a huge arrow, which flew past his arm and was going to crash into davey''s forehead. although it was just a simple attack, the arrow carried tremendous firepower that could allow it to pierce through a thick metal plate. however, it did not even graze davey''s skin. clang, clang, clang!!! davey laughed, the arrows stopping in the air in front of him. then, he slapped all of them back. "where do you think most of the mana of someone with the power to pressure a grandmaster-level mythical beast and deal with a 9th circle lich would go?" megalodria''s eyes narrowed at that. that was when he saw the huge amount of mana compressed into a thick film that enveloped davey''s body. after seeing that, he took his arms back and looked away. [it seems like i tried to protect a monster. that amount of mana is something that humans could not have at all.] ¡°i¡¯m sorry if i¡¯m not just some ordinary human being,¡± davey retorted, his eyes catching sight of people emerging from the depths of the forest. all of them had red hair, red eyes and pale skin. then, he commented, ¡°it seems like the world tree here has become completely corrupted.¡± the elves residing in the divine tree''s holy land were all influenced by the state of the divine tree. when davey looked up, he saw that the gigantic world tree had now become dried up and twisted. the elves had all deviated from their normal appearance with the world tree, their lord and master, turning corrupted and twisted. they had now become blood elves. that meant that there was no way davey would be able to communicate with them. in the end, he was left with only one choice. ¡°i have no choice but to send you off as quickly and as comfortably as possible¡­¡± [those words might make someone feel at ease. however, they are no different from you telling them that you will kill them all, human.] ¡°perhaps it¡¯s much better to kill them than to let them live through something like that,¡± davey said calmly as he watched the blood elves surround him. then, he took out the other half of the twin swords, red ribbon, and said, ¡°red ribbon, can you help daddy?¡± [r, red ribbon can hwelp daddy!!! red ribbon will do her best!!!] red ribbon conveyed her thoughts strongly to davey. since the will of his sword had now been transmitted to him, all that was left was¡­ to cut them down. ¡°let¡¯s go,¡± davey said briefly as he began to swing red ribbon and cut down the blood elves. ¡®let¡¯s first start with something light.¡¯ [transcendental longsword] for the full version, visit pawread dot com. [splitting the mountains] CH 404 "hurry up and walk!!" thud! with a rough shout, a boy dressed in rags got pushed onto the ground. "ugh..." the boy who groaned in pain was still young and full of vigor; however, he lacked the courage to resist those tormenting him. the completely lifeless expression on his face vividly portrayed the extent of his suffering in a world where humanity had been defeated. the humans never doubted that they would forever be the masters of the continent, never anticipating this situation. they never imagined that they would be treated like slaves by something non-human and endure a painful life. it was a horrific existence. nonetheless, gritting his teeth, the boy rose up, casting a glance at another boy who followed him with an equally lifeless expression. this boy was smaller than him. the older boy''s name was roxy coronel. nowadays, his last name held no significance, so people around him simply called him roxy. however, once upon a time, he had been the promising eldest son of a ducal family, occupying the highest position in a kingdom. that is, if he had not spent most of his life swept away by the chaotic war. "hey! do you want to die?" slap!! a cold voice rang out followed by a sharp sound. "ugh!!" "b-brother..." none of the others reacted to roxy''s painful groans, but his younger brother stared at him with vacant eyes. "please, don''t look." he recalled instructing his brother not to witness the horrors they encountered during the war, just before they became enslaved. back then, aided by the last remaining resistance fighters, they had set fire to a small village. roxy had always promised his brother that he would bring an end to the war and present him with a better world. however, the outcome had been tragically different. powerless, he was captured and forced into slavery, unable to resist even as the last of the human resistance was annihilated. their captors were detestable beings known as blood elves, adherents of the twisted world tree. their behavior, unlike that of any fairytale fairy, was cruel and merciless. it had been six long months since he was dragged into this wretched place. roxy remembered the words of an elderly man, a fellow slave, who claimed that the number of humans trapped here and left to perish equaled the stars in the sky. whack!! whack!! roxy, who had gone without a proper meal for days and struggled to move, endured merciless lashes from the blood elf. despite the excruciating pain, he lacked the strength even to scream and felt himself slowly breaking down. in this living hell, death might have seemed like a preferable option. he needed to protect his brother, but hope seemed nonexistent. lying on the ground, enduring the lashes, roxy contemplated that if he could endure a little longer, he might find a peaceful release in death. "bro... brother..." however, his brother didn''t share the same sentiment. his brother approached slowly and intercepted the whip, enfolding roxy in his arms. roxy''s eyes widened in shock. as much as he desired death, he didn''t want to use his brother as a shield. "guh... gahhhhhhh!" summoning unknown strength, roxy rose to his feet, shielding his brother and gritting his teeth, causing the red-haired blood elves to grimace. "how dare you resist?! you filthy slave!" with a fierce shout, the whipping continued relentlessly. amid the brutal assault, roxy desperately shielded his brother, enduring blows to his face, back, and legs. every whip was met with his madman-like grip, refusing to let go. "this bastard!" consumed by rage, one of the blood elves retrieved a dagger from his pocket and raised it high. in a world where humans had been defeated, the killing of a human slave was not uncommon. seeing the gleaming metallic light, roxy instinctively closed his eyes. boom!!! had it not been for the massive explosion that ensued, a colossal shockwave reverberated through the area, followed by a tremendous earthquake that shook everything. panic-stricken screams echoed in all directions. the blood elf, who had been about to kill roxy, was taken aback by the sudden turn of events and looked around in a state of panic. "what the! what''s going on?!" however, there was no one present to answer the bewildered question. amidst the confusion, a voice resonated from a distance. "intrusion..." a blood elf hurriedly rushed in, shouting, only to freeze in place. everyone observed the unfolding scene in stunned silence. the blood elf, already distinguished by their red hair and eyes, now appeared drenched in blood, truly living up to their name. yet, the pitiful sight swiftly faded from memory as a figure emerged from behind the blood elf. "advocates of peace, the forest race? how laughable," muttered a calm voice. the boy, who had firmly grasped the blood elf''s frozen head, knelt down and spoke with nonchalance. "in contrast, humans with their blatant duplicity are far more honest, don''t you think?" the blood elf, held captive by the boy''s relaxed demeanor, trembled as if encountering a monstrous being. thud!! however, as an intangible force burst forth from the figure''s body, the blood elf convulsed in fear and foamed at the mouth before collapsing. only the enslaved humans remained conscious, while all other blood elves lay unconscious. "what kind of method was used?" roxy, standing dumbfounded, slowly uttered as he witnessed the colossal magic circle formed of radiant light expanding in the sky. during the war, when humans were defeated, they lost everything due to the extermination policy enacted by their own kind and other races. this included weapons, power, and magic. the boy before them appeared human, but since the annihilation of the last resistance several years ago, roxy had never seen a human wield magic. furthermore, he had never witnessed someone casually employing magic on such a grand scale. even during the siege when the last resistance provided aid, roxy had seen firsthand the gathering of dozens of magicians to create a much smaller magic circle. as the boy slowly approached him, roxy questioned whether he was truly human or some other entity in human guise. if not either, could he be a manifestation of a deity, pitying the plight of the wretched humans? regardless of the truth, when the boy''s gaze met his, roxy instinctively embraced his younger brother. there was something hauntingly familiar in the emotions reflected in the boy''s eyes¡ªchilling madness. sensing that madness, roxy was overwhelmed by the fear that the boy, with his black hair and red eyes, might not be a mere savior but something far more complex. * * * davey was constantly plagued by insanity. after a long period of synchronization, the madness he had managed to control resurfaced, providing a somewhat refreshing feeling. this had occurred before when he used the jewel, so the reaction was nothing new to him. he was accustomed to suppressing the madness and gathering his strength. great power came at a great cost. ironically, the erosion caused by this half-tamed madness seemed even more dangerous than the erosion power emitted by urd, as davey had no knowledge of how far it would spread. find the original at bit.ly/3ibfjkv. the changes in davey, having mostly expelled the madness, were evident in the ominous laughter that refused to fade from the corners of his mouth. additionally, his impulsivity had significantly increased. the blood elves guarding the sacred place of the world tree could not turn back once they underwent this transformation. exposed to their destructive instincts, they were no different from demons, and davey swiftly beheaded them without hesitation before entering the forest. the sacred place of the world tree was vast, and thus there were likely many blood elves remaining. however, they were not his concern. davey found himself annoyed when the world tree yggdrasil, whom he expected to appear in response to his disturbance, remained silent. his primary reason for coming here was not to rescue the captured humans or to destroy the world tree of this world, both of which carried significant risks. rather, it was to find clues about the unsettling gaze directed at him and to determine if there were any factors that could prevent the erasure of aeria''s memories. from the start, he knew that time was not on his side in this world. he had a little over three days. what could be accomplished in such a short period? it was best not to interfere in matters for which he could not assume full responsibility. ''actually, i''m violating that.'' there was a nearby beastfolk boy who suffered from unfair treatment, but davey had no intention of helping him despite the fear evident in the boy''s eyes. instead, he gathered holy power, resembling a bubble, and carelessly applied it to his own face. "here, take some healing magic," davey said, pressing the pure white droplets onto the boy''s face. the boy seemed surprised at first, but soon the droplets, emitting a pure light, were absorbed into his body, swiftly displaying their healing effects. the boy''s severe wounds began to gradually heal, which was quite satisfactory given his young age. without hesitation, davey also applied the same healing droplets to the small boy he held and walked away, paying no further attention to them. however, he heard a voice calling out to him, "wait a moment!" davey paused, weaving through the human slaves, as the voice came from behind him. all eyes were fixed on davey and the boy. silently, davey glanced at the boy, whose lifeless eyes had now vanished, and asked, "are you... human?" "can''t you tell?" davey gruffly responded, prompting the boy to throw another question at him. "are you... going to help us...?" "i won''t do anything more." "what?" the color drained from the boy''s face at davey''s cold response. davey¡¯s anger and impulsiveness caused his words to become harsher than usual. the boy fell silent, as did the desperate human slaves. they must have thought that this powerful being who suddenly appeared was their savior, if only for a moment. however, davey had no energy to spare for them, let alone save them. "i see..." "why should i bother saving all of you?" davey''s words caused confusion to flicker across the boy''s face, followed by a gasp. "clever humans are the ones who seize opportunities. in this cruel world, it''s the clever ones who survive." the blood elves who were supposed to be watching over the slaves had all passed out, and some had even died as their mana backfired while hastily casting spells upon seeing davey. it was an expected outcome, considering he had shown no mercy in the first place. "but we have these shackles on our bodies..." a cautious woman spoke up amidst the chaos. "who cares about those damn shackles? figure it out yourselves." with that cold response, davey reluctantly made his way through the crowd. no one dared to stop him, perhaps due to his intimidating aura. then, it happened. the metal shackles binding a slave''s arms and legs suddenly shattered. simultaneously, the shackles on dozens of slaves broke, causing them to stare at him with wide eyes, realizing who had caused this. however, davey had already passed them and was making his way toward the sacred grounds of the divine tree. regardless of the actions taken by the humans, he continued moving forward, unhindered by the blood elves. perhaps because they had witnessed his earlier display of power, the blood elves restrained their violent tendencies and did not dare to confront him directly. finally, in the heart of the sacred grounds, davey laid eyes on the immense tree, tainted in a deep crimson hue. positioned in the expansive square before the tree were three crucifixes. without uttering a word, davey drew his sword slowly. "come out, you wretch." his voice resonated in the surroundings, causing silence to descend. after a brief pause, a man leisurely emerged from among the blood elves, capturing the attention of everyone present, regardless of whether the slaves had managed to escape or not. "who are you? you don''t seem like a devil, but i''ve never heard of a human like you," the man remarked in a relaxed tone, questioning davey. yet, davey remained silent in response. "well, i don''t know how you managed to break through mother''s barrier, but you''re fearless, aren''t you? this place is protected by our mother''s power, particularly this central sanctuary where her power is at its peak," the man explained unprompted, revealing his identity, which davey already knew. he was a blood elf, although his face had not undergone complete transformation. he was the saint of the divine tree. he was the one responsible for turning yuria helishana and aina helishana into their current states, showcasing the despicable depths to which the elves could sink by aligning with the previous yggdrasil. truly an intriguing individual. "saint of the divine tree," the words slowly escaped davey''s lips. "hmm? do you...know me?" "yes, i do. you don''t know me, but i know you," davey murmured quietly, slowly lowering and embedding his blue blade into the ground before extending his fingers. then, pointing toward the figures crucified on the crosses, he asked, "are you enjoying this?" "what?" the man questioned. "i''m asking if you find pleasure in binding and mocking an elf who is not even of age yet." before he could respond, the man stiffened, and his eyes met davey''s. upon encountering davey''s gaze, his eyes widened, and he began to shudder instinctively. it was the 8th circle of dark magic, [fear]. "it would be helpful if you explained what myuu has to do with your war.¡± the three elves bound to the crosses were individuals whom davey recognized. aina helishana, myuu, and madis, yuria''s teacher. the world tree sought to achieve something by sacrificing yuria, aware of the presence of dark lord perserque, in preparation for the war with the demon tribe. aina, in particular, would have undoubtedly resisted, unwilling to witness her younger sister being sacrificed in vain. ¡®so, i understand why they are hanging there. but what has myuu done wrong? she''s just an innocent child.¡¯ although he did not recognize the elf named madis, the other two were different. regardless of the differences, witnessing someone with whom davey had developed a close relationship being killed and left tied for an extended period without being allowed to return to nature ignited a surge of suppressed rage and madness within him. ¡®just a little... let me give in to impulse, just a bit.¡¯ after witnessing this scene, the thought of moving on no longer crossed his mind. unconcerned by the gazes and gossip surrounding him, davey was confident in his ability to flawlessly portray a cruel persona. with his decision made, he immediately advanced toward the divine tree. simultaneously, the trembling and levitating blue blade returned to his hand, and with each step he took, dozens of overlapping circular magic circles formed beneath his feet. each circle represented a complex and sophisticated magic spell, overlapping to create something colossal. ¡®become ferocious, not foolish.¡¯ the blood elves remained silent, seemingly stunned by his actions. soon, they could no longer conceal their astonishment as changes unfolded in the sky. the atmosphere darkened, and hundreds of white spheres of light descended rapidly from above, targeting the massive world tree and the surrounding area, including davey. each sphere held the overwhelming power of 8th circle counter-rotational magic, manifesting as the heat-class fireball, the white nova. the blood elves would have to accept their misfortune, as this was far beyond a mere display of stepping forward. CH 405 the ellipsoidal spheres of white flame, densely packed and numerous like the stars in the sky, descended rapidly with a fierce rotation, transforming everything in their path. among all skills, magic was the one that readily unleashed the horrors of hell. whether it was dark magic, necromancy, divine magic, or elemental magic, each with its unique approach, mages consistently achieved effects surpassing those of swordsmen who had spent years honing their skills to split mountains and rocks. were there drawbacks? perhaps the extensive preparation time and the need for exceptional talent. it required a significant investment of a lifetime for a human to reach a certain level before their physical body deteriorated with age. however, those who managed to overcome this challenge were rewarded with the guarantee of formidable firepower through magic. boom... boom!!! the initial onslaught of white light bombardment rained down, engulfing everything in a vast white inferno, reducing all beings to ashes. amidst the screams silenced before they even had a chance to escape, davey locked eyes with the man frozen in place¡ªthe saint of the sacred tree. this man had previously fled from the battle in davey''s world and met his demise at the hands of anabelle. while davey recognized him, this was their first face-to-face encounter, prompting davey to withhold immediate execution. "is the world tree still merely observing?" davey questioned, expecting the intervention to occur soon. in this world where the demons had emerged victorious in the war, they had long harbored hatred toward humans and were prepared for this very scenario. the moon forest elves were in dire straits. without davey''s assistance, yuria helishana and myuu, whom she had been secretly protecting, would have succumbed to the overwhelming might of yggdrasil''s powerful guardian. this outcome had likely already transpired, considering that they had been crucified on these crosses for approximately a decade without any sign of their bodies being recovered. "argh!" "please, save me!" the scene of hell continued to unfold. boom!! boom!! the white flame spheres continued to rain down upon the sacred tree shrine, reducing everything in their path to ash, including the living blood elves. "n... noo!!" the man, the saint of the divine tree, stared in horror and trembled at davey''s actions. "what... what are you doing?! stop this at once... ack!" there were still those who failed to comprehend the situation. desperately backpedaling away from davey, the saint of the divine tree tried to gather the guardians, regardless of whether they were dead or alive. however, given the devastation caused by the bombardment of the white fiery spheres, there was no guardian capable of fulfilling such a task. even if there were survivors among the guardians, they would be unable to halt davey''s actions. crunch... "ah, ah, aaaaaah!!" with a spine-chilling sound of bones being crushed, the saint of the divine tree strained himself, his legs pulverized. his throat was being held tightly, so he could not scream properly, but him being in this state made no difference. "seven stab wounds on the left side of the abdomen. four wounds on the left thigh, likely from a spear. right leg was severed." explore the extended edition on pawread dot com. davey''s words caused the trembling man to look up at him with bloodshot eyes. "as for aina helishana, her throat was severed, and her body bears the marks of brutal whippings and curses. after all that you''ve done, do you expect any understanding between us?" davey''s smile sent shivers of fear down the saint of the divine tree''s spine. "if you mercilessly killed myuu, i can do the same to you. i don''t think any further conversation is necessary." swish! "di... die!!" it appeared there was a surviving blood elf guardian among them. perhaps believing that killing davey would bring an end to the hellish bombardment, the guardian drew his dagger and lunged toward davey''s neck without hesitation. however, before he could get close, the white ellipsoid falling from the sky vaporized him, leaving no trace behind. "why... why are you doing this! let''s... let''s negotiate!" the saint of the divine tree, released from davey''s grip, proposed while trembling. "i don''t know what has angered you so much..." "did you hear anything i said?" "y-yes...?" "you killed myuu, you killed aina. those were your choices." "..." "now, it''s my choice to slaughter every elf here, including you. we have made our choices. is there any reason for us to interfere with each other?" while davey may not have been completely free from the impulses that currently consumed him, once he gave in to those impulses, there was no room for further conversation. slowly lifting himself up, maintaining a stoic expression, davey began to channel his mixed blood magic¡ªa fusion of heavenly demon power and command mana¡ªinto himself. "s-save me..." "you should be grateful. i don''t have much time to keep you alive and torture you repeatedly... i have someone to find..." hiss¡­ with davey''s words, dark red lines resembling drought-stricken earth started to manifest all over his body. ¡®cruel, you say? not saintly? if goddess freyja has bestowed upon me the remnants of the saint to restrain my actions, then goddess freyja has seriously misjudged me.¡¯ "arrgh, aaaaaaaaah!!!!" as the dark red lines continued to proliferate across the saint of the divine tree¡¯s body, the pain became unbearable, causing him to tremble violently and emit a horrifying scream. and then... boom!!! with a colossal explosion, his body horrifically disintegrated into pieces. not a single drop of blood emerged from his shattered form. the blood magic that davey had infused into his body repulsively consumed and incinerated all the blood within him. the fragments of flesh that were expelled from his body dried up and hardened to the point where they were unrecognizable as remnants of a living being. as the pieces of flesh reached davey, they evaporated before even making contact with his body, akin to a meteorite burning up upon entering the atmosphere. amidst the ongoing explosions, davey silently observed the fragments that were once the man, then slowly shifted his gaze toward the cross that still stood tall amidst the chaos. "just wait a little longer, myuu." ¡®i will be back once everything is cleaned up here.¡¯ davey pressed forward without hesitation, his facial expressions less restrained than before. the land of the divine tree sprawled across vast territory. even in areas where the world tree''s barrier had mitigated the impact of the white nova bombardment, there were survivors. slowly, the flow of blood magic, a fusion of davey''s inner power and command mana, stirred around his body. he clenched his fists, not even considering drawing his sword. closing his eyes, he took a deliberate step forward. the land of the divine tree stood as the largest city among the elven settlements across the continent. in fact, the other locations were rather modest in size, almost resembling villages in comparison. however, given the elves'' relatively low population, they were considered cities. the once serene forest now appeared horrific, the hellish scene a stark contrast to what it used to be. the once lush crimson trees had either been reduced to ash or vanished entirely. the forest paths, once adorned with vibrant grass and flowers, now bore a resemblance to a landscape ravaged by a bear, dotted with craters. amidst it all, faint traces of surviving blood elves remained. some bodies had been completely incinerated, leaving only a lone hand bereft of its owner. this was somewhat fortunate, as the high-temperature magical bombardment had vaporized most corpses. "elder kon, what on earth is happening?!" transforming into a blood elf did not strip them of emotions or their capacity to shed tears. although the elves'' unique sense of peace had vanished, replaced by heightened cruelty and violence, they were still transformed individuals, akin to the ominous dark elves. the sacred city of the elves, the land of the divine tree, possessed a sanctuary built by emilia, the previous generation''s saint, as a preparation for emergencies. however, most of the elves currently within the sanctuary were of old age. an intruder had arrived, and the problem lay in the fact that this intruder had swiftly decimated the scouts and vanguard. that was why he sought refuge in this concealed haven. by blocking mana and concealing his presence, this perfect barrier would undoubtedly prevent the human who slaughtered the scouts from finding him. the saint of the divine tree was present, and the mother of the divine tree was on the verge of awakening, so a brief concealment should have resolved everything. how could such an individual discover the elves'' hidden refuge? everything had been flawless for nearly a decade. the primary pillar of resistance had crumbled, and the tide of war had turned in favor of the demons. however, due to the presence of a few remaining resistance fighters, the demons were unable to lay a hand on the land of the divine tree. as a result of the curse cast upon the divine tree by yuria helishana as a sacrifice to the spirit king, the elves of the divine tree had transformed into blood elves. yet, if the mother of the divine tree could eradicate the corruption caused by the dark lord perserque, the divine tree could revert to its original form. yes, there was a treacherous dark elf who had returned to save her younger sister, but she had long since perished. everything had been perfect. but now, an unexpected presence had disrupted the seamless order. overwhelmed by an inexplicable sense of unease, he hurried into this refuge, but the loud commotion outside was clear evidence that the grotesque human intruder and the proud elves of the divine tree were still locked in battle. adopting a stern expression, he abandoned the previously complex one. he shouted, "do not fret. the mother of the divine tree is on the brink of awakening from her slumber. i know not from whence this grotesque human emerged, but it is merely one human!" the elder elves facing him remained silent. in the chilling silence, elder kon observed the other elders, who fixed their gaze not on him, but behind him. "what''s the matter? why are you...?" he turned his head and saw. there was a human leisurely entering the hidden refuge, dragging an elf whose head was covered in blood with a single hand. "what... what?!" elder kon exclaimed. "elder kon, it''s refreshing to see you again. i haven¡¯t had the pleasure of killing you myself.¡± the human, who was different from any human he had seen before, smiled creepily and uttered unintelligible words. elder kon had seen many enemies filled with malice, but the mania in that human''s eyes was that of a top predator. he felt a horrifying fear as if his whole body was shrinking under the gaze that was far beyond the normal range. he had never seen any being give off such a creepy feeling. not even when the demons, who could not fight the elves, came to this sanctuary of the elves and made an inviolable treaty. not even from the grand duke called astaroth and other grand duke-class demons, and the incredibly beautiful woman with void eyes and silver hair. not even when he faced dark lord perserque himself did he feel such a chilling sensation. perserque was a being that warned him of a danger greater than any he had ever thought of. the feeling of his blood freezing just by making eye contact¡­ ¡®yes, she is the lord of the demons who shook the continent. i can understand if it''s the dark lord. but what on earth is this human? where on earth did he come from to intrude this sacred space in no time?¡¯ "where, where are the guar-" he could not make a sound. as if his voice had been sealed, he felt like any sound or speech would lead him to a horrifying death. ¡®what are the guards doing?¡® yelling inwardly, elder kon soon noticed the bloodied elf thrown by the grotesque human. the fallen elf was none other than one of the agent guards, the elite force of the divine tree. covered in blood, the agent guard appeared unharmed. he must have infiltrated alone. as the commotion subsided and he turned around, the grotesque human nonchalantly discarded the blood-soaked altar of the new god. paralyzed by the inexplicable situation, elder kon quickly realized that the surrounding scenery had undergone a drastic change, faster than the blink of an eye. "i hid because i was afraid, sorry about that. i''ve been in and out of here many times. actually, i was looking for you. that damn yggdrasil is obviously somewhere nearby." startled by the human¡¯s calm voice, elder kon¡¯s eyes widened and he slowly surveyed his surroundings. his body had stiffened. it had been a hidden refuge just moments ago, but as he regained his senses, he found himself in the midst of an open ruin. and there, among the ruins, three intact crosses stood out. "you, human..." "do you have something to say?" he couldn''t utter a sound, overwhelmed by an intense fear of impending death. behind the speechless boy, something crimson began to take shape. "seeing the three hanging there seems to have triggered something in you. no regrets, though." the calm voice accompanied a transformation. what appeared behind the human boy was the figure of a colossal demon. "i fully intend to become a demon, not a pitiful saint, in your presence." davey was going to do so willingly. with these words, a gigantic monster, radiating an almost overwhelming terror, opened its eyes. simultaneously, elder kon''s knees involuntarily bent and shook as he knelt down. this intruder was not ordinary. the madness etched onto the boy''s face, capable of effortlessly massacring countless elves in a short span of time and summoning a demonic entity even more dreadful than the demon king, was quite literally the embodiment of a malevolent god descending for destruction. "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. it''s only fair to treat devils like devils. i''ve cleanly dispatched others, but you''re not the direct culprit who inflicted that fate upon those three individuals." meanwhile, several lights flickered in the sky, slowly orbiting as if drawing a massive circle. the spectacle was so awe-inspiring that elder kon found himself unable to respond, his eyes wide open, simply staring. then, elder kon felt warmth beneath his robe. unlike the other elders who had lost consciousness, he foamed at the mouth but retained his sanity. he had no choice but to witness the end brought about by the boy, his mouth foaming and even wetting himself. the unidentified demonic figure that emerged behind the boy struck the ground, causing the earth to rupture, and from within, crimson magma surged forth, creating a scene reminiscent of the gates of hell. at that moment, he began to question whether the human boy was truly human, and if he was, what the elves had fearlessly provoked. thoughts that would never have arisen under normal circumstances tormented his mind, leading to confusion. the power emanating so casually from the boy was profound and weighty, far surpassing the dark aura radiated by the demons. the fear it instilled, encompassing death and beyond, was primal and enveloped in pitch darkness. CH 406 "huff... ahh." as davey exhaled briefly, a black aura began to flow over him like steam. the consequence of using devil mana, whose very nature was madness itself, while half of his body was consumed by rage and impulse. ¡®kill! huh? kill! kill them all! quickly use him to kill that bastard!¡¯ the devil mana clamored for attention in such a manner. although davey did not fully unleash the devil mana with his bare body, the destructive aura he emitted, the blood demonic attack, was indeed a power created by the fusion of heavenly destroyer and devil mana. elder kon, suppressed by the overwhelming power around him, collapsed without making any move. since there was no intention to engage in conversation with him in the first place, davey walked toward kon without hesitation and slowly drew the dagger hooked on his waist. as the sharp metallic weapon was unsheathed, making a ghastly noise, kon shivered, and his eyes followed the blade. thrust! "ugh¡­" stab! stab! madness was in full swing. davey continued to pierce kon while bearing a slight smile at the corners of his mouth. "that injury on myuu''s body showed a lack of skill. it was you, wasn''t it?" this novel is available on "pawread dot com". thrust! "ugh..." "you won''t be able to move easily. elder kon, the spirit that protects you, has hidden in fear of his blood demonic attack, and the power of the divine tree that shields you is probably facing an unexpected enemy now." slowly raising his finger, the demon behind davey also lifted its index finger slowly. in the sky above, stars moved in circular orbits, creating trails. "you can''t achieve celestial motion in the same time zone." thrust! ¡®but do you know why the stars draw tails like that? it''s a field magic that imitates part of that power.¡¯ [9th circle transcendent] [grand celestial magic] [rest of the stars] there was no need for further complicated explanations. the more davey ruthlessly carved his sword into kon''s immobilized, still-living body, the broader his smile grew. usually, perserque would restrain him, but she remained in heins territory and could not come here. and this time, he had no intention of controlling his impulse. boom!!! when the demon struck the ground again, cracks spread, and eerie magma spewed out in small amounts. the once lush holy place of the divine tree, now discolored red, turned into a hellfire. davey kept carving his sword into kon''s body until his life force started to drain away. swoosh! slash! he soon picked up a blunt weapon lying around and began to batter kon, who was already marked by his sword. thump!! thump!! "urgh! urgh!" despite kon shivering and twitching all over, davey calmly maintained the blood demonic attack just enough to prevent kon from losing his mind, and purely by physical strength, he battered the man. davey knew from personal experience where to hit so kon would not die but endure longer. there was even the damned hero who insisted that the best way to learn was to personally experience, to the point of beating people until they were at the brink of death. the beating went on for a while, only ending when kon, who had crossed the limit, foamed at the mouth and cried out. it was a pitiful death, but davey did not feel the slightest bit of sympathy. to him, showing mercy to the one who brutally killed that child would be a luxury. boom!! the ground split open once again. including kon who had been swept toward him, the elder elves were soon sucked into the crevices in the ground, swallowed into the fiercely engulfing magma. the only thing left around was death. the only ones who survived here were the human slaves who were caught here. they had headed out of the forest before he started this mayhem. what would happen to them in the future was not certain. but davey¡¯s involvement was limited to this point. he felt a considerable aversion to having killed everyone, regardless of gender and age. even after transforming into a blood elf, there might have been peaceful elves in the past. ¡®ahhh¡­¡¯ eventually, as davey slowly clenched his fist, the demon that had formed around him also closed its fist gradually. with that, the celestial motion that controlled the surrounding nature at will disappeared, and the environment returned to its original state, with the crevices that had split slowly closing up one by one. the surroundings, which had been spreading a hellish scene, returned to a quiet silence as if nothing had happened. silently observing the surrounding ruins, davey soon suppressed his mana sphere slowly, not letting out a single trace of mana and plunging into complete silence. if he tried hard, it was not impossible to do so. thud... thud... silently, he moved, taking down the three elves that hung on the cross. he walked on without a word. he had no ties to myuu or aina of this place. no remnants of a soul remained in their bodies. then, he did something unthinkable for someone who had just committed a mass slaughter. he used a small shovel pulled out from the void space and brought them to a quiet forest that had not yet been discolored and untouched by the aftermath of the corrupted divine tree''s power. even though there should have been many natural spirits here, the spirits overcome by fear did not dare to peek out. yet, he silently shoveled the earth, creating three large graves. first, he gently laid madis down. next was the now cold aina helishana, and lastly, he carefully nestled the little girl myuu, small enough to cradle in his arms, into the grave. "the elves'' funeral is a return to nature," davey muttered as a peculiarly blurry sensation filled his eyes. "how much did you suffer?" there was no answer to his quiet question. "how unfairly were you treated?" again, he asked, but still, there was no reply. "did i...arrive too late?" davey felt sorry. this place was the same as tionis, said to be a place that had everything, even if the landscape changed. in the quiet forest, he began to hum a quiet tune. "my hometown, where warm spring descends..." singing with lyrics was something even his music teacher, muse, had given up on. hence, he quietly hummed the song about home that muse, who had simply been his mentor as a minstrel, used to hum occasionally, slowly and gently covering the three graves with soil. without using the power of spirits or magic, he dug and covered the earth with his own hands. the three elves did not show any reaction to his actions, but he continued in silence. after spending a significant amount of time, three mounds were formed, and he slowly approached the trees nearby. "don''t be scared." at davey¡¯s words, a very small brown apparition peeked out from within the tree. it was a spirit of the earth living here. the frightened creature soon looked at him and slowly emerged from the tree. gathering the fallen big trees on the ground, davey then drew his dagger and carefully carved them, creating wooden tombstones that anyone could be proud of, and placed one in front of each mound. "be born in a place without war in your next life. at least, any place without war is better than here. well, i''m not sure if the souls on the wheel of reincarnation in this lifetime really go through a proper cycle of reincarnation.¡± after silently caressing the tombstones for half an hour, davey slowly got up and casually clenched his hand before turning his back. this sacred place of the divine tree in this world would be completely gone after this time. the decision had been made, and there was no turning back. boom!! megalodria, who had following, stood in front of him, flaunting his massive stature, but davey passed by megalodria and quietly said, "megarodria." "was it a precious connection?" "yes, probably not as much as you think of shane." "..." megalodria silently kept quiet. "stay here. after burning all the damned trees, let''s go." ¡®we never had time to stay here for long. i''m not sure if i can come again, but it''s not a sight to behold.¡¯ * * * even as the elves were dying horribly, the divine tree did not reveal itself. there was no need to search for the complex location of yggdrasil because davey already knew where the resting place of yggdrasil, the garden of yggdrasil, known only to the divine tree¡¯s saint, was. creak... creak... when davey forcibly opened the door and entered the garden, he began to see red branches growing toward him as if they were alive. the once beautiful garden was a sight of devastation. a pond reddened like blood, and the twisted screams of the spirits were all around. the aftermath of the curse left by yuria helishana, who was sacrificed as a tribute to the spirit king, seemed too vast to be so. probably, the divine tree received the consequence of violating a taboo it should not have violated. squeak... squeak... a strange sound could be heard. without a word, davey walked, and soon he could see a woman leaning on a small, long chair in the innermost part. he found her to be a familiar entity. "the prophecy..." eventually, yggdrasil looked at davey with a tired expression. "has the entity of prophecy come?" to that question, davey conjured a flame in one hand. "you reap what you sow, yggdrasil." she stared at davey, her face lined with creases. she was not cursed with baldness, but her grotesquely altered appearance indicated her condition was far from good. if she were openly twisted, at least she would have seemed normal. even when breaking taboos, she did not bend her will, bearing the consequences as she died by her own hand. so, the transcendent gaze that had been watching him from the beginning was not hers. then, the remaining possible entities were not many. two entities seemed to be duplicated here, but between this place and the original tionis continent, there existed only one unique entity. the goddess freyja. however, the gaze felt too cold to be hers. "there is a gaze upon me." to davey¡¯s question, yggdrasil slowly opened her tired eyes and looked at him. then, she smirked cynically. "a gaze¡­ indeed. you are not of this place. that''s why you attracted the gaze. this may eventually turn into something you deeply regret." at those words, the surroundings started to change. suddenly¡­ randomly grown branches started to entwine around davey¡¯s body. "did you think i would die so easily?" davey slowly touched the branches that were wrapping around his whole body. and then, he slowly began to channel a deep, dark power. [rules are independent.] [what i need to do is total independence from heat.] as a massive force trembled, davey¡¯s body began to transform. his magic mentor odin had been a monstrous wizard capable of moving celestial bodies, but she had been distinctly human. without the burden of taboos, she could never have been entirely free from the rules that humans abided by. ¡®but i am different.¡¯ eventually, his body began to distort and change like a flame. although the intense heat was unbearable for the body, davey continued to raise the temperature. ¡®6th circle burn body. i manipulate and change the formula at will, raising its firepower to the extreme.¡¯ it was dangerous for the caster as well, but if he became massively immune to heat from the outset, it would be the most efficient enhancement method. as the temperature continued to rise¡ª1,000 degrees, 2,000 degrees, 3,000 degrees¡ªit eventually began to emit blue flames, incinerating the branches that had been wrapping around him, even though the power of the divine tree should have protected it from any significant impact. as the branches turned to ashes, yggdrasil smiled with a tired face. "the prophecy... never changes..." "at least where i come from, you didn''t burn to death. you died with your head in shambles.¡± "i am tired... he thought that by using yuria''s power as a sacrifice, the divine tree could be independent... but..." "the repercussions were more significant, and the price was higher than you expected." "..." as davey grabbed and incinerated yggdrasil''s core, she disappeared into ashes without even a scream. ¡®assuming this world is okay, it will take countless lifetimes until the next divine tree is born.¡¯ the sight of the divine tree burning and disappearing was not pleasant to look at. however, davey couldn''t easily erase the smile on his face. ¡®this madness!¡¯ as he recognized this and slapped his own cheek, his face gradually returned from smiling to emotionless. after opening and closing his mouth several times, relaxing his muscles, davey turned his body away without hesitation while looking at the trees disintegrating at the atomic level. then, an arrow suddenly flew in afterward. the arrow, filled with a giant flash of lightning, grazed right next to his face. davey stood frozen as he discovered three figures that were not there moments ago. he could see a knight dressed in pitch-black armor wielding a sword, and a dark elf with dark skin. and, in between them, a very familiar figure. "i came here to absorb the power of the divine tree," a hollow voice echoed. at that moment, the dark elf pulled another lightning-filled arrow onto his bowstring, aiming at davey, while the black knight drew a massive sword, guarding the rear. but davey could not move after staring at the figure they seemed to be protecting. he couldn''t say a word. davey just gaped, his eyes wide open. ¡®the feeling is different. i should be following my instincts.¡¯ "even if the divine tree has weakened, ordinary beings cannot kill a divine tree. who are you?" asked the hollow voice. in response, davey clenched his fist tightly, so hard that it felt like the skin might rip off, filled with rage and emptiness. continually glancing at the silver-haired girl, while ignoring the threatening two entities, davey was in shock. ¡®why are you here? why are you in that state?¡¯ tears blurred his vision. ¡®i should have been prepared for all scenarios.¡¯ filled with anger, he shouted, "i should have brought the damned meramong!" ¡®seeing it in person is completely different! a golem capable of shape-shifting! although i couldn''t handle the abyssal lifeform, the purified core had been quite promising, as it listened well to me. it was a foolish act to miss such an opportunity,¡¯ davey thought as he despised his past self. CH 407 chapter 407: rules of parallel lines the atmosphere around davey twisted strangely at his outcry. however, how they saw him did not concern him at all. if he could go back to the past right now, he would thoroughly plunder the golem research lab when he first encountered urd. "why in the world did i create that thing?!" their expressions were uneasy as they watched davey crumble in agony. "your majesty... this one... seems a bit... human." vacant-eyed, perserque looked different. instead of being dressed in her usual revealing outfit, baring her navel and thighs, she was currently dressed in an attire that resembled the demon tribe¡¯s traditional attire. it was not so much that the demon tribe enjoyed destruction, but rather that their hatred had been suppressed over a long period of time. perserque had no option but to take action against davey. her threatening power started to flow out as she quietly lowered her eyes at davey¡¯s outcry, then began to slowly suppress the surroundings. there would not be anyone but the strong-hearted or the powerful who would dare to act in such a peculiar manner as he did. but all one could see in her gaze was the need to somehow avoid this situation. davey slowly got up, desperately suppressing his bitter emotions. there was no point in mindlessly regretting what should not have happened. rising slowly, he carefully looked at perserque from the tip of her toes to the horns sprouting from her head. then, it happened. slash!! a black knight clad in black armor drew his sword and swung it at davey with incredible speed. the speed was truly astonishing, but davey managed to dodge the attack by stepping back and moving out of the way. "you dodged?" the man''s voice, filled with murderous intent, questioned him coldly. "for the crime of daring to look directly at her majesty with those vile eyes, you should have your eyes gouged out..." it was a remarkably sharp attack. the way they aimed for his vitals suggested that they were practiced killers. davey kept a moderate distance and slowly looked up at the sky. the moment davey was about to move, a bow was drawn taut, and the arrow was filled with a large amount of magic energy ready to counter him at any moment. "stop... it." perserque, who had been supporting her head with one hand, slowly opened her mouth to speak. there was a strange sense of resistance in her voice. "stop... pointless killing..." this novel is available on bit.ly/3ibfjkv. "your majesty! we must eradicate all humans!" "your majesty, please leave this place to us and go to the remnants of the divine tree..." "do not kill. if possible, we should capture him alive." it was a brief command. in response, the man in the black armor clicked his tongue so quietly that it could not be heard. "just wait, there''s still more to do." before davey finished speaking, another attack swooped in. the problem was not just the two of them, as dark elves in black attire appeared from all sides in an instant. their murderous intent was palpable. the dark elves, seemingly determined not to give him any space, thrust their swords at his vital points, demonstrating that they were reliable direct subordinates of the dark lord. "do not move, human. her majesty has graciously allowed us to spare you. if you move, you''ll be killed by the swords targeting your vital points in her name." davey quietly looked at the dark elf speaking. "it''s odd. you don''t seem to have particularly strong mana..." "given the chaos in the surroundings, you should probably realize something," davey calmly replied and slowly moved. "do not move!" the dark elf yelled out hastily, noticing his action, but davey¡¯s hand was faster and caught the dagger flying at his eye. "step aside. i have a once-in-a-lifetime task to perform here." crack!! with those words, the dagger in davey¡¯s hand shattered like a biscuit. startled, the dark elves¡¯ attacks came pouring in, but as davey lightly moved his hand¡­ crash!! with a disturbing sound, as if something broke, a dark elf in black attire was flung away, blood spraying. the surprised elves tried to retaliate, but davey¡¯s hand plunged in faster. crack!! an assassin crumpled to the ground, accompanied by the sound of cracking bones. their swords, black as the night, were razor-sharp, capable of ripping through the skin of weaker creatures with ease. enveloped in an aura, they possessed the keenness to slice through rocks or metal as if it were paper. but to their surprise, he caught those prided blades with his bare hands. fear filled their eyes, which were visible through the slits in their masks. crack! the sound of bones shattering rang out again. within an instant, several of them fell. others with their wits still about them immediately noticed that something was off. davey caught a lightning-fast arrow aiming for his heart with one hand and fended off an attack from a swordsman, who was slashing at his throat, with the other. slowly, he closed his eyes, staring into the eerie red light emanating from beneath the swordsman¡¯s helmet. thud! before the lightning arrow dissipated, the swordsman¡¯s attack poured onto davey. abandoning his caught sword, he attempted hand-to-hand combat with him. in an instant, his fists dove into davey¡¯s vitals. davey recoiled back, lightly riding the force of his attack to gain distance. boom! boom! explosions followed as continuous attacks rained down on davey. he defended against the swordsman¡¯s onslaught silently, but from the outside, it appeared that davey was continuously retreating. "die!!!" as the swordsman¡¯s fist wreaked havoc on his vitals and aimed to bore into him with deadly precision, davey was just about to be impaled on the ruined tree nearby. he then withdrew his gaze from perserque. ¡®odd.¡¯ perserque was not the one who had been gazing at davey either. boom! when davey deflected the punch aiming for his head, the shockwave followed his fingertips, causing a massive explosion in the surrounding terrain, sending everything flying. this power was rather interesting, even for the dark lord''s guard. "ugh?!" however, it was not his fault that his opponent was not up to par. all this time, davey had only been retreating, but soon, he shrugged off the sensation in his hand. ¡®the power was quite heavy, but after all, whether it''s them or me, the level of demons who have not joined hands with the abyss is predictable.¡¯ "still, you are better than the humans that regressed as time went by." humans, who had forgotten about the war and became weak due to a peaceful life, were much weaker compared to ancient times. in comparison, the demons, who still harbored resentment against humans while desperately surviving in harsh conditions, were somewhat better. "what are you babbling about¡­?" "there''s a saying in another world, ''reviewing the old to understand the new.'' remember it. you can interpret the meaning yourself." with that, there was a flash in davey¡¯s eyes. the swordsman¡¯s dark helmet flew into thin air, revealing his short, gray hair and a stunned expression. he stood still as if he had seen something unbelievable. davey''s subsequent actions were simple. swiftly and precisely, he struck the swordsman. the attack was neither too loud nor too quiet, but it was so natural that it interrupted all his attempts to counter. thud! with a clear sound, the swordsman staggered back. he had been hit on the upper right side of his chest, right through the armor, but there seemed to be no damage to his flesh. then, he stopped, not moving an inch. walking toward the swordsman, looking as if he had turned to stone, davey casually dusted off his clothes where the swordsman had been aiming earlier and slowly reached out his hand toward the swordsman''s face. "hmm¡­ only one transcendent remains." crack... a short spark arose from davey¡¯s hand, and then lightning emerged from his hand before anyone could intervene. when the tremendous roar had died down, what everyone saw was the figure of a man, burnt black in his armor, blown away dozens of meters from davey. "melbak!!!" a dark elf shrieked in surprise, turning her gaze toward davey. "human!!" in her rage, she aimed her arrow at davey, then froze. as davey released his suppressed strength in case perserque tried to escape, others had clearly realized something was off. thud!! the dark elf woman crashed to the ground, vomiting blood and shaking violently. "you''re lucky," davey said calmly. he then left the dark elf woman to her own devices and looked at perserque. he tried to reach out his hand toward her but stopped himself. "hmm." davey never intended to kill her in the first place. having handed himself over to impulse and madness after seeing myuu¡¯s corpse and setting the divine tree ablaze, the consequences in this other world were not something he could take responsibility for. and if he were to kill the dark lord, who ruled this world, on top of all that... ares, who had raised perserque like his own daughter and had poured out his love for her more than anyone else, had given her up in a bid to end the racial war. unlike ares, who had suppressed his sorrow with his devotion to end the war, davey had no such intentions or reasons. "you... what exactly are you?" perserque¡¯s question echoed in davey¡¯s ears as she remained alert, even though her eyes were vacant. "who am i..." davey quietly muttered and offered a broad smile. it was a friendly smile that humans and demons could not show each other in this world. and before perserque could react, he approached her. she had, in her own way, awakened as the abyssal dark lord. however, the power she displayed as an awakened dark lord was merely on par with the greatest dark lord in history compared to the force the abyss showed. so, even though she was strong, it was not enough to affect davey. was it because she abhorred the power of the abyss and did not want to use it? or was it because her position as the queen had nothing to do with power in the abyss? surprised by davey¡¯s sudden actions, perserque retreated step by step. having witnessed many humans during the resurgence of the continental war, she probably had not encountered a case like his before. "my abyssal power doesn''t work on you... who are you, exactly?" "ah, that." ¡®i remember feeling the same. when i first saw reina.¡¯ seeing her on high alert due to the unknown enemy, davey slowly reached out his hand to her. he had no intention of doing anything to her. regardless of what happened, he did not plan to kill her or take her back to the original world. ¡®the doppelganger system, was it? a system where if two identical entities exist in one world, one of them must perish. i had already confirmed this once through reina. therefore, all i can do, especially since i can¡¯t stay here for a long time, is to slightly loosen the control that dominates her mind.¡¯ ¡®how could a human handle the demon realm? i am a rival to the dark lord and also the dark lord who has officially inherited the hierarchy once through belial. even though i''m not as proficient as she is, it''s clear that i''m slowly getting the hang of mana manipulation.¡¯ as he was reaching out his hand, he abruptly stopped at the sound of an elderly, whisper-like voice. [stop.] he momentarily stopped moving and turned his head. this voice felt the same as the gaze that had been watching him from the beginning. [if you lay your hand on her, you will have intervened more than it was prescribed. you already have the blood of the divine tree on your hands, so you will not be able to return to your original home if you interfere with this world any further.] "what?" [if you still wish to touch her, then you may.] davey stopped his action. CH 408 efore davey could even identify the source of the voice, he became nervous. he squinted slightly, trying to pinpoint its owner. the overwhelming power of the voice made it clear that the speaker was not a typical entity. it wasn''t just the strength of a powerful being; rather, it emitted the sensation of a top-tier entity from a superior race. this feeling reminded davey of something familiar ¨C the dragon tongue, a racial privilege used by dragons, and revelations delivered by gods. the voice had been observing davey like a voyeuristic patient since the beginning¡ªit was neither perserque nor the world tree¡ªand now it whispered to him in a hushed manner. [do you need help, great savior?] "first of all, reveal yourself." [hmm¡­. you are unafraid.] just when davey was about to reply to that calm voice¡­ [it seems oblivion has affected the remaining humans at the edge of the world.] davey remained silent at those words. [what will you do? if you do me a small favor, i can help the little girl.] "why should i trust you?" davey asked. [it¡¯s your choice to trust me or not.] the whispering tone was filled with an unfathomable feeling. from the first conversation, it became evident that it was a transcendent being. however, there were still too few clues to identify the entity. the power of the title given to davey by the god freyja required an equivalent exchange. for instance, it demanded a certain compensation to manifest a miracle. aeria had already paid the price of having her memories erased to save her own life. this implied that everything that had happened since then was not against the will of god. the deal had reached a rightful conclusion. beyond this point, everything was up to davey. "explain in detail." as davey eased the pressure he had exerted on perserque, her guards seized the opportunity to escape with her. nevertheless, davey did not give chase; there was no reason to attempt anything against an untouchable opponent. * * * once the demons left, the ruined sanctuary of the divine tree was once again filled with silence. davey did not feel sorry for the demons, as he was too preoccupied with the voice. "how about showing yourself first?" davey asked. [i don¡¯t have a form. ha¡­ha¡­the entire world is my eyes and ears, so there¡¯s no problem with hearing or seeing. well then, would you please call me observer?] ¡®observer? it¡¯s a title i''ve never heard before.¡¯ while thinking so, davey continued to look around for the origin of the voice. but, as the voice had said, he could not find anything useful. [look. even i can''t find myself, so how could someone else find me?] "observer¡­" [for now, just call me by that title. so, will you consider doing me the favor?] "i can¡¯t trust you." ¡®i can only hear the voice. hastily making a decision in a conversation with an inscrutable entity often invites trouble.¡¯ [are you really so cautious?] "isn''t it even more strange to trust blindly? moreover, nothing''s free." [as i''ve mentioned earlier, i don''t have a physical form. i have eyes and ears, but there are things i can''t do with those alone. so, i wish you could find something on my behalf.] davey was silent at the observer''s words. after a brief contemplation, he called out to megalodria and climbed onto its back. "let''s go back. we''ve finished what we had to do here." at davey¡¯s words, megalodria, with no apparent reason to refuse, slowly fluttered its four pairs of wings and then soared at a high speed toward the open sky. [before that, it would be best if i told you what you need to remember about this place.] the voice was considerably friendly. [you are an outsider here. moreover, an uninvited guest, not someone who had come with great determination. from that standpoint, the influence you can exert here is clearly limited.] davey simply listened to the voice quietly. [because of the things you have done with the divine tree, your influence is already at its limit. meddling with the dark lord could complicate things even more.] "so, i can''t go back?" [most likely, yes.] "not entirely sure, though," davey mumbled, but he knew it himself. after all, he had seen what happened to reina. she had come from another world to davey¡¯s world, not by her own intention, but by the will of goddess freyja. nevertheless, her ability to exert influence was limited, and her very existence seemed to fade away. "don''t get involved..." the world was not in perfect shape to begin with, so it was not impossible for things to take a turn for the worse. "how will you help princess aeria regain her memory?" davey questioned. flying at an incredible speed through the sky, they had already reached the southern part of the eastern continent. they had traversed a large continent diagonally, and megalodria, known as the azure sky¡¯s storm dragon king, showed no signs of fatigue despite its high speed. upon landing in the maritime city of valkass, where davey first encountered the demons and the black dragon, he returned megalodria to its card and crossed over the rift. [won¡¯t you swear beforehand? if i help you, you¡¯ll help me in return.] ¡®i think he won¡¯t stab me in the back after telling me how to save her.¡¯ at his suggestion, davey remained silent for a moment before ascending to the deck of the gigantic ship where aeria was likely sleeping. from there, he could see aeria sleeping peacefully, while some guards were busy doing something around her. "stop what you''re doing," davey commanded. the guards immediately halted their actions. slowly and stiffly, like broken machines, they turned their heads toward davey. "i told you to keep quiet and guard her," davey reproached them. startled, two of the guards stepped back, but one of them continued to try and shield aeria from davey''s sight. ¡®what had they done while i was gone? even if they were slaves to their desires, they should have some discernment,¡¯ davey thought as he approached the guard who was desperately hiding aeria''s face. "please move aside," davey asked calmly. "he... hehehehe!" one of them attempted to defuse the situation with a strange laugh. but davey¡¯s hand had already gripped the guard''s shoulder. his synchronization faded as he crossed the boundary again. however, even with his power returned to its original strength, he was not so weak that he could be pushed around by these guys. bang! after roughly shaking them off, he frowned at aeria''s face. [these are some really amusing spirits.] the observer, who had followed davey here, burst into laughter, finding the situation very amusing. despite being a transcendent being, a god-tier entity, the observer seemed to have a sense of humor, which was unexpected. regardless, davey pressed his hand against his throbbing head and muttered, "get down on your knees." upon closer examination, davey noticed bizarre scribbles on aeria''s face, made with some sort of charcoal, the source of which was unknown. circles were drawn around her eyes, and her previously pale nose was now pitch black. on her cheeks, there were markings that made it hard to discern whether they were supposed to be facial hair or something else. * * * "advance 20 meters," davey commanded in a stern voice. as he wiped aeria''s face with a wet cloth, trying to wake her up from her deep slumber, he continued giving orders. the guards, still on their knees, tried to move forward slowly while grunting. "the slowest one will do an additional 40 meters," davey added, and one of the guards on the far right with a bastard sword squirmed before shoving the others next to him. thump!! with an unpleasant sound, the betrayed guards looked on in disbelief as the guy with the bastard sword took the opportunity to move quickly ahead. they were all cursed by davey anyway and were balding as a result ¨C a group of fools. the other two guards, realizing they had been tricked, attempted to catch up, but it was not an easy task to close the distance. as davey carefully wiped aeria''s face, keeping an eye on the men''s competition, the voice spoke again. [is that girl important to you?] ¡°...¡± ¡®we were merely doctor and patient. in fact, we hadn''t had many conversations. but it''s true that i keep thinking about her. it felt like i had a child that i couldn''t leave alone.¡¯ [tsk tsk, your mind is full of distractions. where did all the endless power, emptiness, and madness you showed before crossing the boundary go?] ¡°there''s a price to power." at davey¡¯s words, the observer laughed out loud. ¡°so, i''d like you to tell me how to regain her memory.¡± [shouldn''t we make a promise first?] ¡°don''t you know that a verbal promise can be broken anytime? it''s human nature." [i believe you''re different.] the observer was quick on the uptake. ¡°as long as it doesn''t harm me." [i guarantee it''s not that.] at his words, davey agreed. ¡°okay. let''s try to find it. we have about two days left.¡± at davey¡¯s words, the observer fell silent. [good. that''s enough. it doesn''t matter if you start searching now or later. you''ll be forced out of here in about 48 hours, but since you''ve caught my eye, there will be a way back.] he postponed his demand without hesitation. [the girl''s soul must have settled back in exchange for her memories.] it was the moment the observer was about to explain quietly. "hmph¡­" at the short groan from aeria, the observer chose to remain silent instead of explaining, and as she opened her eyes, davey slowly embraced her. he asked, "are you conscious?" support us at bit.ly/3ibfjkv. ¡°kyaa!!" her reaction was different than usual. startled, aeria slipped out of davey¡¯s arms and retreated with a frightened face. "w-who are you?!" her memory had been gradually disappearing. after fainting, she had paid the price with the memory she treasured the most. she had forgotten everything about davey. she screamed that she did not want to face this reality. knowing that fact, it was even more bitter to witness it happen. just as davey was about to say something, a clear tear fell from aeria¡¯s eyes as she looked at davey. ¡°huh?¡± an unfamiliar voice of surprise flowed from aeria¡¯s mouth, as if she herself did not understand what was happening. CH 409 the princess of the abyss, urd, found herself trapped in a gigantic fissure. the overwhelming pressure threatening to disassemble her body at any moment felt suffocating, leaving her no choice but to endure it. the space where she had previously fought with the human did not exert such pressure. but when she deviated from her orbit due to his attack, when she was swept away by the rapidly changing current, and left alone in this place, she slowly realized that even with her sturdy body, it was becoming increasingly difficult to withstand. it was not that she had not resisted. she had released her power fiercely, shaking the entire fissure. however, due to the backlash, she found herself being pushed even further toward the outskirts of the fissure''s orbit. her lack of knowledge on how to navigate such spaces was a hindrance. unlike davey, who had expected that she would soon escape, her situation was severe. in a reality where she had no choice but to succumb, she found herself silently deteriorating. the skin on the back of her hand was cracking like parched earth, and her body was fracturing as if it were a shattered glass bottle. urd, seemingly on the brink of death, maintained her silence. when the fissure in her body grew to an extreme size, the unexpected happened. with a ripping sound, space tore open, revealing a woman with fiery red hair. "stupid girl," the woman said, her voice filled with scorn. urd, however, said nothing, slowly raising her gaze to meet the woman''s. she found herself unable to speak, left weak from the struggle. she had shaken the entire fissure with a simple release of her power, but power released without a clear purpose was nothing more than a waste. the red-haired woman, who had grabbed urd by her throat, casually opened the space and cast her aside. she sneered, "get lost, you shameless wench. no wonder you''re at the bottom of the pecking order.¡± "sleesia..." urd tried to speak, but was swiftly cut off. "don''t call me with that lowly mouth of yours, wretch." the red-haired woman watched as urd disappeared, clicking her tongue in disdain. she went on to mutter, "how ignorant, to make such a mess of the fissure.¡± although urd''s experience and intelligence were lacking, her power was astonishing. the red-haired woman surveyed the entire fissure before reaching out to open the crevice again. "even if she is useless, i can''t ignore a fellow species being treated like this," she admitted to herself. a decision was made, to make the human pay in blood for reducing urd to such a state. "this way it is," she said, before casually opening a portal to the tionis continent, where the human was believed to be. the red-haired woman, born with considerable power over dimensional fissures, could move more easily and quickly to the tionis continent than anyone else, especially when the influence of the god in the forefront was weakened. with a loud spark, she emerged from the fissure, dusting off her alluring outfit, and slowly looked up at the sky. the two moons, boasting red and blue colors, were faintly visible even in the middle of the day, casting an eerie gloom over the land. "it''s oddly annoying, but since it''s not the world given to me to destroy, i can only endure it," she muttered, her eyes scanning the horizon. suddenly, something caught her attention. "move faster!" she heard in the distance. a group of demons was relentlessly whipping humans, who were weakly walking in their shackles. the sight, and the smell that accompanied it, stirred something within her. "but first, i need to create a little piece of art," she decided, a sense of anticipation flickering dangerously on her lips. * * * instinctively, davey widened his eyes and raised his hands, making desperate efforts to calm her down. "please, calm down, princess aeria." "who, who are you?! and where is this place...." aeria stammered, her eyes brimming with tears. she could not comprehend the emotions that were causing the tears to flow incessantly. "don''t panic. i''m not going to hurt you," davey reassured her. despite davey¡¯s words, aeria could not erase the wary expression on her face. having forgotten all her memories of him, she had flown here with davey, probably completely forgetting that she had once died. it was only natural that she would be on guard, suddenly finding herself here. yet, the fact that she did not resist heavily showed how little desire she had had for life when she was ill. even her desperate cries, clinging to davey, were all forgotten. if she had forgotten everything about him, it could mean that she was safe from the characteristics of her kind, which might be a relief for davey. but, as with everything in the world, things did not just roll on understanding and compassion. "s-stay away! if you come any closer, i''ll kill myself!" aeria yelled at davey, not even thinking to wipe away her own tears. the unfamiliar sight of her, different from the usual aeria who was friendly and relied on davey, brought a fresh yet bitter feeling. "huh? what''s that?" davey pointed to one side with a flustered sound. aeria followed his hand with her gaze. in that moment, he quickly moved in, lightly knocked away the dagger she had been holding, and snatched it from her. "ah!" "it''s okay." before she could widen her eyes in surprise, davey held her to calm her down. he said, "i''m on your side. i have no other goal than to cure you. don''t be afraid." at the sound of his voice, aeria struggled, not knowing what to do. she yelled, "get, get away from me! whoever you are, i''m a hideous creature that should not have contact with others!" "what?" "i have... i have a terrible curse on my body! even with this mask, my face has been transformed hideously... stay away! if you''re not careful, you too...!" as she cried out, she touched her own face with her hands and froze. "t-the mask!" "looks like you''ve completely forgotten." the situation was serious. from the time aeria had recovered, it seemed that most of her life had been related to davey. "no, no, no!" panicked and flustered, she was strongly held by davey so she could not move, and he whispered comfortingly, "it''s okay. you''re fine. you''re not hideous at all." "let me go. please...!" aeria sobbed, not believing until she saw it for herself. davey cast a simple mirror magic and showed it to her. "look for yourself. and listen to what people say." the flustered girl looked at her reflection in the mirror and widened her eyes. then, she blankly reached out to the mirror. her turquoise ears flickered and her eyes opened wide. this was because the girl in the mirror reached out and touched the mirror''s surface in the same way. "this, this is me..." "that''s right. there''s no longer anything like a rapid fusion virus in your body." at davey¡¯s words, aeria remained silent for a long time, her face confused, as if she did not know what to say. * * * having completely lost her memories of davey, aeria reverted to the memories before she had recovered from her illness, and she looked quite crestfallen. the vivacious personality that had somewhat developed over time seemed to have disappeared, leaving her looking gloomy. "method." davey gave aeria, who was confused, some time alone and looked out at the coast of balkas, where the ship was moored, from the top floor of the cabin of the huge ship. [haha, as long as you keep your promise with me, it is possible for her to remember.] "..." [but i have a feeling that you''re not going to do it.] "sometimes it''s good not to remember." davey did not feel capable of taking responsibility for aeria. in the tionis continent, it was common and normal for royal and noble families with great influence to have multiple wives. that was what political marriages were about. but did davey need to be tied to something like a political marriage? the main person, perserque, seemed to want him to take care of aeria, though. [it''s up to you to solve it. i can help the girl, as promised. but there''s something you need to do first.] at the observer¡¯s words, davey nodded with a somber face. search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original. "let me hear it for now." [the balance in the current world is extremely unstable. from the manager''s point of view, neither side can be taken... but balance is important.] bit by bit, davey began to grasp what he was trying to convey in his explanation. [find the hope that has vanished from the observer¡¯s eyes.] davey responded to that proposal with silence. [regardless of the side, every life is precious. this world, i suspect, has a vastly different atmosphere from the one you know. am i wrong?] "you''re correct," davey answered. the observer¡¯s voice cackled with satisfaction at davey¡¯s response. "so, you''re telling me to not interfere with this world any longer, but to find hope? the only way i know to bring hope to some of the races in this world, including humans, is just one. overturn everything. crush the balance that is overwhelmingly in favor of demons and remind humans of the word ''hope''. it''s quite a ludicrous proposal.¡± [you''re sharp and quick-witted, yet remarkably stubborn in unexpected areas.] "thanks for the compliment, but do you have any solutions at all?" davey retorted, clearly annoyed. [never underestimate the observer¡¯s eye. demons, unlike humans, have a hierarchy ingrained in their blood. if you promise, i''ll gladly assist you.] "how do you plan to help?" davey asked. [firstly, i need to explain the forces that have been exerted on you and the girl from the perspective of the observer.] his voice, though formless, resonated clearly. as davey ventured into the serene line, he slowly reached out his hand when he heard a crawling noise, which signaled the presence of a remaining foe. a massive roach, with a large sac on its back, rushed toward him, its sharp jaws gleaming. however, before it could get close, it was hit by an intensely heated fireball, turned pitch black, and disappeared. "roaches should be burnt," davey commented. [the power exerted on the girl in the observer¡¯s eye is a bit peculiar. it''s neither divine nor transcendental.] "what does that even mean?" [hmm¡­ let''s see. what''s your name?] "davey, davey o¡¯rowane." [ah¡­ so you''re the long-deceased first prince of the rowane kingdom. the presence or absence of a single person can change the future. most people wouldn¡¯t know that your name is davey o¡¯rowane, but it doesn¡¯t change the fact that you possess that name.] he was referring to the alchemical hypothesis of turning a minuscule influence into reality, or a yet-to-be-proven logic. it seemed far-fetched, but there was one possible way. "the rules of the world..." the world was underpinned by the transcendental will of ''god'' and ''the rules of the world''. in fact, the rules of the world had erased the alien substance, reina, from its place. [so, the same rules apply to your world and this mirror-like world, but they also have side effects that can redirect the course. if we find a solution within the boundaries of this world, we can twist the process. everything that exists in this world is made within the limits allowed by the world''s rules.] unlike the force that the massive transcendental would forcibly fix, there existed a solution to the penalty. it seemed like the reason why goddess freyja granted davey the power of the title and its related powers was because of the existence of this detour. the observer urged davey with a bitter murmur. [summon that creature with the massive feathers. as long as you don''t mess with the upper demons, there shouldn''t be a big problem. it''s better to see it for yourself.] the potential to restore aeria¡¯s condition. if davey considered her future, it would probably be right to erase her short-term memory of less than a year. however, his pride as a doctor wouldn''t allow it. instead, he would restore her memories to the fullest extent possible, and then he would make sure she did not face the threat of death due to the limitations of her race. ¡®cruel? medical arts are fundamentally cruel.¡¯ [by the way, remember this. the observer can see the present and fragmented future. well, not as much as that great dark lord who''s rampaging right now.] "speak clearly, old man." [you know, even for your dear son, breaking your stubbornness could be a noble thing. or do you want to become the bride of god, just like the destiny carved into your body? ha ha ha!] "nonsense." the world tree and all-knowing beings had all said such things, and it was utterly infuriating. ¡®this goddamn bride nonsense.¡¯ davey¡¯s footsteps were markedly heavy. CH 410 iding on megalodria, davey crossed the barrier once again. only after feeling the peculiar sensation of his physical body and soul resynchronizing did he swiftly fly toward the southern region of the central continent. [the prugrepf royal tomb is a relic that dates back five thousand years. a culture of the distant past that doesn''t even have any records left. no one in the world remembers it, but i, who have seen and felt everything on this land over a long time, know that there is one creature who remains awake inside the dungeon where everything else slumbers. its name is the "silver chime."] there were cases when the numerous rules of the world overlapped by chance and created treasures. if his explanation was right, the silver chime was one such case. it took thousands to tens of thousands of years to form, and it was a treasure that was created at an extremely low probability over a long time. mana flowed in a certain direction for a long time, accumulated, and became a jewel when blocked by an obstacle, forming with the addition of special pressure, heat, and other factors. if what the observer said was true, it seemed that the silver chime had been created only once since his will awoke. its effect was... immunity. as long as it was not divine power, there was a possibility. if an unknown power was not just deleting aeria¡¯s memory, but completely scratching it out and sealing it somewhere, the effect of immunity could erase its efficacy and restore the memory. the observer¡¯s proposal was quite simple. he would reveal to davey the hidden location of this treasure. in other words, it was also a suggestion that if there were a silver chime, several problems imprinted on reina¡¯s body could be solved at once: the possibility that she could cause problems by confronting illyna, another entity like her, and the likelihood that she, the unwanted guest, might disappear. the idea was that a single dewdrop could solve all of these issues. now it was too late to use it on reina, and because aeria was also having her memories deleted according to the rules of the world due to a similar situation, it seemed that his intention was to use it here. "what exactly are you? there couldn''t be an existence like you in the world where i lived." [didn''t you say it yourself? this world is unstable. why is it strange that a bizarre existence like me would appear?] ¡®so, is this entity essentially the embodiment of the world''s will, but one that has been created by chance?¡¯ woong!!! having descended from the back of megalodria, who landed by halting its four pairs of giant wings, davey stared directly into the red eyes that were looking at him. ¡°if i leave here and return to where i was originally, is there a possibility of being eroded again?¡± "there shouldn''t be any major issues since we''ve dealt with it here. your grandmaster-level power will gradually return as well." that would mean that apart from the abyss princess in the tionis continent where davey was, there would be no entity that could beat megalodria. even davey would have a hard time battling megalodria. ¡°i will wait here, davey. again, i thank you for restoring my will. but there is a clear limit to what i can help with. as erosion disappears, the time i can exist in the intermediary world, not the dimensional world, is also rapidly decreasing.¡± megalodria had once explained to davey about himself, the other king of mythical beasts, and their homeland, the lux continent. one day, due to the sudden appearance of the abyss princess, that damned "urd," and the bizarre entities she controlled, a war broke out for several decades, leaving only a handful of humans and mythical beasts on the lux continent, which eventually perished. ¡®if we leave entities like the abyss princess, urd, or verdandi as they are, it would be the same for tionis. i can''t synchronize in the original world of the tionis continent where i live. i''d like to meet them here if possible. i can erase them here without leaving any aftermath.¡¯ davey left megalodria and held the hand of aeria, who had quietly followed him to this place. no one but davey could cross the boundary, but thanks to the power of the observer, aeria was given a very brief right to interfere. "ah..." she looked at him, surprised. finding herself holding hands with a strange man she had never seen before, she tried to pull her hand out of his. "let, let go, please!" "you''ll get hurt if you go alone." at his words, aeria seemed to realize her situation, her eyes wide open, and slowly bowed her head. "i''m sorry. i''ve been causing trouble for you..." her mind was inevitably in a chaotic mess. when she came to her senses, she found herself in a strange world, alone with a man she had never seen before, and her previously grotesque face due to illness had vanished entirely, too cleanly for comfort. upon seeing her face and realizing her disease was cured, she wept miserably for nearly an hour. it was as though she was rebelling against the stares and whispers she had endured in the past. this behavior, identical to when she first started, was proof that she was nothing if not consistent. search "pawread dot com" for the original. "we must endure here for the remaining two days, whether we live or die. it would be best to find a way to treat the patient." "prince davey... you really are considerate..." aeria stated calmly, managing a faint smile. "the person who marries you will surely live a happy life." "do you think so?" "yes." her response was peculiarly firm. "did... did i know you well, prince?" at her cautious question, davey fell silent for a long while. her wary behavior was vastly different from the little girl who used to yearn for him in the past, causing a sense of dissonance and unsettling thoughts. "i... i feel like i know you well, even though it''s strange..." at her statement, davey responded matter-of-factly, "it''s called stockholm syndrome." "st... what''s that?" "it''s when a hostage and a captor become emotionally attached.¡± [i don''t understand the logic of this stockholm-whatever, but at least i know it''s not that.] ¡°shut up," davey whispered to the observer. as they were moving, a few sharp arrows accompanied by a strange smell of sweat flew from the forest toward aeria. "eek?!" without hesitation, davey reached out and caught the arrows, then he blatantly showed his dissatisfaction to the observer. "in a place where no one knows?" [uh, ahem. i forgot. there were human resistance survivors hiding here.] ¡°are you trying to kill two birds with one stone?¡± [ahem! you may be in a hurry, but so am i! what a difficult human! a promise is a promise. there''s no need to go far, just help them a little!] "there should be a sequence in handling tasks." [i don''t know! i don''t know! you promised to help! do both tasks at the same time! and don¡¯t act so stingy!] the observer¡¯s voice sounded like a child throwing a tantrum. * * * "your majesty!" loyal subjects gathered around perserque, who was sitting on her throne with one hand covering her face. "how dare they commit such blasphemy against our majesty!" "the elves have completely lost their minds! they dare to touch the body of her majesty!" a demon of giant stature, enraged, roared out. "inflicting such harm on the body of her majesty... even with the weakened divine tree, it should be impossible, right?" a succubus dressed in radical attire slowly voiced her opinion with a cautiously raised hand. dark lord perserque had headed toward the sacred place of the divine tree with her two escorts. the escorts lost consciousness almost immediately upon their return, and perserque did not speak easily, perhaps due to the complexity of her thoughts. in the end, all they could ascertain was that their dark lord had been ambushed by the elves on her way to the divine tree. "it is time we show the divine tree a taste of bitterness." they did not know that the divine tree had been destroyed by davey''s hand. "but the divine tree is the divine tree. what are you going to do about it¡­?" "we first need to find out if it really was the divine tree that attacked our majesty..." "no!!" just then, the silent palace doors opened, and a dark elf woman rushed in. she was one of the few survivors who had accompanied perserque. thud!! all eyes turned toward her. from archduke astaroth to several archdukes and first lich nyx, who was checking perserque¡¯s condition, their gaze held immense pressure. "i, who failed to protect the body of her majesty, am unworthy! i think i should still tell the truth even if it can''t be repaid in death, so i ran from the sickbed!" "you wench! how dare a sinner who failed to protect her majesty''s body..." "enough. let''s hear her report first." at nyx''s resonating words, everyone fell silent. "the divine tree... did not attack her majesty." the dark elf spoke with difficulty, but her words were firm. "it was a human. it was a human who, single handedly, killed the divine tree! he¡¯s a completely new enemy who has never shown his face in all the wars so far! he is strong! you must not underestimate him! carelessly, we could all be wiped out...!" at these words, confusion began to appear on the faces of all the demons in the hall. however, soon the hall erupted into boisterous laughter. "hahahahahaha!!! a human? a human, you say?! what a joke! those human scum who have been washed out in the face of just three legions, what can they possibly do!" the words of the archdemon formalion might have been a bit exaggerated, but it seemed like everyone shared the same sentiment. they would not believe it so easily. the dark elf woman grew impatient with this dismissive attitude from the demons. a direct confrontation had to be avoided. what could be seen in the eyes of that human boy was a dreadful madness, and an enormous amount of power that could shatter the world. but they were unaware. their dark lord, perserque, had not even engaged in direct conflict with him. she was a dominant figure among the demons; even simply considering her physical power, she was called the greatest of all time among the demon lords. of course, her power was not as it had been, but it was a common understanding that once she started to exert her authority, it would be a matter of moments to annihilate the humans on this continent. but even she, without being able to exert her authority, was shocked. just what was that human? an unseen human throughout this long war has appeared, causing such shockwaves. the dark elf woman, enveloped in confusion, eventually looked at nyx, who led the demons. the massive lich, reduced to bones, silently stared at perserque before slowly opening his mouth. "no matter what, we can''t let the human who dared lay a hand on her majesty go. majesty, please give your command to grimghast (black dragon troop). they only follow the orders of the one who ascended to the hierarchy of the dark lord; they could be a great help." nyx''s eyes flashed once, and perserque took a short breath. she then slowly opened her mouth, biting her lips lightly as if in pain. "i... i command in the name of the dark lord. grimghast is to... find him immediately..." it was a subdued voice, almost tired. it was a command given in a state where she could not properly think, but nyx seemed satisfied. originally, unlike the other demons, nyx knew her secret well. perserque, who had always been strong, was a girl who proclaimed the importance of life dreadfully. this fact still held true even after more than 3,000 years. that was why nyx had made a body that controlled most of perserque¡¯s spirit, and it had now reached this point. her existence will be a major center for scattered demons or anyone who has teamed up with the demons. soon, nyx gave a command as if he had taken the throne in the absence of the dark lord. "find him. and show those foolish ones who dare to oppose the dark lord a painful lesson!" at nyx''s words, the demons bowed their heads together. they did not know. the human who had appeared suddenly was not just a human, but a monster who could sweep away the entire continent single-handedly. and that he was identical to the dark lord they pledged their allegiance to. no, rather, he was the one who had inherited all the power of the dark lord, unlike perserque, who was unstable due to her created body. CH 411 ed alert. silently, rinne sat hunched at the top of the castle, overlooking the domain. it felt deserted, even though not a single person was missing. already two days had passed since he disappeared. the order to sound a red alert throughout the domain if he disappeared and left no trace was deeply etched into her mind. red alert. davey o¡¯rowane, her owner and master, seemed to have entrusted most of the domain''s management to amy on the surface. however, he was taking care of the majority of the work that amy could not handle. he looked after law enforcement, legal matters, and even civil safety. among these, the alert system was a system that he prepared silently¡ªgreen, yellow, and red. the red alert was a last resort, using the power to activate a large-scale barrier with the ancient relic, the magic stone, encompassing the entire domain. this barrier, which completely excluded the invasion of a specific entity, might seem quite loose in some sense, but in other aspects, it was almost perfect. was that all? as soon as the heins domain entered the red alert system, rinne pulled out a manual that only she knew about and handed it over to amy. realizing the severity of the situation, amy used all the authority she had to enter a state of high tension. "reporting that davey''s signal is completely cut off now. but it is analyzed that he is not dead." those gathered in the giant hall fell silent. "davey has disappeared...." archbishop alice, who was at the front, muttered with a serious expression. she had seen it firsthand. a young boy, not even in his twenties, named davey o¡¯rowane, held an incredibly powerful force. he sensed something serious, headed outside the domain alone, and not long after, issued an unexpected order and disappeared. "isn''t this a really serious issue? if he was in a state where he couldn''t even put up a fight, this is almost a continental-scale issue..." at alice''s words, some of the professors seemed not to understand, but a few others nodded as if they understood what she was saying. in the midst of this, alice was able to spot a man crouching and chuckling in a corner. it was the man known as olman, who was once a senior knight of the pallan empire. he had been a leading candidate as a professor teaching swordsmanship at the academy. she had heard of his reputation to some extent. the pallan empire, unlike the talent-rich lyndis empire, held tremendous prestige due to the complex interplay of new technologies and various factors. there exist talents in the pallan empire that even the lyndis empire would envy. one of them was olman. from a young age, he had demonstrated tremendous talent and became a swordmaster, and his popularity within the empire was quite extraordinary. he was well-known as the top candidate for a groom in the empire. skills, appearance, wealth, age¡ªthere was nothing he lacked. but now... "hey, olman. how long will you keep doing that?" "hehe... hahaha." what on earth happened? olman looked as if he hadn''t slept in days, with dark circles under his eyes. even though alice had seen him eating heartily, he looked emaciated. clutching a potato and giggling, he kept repeating the same words. "this potato is mine... it''s mine, i won''t give it to anyone, it''s mine..." sometimes he was fine. but when he got like this¡­ it was pitiful. alice, who snatched away the potato in a flash, kicked him out. "get a hold of yourself, man! are potatoes the important thing right now?!" in the end, alice could not hold back her temper. when had she ever expressed her emotions so openly, revealing her temper like this? it was too comfortable. she had not known how good it felt to live as she pleased, dropping all pretense. "oh, no! my potato!" as he leapt to his feet screaming, olman¡¯s eyes flared as he glared at alice. "professor alice! what are you doing! give it back right now!" "hah! if you don''t come to your senses, i''ll eat all of this, you know?" as she spoke, alice bit into the potato he had been nibbling on. a fire sprang up in olman¡¯s eyes. "oh no! my precious potato! you... you''re ruthless!" simultaneously, he raised his unarmed hand. his attack was sharp and swift, something unthinkable of the man he had been before. despite the assault resembling one unleashed on a mortal enemy, alice reflexively used a holy spell to deflect it. this was a practical skill that strengthened only what was necessary. such a technique would have been impossible for the alice of the past. the consequences of everything they were experiencing here had been shaped by that mad prince alone. "if you keep on behaving like this without assessing the situation, you might just end up revealing all your secrets and insanity to the pallan empire!" she warned. "uh?!" olman flinched. alice sighed, pulling out a handkerchief from her pocket and wiping off the remnants of the potato on his lips. "what are you doing at this age, really?" "uh?!" olman protested, his face turning beet red. but like him, alice was also a strong person, one who had once received the love of a god. olman''s tantrum was swiftly suppressed. "so, what are we going to do now?" an elderly wizard eventually asked rinne. the faculty had made one promise when they arrived here. if there were any unjust intrusions into the heins territory, including their students, they would lend their strength to preserve the heins territory and the academy. while the details were many, as long as it was not an issue like a civil war, it was not a bad deal. "we need to maintain the current state of alert," rinne stated, and everyone else remained silent in response. "okay. for now, the priests and i will check the condition of those who came from the lyndis empire. i wonder what has happened¡­" "rinne highly appreciates your wise judgment," rinne said. were they aware? that a continental calamity, urd, had appeared and that davey had grabbed her by the hair and thrown her into another dimension? simply put, they were wasting their efforts at the moment. however, their hard work was not entirely in vain. it was because a significant ripple had occurred in the heins territory, under the influence of its state of alert. after hearing davey''s words, the faculty who had stopped their training joined in staying alert and making progress. and, another thing they had forgotten. the silver-haired girl who had realized earlier than anyone else who davey had collided with had left the territory before the red alert was sounded. * * * "you fool!!" perserque openly displayed her anger as she looked down at the ruined forest. though her power was still meager, it was not difficult for her to hover in the air with the unique power she possessed. nothing remained in the ruins. there were remnants, though. one was the unique power of davey, and the other was a power familiar to her. it was eerily similar to what the creepy voice that kept her awake every night had shown her. but it was much more comprehensive and vast than that. the thought of confronting that mind-corrupting voice again was horrifying and something she did not wish for. after all, she was currently in a very dangerous state. if she had ascended to the throne of the dark lord, the abyss might not have touched her out for fear of divine power. but with davey usurping the throne and reducing her to an ordinary demon girl, things had gotten complicated. "stupid thing! i told you i was in danger¡­" perserque stooped to inspect the signs on the ground. then, she slowly closed her eyes, manifesting a power unique to her that she had not granted davey. regardless of what the abyss turned into, davey was important to her. at present, their relationship had evolved to one that she could not live without. she knew better than anyone that she was gradually getting accustomed to davey''s behavior, threatening her every time with a ring on her ring finger. she blushed slightly as she thought of davey''s silent, playful smile. "in my name, reveal your entire being to me." as she began to look at the memory of the land with the power of the abyss, her eyes widened. at the same time, something that had been locked away for a very long time, something that she had forcibly closed when she was the dark lord, opened up within her. * * * the forest was thick with palpable tension. this forest was dense enough to deter not only humans and forest-familiar elves, but also beast-kin who made the forest their home. in some ways, it was the safest place for scoundrels to hide. this was because the demonic beings, who manipulated magic, had a somewhat adverse effect on the unique energy of this forest that exuded a serene atmosphere. ¡°hmph!¡± regardless of her talent as a spirit mage, aeria had no combat experience. naturally, she was startled by an arrow flying toward her. even though she was trembling, she forced herself to act calm and clench her teeth, and davey, standing behind her, easily broke the arrow he grabbed from the air and blinked quietly. from their highly cautious perspective, it was expected, but did they have to shoot an arrow right away? boom!!! davey exerted his will, and a massive amount of mana brutally spread out, starting to suppress the surrounding area. it looked very similar to the gravity magic, gravity, but in reality, it was an inefficient act of suppressing the surroundings with mana alone, not magic. "ugh!" "urgh." "agh!" when screams burst out simultaneously from all around, aeria looked toward the forest in surprise. then, seeing a few men and women falling from the trees, she turned her gaze toward davey. "it''s, it''s a person!" she exclaimed and immediately covered her face. however, she soon remembered that her face was no longer grotesque and slowly removed her hands. they seemed to have mistaken davey and aeria for demonic beings. indeed, there was not much difference between a demon and a human when one wore a robe. "darn¡­ melissa! run! inform them that they''ve found us and leave this place!" a man anxiously shouted, brandishing his sword courageously. then, he charged at davey, screaming. ¡®this human was the last of the resistance?¡¯ davey, feeling incredulous, caught his sword barehanded. cling!!! the sword broke like a straw. he would have to create a new weapon. it was too weak. davey then slowly clenched his fist toward the man, who stared with wide eyes. "brace yourself." thud!!! the man was thrown back like an electrocuted frog. [now it''s your turn. reassure them! and get the key to open the vault!] ¡°but you said no one knew where the vault was.¡± [ugh! why are we being so nitpicky when we''re working toward the same good cause!] davey sighed deeply and slowly held aeria in his arms. "eek!" "the forest is dangerous, we can''t just walk in. please behave." aeria went silent. her face was flushed, but her expression was complex. the fallen man? davey simply ignored him. he was able to spot a group forming a small village not far away, holding weapons. the state of the resistance, which was now very few in a world where most human groups had been annihilated, was shockingly miserable. even refugees wielding farming tools would have a better situation. those few who first confronted him were the only ones with combat skills. he heard the voice of the observer looking at the dreadful situation. [there are still a few resistances left in the wide world. i called you here because my purpose and yours match. it won''t take long.] "we have two days left. damn it, you idiot." [it seems possible.] davey sighed at the observer''s vaguely hopeful voice. once davey decided to help, he had to help, that was true. but just using power would not work, which davey knew well. helping? it was not hard. just blowing off the heads of the aggressive demons. it was simple. but it was complicated because that was not possible in reality. this novel is available on bit.ly/3ibfjkv. [for example, you could make a symbolic and outstanding weapon with your skills.] a bitter laugh slipped out of davey''s lips. "why? don''t you see that they are weaklings who don''t know how to fight, let alone have weapons? should i make a railgun for them?" davey stopped as he was saying that. railgun? it seemed plausible, and he had a feeling that a fun idea was slowly coming up. but that thought stopped when he saw a woman slowly walking out from the group. the woman in her early 20s was heavily pregnant. and she was familiar. she had grown unrecognizably over 10 years. CH 412 it was a ragtag group, bearing farming tools and showing less strength than peasants protesting in the countryside. it was comical to consider that they were expected to defeat the demons who could easily defeat sword masters. from davey''s perspective, these devils, who had ended up killing his loved ones, could be considered a hostile force in this place, despite their seeming weakness. sure, an eighth circle wizard was a disaster-grade entity on the continent, but there was a clear hierarchy above them, and the gap between each level was immense. the heroes of the heroes hall were all powerful individuals who had spent a long time in the hall and had grown exceptionally strong. to compare their strength to their past selves would be laughable. the moment one of these entities, unable to interfere with the world, was able to exert their power, the standards of this world would become meaningless. the abyss was complex; just as the entities in the abyss could not fully comprehend davey, davey himself could not fully comprehend them either. however, even though the creatures of this world seemed insignificant and weak to davey, they were significant and powerful to the inhabitants. just as a max level user could easily kill a field boss at a beginner hunting ground, a newbie who had just started the game might find the same boss a matter of life and death. he could solve everything if he intervened, but the observer had shouted that any excessive intervention on davey¡¯s part was absolutely impossible. the problem was not this world; it was that he would not be able to return if he intervened too much. as a consciousness contemplating this world, this world should be the priority. but the observer only wanted to kindle a spark of hope with the minimal assistance and hoped that davey would leave before his existence had too much of an impact. [stop!] as davey, lost in thought, unknowingly took a step toward the woman, he suddenly halted. [halt! it would be problematic if you reveal your existence to that girl! not only you but also that anthropomorphic girl beside you!] the observer seemed to be suggesting that they should not let anyone know about their existence. "you sure have a lot of requests," davey said. the observer became silent. ¡°so, the point was that he should not let anyone find out he was davey o¡¯rowane, wasn''t it?¡± as davey asked for confirmation, the observer remained silent. then, the observer said, [a long time ago, a child who received the gaze of god disappeared from this place. you know who that child was and where they disappeared to, right?] the observer seemed to faintly sense the existence of reina, who was connected to davey. [what happened to that child?] "due to excessive intervention, her existence was revealed, and she disappeared when her lifespan ran out." [do you want the same thing to happen to you?] davey did not answer that question. his current situation was the same as it had been with reina, only the roles had switched. in reina''s case, it was in the past. for davey, it was the present. he could not do the same foolish thing when he had already seen a precedent. with that, davey glanced at aeria, who was in his arms. ¡®the point was that it should be fine if they don¡¯t know, right?¡¯ "why, why are you doing this?" at aeria¡¯s surprised voice, he immediately cast an illusion spell on her entire body, and then on his own. now, even if he took off the robe he was wearing, she would be the only one who could recognize his face. "never say my full name," davey said. "your name?" "yes." "...alright. if you say so, your highness, i will follow." davey advised aeria in a whisper before moving forward again. he then stepped into the area where everyone was on high alert. he did not care about anything else, but he had to find out who the father of the child in the woman¡¯s womb was. [what will you do once you know?] ''i''ll break his bones.'' of course, davey had no intention of revealing who he was, nor did he intend to touch anything from this world casually. his first thought was of deus ex machina, and of blue ribbon and red ribbon, who were locked in surtr''s legacy. there were also various types like the only arrow that could kill nyx, but he had to rule out a few options. cases like blue ribbon, red ribbon, or rinne, for instance. davey was adamant about leaving this place, and so was aeria. therefore, if he were to wake up blue ribbon, red ribbon, and rinne, they would be abandoned by him. their value was not simply a matter of leaving this place, but he could not do that after seeing the state of reina. the rules that make up the world had deceived him once, but he declared they would never fool him again. to seek divine aid in a different way, but to do the same thing twice without divine help? it was a ludicrous notion. and it was not just that. in the case of blue ribbon and red ribbon, he already had two children in his hands. from the incomplete state, the ego of blue ribbon and red ribbon had been asleep in his eyes, so in the current relics of surtr, their ego would be sleeping. if the same entity became two, the outcome was obvious. it would result in one''s extinction. rinne would rather be asleep, as it would help davey leave this place. despite her usually emotionless appearance, the creature had a tendency to be very possessive of its owner. these people, gripping their weapons with determined expressions, were truly pathetic. some of them were desperate, and some were trying to fight with their weapons. but no one blocked davey¡¯s entry outrightly. "who, who are you?!" "intruder! it''s a demon!" "damn it, we''re all dead!" ¡®the gap in strength is so overwhelming that the spark of hope has completely extinguished.¡¯ davey could understand what the observer had said. davey and aeria were the only two there against them and were not physically imposing. they were not even carrying weapons. however, the people were extremely afraid of him, not even trying to discern whether he was human or a demon. if they encountered him, they decided it would result in death or a horrifying future. that decision was probably because the will to resist in their hearts had been completely broken. the problem was that the observer did not ask davey to save these people, but to plant a spark of hope in them. ''revitalize this situation in two days?'' [your existence will be a light, and that light will ignite a small spark of resistance in the hearts of humans who are opposing the demons.] everything gathered in davey''s mind as he pondered the situation. if the spark of revolution ignited, it might be possible to bring about change. as he let out a sigh of disbelief, the observer''s voice echoed bitterly. the observer did not tell davey to save humanity; he hoped for the balance of numerous races intertwined with humans and demons to be maintained at a certain level. but right now, the demons were too dominant, and so it was bound to be somewhat dubious. ''isn''t it overwhelmingly the other way in my world? although it may seem arrogant, isn¡¯t the current tionis where demons have to decline and retreat?'' [the only one who destroys the balance is you, being the antagonist and the dark lord. since both apply, is there a balance? there''s no golden balance as you said! hahaha! it''s a complete mess!] if davey had been only the antagonist, maybe the observer of that world would have awakened to balance it out. however, by taking over the dark lord''s position, he had created the possibility of being on both sides. it was a funny situation. davey slowly approached them, his gaze fixed on the heavily pregnant woman most familiar to him. despite trembling, the woman didn''t avoid his gaze and continued to clutch her belly with fearful eyes. "eni!" eventually, a young man ran over, sheltering the pregnant woman, aeonitia o¡¯rowane, and positioned himself protectively in front of her. among them, he seemed to possess some talent and showed a spark in his eyes. despite his cowardly appearance, he gave off the aura of a noble or someone with a fairly high rank. in silence, they remained wary of davey. without uttering a word, davey observed them. slowly, he licked his lips, knowing that not much was needed to reassure people¡ªjust lies they needed and wanted to hear. his tongue was just right for it. "alright, calm down, and let''s start by putting down the weapons." he opened his mouth to speak with as much respect as possible to soothe their fears, but distrust didn''t easily disappear. "liar! are you a demon?! or a traitor attached to a demon?! we''re not listening to you!" davey had expected there might be traitors, but apparently, the division and mistrust among the humans had deepened. "i''m neither a demon nor a traitor. i''m just a person who has come to help you," davey calmly said after exercising further patience. "don''t make us laugh!!! filthy apostate! do you think we''ll be fooled again?! what are you doing?! protect the women and children!" once more, davey mustered his patience, trying his best to handle the situation carefully. shhh... shhh. just then, he could sense a group moving at high speed into the woods. crash!!! at the same time, a loud noise came, and the trees that had shielded the village fell down. "kyaaaaah!!" "no, it''s over now!" amid the desperate screams, everyone fell into despair. surrounding them in the forest, a considerable number of demonic creatures had appeared, accompanied by a legion of monsters under their control. figures in black armor approached slowly, wearing sinister smiles. "you rats of humans were hiding here, huh?" the humans, filled with fear, trembled at the demons'' taunting words. "it''s perfect! we were tired from our mission!" the thin demonic figure atop a large wolf at the front of the group shouted, "it''s a raid! kill the men, ravage the women! the booze and meat are all yours!" astoundingly, a magical sword¡ªa master''s symbol called the aura blade¡ªwas drawn from the demon''s sheath. the demons, noticeably stronger on average than their counterparts from the continent, didn''t face any significant resistance. the majority of the forces that could defend this village were already in front of davey, leaving no one to stop the intruders. "sir... davey..." aeria, seemingly terrified, tugged at davey''s clothing. despite her trembling, she slowly gathered the power of spirits into her hands, attempting to help, albeit weakly. davey gently held her hand to calm her and then said quietly to the observer, "you said nobody knew." [...] clearly, this damned observer did not have a mouth. "kyah!!" the demons, who apparently had no intention of killing immediately, approached the villagers with their spears pointed. some of them pointed their spears at davey and shouted, "human! go inside if you don''t want to get hurt!" "didn''t they just say they were going to kill them all?" davey looked at the demon who was threatening him with a nonchalant expression and prodding him in the back. at least he knew one thing, that these demons had not come specifically for him. so, it was a coincidence, but the timing was indeed annoying. "kyah!!" turning his head toward a terrified scream, davey saw a young girl, no more than fourteen, being dragged away by a burly demon. "hehe. this girl is mine! i''ll kill anyone who touches her!" other demons continued to round up the villagers, seemingly indifferent to his proclamation. "kiheeheehee! look at this! such a gem was left here!" a high-ranking demon, of at least a duke''s rank, spotted aeria and started to approach. the other demons seemed unremarkable, but this one was definitely skilled. likely, he was one of the hunters the demon army had dispatched to various parts of the continent. aeria, shivering and clinging to davey, was clearly terrified. she wanted to ask for his help but could not speak for fear of causing him trouble. as they came closer, davey clicked his tongue and shot back at the observer, "you don''t have a mouth, do you? you said no one knew." [...] ignoring the observer''s continued silence, davey took off the hood of his robe from his head. ignoring the shocked faces of the villagers who realized he was not a demon but a human, he grabbed the hand of the demon reaching for aeria. patience was a virtue, it was said. he had already given it three tries; he was not likely to avoid killing now. "i''m really pissed off." woosh! and as always, in a familiar way, davey crushed the arm of the demon reaching for aeria. not just crushed, but shattered it completely. it was not easy for him to control his strength. * * * the silence lasted only a moment. "ugh?!" a ghastly scream echoed as everyone''s gaze turned toward davey. the number of villagers was not high, but the number of demons only grew larger. there was no rule that demons had to always oppose humans. demons were demons, and humans were humans. they were different races, not inherent enemies. however, the situation now was different. "hey." when the demon shrieked, davey casually lifted his free hand that had not been gripping the demon''s arm. whack!!! and then, adjusting his strength appropriately, he swung at the demon''s cheek. ¡°argh!!¡± along with a pitiful scream, a white tooth flew out of the demon''s mouth. as everyone was staring blankly, davey slightly furrowed his brows. whack!!! this time, it was a bit harder. two more teeth were sent flying. ¡°hey, you devil.¡± whack!!! another tooth flew out. ¡°ah, ah¡­¡± with his cheeks and mouth grotesquely swollen, the demon was mumbling something incoherently. davey let go of the demon, who collapsed helplessly before him and curled up into a ball. amid such an absurd situation, davey glanced around. a master class, a demon who was a rank below an archduke, implied that the demon was quite strong. that such a formidable demon would curl up like a frightened child after taking a few slaps from a human hiding in this rural area was simply unbelievable. the faces of the other demons were drained of color. regardless, davey lifted his foot with the intention of checking whether that thing was a spark of hope or simply a pitiful wisp, as the observer had suggested. and then, he stepped on the demon at regular intervals, saying, ¡°what do you think this place is, barging in here. huh?¡± thud!! thud!! ah, anger was taking over his body. [crazy, you are a madman¡­] ¡°where do you think this is, barging in here?¡± thud! thud!! ¡°ah! stop, stop it!¡± before assessing the situation, the demon, feeling a threat to his life, stretched out his arms, grabbing davey''s leg and desperately begging. however, davey did not stop. regardless of being a swordmaster or anything else, the demon was desperately clinging on, trying to escape from this brutal beating. at the sight of such a cruel beating, the demons, who were acting as raiders until a while ago, shivered noticeably. some of their faces started to turn blue. ¡°enough? you want me to stop?¡± ¡°p-please¡­¡± ¡°you can''t even manage your troops properly. what makes you think you can barge in here?¡± thud thud!! ¡°why would you¡­?¡± ¡°you are talking back. you haven''t had enough yet.¡± thump!!! davey struck the demon¡¯s abdomen, and somehow another tooth flew out of his mouth. gasping for breath, the demon, realizing something was wrong, started to beg unconditionally. it seemed like becoming a swordmaster had made the demon a bit arrogant, as if he owned the universe. ¡°i, i''m sorry¡­¡± ¡°why is the sorry guy making such a pitiful face?¡± thud!! thud! ¡°grrr¡­¡± ¡°does groaning end a demon''s life?¡± ¡°no, no¡­¡± ¡°if you feel wronged, prove yourself stronger.¡± ¡°cough! i, i''m sorry¡­ i''m sorry! please¡­spare my life!¡± ¡°why would someone begging for their life defy me?¡± thud thud!!! ¡°aahhh!¡± the demon was desperately yelling something, but the continued beating pushed him into a state where it was hard to even speak. bang!! this novel is available on "pawread dot com". finally, after knocking out the frothing demon with a kick, davey wore a satisfied expression. a swordmaster was considered a strategic weapon, so formidable that even the demons would agree. but reality was ruthlessly harsh. ¡°¡­¡± in the silent tranquility, davey slowly turned his head. the trembling demons looked at him as if they had seen a ghost. he asked, ¡°take it easy. men are to be plundered, and women are to be killed?¡± [it''s the other way around! flaunting one''s might has truly turned into reckless bravado!] the voice of the observer did not reach davey''s ears. davey slowly approached a relatively short demon youth. trembling from instinctive fear, the youth looked around. and then, he attempted to escape, throwing away the sword he was holding. whoosh¡­ "arghhhhh!!!" but before the youth could even move, davey, who had been keeping his distance, swiftly approached him. they were close enough to see each other''s faces. "is it your turn next?" davey began to slowly crumple the sword the youth had dropped with his bare hands. as the sharp sword turned into a lump of scrap metal in his hand, tears streamed down the demon youth''s face due to fear. a moan of indescribable terror escaped from his mouth. in the end, demons were just another race. the only difference between demon soldiers and human soldiers was their race. to completely crush their will to fight and instead fuel the morale of davey¡¯s allies with a sense of pride was simple¡ªjust show the humans that there was nothing to be surprised about the demons. turning his head toward the trembling demons, davey slowly tilted his body by 90 degrees. at the same time, everyone who met his gaze flinched. that was when it happened. his body, engulfed in madness and impulse, began to resonate and release a particular power on its own. it was none other than the power of the dark lord, which remained in him after he had killed belial and inherited all the abilities. the dark lord''s magic had a dark and intense impact that demons could quickly notice. it was an unintended rebellion of magic. the magic within davey was suppressed by senior mana, divine power, and command mana. as a result, the magic caused a wave similar to a novice knight not being able to withstand the bullying from his seniors and resorting to wish-fulfillment to dispatch them. having never dealt with magic due to innate issues, davey was not yet able to easily control it. because of this, the magic that briefly escaped was already enough to accomplish its purpose. davey used the cool-natured mana to suppress the magic momentarily, but the damage was already done. the demons, beasts obeying davey due to his power, and the corrupted monsters all kneeled and bowed their heads to his power in an instant. "da... dark lord..." "it''s the power of the dark lord!" "no... it can''t be! you''re the dark lord!!" "dark lord! how can you be here?!!" behind davey, aeria, surprised by the sudden turn of events, adorably opened her eyes wide and looked at him. at the end of that very brief silence, davey proudly puffed out his chest and leaned back. "yes, i am your dark lord." ¡®let''s take advantage when we can.¡¯ CH 413 in an instant, the demons sprawled before him, and davey confidently puffed out his chest. without horns, one could easily differentiate humans from demons, but these creatures had already been overwhelmed by the unique power of the dark lord that davey had emitted earlier. after a moment of hesitation, davey decisively unleashed his magic. boom!! "ugh!" the demons that were lying prostrate trembled even more. "everyone, disappear. this is my territory. no demon shall step foot here." "but, but humans are in this place¡­" "fool," davey said coldly, slowly approaching. he effortlessly changed his appearance as naturally as one would breathe. after all, no one knew the appearance of perserque better than him. in an instant, his illusion changed, and to the demons, he now appeared as a silver-haired girl. "your, your majesty!" one of the demons, a swordmaster who had been groaning in pain, had wide eyes in disbelief. with his level of abilities, he must have encountered perserque in person before. "why, why are you here¡­?" "almost ruined my plan because of you. are you aware of that?" davey''s words made the demon''s eyes bulge. the demon then dropped to his knees and started banging his head on the ground, uttering in despair and shame. "please kill me for my disobedience to your majesty''s wish!!" faced with his action, which suggested the demon might kill himself by banging his head on the ground if left alone, davey quietly stepped closer and placed his hand on the demon''s shoulder. then, he gave a compassionate smile and gestured with his chin. "lift your head." "but, how could i, a lowly demon¡­?" "i am merciful." "oh, oh¡­ your majesty!" at davey''s smile, the demon''s face lit up as if he was a priest who had just encountered his god. "what''s your name?" "it, it''s mozuguz¡­" "alright, mozuguz." davey said in a calm voice, "i will forgive you." "thank, thank you! your majesty!" mozuguz, along with the other demons, showed extreme reverence at meeting their dark lord, who was like a god to them. in contrast, the faces of the humans who heard davey was the dark lord went pale. mozuguz, who had once again bowed his head, slowly looked up and asked carefully, "but, but why are you here, your majesty¡­?" "you dare to ask that question?" "i''m, i''m sorry!" he hurriedly bowed his head, trembling. "alright, was it nyx who instructed you?" "y-yes, your majesty! chief of staff nyx gathered the legion¡¯s division commanders and gave orders! he ordered us to capture the humans scattered across the continent¡­" "i see¡­ so, that''s the case." from the beginning, davey thought that the main culprit behind this situation must have been nyx, considering that perserque was just a symbol, a part of the power, and someone to occupy a position. if it were as reina said, the whole situation began with the resurrection of nyx. "your majesty! please give me your command!" "alright. where have the others headed, excluding you?" mozuguz began to spill out all the information he knew without a shred of doubt. the power of the dark lord applied the same to everyone, after all. the main driving force that moved them was the power of the dark lord that was transferred to perserque, rather than her unique power. in the end, mozuguz revealed everything he knew about the demons¡¯ movements. "alright. i understand." "then, then, what shall we do with these humans, your majesty? if you just give the order¡­" "no, let''s stop oppressing humans." mozuguz''s eyes widened. "why¡­?" "a cornered rat will bite a cat. hasn''t our legion already obtained much? these individuals are necessary for my crucial experiment, so don''t dare lay a finger on them," davey said. mozuguz had a perplexed look before his eyes¡¯ widened in shock. "understood, sir." "immediately, take all the soldiers scouring this forest and leave. and gather all the humans who have been enslaved and are heading toward the central dark lord''s castle in one place." "collect them in one place¡­? sir, there''s a possibility of resistance¡­" "you''re refusing to obey? who do you think stands before you?" magic started to flow from davey''s body. it was the magic of the dark lord. "her majesty, the dark lord!!" "do you dare to suggest that nyx''s words carry more weight than mine?" "no, absolutely not! please forgive me!" upon hearing mozuguz¡¯s outcry, davey felt a sense of satisfaction deep within while thinking they were all simple-minded fools. "is nyx daring to pose as the dark lord himself while disregarding me?" "that, that is¡­" "how dare you!!!" magic power exploded vigorously. the demons recognized the magic of the dark lord, but the humans merely perceived it as a distinct power emanating from davey¡¯s body. nevertheless, they had remarkable loyalty. however, unlike mozuguz, the other demons appeared somewhat uneasy. "lord mozuguz, if we fail to accomplish this task, nyx''s advisor may severely punish us¡­" one of the more intelligent demons logically questioned and contradicted davey. however, mozuguz had already fallen for davey''s ploy. "what? nyx''s advisor will severely punish us?" mozuguz¡¯s words made his demon subordinates shudder. simultaneously, he unsheathed the giant sword carried by a monster subordinate nearby. mozuguz declared, "severe punishment?! how dare anyone punish me, who moves under the direct command of the king!" "but, but¡­" "you blasphemous creature!!!" thud!!! mozuguz was visibly enraged, his entire face a mess. consequently, his infuriated face appeared even more terrifying. without even managing to scream, the subordinate collapsed, and mozuguz proceeded to slash his body with the giant sword. immediately afterward, mozuguz bowed his head to davey. "oh¡­ your majesty, i''ve dealt with the disloyal one¡­" "g-good, well done." at davey¡¯s hesitant reply, mozuguz sprang up as if he had received divine revelation. he then turned to davey for further instructions. "go, you all informed me of the vital fact that nyx''s advisor might dare to rebel against me. mozuguz." "yes, your majesty!" "i have a special mission for you. continue to lead all forces as they are and monitor the movements of nyx and those with him. also, secretly relay my orders to all the division commanders of demons scattered across the continent." "i will obey your command!!" upon hearing davey''s command, mozuguz sprang up and turned around. his loyalty was impressive, and davey had fully exploited it. "move! you worm-like creatures! are you planning to disobey the king''s command?" the subordinate demons, who had been staring blankly at mozuguz and their fallen comrade, quickly responded to his wild outcry and started to move in an orderly manner. watching them disappear from where they had come on wolves, davey then turned his gaze to the trembling humans. among them, aeonitia, clutching a slightly peculiar object she had found somewhere, glared at davey with a tense expression. "what are you all doing? lower your weapons." "don''t joke around, dark lord!" "enemy of mankind!" the humans¡¯ reactions were understandable. of course, davey had exposed himself as the dark lord to extract information from the demons, but there was no need to do so with the humans. "do i look like a demon to you?" a few of the humans hesitated. indeed, to their eyes, davey would have appeared as a hornless human since the very beginning. "but, but just now, the demons¡­" "they are merely fools deceived by an illusion." with that, davey slightly twisted the illusion magic inscribed on his body so anyone could see it. a faint wave of mana distorted his form before it returned to normal. "ma¡­ magic!" such an occurrence was enough for any observer to feel the effect of magic. however, some humans still could not trust davey. how should he deal with them? what was the point of reassuring these villagers, who had no chance of revival? while he was pondering this¡­ "aaah!!" aeonitia, who had been staring at davey with a stern expression, suddenly screamed and collapsed. all eyes turned to her. instinctively, the man presumed to be her husband, or guardian, supported her, but she could not stand easily and clenched her teeth. she was crying out in pain. "ah, aeonitia!" "oh dear! is she having contractions?" "urgh¡­ urgh!" confused men and women did not know what to do and shuffled about restlessly. a quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled. "is there no doctor?!" "there isn''t! sir goren was injured badly while foraging for medicinal herbs in the forest not long ago..." "darn it!" aeria tugged lightly on davey''s sleeve amidst the confused crowd. she whispered, "it seems...the baby might be coming." "seems so." davey calmly approached those who were anxiously shuffling about and did not know what to do. at the same time, a few of them threw themselves forward to stop him, but he easily brushed them off and approached aeonitia. the woman, sweating coldly, had been a genius in her early teens in his world. she was celebrated in the continent as the "princess of clocks," making portable clocks, a great achievement, but here, she was merely a powerless woman. depending on who was around or how the circumstances were, a person''s fate could change. "stay back, demon!" as davey approached aeonitia, she desperately tried to retreat from him, and others blocked his way. "...just leave her to die?" upon hearing him, the crowd¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. "the twins are coming at a bad time, and the place is swarming with germs. if she gives birth now, either the mother or the babies might die." "what do you know?!" "i certainly know more about medicine than you. make one more peep, and i''ll tear your mouth apart," davey said coldly, grabbing aeonitia''s stomach and pouring out divine energy. he ordered, "we''ll operate before it''s too late. prepare a clean room and water." "what, what¡­?" "did you not hear me?! get moving, you wimps!" at davey¡¯s roar, the villagers flinched. then, they started to move hastily. * * * aeria offered to help with the operation by summoning spirits. however, the only thing she could do in this different world was to utilize the clear spirit mana; summoning spirits was impossible. "spirit mana is enough." of course, because spirit mana was sufficient to help him, davey did not stop aeria from helping him. "can you save her?" "just watch quietly," davey said calmly and laid his hand on the belly of aeonitia, who was writhing in pain on the floor. then, he lightly closed his eyes and spread a little mana to quickly grasp the situation. [pain relief] [shock immunity] [sixth class purification] davey poured out two types of magic and one type of divine magic, then quickly started moving with the scalpel in his hand. watching the human skin being sliced open, aeria turned pale, but she did not look away and poured the spirit mana into aeonitia''s body. the spirit mana she had was clearer and stronger than other spirit users. perhaps it was a trait of her race. "urgh. please, please save my baby..." in the midst of her painful struggle, aeonitia pleaded with davey to save her child. "who''s the baby''s father? where is he? why can''t he even show his face?" aeonitia slowly opened her eyes to glare at him. davey did not expect an answer, so he continued the operation silently. the operation he was about to perform was simple. in a situation where the baby could not be born naturally, they had to cut open the belly and take the baby out. this was called a cesarean section in modern medicine. it was a frequently used method. in the past, many people had died because this method was not introduced. ''aeonitia''s body isn''t suitable for an easy childbirth. i knew that, but actually seeing it, it''s daunting... i have to introduce this method fully before aeonitia has to give birth in my world...'' the operating conditions were not good. however, that did not matter. he could eradicate the germs quickly with purification magic and handle the burden on aeonitia¡¯s body with magic. davey''s hands moved as if they were possessed. the skills taught by hypocria were being fully displayed. all that could be heard in the suffocating silence was the sharp sound of metal and aeonitia''s groans of pain. in that breathless situation, davey quickly cut open aeonitia¡¯s belly and succeeded in taking out the twins struggling to be born. the silent babies let out a loud cry when he lightly slapped their bottoms. "wahhh! wahhh!" "wahhh!" at the sound of the two babies crying, some villagers opened their eyes wide and showed relieved expressions. however, when she saw davey holding the babies and cutting the umbilical cords, aeria was surprised and cried out. "davey, sir! something''s wrong! the baby is crying! is it, is it hurt?!" "babies cry when they''re born. it''s normal." "they''re supposed to cry? but they''re crying so sorrowfully..." "babies can''t express their condition in any other way than crying." "ah..." aeria''s face, wide-eyed as if she had realized a profound truth, was so cute that davey chuckled without realizing it. CH 414 "ah, ahh..." aeonitia gasped for breath in pain, desperately reaching out for davey. "my... my children..." "yes, they are here." as davey calmly showed her the two children nestled within his arms, tears welled up in her eyes. the emotions reflected in her gaze were a mix of awe, complexity, and relief. she asked, "are they healthy?" "yes." in fact, these children were more than just healthy; they had been intimately familiar with mana since birth. subsequently, davey withdrew the children from her arms. "ahh..." aeonitia''s expression darkened with dismay. "you''ll see the kids later! you are in the middle of surgery right now." at davey''s words, aeonitia fell silent, seemingly realizing her condition. davey then gently placed his fingers on the children''s foreheads, infusing them with a light touch of mana before handing them over to aeria. "i''ll leave them with you for a while." "yes! leave it to me!" with her face flushed with excitement, aeria cuddled the two children and smiled. "they''re so cute." ¡®come to think of it, these kids are my nephews.¡¯ davey was struck by a strange feeling. he thought that he was not of age to see his nephews yet. however, considering that this world had moved on by more than a decade, it was perhaps to be expected. davey did not ask aeonitia about winley, baris, or tanya. if the observer was correct, the three of them would not be alive in this place. in the silence, davey began the operation once again. although the children were born safely, aeonitia was still in a dangerous situation. however, it was a difficult situation, not an impossible one. he had saved people in worse hellish conditions before and had succeeded in operations in more severe situations. to aeonitia, davey would have appeared as an ordinary man. with a tearful face, she reached out her hand laboriously and grabbed his, asking the question, "haah, haah. can i live? i can''t... i can''t leave the children alone..." seeing her plead with such effort, davey couldn''t help but admire the motherly instinct that aeonitia had grown upon giving birth to these children. he said reassuringly, "don''t worry about anything else and get some deep sleep..." aeonitia did not say anything further and slowly relaxed her grip on his hand. * * * the twin siblings, who had erupted into a robust cry, seemed to instinctively recognize their mother, and with a cozy expression, snuggled into her bosom and fell soundly asleep. davey found himself involuntarily smiling at the striking resemblance among the three peacefully asleep, clearly showing they were indeed related by blood. thinking about the culture of the tionis continent, unlike earth where names were confirmed upon the registration of birth or deciding of the name, it was common here to name a child immediately upon birth. however, davey did not have the right to name these children. the same was true for everyone else. the only person with that right was their birth mother, aeonitia alone. perhaps it was due to aeonitia''s peaceful expression, seemingly passed out but sleeping soundly, that the villagers seemed somewhat relieved. some felt relieved by the fact that the children were born naturally, while others were surprised by the unexpected surgical method that had saved both the children and the mother. however, there were those with a gloomy expression upon seeing the children born safely. the reason was evident ¨C they were in a desperate situation. as individuals who had lost hope to the extent that the observer would assert, they grimly determined and lamented that the future the newborn children would face would be cruel. given that they were already pushed to the edge, their feelings were not incomprehensible. the prevailing thought among them was that they could not return to the way things used to be. "thank you. and i''m sorry. i regret that we could only treat our benefactor this way..." an elderly man handed davey a few potatoes with a bitter smile. "i''m sorry, this is all i can offer you. our food situation isn''t very good." at first glance, he appeared to be nothing more than a frail old man, but it seemed he was the head of a noble family from the central kingdom. aeria, who had heard once about the dark future of a world completely different from her own, seemed to feel a sense of alienation with every word the old man said. "just ten years ago, it was a world we couldn''t have imagined. although it wasn''t completely peaceful, the frequent wars on the continent ceased when the ban on continental warfare proposed by the emperor of the three empires passed." davey fell silent. "however, we didn''t anticipate it because we had been soaked in peace for too long. those who couldn''t sense danger because they were immersed in peace couldn''t properly counter the demons that crept in from the darkness." "internal division must have occurred as well." it was premature to simply assume that humans had been overwhelmingly defeated in the continental war. the reason likely stemmed from internal division. there were those who wanted to align with the demons and those who dreamed of wealth and honor amidst the chaos. with such factions rising, there was no way to effectively oppose the unified demons. "indeed, you''re correct. davey, was it? despite your young appearance, you have deep insight," the old man remarked with a bitter smile. "here we have former nobles, slaves, and commoners. aeonitia, whom you rescued, was once the youngest princess of a small kingdom." "is that so?" davey could not reveal the connection between her and himself. "poor child. everyone gathered here is the same. they hold onto their pain, and that''s why they can''t easily trust outsiders." with half-closed eyes, the old man cautiously revealed the story about aeonitia. the turmoil had begun, and the empire had started to shake. it was only natural that the small kingdoms would be shaken as well. after the kingdom of rowane was destroyed in the upheaval, aeonitia managed to escape the immediate crisis, thanks to the careful plans of queen lynesse. she spent a few years as a fugitive, enduring a difficult journey. but how far could she, a royal without any physical training, have really run from the demons? eventually, she was captured by demon scouts and witnessed her knights being brutally torn apart and killed. this traumatic event left her with a speech disorder, and she endured severe suffering at the age of fourteen while being dragged away by the demons. it was the human resistance that saved her. a young commander from the guerrilla squad led by the grand duchess kathryn carabella of the lyndis empire rescued aeonitia from the underground dungeon of the demon outpost where she had experienced hellish days. at the time, she was nineteen, and a young nobleman who was smitten with her at first sight brought her back, shared his warmth, and showered her with love. after his tireless efforts, aeonitia overcame her speech disorder and fell in love with the man who had so affectionately cared for her. a few years later, she conceived a child with him. everything was fine until then. however, a disaster occurred, and the resistance was completely destroyed just as she was about to give birth. all hope was lost when the owner of the divine sword, the last hope, was defeated by nyx, the most powerful force of the demons. we are bit.ly/3ibfjkv, find us on google. in an attempt to allow aeonitia to escape, her lover gathered the people in the shelter and sent them out of the fortress late at night. from then on, all communication was cut off. there was no way to know if he had been captured or executed. the only thing left for aeonitia was the two children in her womb. "a single person like you can make a huge difference. many humans died, but so did many demons who had families. many young demons, both male and female, died. they were all precious lives, a tragic situation indeed," the bitter voice of the old man resonated as davey quietly closed his eyes. "you don''t have the will to drive out the demons and find the light again, do you?" "how could we? our only hope has crumbled, and all that remains is to hide and live like this. human survivors are scattered. most of the remaining humans have probably become slaves, with a small number still holding onto futile hopes and resisting." in the old man¡¯s words, davey could sense the oppressive atmosphere enveloping the entire village. they survived. while it was a blessing, the future remained unchanged. they had come to humbly accept the extinction of humanity. "and then you appeared. the villagers are honestly confused. they are startled by the emergence of a human with enough power to drive out a demon, especially one with immense strength." "do you think i''ll become a savior?" the old man gave a bitter smile. "all i''ve gained with age is discernment. you seem to possess immense power. i don''t feel anything from your body. yes, i''ve heard before that entities that are overwhelmingly powerful often don''t exhibit any noticeable energy." he gave a bitter smile again. "are you the hope for humanity?" davey quietly shook his head. "everyone has to find hope for themselves." "is that so?" "if humans just wait endlessly for someone to help them, it would be better for them to perish cleanly." at his harsh cynicism, the old man gave a bitter laugh. "i suppose so. but we have already lost too much to stand up again. isn''t it the reality of this world that we don''t even have a pillar to lean on?" after a moment of silence, the old man cautiously opened his mouth. "we are a people with nothing, but even if we''ve lost hope, we haven''t forgotten about our sanctuary. is there something i can do to help you?" davey quietly held out his hand and said, "someone here must have something like this." "that is..." what davey had created with mana was a small necklace, which had a peculiarly shaped jewel at the end. "someone in this village should have it. it''s quite important. please hand it over to me. it''s the only way to heal the person who came with me." the old man fell silent and closed his eyes. then, he put down his teacup and opened his mouth. "hmm, the pattern does indeed look a bit unusual, i remember it. i''m not sure if it''s the right item, but¡­ euris, come in here." "why? sir." a woman carrying a bow on her back strode in from outside, as if she had been waiting. "haha, please forgive her rudeness. despite her harsh words, she''s a kind-hearted girl." "sir, don''t talk nonsense to an outsider. did you¡­?" "he says he needs your necklace." the woman''s face hardened instantly. "what are you talking about?" then, she glared at davey and asked with caution in her voice, "do you need my necklace?" "yes." "this is important to you?" the woman¡¯s question, filled with caution and suspicion, was understandable. however, davey had no intention of complicating the situation by explaining why he needed it. "although it may not look like much, it''s quite an important item." at davey''s calm response, the woman silently glared at the village chief. then, she sighed. "give it to him. do you want to die as an ingrate, even though we live in such deprivation?" "ah! who said that? i just wear it because it¡¯s pretty. if i can pay off a debt with it, it''s a bargain. here, take it! did i say i wouldn''t give it?" even while grumbling, the woman roughly tore off the necklace she was wearing and handed it to davey. "there you go. i don''t know what you''re going to do with it, but you helped aeonitia, so i guess i can let it slide..." as the woman grumbled gruffly, davey did not take the necklace and instead remained silent. the woman then approached him and placed the necklace in his hand, asking, "but what are you going to use it for?" "it''s a key. the only key to enter the ancient royal vault,¡± davey said quietly while holding the necklace that emanated an odd aura. he rose from his seat. CH 415 davey did not instill false hope in those who had already lost all hope. he knew he had only one day left in this world. even if he gave them weapons capable of resisting the demons, there was no telling if it would be significantly effective. teaching them using his power was impossible, and due to the limitations of his influence, he could not expel the demons on their behalf. having left the village with only aeria, davey was guided by the observer as he headed deep into the forest. there, he found a massive mound of earth with a very large rock embedded in it. [here we are. fill the key with the mana you''re feeling in this forest, and connect it with that stone.] following his guidance, davey took off the leather necklace he wore and began to gently infuse it with mana. "this place... is truly peculiar," davey remarked. aeria, who had followed him, looked around the vicinity, her arms shivering as she hugged herself. "it feels as though someone is watching us." davey felt the same eerie sensation of being watched. he then warned, "stay close to me.¡± "ah... yes!" startled, aeria quickly moved closer to him. once he confirmed that aeria was close by, davey closed his eyes and began to analyze and memorize the unique flow of mana enveloping the entire forest. [the flow of mana from a forgotten civilization 5,000 years ago is indeed very peculiar. normally, it would be impossible to discern its patterns, but someone of your caliber might manage in about 5 hours.] ignoring the observer''s confident prediction of a five-hour process, davey skillfully filled the necklace with mana and began molding it to his will. the transformation it brought about happened in an instant. soon, the rock began to glow faintly blue. [eh?! is it already done?] ''what''s so difficult about it?'' davey thought. [even an 8th circle magician would need days to figure out these patterns...] within less than a minute of activation, the glowing stone looked incredibly beautiful. while aeria gazed at the stone in awe, davey slowly connected it to the massive rock surface. a low, resonant sound echoed, and the rock, which had appeared ordinary moments ago, began to transform, creating a massive wave of change. "the rock has changed!" aeria exclaimed. "let''s go in," davey said without hesitation. as he started walking, aeria¡¯s eyes widened and she hurriedly followed him. read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the "pawread dot com" * * * prugrepf royal tomb was an archaeological site dating back even further than the era 3,000 years ago when the black sword ares had been active. it was a civilization that had been completely forgotten in history. before the observer mentioned it, even davey had been unaware of its existence, making it clear that this relic held something secret. the enormous space should have been a dark interior, but it had a soft glow as if bathed in moonlight. moreover, there were rows of massive stone statues resembling paladins, giving off an aura of a temple dedicated to the gods. the intricate figures, which seemed as though armors had been placed on real giants, displayed an astonishing level of craftsmanship. this level of technique was not as blunt as blacksmith or stonemason skills nowadays, but it was on par with those in their heyday. looking at the forms, which were eerie enough to give off a chilling vibe just from their eye-to-eye contact, davey began to walk slowly without a word. "eeek!" suddenly, aeria, who was following davey, was startled and crouched down. upon seeing her sudden movement, davey tilted his head and approached her. aeria, who had been trembling, slowly raised her head. "are you okay?" he asked. "...ah, yes." "what happened?" "well... that''s..." aeria trailed off, glancing again at the statue, and frowned slightly. "i''m sorry... i just felt something creepy pass by..." davey looked around quietly, but he could see nothing out of the ordinary. * * * an eerie ambiance had spread throughout the forest. the atmosphere felt damp and heavy rather than serene. davey turned to the observer, who seemed to know the layout of the area well, and asked, "do you know anything about this?" [i cannot say.] "why not?" [i say this for your sake. giving you more information could be dangerous. however, the decision to come here will benefit both you and i, that much is certain.] the very existence of a guide like this seemed to come with a bundle of constraints. because of that, there appeared to be a difference between what he could and could not say. "from the cold air to this strange feeling, it''s creepy..." aeria cautiously followed davey, stretching out her words in a fearful manner. "huh?" suddenly playful, davey stopped with widened eyes. this made aeria look at him with a scared expression. "why, why are you doing that?" at her cautious question, davey pointed behind her with a surprised expression, and aeria responded with a stiff, awkward smile. "woah, prince davey... are you joking?" whooosh!!! "kyaa!!" at that moment, a cold wind blew through the quiet stone corridor. the timing was so sharp that it was no surprise aeria, who was naturally timid, got startled. her reaction, with her ears tucked down like a small animal and shivering, was rather cute. as she clung to him in surprise without even looking back, davey patted her head. "it''s a lie." "don''t do that..." aeria murmured with a sad expression and looked at davey briefly before slowly moving away. then, she put her hand on her chest and slightly furrowed her brow. "are you okay?" "ah... my heart keeps pounding weirdly..." a tear fell from aeria¡¯s eye as she spoke. "aww..." aeria¡¯s expression became troubled due to the unexpected tears. "i''m sorry. i keep showing you such an unsightly side..." "if you''re scared, you can lean on me." "i can''t. i would be a burden to prince davey, and..." aeria felt strange, like she should not carelessly cling to someone. her voice was so quiet that it was hard to hear, but it reached davey¡¯s ears clearly. she couldn''t calm down and kept fidgeting. "don''t worry even if these stone statues move." aeria gave a faint smile. "when i talk to you, prince, i strangely feel at ease. but at the same time, i feel a prickling pain..." "should i check for arrhythmia?" "no, it''s okay!" aeria retreated in surprise. then, she silently followed davey again. how long had they been walking? in the midst of silence, they finally reached a large cave with a huge door. the giant statue that guarded the entrance was here as well. "wow, it''s creepy but really magnificent." "that''s the charm of an ancient relic untouched by human hands." [by the way, time here flows a bit differently than outside. a day here is about four hours outside.] at this unexpected information, davey placed his hand on the door at the end of the cave. it was inscribed with mysterious characters. most ancient characters had been pictographic, but the characters here were clearly advanced. silently tracing the characters written on the wall, he could feel a faint flow of mana. he reflexively fed in mana to match it, and then something astonishing started. the characters on the door began to glow, transforming into different characters in his vision. "blessings to the dead......" "huh?" "and curses to the living." as davey mumbled the characters written on the wall, aeria approached him and her eyes widened. then, she looked at him with wonder and asked, "can you read these characters?" "the cold flow is their spirit... and the quiet air is their breath." as davey continued speaking, the characters on the door began to glow slowly. "the name of this place is the cradle of the beginning. you who are born, even now, turn back. when those who are not permitted set foot in here, the spirits of the underworld will aim for your life¡­¡± these words seemed nonsensical, but apparently, deciphering them was the key. hoooom!!! soon, the entire door began to absorb a pale green light in its engraved cracks. and then, the light rapidly filled the cracks engraved in the floor, walls, and ceiling. at the sudden change in the environment, aeria looked around with a tense face and slowly moved closer to davey. gggggggg!!!! then, with a loud noise, the massive door started to open, revealing a dark space. the space beyond the door was a massive cavern. however, in davey''s view, there were several small spheres of light scattered on the floor. a trap, or a testing room. silently, davey stepped into the room and slowly stepped on one of the circles filled with light drawn on the floor. oooom!!! simultaneously, the light engraved on the floor went out. as there was no change in the flow of mana, the light began to return as soon as davey lifted his foot off it. "hmm¡­ do they want me to turn all of them off?" after some thought, davey stepped on another platform to turn it off, then moved his other foot to step on a circle of a different color. then, the second platform also lost its light and disappeared. there were a total of four circles drawn on the floor. without a word, davey reached out his hand and touched the remaining two, and the flow of mana around him began to change. ping! at the same time, lights began to rise in places other than where davey¡¯s hands and feet were. "are they asking me to match and turn off the lights again?" davey once again moved his hands and feet, extinguishing all the lights. continuing to solve this small puzzle, he diligently carried out these tasks in silence. however, aeria found davey¡¯s behavior to be strange. * * * aeria looked at davey with a hint of confusion as he suddenly entered the cavern and started stepping and touching the empty floor as if afraid. nothing was reflecting on the floor in her view. however, he started to crouch and move around like a four-legged animal, as if confirming something. ¡®i need to help him!¡¯ although she didn''t know what it was, he had said that the reason he came here might hold the key to restoring her memories. in the end, he was working so hard for her. what was she doing? the thought that she was a nuisance caused her expression to subtly turn into a gloomy frown. ¡®i¡­ i need to help.¡¯ was it a matter of dignity? she thought it was not right for her to just stand by and watch this boy she barely knew working so hard for her. thinking this, aeria embedded davey''s figure into her mind. then she, too, cautiously knelt and placed her hands on the empty floor. and then, like a bug, she began to crawl slowly. CH 416 aeria herself did not want to admit it, but her movements resembled bugs crawling on a wall. it was embarrassing and shameful, yet she believed there had to be a reason for davey''s actions. "princess aeria..." then, it happened. a slightly startled voice echoed, and aeria slowly lifted her head to see a black-haired boy looking blankly at her. overwhelmed by a sudden surge of shame and embarrassment, her face flushed bright red. "what... are you doing?" unable to explain her actions, tears welled up in aeria''s eyes. * * * when davey first saw aeria mimicking his peculiar movements in an attempt to help him, he thought she was cute. who would abandon their royal demeanor and adopt such an appearance in a situation where they knew nothing, even if they wanted to help? he would certainly bet all his assets on a ''no''. as she tried to quickly rise with her face blushing red, aeria got tangled in her arms, failed to stand, and fell. "gah!" davey suppressed a sudden surge of schadenfreude watching aeria covering her flushed face with both hands, trying to hide it from him. unlike illyna, tormenting this particular princess seemed fun, but he was not sure he could handle the aftermath. unlike illyna and perserque, who would both explode in anger, aeria seemed like she would just start crying right away. "well, that''s..." ¡®don''t laugh.¡¯ he knew her feelings, it would be wrong to laugh! suppressing his laughter desperately, davey... "pff..." he burst out laughing anyway. "kuk... kuh... hahaha!" laying down and laughing loudly, davey drew the attention of aeria who was also lying down. she jumped up and glared at him with tears welling up in her eyes. "please, don''t laugh..." seeing aeria¡¯s tear-streaked face and unable to protest, davey, who had been laughing for a while, eventually got up when she started to sob. he then knelt down, slid his arms under her armpits to help her up, and grinned at her. "you just need to stay still." "but i have to do something..." "you don''t have to do it yourself." davey roughly understood what the trial of this ruin wanted. "we just need to press, so why would you need to do it yourself?" [7th circle] [control gravity] woong... slam!! the heavy air pressed down, exerting a powerful pressure on the ground. at the same time, panels of different colors in davey¡¯s vision began to lose their light and turn off. what difference did it make if the things spread all around could substitute his hands and feet? with a loud sizzling sound, the magic device fully manifested, and the door leading to the next path began to open. destroying the door could be a good method, but based on his experience, if you carelessly destroy things in such ruins, there was a high chance of losing the target. * * * the accursed ruin demanded various trials afterward. there were blade traps with shining blades, and there were hellish traps with red flames flickering. these trials were all dangerous and complex, but the strategy was surprisingly simple. he blocked the path with a huge safety wall to avoid the blade trap and crossed it, and he forcibly blocked the air in the entire area to prevent the combustion for the hellish fire trap. as a result, it took him only about 30 minutes to reach the final altar, which was very short. "wow... it''s beautiful..." the final room was a beautiful one, containing a massive pond. staring at the pond that sparkled as if studded with stars across its entire surface, aeria seemed to lick her lips with an unexpected desire. "nobody can see us in here," davey whispered, to which aeria looked at him with surprise. he then asked, "do you not wish to wash yourself?" since both of them had fallen into this place, neither had had the opportunity to clean properly. perhaps davey was right, for without a word, aeria sniffed her wrist and then her eyes began to well up. with a sorrowful expression on her face, aeria said, "i''m... i''m sorry. you must have found my smell unpleasant..." "not really," davey answered. then, he slowly walked in, stopping to read the inscription on a stone slab in front of the pond. "sacred is the soul of the dead. mortal who has reached this place, you have successfully navigated the rooms that test your bravery, rationality, and strategy. all truths lie within the dead. to pay respects to the dead, cleanse your body and mind." at davey''s murmuring, aeria''s eyes widened, her face flushing red. his words implied that they needed to clean themselves in this place if they wanted to proceed to the next room. and who was the subject? naturally, it was the intruders, including both aeria and him. "maybe we can just break through," davey suggested. [if it were within your power, it could be possible. but it might not be the wisest course of action. you could mess up at the very end.] "would it collapse?" [most likely, yes. i''m sorry, but even i can''t fully understand this place. all i know is that silver chime is at the final part of this place.] considering the time when davey had come into being, he could not know any more than this. "hmm..." without saying a word, davey dipped his hand into the pond to test the water. it was refreshingly cool, flowing swiftly over his hand and inducing a sense of clarity. this subtle feeling seemed familiar... ah, this was a natural pond rich in mana. at that realization, davey''s eyes lit up. "damn it." aeria looked at davey in surprise as he suddenly rose. she asked, "what''s... what''s wrong?" "let''s get in." this was no ordinary water. it was mana holy water! it was water imbued with the blessing of mana. simply bathing in it could potentially transform an average person into an expert level mana user. it was said to take hundreds of years to produce enough for a single bottle, so absorbing all the power of this pond might stabilize davey''s currently unstable state. with this realization, there was no reason not to indulge. a human had a clear limit of mana they could absorb, so both aeria and davey would benefit the most from entering the pond together. finishing his calculation, davey''s eyes shone. "come on." "but... but..." "it''s fine. no need to strip. just go in as you are." at davey''s words, aeria looked terrified, but then took a deep breath. "alright. i can''t just keep relying on you. if there''s something i can do, then i will do it!" with that, she slowly lifted the hem of her dress and cautiously began to step into the pond. the water made her clothes cling fast to her body, revealing her curves, and all davey could think of was how he had struck gold. so this was how such treasures were concealed. considering that this was here... was it not implying that such a thing would be present in the original world too? this realization excited davey so much that he quickly turned to the observer. ''tell me about every other place as well. everything.'' [you, you''re not seriously...] ¡°this isn''t against the rules of the world, right?¡± * * * maybe it was because of the cold, but aeria shivered and huddled up. while bathing would typically involve disrobing to some extent, davey just strode into the pond until he was in the middle of it. "eek!" aeria let out a cute scream and staggered a bit. "what''s wrong¡­?" "don''t look!" she pleaded. ignoring aeria¡¯s startled cry, davey turned his head only to see her shielding her chest with her hands before plunging herself into the pond. then, she muttered with a gloomy expression. no matter what, revealing the curves of her body in front of a man was an unbearable humiliation for her, who had become extremely introverted. she had decided to trust davey, but it was different from the time she used to blindly believe in him. some unconscious part of her was still instinctively favoring him, but originally, this would have been an unthinkable act. in the still silence, aeria slowly walked up to where davey was, and they sat back to back in the middle of the pond. the water was about chest-high when they sat down, so they did not submerge. with aeria in silence behind him, davey was experiencing a thrill from the massive amount of mana coming into his body through the sacred mana water. it was likely that aeria, too, was feeling this phenomenon. she, who had come in with a shy face, seemed to be fascinated by the mysterious feeling brought by the sacred mana water, staring silently at the glowing pond and smiling, forgetting even that davey was watching her. "it''s amazing..." aeria said and without another word, she scooped up the water in her hands and, like a cat grooming, she wiped her ears. it was like something a cat or dog would do. but when she, of all people, did it, it looked quite unique. "aah, it feels refreshing..." she sighed. seeing her strangely cute behavior made davey feel a strange tremor, as if someone was whispering in his head. ¡®isn''t this the chance i¡¯ve been waiting for? am i going to ignore the feast that has been set before me? fool! cast off the hesitation and become a resolute being!¡¯ as if the devil was whispering, davey slowly buried his head. such a whisper in a situation where impulses were momentarily controlling his body... theft is never good, try looking at [ pawread dot com ]. when davey started to shiver, aeria cautiously turned her head and her eyes widened. her gaze fell on his upper body, defined with solid muscles. the water made his clothes cling tightly to him, and with his outer clothes off, his muscles were revealed under the white clothing. "ah..." she swallowed instinctively and jerkily turned her head away, moving back from him. "prince davey? are, are you alright?" she reached out her hand cautiously to him, and davey, with wide-open eyes, grabbed her wrist. she exclaimed, "eek!" "you started this, princess," he responded. at those words, aeria¡¯s eyes widened even more, and she blushed, catching the certain desire reflected in his eyes. "d-don''t do this! i, i have someone i...i..." suddenly, she stopped. "huh...?" she seemed taken aback, not even understanding what she was saying herself. seeing her reaction, davey tightened his grip on her wrist even more. CH 417 "ouch... ah, it hurts," aeria stammered, flustered by her own behavior. davey let out a short breath and said, "princess, you brought this upon yourself." "no, i don''t want this... don''t do this," she begged. "it''s already too late," he responded, causing tears to well up in aeria¡¯s eyes. despite her desperate struggle to get away from him, davey slowly approached her, stretching out his other hand. the atmosphere between them was undeniably lascivious, with her clothes clinging to her body. in this strangely heated atmosphere, aeria, unable to contain her fear, tightly shut her eyes. she bit her lips and began to tremble violently. thud! contrary to her worry, davey¡¯s hand grasped her shoulder. she let out a weak moan. her eyes, which had been fixated on davey, rolled back. "ah¡­ huh?" she exclaimed, now with her back to him and was seated on the floor. however, davey had already laid both of his hands on her shoulders. then, with a ''crack'', the sound of stiffened muscles and bones twisting filled the air. "ah!" a surprised scream escaped aeria¡¯s mouth. davey flashed the princess a gleeful grin. he savored the taste of victory. his desire to knead tight muscles never seemed to fade, and it was all those damned heroes¡¯ fault! * * * gasping for breath, aeria was left lying outside the pond while davey casually used his mana. [dry] as he cast the 3rd circle magic spell, his drenched clothes and aeria''s dress began to dry. aeria, her face blank, looked up at him with resentful eyes. she complained, "you startled me." "i have this habit. when i see tense muscles, i want to loosen them." "if you had mentioned that from the start..." "well, were you thinking of something else?" davey teased. "no, not at all!" aeria shouted in surprise and quickly turned her head away. struggling to move, she murmured, "you really are horrible.¡± "the door''s open," davey announced. the mana water had been completely absorbed by both their bodies, serving its purpose. it seemed pointless to bathe in it any further. if one or two more people entered, it would turn completely into ordinary water. davey hoisted the exhausted and blushing aeria onto his back, and began to slowly walk toward the door on the other side of the pond. the water in the pond that was knee-deep earlier, now felt as if it had a bottom as soon as his foot touched it. "ah!" aeria looked around in surprise from his back and gave a gasp of amazement. the light of the pond grew brighter with each step he took. carrying aeria, who was mesmerized by the surroundings, davey silently crossed the pond and headed toward the slowly opening door. [you''re a strange one. yes, this is the final room. the silver chime should be here.] at these words, davey spotted a small jewel emitting a bright light at the end of the enormous hollow. the jewel, shaped like a teardrop and emitting a soft light, was filled with an unusual flow of mana. "how strange," he mused. he had seen philosopher''s stones and all sorts of machinery, but never anything as peculiar as this. not even those from the hall of heroes had mentioned such an object. it was an object of wonder, yet just as deadly. its beauty was so compelling that it invoked a primal sense of greed. davey gradually approached the altar where the chime was placed. he gently set down aeria, then turned his attention to the altar. aeria, too, was staring blankly at the chime, her expression awestruck. "it''s beautiful," she murmured. the glow in her eyes started to faintly fade away as she spoke. seeing the princess¡¯ reaction, davey halted in his tracks and promptly turned back to tap lightly on aeria''s forehead. it was not a simple tap; he infused it with divine power and mana to penetrate her mind. "ah," she breathed out. as the sudden distortion in her expression from her overwhelming greed returned back to normal, she stammered, "what... what did i¡­?" "beauty often carries a deadly venom," davey cautioned her. "be vigilant." at his words, she seemed to realize how entranced she had been by the chime. she lowered her head, her face flushed with embarrassment. "oh..." she muttered, clamping her mouth shut and biting down hard on her lower lip. "i''m sorry, i''ll be more careful." satisfied with her response, davey resumed his steps. the temptation was so strong that it could easily ensnare any expert, yet aeria seemed to have resisted it with her unique stubbornness and clear mind. [once you touch the chime, it will be absorbed instantly. once it''s absorbed, you''ll be unconscious until you''ve fully felt its effects. don''t forget, you''ll have to carry her out.] at those words, davey was about to grab the chime when he paused and reached out his hand toward aeria. he took her up to the altar with him and held onto her arm. "prince davey?" she questioned. "there''s a barrier around the chime. if you reach out carelessly, your hand will evaporate," he explained, and her face paled. "it''s okay. i''ll handle it. trust me and slowly reach out your hand," he reassured her, to which she silently nodded in compliance. after swallowing hard, aeria reached out to grab the chime, stopping just before touching it. woosh!!! a chilling breeze, reminiscent of the one they had felt when they first entered the dungeon, swept over the entire cave, casting a cold pallor over the surroundings. ¡°hehehehehe¡­¡± ¡°hahahaha¡­¡± there was eerie laughter echoing from all directions. the cavern was significantly larger than any they had previously encountered, and the sound of the laughter filled the entire space. aeria flinched and looked up at the sudden noise. then, she saw them. the giant statues that adorned the cavern, their stone eyes were staring at her. when you''re just trying to make great content at pawread.com . "ah!" she cried out in surprise. it was understandable. the eyes of the massive statues in the center of the cave had begun to move in unison, all turning toward aeria and davey. "how dare you enter here!" one statue bellowed, followed by many others shouting, "do you even know where you are?! leave at once!" their voices were so loud, it was as if hundreds were screaming directly into aeria''s ears. she couldn''t bear it and curled up, covering her ears with her hands. in response, davey quickly used a silence spell to block all sound from reaching aeria and stared at the statues. "so, you won''t give up that easily," he murmured calmly. he watched the massive doors closing, blocking their way out, and the massive clay figures that started to rise from the ground, all while sporting a smirk. among the clay figures were humans, beastfolks, and demons. there were elves and dwarves too. all dressed in armor and weapons. their numbers increased from a handful to hundreds, filling the entire cave and surrounding davey and aeria. the massive stone statues that had stood still as if protecting the cave began to move slowly. with the slowly advancing figures pointing their weapons at them, aeria did not know what to do and looked around frantically. "how dare you come here!" one statue shouted. then, from among them, a giant clay figure wearing a jewel-encrusted crown emerged, shouting, "what do you think you''re doing touching that object?!" as it spoke, the sound of spears clashing against the ground echoed around them. it was like metal striking rock, even though it was just clay. seeing the stand-off that had rapidly developed, davey finally said, "now that we''ve found the object, it''s okay if we overturn the place, right?" surrounded by an overwhelming number of clay figures and statues, davey¡¯s voice was surprisingly as leisurely as ever. [do as you please. but i believe they are valuable enough to be used.] "i''ll be the judge of that," davey replied. even though this world might bring forth something unfamiliar, to him, it was merely a low difficulty challenge. the blasted abyss had interfered, causing a tangled ultra-nightmare level of difficulty in his original world. the clay soldiers and stone statues were embodiments that certainly harbored souls. in other words, they were different from the deceased controlled by the necromancer. while a typical death mage or a lich trained in necromancy might struggle with this... davey did not stop there. eventually, his eyes, which had been closed, glowed with an inky light. necromantic mana began to leak out little by little. "soulless wretches sure talk a lot," he commented. "ha, ha, ha, ha! a death mage dares to control us!" "insolent!" as their shouts suggested, ordinary necromancers could not handle these high-ranking souls. whether it be grell orphan, the 8th circle lich specializing in curses who called himself the absolute immortal, or even nyx from the 9th circle, they could not control them. attempting to forcibly handle high-ranking souls could rip the soul of the caster apart. that was why low-level necromancers could not handle high-level undead, such as death knights. "certainly, they''d be difficult to handle normally." "do we seem so insignificant that a death mage could control us! insolent living one!" "your arrogance will drive you to death! as a price for daring to control us, your soul will be torn to shreds!!!" upon understanding their words, aeria looked at davey with concern. indeed, they were right. it would be impossible under normal circumstances. however, these wretches had not realized one thing yet. the necromantic mana that had been gradually released began to warp momentarily. it was a power darker and deeper than ordinary necromantic mana, a higher-dimensional power. as it began to oppressively pervade the area, the uproar momentarily ceased. ¡®8th circle lich grell orphan? 9th circle lich nyx? don''t dare to compare those guys with me. the master who taught me was the unparalleled absolute being who had existed once in all dimensions, the entity that pioneered the end of death alone.¡¯ [i command in the name of the imperfection death lord.] although davey could not wield the power of rho aias, as a necromancer who had learned everything from her, davey had reached a state where he could learn all the magic she used except for one. ¡®would you dare to fight with necromancy against me, who once worked my soul to the bone to impress my first love?¡¯ boom!!! upon hearing davey¡¯s words, the clay soldiers and stone statues approaching him with eerie laughter suddenly froze. just as their expressions froze, a command from the ruler of the dead was issued. [lower your eyes, insignificant beings.] davey¡¯s voice echoed ominously once more. CH 418 the massive space, once filled with ridicule, disdain, and criticism, fell eerily quiet in an instant. the clay soldiers, the stone statues, and lastly, a figure adorned with a crown - whom davey assumed was their king - all fell silent. not a single breath could be heard as they began to shrink back. just a single phrase was all it took. the sight of a vast assembly of clay soldiers and stone statues, which dared not meet his eyes and knelt before him, was awe-inspiring in its resolute consistency. was it because they felt loyalty to him that this had happened? no, that was not it. all he did was step outside their norms and give an order. typically, the undead would be subjugated on a soul level and would have shown him zealous loyalty, but these undead were subtly different in some way. "cough, this can¡¯t¡­ this can¡¯t be!" the clay soldier wearing the crown tried desperately to lift himself, screaming at davey. "five thousand years! for five thousand years, i have ruled this place as a sovereign! i will not bow to the power of someone like you, who appeared out of nowhere!" [bow your head.] unfortunately, his futile defiance was also short-lived. trembling as if struck by a tremendous shock, he too ultimately crumbled and lowered his head. beings that were dead but not dead¡ªthat was how davey perceived them. "cough¡­ cough¡­" as davey approached the resisting figure, the nearby clay soldiers bowed even lower, showing their fear of him. the crowned clay soldier, perhaps feeling a terror akin to having his soul split apart, held onto the ground as if his hands would shatter. davey wanted to witness the crowned soldier¡¯s further resistance. calmly, he waved his hand, relieving the pressure that was specifically targeted at the assumed king of the clay soldiers. "in the name of the prugrepf civilization¡¯s sovereignty, i say! no one can dare to rob my kingdom and people without my permission!!" as soon as the pressure on him disappeared, the crowned soldier rose and charged at davey. the rough clay sword at his waist was drawn out. although the sword, lacking a fixed form, should have crumbled away, some force kept it in the shape of a sword, darkly dyed. his sword came within an inch of davey''s neck and swung toward him. kwaang!!!! a shockwave that could vibrate the surroundings burst out. if the clay sword had been sharp, if it had contained some peculiar power, it could have left a deep scar on davey. indeed, the sword he swung created a powerful sword energy that could cut even clay soldiers dozens of meters away in half. however, his sword energy, following the trajectory of the clay soldiers, stopped even before it could reach aeria, who stood behind davey. the black current was drawn into davey¡¯s hands, and he stopped the sword with his bare hands. the fierce energy of the clay sword, which cut through everything in its path, was forcibly halted, evaporated, and the clay sword lost its power, crumbling away like weathering. "what?! my sword of the kingdom, kronos, cuts even souls¡­ but how could it?¡± "what do i look like in your eyes?" davey asked calmly as he approached the clay soldier, grasping his neck and pushing him down. kwoong!! at the same time, a tremendous amount of distorted necromantic mana extended and forced the crowned soldier¡¯s physical body to kneel on the ground. "this, this can¡¯t¡­" "i''ll ask again." davey inquired, and the clay man''s eyes widened in response. theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3ibfjkv. [what do you see me as?] at davey¡¯s words, the figure that had been shaking in resistance gradually started to freeze. then, after a brief silence, he slowly said, "king of the dead, an incomplete judge, breaker of the boundary of life and death..." his words trailed off before he finished speaking. "you are the ruler of the dead...." in his voice was the reverence that had replaced the hostility from before. * * * the statues froze, and the clay soldiers returned to the earth. the crowned clay soldier, who called himself the governor of prugrepf, was the only one left standing. with his head bowed in respect, he said, "to honor the ruler..." his words were subservient, but they contained profound distrust. it wasn''t a mistrust of davey himself, but of the word ''king''. curiosity sparked within davey, but he had no intention of allowing the roles to reverse. as he approached aeria, who was blankly staring at him, she looked up at davey with tension in her eyes. her gaze was filled with fear rather than trust. davey slowly extended his hand toward her frozen figure. "eh..." upon his approach, she reflexively shut her eyes in fear. she was of the beastfolk tribe, with senses sharper than those of humans. more specifically, she was a nine-tails, a tribe that possessed unique power unlike other beastfolks. so, it was impossible for her not to notice the phenomena that had occurred a while ago. even if she did not understand, she would have deeply felt it more than anyone else¡ªthe eerie, dark power that had flowed from davey¡¯s body. fearful of its influence on herself, she closed her eyes. when nothing happened, she slowly opened her eyes with an expression of wonder. then, she looked surprised. that was because, in silence, davey had been patting her head. "it''s okay. i won''t hurt you." upon hearing his calm voice, aeria looked up at davey, and soon, tears began to flow. she had recognized that she had been sending him fearful looks due to an instinctive fear. "i... i''m sorry, i''m sorry." without saying a word, davey pulled aeria into his arms and patted her back. she grabbed his clothes tightly and sobbed bitterly. as expected of the nine-tails, unless they broke their tribal limit, they had a close relationship with spirits. therefore, the power that davey displayed, which went beyond controlling mana and interfered with the soul itself, would have been terrifying to her. once she had calmed down after sobbing for a while, davey took her hand, opened the barrier, and placed the silver chime in her palm. suddenly, she shivered greatly, and as if she had been waiting, she closed her eyes and fell unconscious. while davey was slowly laying aeria¡¯s unconscious body on the ground, the voice of the observer could be heard. [if what she wants is truly to regain her memory, the chime will respond.] although he would usually have retorted to the observer''s words, davey ignored him and approached the governor. [they are full of distrust. distrust for the one who broke his promise.] davey slowly asked the governor, "tell me. what is the cause of your distrust?" the governor did not answer davey''s question but simply crouched further. "speak." his resistance crumbled completely at the second inquiry as the crowned soldier revealed, "the king... the king who abandoned the kingdom... consumed by greed, he committed a taboo he should not have..." davey quietly closed his eyes. "his arrogance reached the heavens and provoked the wrath of the gods." he had incurred the wrath of the gods, and as a result, he was cursed. what kind of taboo must he have broken to make the gods, who usually do not interfere, turn an entire kingdom into cursed undead? "the king... he abandoned us. the king deceived us, he lied. the curse that he should have received was borne by the people of the kingdom, and for five thousand years, we have been waiting for the king who left the kingdom." there was an evident resentment toward the word ''king'' in his voice. "five thousand years... the king abandoned us! what remains for the people of the kingdom, who have accumulated hatred for a long time under the curse of the gods, is only hatred and revenge!" in front of the crowned soldier¡¯s fury, which seemed as if it would spill tears if he were a living creature, davey quietly closed his eyes. the forgotten civilization of five thousand years ago. in this place, guided by the observer, there was nothing but cursed kingdom people and their resentment toward the absent king. "o absolute ruler of the dead, save us." davey remained silent. the source of their power was a combination of the hatred accumulated over five thousand years, the curse of the gods, and the broken promise of the king. they were neither ordinary undead nor alive; they had become the undead due to the god''s curse. it was natural that they would be this deceptive. the unfocused hatred was being poured out on davey and aeria, the intruders of the ruins, so there was no choice but to have such power. great power, an undead and an absolute being that no one else could handle¡ªa being trapped in these ruins for a time nearing five thousand years. while davey was deep in thought, he slowly raised his hand. at the same time, the black magic circle that appeared at his fingertips slowly rose up into the sky, transforming into a giant magic circle. "i command in the name of the imperfection death lord." once again, upon hearing the melancholic voices, the soldiers simultaneously unsheathed their weapons and ceremoniously raised their swords to the sky. since it was a curse cast upon the dead by the divine, only a god could lift such a curse. however, there was one thing that could be done. as everyone stood silent, watching him, davey slowly continued his words, "i will take upon all the curses inflicted upon you. even if the curse disappears, the power that remains in your souls won''t be insignificant. serve me. follow me. help me wield the sword." their influence could only reach this parallel world, but that was sufficient. along with his words, a dark aura began to pour out from the bodies of all the soldiers and stone statues. it was not just one or two, but the curses of thousands, if not millions or more souls, began to flood into davey through the magic circle. the content of that curse was simple. it was the acceptance of a curse to remain trapped here eternally as the living. at davey¡¯s choice, not only the observer, but even the citizens of the prugrepf kingdom, who had hoped for salvation, stared at him in surprise. "lord, the absolute! why?!" a curse from the divine could not be undone by anyone other than the divine. ingesting the curses of the entire kingdom meant davey could not leave this place. however, the fact that goddess freyja was not intervening in this situation meant her desires aligned with his actions. even though her influence had weakened, she could not ignore him, who was causing a disturbance, crossing the parallel line. "ah... ah!" the mournful voice of the governor kneeling and crying out could be heard, along with the cries of the suffering kingdom''s people. instinctively, a curse strong enough to shake davey¡¯s vision engulfed his entire body amidst the jet-black aura. davey, who had received the curse through the magic circle, slowly lowered his hand. his entire body had turned pitch black from the aftermath of the curse, and it flamed up as if it had turned into fire. the people of the prugrepf kingdom, freed from the power that had bound them, trembled. they were unable to leave his side, after he had swallowed all of their curses. "is this satisfactory?" the king of the prugrepf civilization, who had promised to save his people but broke his promise and fled, did not answer his call. [foolish one... there was no need for you to take on that.] "you''re not hiding anymore." [didn''t you already know who i was? from the moment you first entered these ruins?] "i had a hunch," davey said quietly with a troubled voice. [it''s not too late. give it all to me. there''s no reason for you to get wrapped up in this.] "what are you saying?" the observer fell silent. yes, the divine curse was indeed dangerous. it couldn¡¯t be undone by anyone but the divine. however, this curse was nothing more than a minor curse issued by the divine. and davey possessed two powers that could exert influence regarding gods and curses. the taboo of interference that intervened and separated from the power of the gods, and the [flow rejection] that had been given by rho aias with the effect of curse immunity. as he silently reached out his hand and began to awaken one power within him, everything started to change. the reason the divine curse was powerful was that the divine''s power constantly gave its great willpower to the curse. therefore, if that link could be severed by any means, the darn curse would be nothing more than a residual without a host. and no matter how much the remnants of such a curse were accumulated, it did not matter to him. he had another power waiting, which was the curse of flow rejection that had been given to him by rho aias. crack... the mass of curse seeping into his body created a large fissure. not any other being, even his teacher rho aias, could mimic this. only davey, who had inherited all the powers of the heroes, could handle such a complex operation of power. before long, it shattered into pieces. CH 419 a forbidden command had been imposed on the creatures. from ancient times, it was a realm that should never be violated. [in the name of god, a curse will be cast. even in death, you will find no rest, forever trapped and suffering.] an arrogant human, driven by a desire to reach the divine, dared to cross a line never meant to be crossed, ultimately invoking the wrath and curse of god. as a result, the living were condemned to isolation from the world, forced into the depths of the earth, becoming the cursed dead. they were destined to suffer indefinitely, lost and eternally unhealed. the king could only watch helplessly, sighing at the devastating sight. it all began with pure curiosity and the aspiration to propel civilization forward. if the duplication of the silver chime succeeded, centuries of progress were anticipated. however, the outcome left him with a hollow feeling, as it brought nothing but immense pain to his beloved kingdom and its people. those afflicted by the curse found themselves trapped within the kingdom''s boundaries, enduring ceaseless torment. the king narrowly escaped the curse, but this only deepened his despair. he couldn''t bear the sorrow of knowing that innocent souls had to suffer due to his actions. yet, amidst his daily lamentation, a glimmer of hope appeared. in a dream, he encountered an enigmatic presence... ¡®leave the kingdom and head east. there, you will find answers.¡¯ unable to find a way to lift the curse of god, he had made a solemn promise to the suffering people of the kingdom, "i will surely return and save you." with that determination, he embarked on a journey to the east, and 5,000 years elapsed. in essence, his mission ended in failure. [the east, yes. where the holy kingdom of valchas is now. there, i received a divine revelation. there is no mercy for those who violate the taboo. forever be an eye, watching over the world''s flow. all of this was a kind of divine punishment.] as a result, the kingdom of prugrepf, along with its entire civilization, fell under a curse, and all records of its existence were wiped from the world, turning it into a forgotten civilization that no one knew about. [time passed and a holy kingdom was built where my body fell. originally, i could only watch the world flow and the kingdom''s people suffer.] "but it seems to me that you''re talking quite well now." [i don''t know. for some reason, the divine power that blocked my interference has weakened.] so, as davey manifested the karma of taboo, the weakening of divine influence in the world became an opportunity for the observer. originally, the world was not at that level, but in a parallel world, the divine influence weakened unspeakably, and thanks to that, the ancient king was able to come to davey¡¯s side. "did you deceive me?" [no, i never thought that someone, who focuses on realistic and practical aspects of life like you, would empathize with their pain and save them.] the problem was that davey, who had come here to get the silver chime, committed an act that went beyond his expectations. [the curse of god does not disappear unless god withdraws his anger. you shattered that. can you imagine?] at the voice of the observer, davey quietly closed his eyes and murmured, "the one that princess aeria absorbed..." [the silver chime, the original. the duplicates had all been destroyed under my command. this is a precious item that can''t be found anywhere else in the world.] it was the only treasure left in the world. [god did not give me the right to approach the dying kingdom people due to the curse, so...] "so?" [i prayed to god, prayed again, and repented for my sins. i prayed desperately, and after about 4,000 years had passed, i was given a chance. i believed that if i could maintain the balance of this world, god would soothe his anger. isn''t it ironic? i was asked to balance when all i could do was watch. it was a deception.] if only he could break the curse, he would do anything, but in reality, he could not interfere beyond being a mere observer. "but recently, an opportunity presented itself." [indeed, that''s right. suddenly, as the influence of god weakened, i could at least interfere with my voice. and that''s when i found you, someone from outside the world.] he was willing to use davey''s power to complete the trade with god, even if it meant giving up the silver chime, a treasure of the kingdom. however, he never imagined that the curse could be broken in such a brute way. [but... what are you? how on earth did you break god''s curse...] "there are many things i have hidden. well, now there''s no need to maintain the balance and rush." at davey¡¯s words, the observer fell silent. [there were many deaths. weren''t they precious lives too? a tension-filled hell punctuated by hatred and vengeance would have been better.] it can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread.com". having watched the world for a long time, he unintentionally came to love it. that was why, even though the curse on the kingdom''s people disappeared and a way to rest was opened to them, he could not easily leave. "ahh... ahh... oh, sovereign," a clay soldier still bearing a crown in its sickly form approached davey, lowering his head in front of him. "you, unlike the king who betrayed us, are the grand being who has saved us." the kingdom''s people had no idea how desperate their king had been to save them, a secret from the ancient prugrepf civilization. it was a secret the king himself did not wish to share, considering he was the one who had inflicted long years of suffering upon his people. "although we obtained the chance to tread the path of reincarnation with the aid of the grand being..." with these words, the statues started to move, bowing their enormous forms to kneel before davey. the countless clay soldiers followed suit, bending their bodies to him as well. "if we cannot repay the grace of the grand being, we are not even worthy of leaving..." his voice, once filled with hatred and madness, had cleared. he continued, "please... grant us the opportunity to be of service to the grand being." davey silently closed his eyes. he had already obtained the silver chime necessary for aeria. all that remained was to check her condition during the limited time left and to depart. there was nothing left for him to do in this place. [time is short. stop thinking too much and prepare to leave.] "i was just about to." [if the moment comes when you are needed in this world, you will be called upon again. however, now is not that time. now, it''s just a coincidence.] the deity did not intentionally send davey to this place. instead, upon noticing his arrival, the deity neither reprimanded nor exploited him. well, it was not a bad outcome in retrospect. due to this encounter, he gained more than he could have expected. "stop talking nonsense and make your vows. you don''t have much time left." "ahh... ahh... oh, sovereign." the bowed figures seemed to promise not to hinder his departure. ignoring them, davey gently picked up aeria and exited the dungeon. * * * aeria showed no signs of waking up. the silver chime had the ability to enhance immunity, capable of nullifying any penalties imposed upon her. carrying a sleeping aeria on his back, davey exited the ruins, ignoring the gaze of the governor watching him from the entrance. but he had not gone far before a strange smell filled his nose, the smell of something burning¡­ the first thing he heard was a tremendous boom. then, he saw a giant black-scaled creature staring down at him. the massive monster, a black dragon, was holding a small pig in its mouth. upon spotting davey, it roared furiously, its eyes gleaming. however, the creature''s roar did not last long. something seemed to distort, and its body collapsed on the spot. "a black dragon hatchling? have the demons decided to cause trouble?" davey muttered, squinting into the empty air. "you told me nobody knew." [umm¡­] "given your viewpoint, observer, you should be able to see clearly what is happening where. are you still not going to say anything important?" [there are times when ignorance is bliss.] davey, now stepping into the heart of the village, could see the black smoke filling the sky. his baby sister, aeonitia, who had just given birth not too long ago, must have been there. even though the aeonitia of this world had no significant connection to him, that did not mean she had ceased to be aeonitia. the village was in complete chaos. seeing the village engulfed in flames, davey quickened his pace and managed to find another survivor, a man. he asked, "what happened?¡± "attack... from the sky... the demons..." the man, shaking uncontrollably, raised his head. as he finished speaking, the man collapsed, seemingly exhausted. "who told you to die without finishing your sentence?" woong!!! "please, bless me with full power, damn goddess." [9th level holy magic] [high recovery] "don''t die on your own accord." suddenly, a large burst of light began to spread. at the same time, hatchling-class black dragons started to rise and fly in davey''s direction from all around. these black dragons were different from regular hatchlings, as they were affected by magic that prevented them from growing. despite being young, they were known for their unusual strength, a significant factor in their past fame. they were called the grimghast, or the black dragon troop, a name of considerable renown. "ugh...ugh..." the man who had thought he was dead regained consciousness as he was enveloped in the warm light. he stared up at davey with a blank expression. "what''s going on...?" "never mind that. what''s the matter? you were dying even before you could speak." at davey''s words, the man looked at him with a baffled expression, and his eyes widened in surprise. "answer me." "t-the demons attacked us! they took all the villagers!" hearing his desperate outcry, davey glanced at the numerous black dragons gathering around him as if to encircle him. [go back to the port city of valchas. the people here might have been precious to you, but they are from a different world. you have no reason to sacrifice yourself anymore.] ignoring the observer¡¯s advice, davey quietly watched the black dragons. reckless interference would gradually increase the danger. however, hearing that aeonitia, who had just given birth, had been taken by the demons, something boiled within him. "a human? a human, indeed!" when one of the demons riding on the back of a black dragon shouted, another demon pulled out a small piece of paper and compared it to davey''s face. due to the magic dispelling upon arriving here, davey''s current appearance was perfectly identical to his original form. "we found him! this is the human!" the demons would naturally recognize him. the black dragons encircled davey as the shouting demon pointed at him, ready to attack him at any moment. "where did you take the villagers from here?" at davey''s question, the demon sneered coldly. "hah! human bastard! we''ve got nothing to say to you! everyone, charge your breaths!" with that shout, the black dragons began to gather a cold black breath in their mouths. it appeared these dragons had evolved from blue dragons, known for manipulating coldness, into black dragons. the surrounding temperature started to plummet. ten or so black dragons surrounded davey, and dozens more were circling the sky. it was an excessive force to wipe out a small village. in other words, they were here to find davey. but how? before he could ponder that, davey prioritized protecting aeria, whom he was holding, from exposure to the cold by spreading a thin veil around her. seeing him only bow his head without taking any action, the demons seemed to think he had given up and showed a relaxed demeanor. "hah! are you scared? the chief of staff said to capture you if we can. if you beg for your life right now, we might spare you!" several black dragons thrust their heads forward as if to intimidate and provoke davey, bellowing loudly. the man who had collapsed on the ground began to shudder, seemingly despairing at the sight of the gathering black dragons. "it''s over... it''s all over..." it seemed that even though davey had beaten the swordmaster as if he were nothing, the survivor thought there was nothing davey could do now. after a brief consideration, davey slowly lifted his head and began to gather his magic energy, which was initially suppressed by different forces. "beg for your life." upon hearing davey''s quiet mumble, one of the black dragons that locked eyes with him froze. "i command you in the name of the king." after all, davey was still the dark lord. the grimghast were black dragons that obeyed the dark lord''s command absolutely. which meant, they were all his. "all of you, kneel." davey¡¯s quiet voice echoed swiftly. then, after a brief silence, the movements of the black dragons began to change. "what, what?! kaaahh!!!" the black dragons, which had thrown off and torn apart the demons on their backs, came down in an orderly manner and started to bow their heads in front of davey. the remaining demons were left aghast at this absurd situation, their mouths hanging open. they then looked at davey. "why are the black dragons¡­?" "why? they''re obeying because their king commanded them. what could you guys possibly do to refuse?" confusion started to show on the demons¡¯ faces. CH 420 "come down." a stern voice that carried a potent magical aura rang out. boom! the demon, who was struggling to control the resisting black dragon, gripped and shook the reins but could not withstand the dragon''s defiance and crashed to the ground. "argh! narsha! why are you doing this... argh!!" "snap out of it, colt! please, regain your senses, aargh!!" nevertheless, they were the lucky ones. those who tried too hard to control the dragon were being bitten and mauled by the enraged beast, losing their lives instantly. boom!! soon enough, two, four... eight black dragons gathered around him. watching the black dragons land before him one after another, as if catching a standard in formation, was a magnificent sight. these black dragons were notorious for their ferocity. as they were typically cloned from hatchlings, they tended to rely more on instinct than intelligence, exhibiting a wild animal-like nature. for that reason, davey had heard from dark lord ares and thousand-day blacksmith surtr that breeders often got bitten to death. these fierce black dragons were precisely the creatures in front of him. "who said they''re ferocious?" grrrrr... the black dragons, lowly growling and rubbing their snouts against davey¡¯s hand, were already enamored with him. "cough..." the demons who had fallen but not died or lost consciousness wore expressions as if they were about to foam at the mouth. their faces showed disbelief. the very black dragons who had bitten their caretakers were now bowing their heads and showing affection to a human boy they were seeing for the first time. to their knowledge, only one being had ever elicited this behavior from black dragons¡ªdark lord perserque. the black dragon troop only followed the dark lord''s commands and were structured in such a way that they could not disobey. these mutated hatchling black dragons were absolutely loyal to only the dark lord, so it was absurd for them to behave this way toward anyone else. there could be only one dark lord, especially now with perserque solidifying her position on the throne. so, from the demons'' perspective, this situation was both perplexing and stifling. [you know, excessive interference won''t benefit you. please prioritize yourself.] ''how many people care for me as much as i do for myself?'' briefly thinking, davey, who had been stroking a dragon''s snout, slowly approached the fallen demon. "speak." "cough... human..." "speak. where did you take the villagers?" at the flash of red in davey¡¯s eyes, terror filled the demon''s face. "d-dark lord..." "don''t make me ask twice." as davey asked, spreading his potent magical aura, the fallen demon started trembling and opened his mouth. despite its weight, the demon had to obey the dark lord ¨C it was in their nature. so, this was not a matter of their resistance. "all, all of them were captured... and taken back... to the stronghold. those who resisted... were killed..." "enough. i understand. go to sleep. however, when you wake up, don''t cause any trouble. just wait as if you''re dead." with that, the demon passed out, overwhelmed by davey''s magic. and it was not just him ¨C the others were also affected. considering the low level of their magical capacity, if exposure to this level was enough to make them faint, then davey did not find it necessary to deal with them. "wait here." "w-who are... you?" when the survivor came to his senses, he looked at davey with a wary gaze. ¡®oh, right, the illusion magic had worn off.¡¯ "i''m davey." at the response, the man looked puzzled. but soon after, as davey covered and then revealed his face with his hand, the man looked startled. "your face..." "illusion magic it is. now you know, you should be hiding like the dead," davey said calmly as he embraced aeria and hoisted her onto the back of the largest black dragon. he made her sit in front of him, securing her with one arm around her waist to prevent her from falling, then tapped the dragon''s neck. "alright. let''s go." he did not specify the destination. however, this black dragon, driven only by instincts, seemed to understand davey¡¯s command. its wings fluttered, and in no time, it shot up into the sky at an incredible speed. the massive black dragon was the lead, followed by dozens of other black dragons that also began to take flight. just after davey left to find the silver chime, the beasts stormed the village. how did they discover his location? davey could not tell, but one thing was certain. those who could not find him were furious, and they had brutally dragged the villagers away, leaving only the grimghast behind to continue the search for him. so now, he had no choice but to reveal himself, whom they were so desperate to find. * * * thud!!! "urgh..." euris grimaced and fell to the ground under a rough kick. she had been forcibly twisted and bound by her arms, and her face was bruised from several beatings. "damn it..." despite her cursing, her eyes did not lose their fiery spirit. most people had lost hope in this world, wishing for nothing more than to live like the dead. the savior had disappeared, and the gods had forsaken humanity. now, the ones worshiping gods in the continent were not humans, but demons. the villagers were the same. the people who once had strong wills of resistance had realized reality. they had accepted that the continent was no longer for humans, but for demons. they had voluntarily become slaves. euris couldn''t bear it. it all began when a mysterious foreigner appeared. this man suddenly arrived and drove away the demons that threatened their village. he saved her sister aeonitia, who was suffering greatly, and expressed a desire for a strange stone that euris had discovered while scouting the forest. initially, she was skeptical of his request, but she didn''t want to show ingratitude for his help. so, she gave him the necklace containing the stone, and he vanished with the adorable beastfolk who accompanied him. everything seemed fine until the demons invaded and wreaked havoc. these demons, on a relentless search for something, turned out to be the dreaded black dragon squad, the bane of the resistance. with the black dragon squad came a formidable force. the demons rampaged through the forest, growing increasingly frustrated as they failed to find what they sought. in response, they began violently capturing villagers, and many were killed for resisting. euris was among those who stood up against them. luckily, she managed to survive. female prisoners of war served to bolster the morale of the war-weary demons. ''i''d rather bite my tongue and die than be at the mercy of these damned demons!'' she thought. however, choosing suicide wasn''t easy, as she couldn''t bear leaving her weak sister aeonitia behind, especially after her recent childbirth. aeonitia was like an older sister to euris. despite once being of royal status, she never acted superior, not even with commoners. instead, she cared for and fretted over everyone, earning their love. now, she had been forcefully taken away. "move it!" thud!! euris crumpled to the ground once more, her body reeling from the force of a rough kick from behind. she couldn''t help but shoot a defiant glare at the demon responsible, but her act of resistance only earned her a severe whipping in return. "you arrogant wench!" "watch where you''re looking!" smack! smack! "ugh!" despite enduring the harsh whippings, tears streamed down euris'' face, a tragic anger welling up within her. the pent-up fury she couldn''t release gnawed at her, causing immense pain. amidst her suffering, a sudden change in the atmosphere caught her attention. the whipping abruptly ceased, and fear enveloped her as she lifted her head to see a colossal figure standing before her. her eyes widened in terror, recognizing the dreadful being that had claimed the life of the last resistance commander. it was nyx, the first lich¡ªa colossal skull that seemed to send shivers through the very souls of those who beheld it. he regarded euris with his glowing blue eyes and uttered, "a human with a fierce look i like." his words resonated in her mind, unsettling her senses. struggling to contain her rising nausea, she trembled before the fearsome being. nyx was the one she feared, the one who had caused such devastation to the resistance. "speak. what drives you so?" nyx inquired, but euris remained silent. "is it because of them?" he seemed to probe into her mind, gesturing as if unraveling her thoughts. "kyaa!" suddenly, another woman appeared, seemingly pulled from elsewhere. "sister! master!" the newcomers were the village chief and aeonitia from her village. the village chief was badly beaten, with no part of his body spared. aeonitia, who had recently given birth, was also mistreated, her skirt stained with fresh blood. seeing them in such a dire state, euris broke into tears and cursed nyx. "damn you, bald-headed creature! i curse you! even in death, i''ll kill you!" in response to her fear turning into rage, nyx approached her, intrigued. he gripped her head and said chillingly, "overcoming fear, not bad at all. but you fail to understand one thing." "¡­" "i am the master of the dead, a king. only the god of the demons, her majesty, can harm me. nothing else can." despite his chilling words, euris clenched her teeth, tears streaming down her face. "join me. i''ll grant you power." "screw you, mad bald-headed skull creature! why are you doing this? we just want to live quietly in the forest. why are you doing this to us!!" hearing her vehement plea, nyx''s eyes flickered. "the more you resist, the more those you love will suffer." as he spoke, nyx gestured, and the demons advanced toward the two captives with malevolent grins. they began to brutally attack the village chief and violate aeonitia. "no, no!" triggered by the trauma, aeonitia screamed in horror, but the demons showed no mercy. "why are you doing this to us!!!" "why am i doing this¡­?" nyx let out a chilling laugh as he muttered, "it''s just bad luck. that small village held no interest for me. but you, you have quite an affinity with mana. if you are stimulated a little, you could become very strong." euris was overwhelmed with anger at his absurd justification. in despair, she wanted to cry, but instead, she reached out and grabbed nyx''s skull. "damn you, bald-headed skull creature! okay! i get it! just leave those two alone!!" in the end, it was surrender. at euris'' desperate plea, nyx raised his hand, and the beatings stopped, along with the demons'' actions toward aeonitia. "good. follow me." "what exactly are you planning to do with me?" "the unrivaled angel project. it was left incomplete due to a runaway test subject in the past, but with your participation, it could be completed." euris cared little for the unrivaled angel project or anything else. ¡®but if the two are safe for now...¡¯ with that thought, euris slowly took the hand that nyx extended to her. find the original at bit.ly/3ibfjkv. a black aura coiled like a snake, seeping into her entire body. "the contract is complete." nyx turned and began to move, and like jesters following a scripted play, the demons resumed their actions, moving along with him. "ah!!!" "stay still!!" pound, pound!! on one side, the beating resumed once more. seeing this, euris was shocked and screamed, "chief!! sister!! this isn''t what we agreed on! leave them alone!!" at her desperate scream, nyx halted his step, turning back to face her. he then clicked his tongue disdainfully. "you have already accepted my offer. the erosion of your mind is complete, resistance is pointless." euris looked at him with a hardened expression. "what do you mean¡­?" "and did you really think that losers like you have any rights? pathetic human." nyx''s chilling words cut through the air, mocking her situation. at nyx''s cold words, tears streamed down euris''s face. ''please... please... someone, anyone, please...¡¯ she wanted to be saved from this hell. if there really was a god, she wanted to grab him by the collar and beg. ¡®please, someone, help. ¡® contrary to her thoughts, as nyx had said, euris¡¯ physical body was moving on its own, controlled by a strange power. "i am the king of the dead, the king of golems. i do not grant self-consciousness to my puppets," nyx proclaimed. at his words, euris gasped for breath and bit her lips forcefully. her body, under nyx''s control, was pushed to its limit as she clenched her lips in frustration and despair. suddenly, euris noticed nyx coming to a halt. he appeared to be blocked by someone¡ªa boy considerably shorter than him. the boy was a stranger with black hair and eyes that had a reddish tint. euris wondered where he came from and when he had appeared. the boy''s smile seemed familiar to her. yes, it was similar to the smile of the man who had suddenly appeared before them earlier. "quite a chatterbox, aren¡¯t you?" davey said to nyx. nyx grumbled under his breath, taken aback by the boy''s presence. "hm?" the boy''s smile deepened at the sound of nyx''s voice. "agreed. there are no rights for losers." in the demon¡¯s base, a human had appeared out of nowhere. then, euris recognized him. he was the same mysterious man who had helped aeonitia and taken the necklace. somehow, his appearance had changed, but he seemed more natural than before. "a human? where did you come from?" nyx questioned, looking down at the boy. he found no one like the boy among the humans the demons had captured. then, he murmured, "hmm¡­ you have quite a vessel for mana too. follow me and then¡­" "to be honest, i am not desperate enough to serve under a bonehead lich like you." surrounded by demons, in front of his greatest enemy, the boy¡¯s words were bold. the area was already filled with demons who surrounded the boy, and he was facing nyx, the ultimate power among demons. yet, the boy seemed so relaxed. even including the rebel commander, many who faced nyx had perished without inflicting serious damage. euris wanted to scream that he should run and that the giant skull in front of him was not something he could face alone, but she found herself unable to speak. and, just as euris feared, nyx began to emanate a great power, as if he were about to pass judgment on the overly confident human. "fearless human! i don¡¯t know how you got in, but by my will, you are a creature that is neither alive nor dead¡­" "geez, you talk too much. you''re just a hollow skull." there was a short silence, then nyx''s eyes flared. simultaneously, the ground twisted into a massive mouth, as if to swallow the boy whole. nyx¡¯s instinctively unleashed power hindered movement. in front of the overwhelming power difference, the boy¡¯s future seemed to be nothing but being swallowed by the giant mouth. was this madman aware of where he is?! just as euris was about to scream, she froze due to the unfolding situation. it was not just her, everyone else was the same. the giant mouth in the ground that was about to swallow the boy suddenly halted at a certain distance, as if resisting the will of its conjurer. "you were just unlucky, nyx," the boy said, echoing nyx¡¯s own words to euris. the boy seemed to know nyx well. "don¡¯t you recognize me? i¡¯m pretty familiar to you. just think of it as dying due to bad luck." with those words, everything began to change. from the boy who was not feeling anything at all, a power that seemed to change the world began to emanate along with his smile. then, nyx¡¯s giant skeletal body wobbled for a moment, and began to crumble. what was happening was unclear, but one thing was certain. from nyx''s mouth came a voice that sounded incredulous. "it... can''t... be..." on the other hand, the voice of the boy, who was the cause of the situation, was extremely relaxed. "it can be, stupid." CH 421 after a long time, first lich nyx resurrected, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that he controlled the entire geopolitical landscape of the continent. unlike other liches, the source of his immortality lied in his ability to transfer hosts¡ªa power that reached the 8th circle, or so they said. although reina stated that he belonged to the 8th circle, she was unable to discern the extent of nyx''s power. ¡®had he grown in the meantime? or did he reach the 9th circle as soon as he woke up from his seal?¡¯ davey slowly approached nyx, who had far more mana than could be attributed to a mere 8th circle black mage. of course, it did not matter whether he was in the eighth or 9th circle. his power was truly an astonishing achievement, but luck was not always on nyx¡¯s side. "i''m confident in a battle of strength." it was necessary to remind those who relied only on their quantity of devil mana and dared to fight that life was a real battle. "ugh?!" as nyx tried to suppress davey with his magic, he was shocked when his own power was suppressed in a split second, flailing wildly as his eyes shook. at the same time, dozens, hundreds of black spheres began to form around nyx. "how dare you humiliate me! i will ensure you do not have a comfortable death!!" enraged, nyx moved his hand, sending the black spheres flying toward davey. "danger!!" the warning cry came from euris, who had been knocked down at a distance. nevertheless, davey did not consider avoiding it and instead continued to approach nyx. excessive intervention could lead davey to a situation from which he could not escape. in other words, even with a lot of power, recklessly using it could make it hard to handle the aftermath. therefore, davey had been regulating his power to a certain extent. however, nyx was a bit of an exception. as the instigator of this entire war and the link that perpetuated the endless hatred, it was problematic to leave him as he was. unlike the peace-seeking perserque, nyx desired the complete annihilation of one side. ''at least if perserque is the woman i know, if nyx dies and his control disappears, she will be able to decide for herself.'' if nyx died, the restrictions imposed on perserque would disappear. he had been the one to have the most significant impact on her resurrection. ultimately, the peace-loving dark lord would prefer to stop the war now and maintain the status quo rather than having one side annihilated. at least perserque, whom davey knew, would put an end to the war. [dispel] the light wave of magic spread from davey''s body, causing the black spheres around nyx to evaporate as if they were disappearing all at once. "what... what is this?!" "what do you mean what? it''s dispel." dispel. it was magic that forcibly canceled the opponent''s magic, but usually, it was necessary to have a skill that was at least two circles above the target magic for dispel to be applied without any problem. the problem was that the magic nyx had just used... was the 8th circle. in other words, one would need to reach the 9th circle or above to erase his magic. davey knew his own limits well, but in general, it was difficult to estimate and accept the limit of the power he held. "dis...dispel? you say it''s dispel? don''t make me laugh. how dare you mock me?!" "mocking or not, what kind of nonsense are you spouting?" "the dispel spell cancels magic that is at least two circles lower! in theory, it''s impossible to dispel 8th circle magic!" nyx''s horrified outburst felt like d¨¦j¨¤ vu. in fact, nyx, who had been utterly destroyed by davey before, had said the same thing. it was theoretically impossible to dispel 8th circle magic. davey had not expected any novelty from him, but the repetition made it seem banal. "isn''t it a bit arrogant to declare something impossible just because you can''t do it?" approaching him with a calm demeanor, davey saw confusion writ large on his face as he let out a roar and started hurling magic at him like a madman. starting from the 7th circle dark hole, there were even spells from the 8th circle mixed in. his power to cast multiple spells at once was truly fascinating. however, was what nyx could do something davey could not? in total, davey had tried 13,372 times, battling the illusion created specifically to kill nyx. davey had fought to the point where he knew the number of holes in nyx''s bones, so davey was familiar with his patterns. suddenly, the massive black fissure rising to engulf davey warped and shattered. it was a dispel of all the numerous spells that he had cast. considering that it was more difficult to break a spell than to cast one, there was only one answer this result could provide - davey was now at a level far beyond that of nyx''s magic. "it''s impossible!!!" nyx cried out in fury, stretching out one hand. at the same time, a skeletal bone appeared in his hand, and he began to form a sword that resembled a lightsaber. screaming in disbelief that all his magic had been blocked, he rose and charged at davey. then he began swinging his black sword at davey. of course, whether he wielded a sword or magic, it did not matter to davey. after all, nyx was going to die here. as the black sword aimed at davey''s throat came within reach, davey''s hand flashed. a red afterimage and a blue afterimage engulfed the entire area. it was blue ribbon, one of the twin swords, unleashing its power. in an instant, nyx¡¯s defensive magic shattered, and red ribbon¡¯s energy cleanly sliced through nyx''s body. "you... bastard." as nyx crumbled like cleanly cut bamboo sliding down, davey shook off his swords. "who... are you¡­?" nyx stammered. if he was not an idiot, he would know after his battle against davey that davey¡¯s power was insurmountable. nyx''s eyes, once full of distrust and arrogance, were now filled with confusion and fear. was he, the immortal, feeling fear? while it was a laughable thought, the fear he felt was not for his death, but for the potential disruption of all his plans by a single individual. "i have never heard of... a human like you... and you have never appeared before." "it''s natural to become weak when you forget about war and get used to peace," davey said. nyx was a being from the era of sword lord ares 3000 years ago. even in a world filled with overwhelmingly powerful beings, he was infamous, and so he was the one who could understand davey''s words the best. "in fact, the demons won on this continent, but i have no intention of reversing all of that." whether the demons won or the humans did, it was all part of the flow. there was no issue with the balance of the world itself. did the goddess freyja create the dark lord and his antagonist for no reason? "we can''t determine the end. tell me! what are you!" nyx yelled as if having a seizure. in response, davey approached him, emitting a dark aura from his hand. nyx''s life source was his power to transfer hosts. even if he were cut by red ribbon, his soul would escape and cause a dimensional rift before dying from the cut. his tenacity for life was truly astounding. to kill him, davey would need the arrow that surtr had created. but davey did not have that arrow. so how was he to kill nyx? in his original world, he had used a gem to briefly acquire his current power, but without surtr''s arrow, there was no way to kill him. if he could not silence him completely, the only option was to seal him away completely so that no one could release him. as davey was unfolding the magic circle in front of a subdued nyx, no one could understand or interrupt the situation. the power that nyx was emitting was certainly enough to suppress the surroundings, but the aura that davey was emitting was incomparably more powerful. "did sword lord ares have a hard time sealing you away?" "how... do you..." "how do i know? i heard it from you. is there something special about that?" even though his words were more boastful than real, nyx could not blindly deny them anymore. the reality unfolding in front of his eyes felt like a lie, making the lies seem like the truth and the truth feel like lies. sword lord ares could not use magic, so when he sealed nyx away, he had to weaken nyx first and then have a large number of high circle mages seal him away. but that was not enough for a perfect seal. there was a limit to each mage''s individual abilities. [9th circle grand barrier] a massive wave of mana, enough to surpass the 9th circle, began to spill over, spreading outward as if to envelop nyx. soon after, dozens of chains emerged from the ground, starting to bind and wrap around his shattered skeleton. "arrrrgh! i cannot be sealed again! i cannot fall back into that terrifying darkness!" "do losers have a choice?" quoting nyx¡¯s own words back at him, davey solidified his magic, then released devil mana and divine power simultaneously. [9th circle dark magic] [soul shackles] chains rattled and clanged as the devil mana encompassed nyx, including the grand barrier magic circle. "i will surely return! do you think i can''t escape a second time?" "you talk too much," davey commented calmly, beginning to draw upon his divine power. if the abyss and the original world were two sides of a coin, the place davey now occupied was equivalent to the part that was between the two sides. this meant that he was in the central part, which was related to both sides. the problem was that the influence of the gods in this peculiar world was significantly weaker than in the original world. it was uncertain whether he would see proper results, but giving up was not an option. [oh lord, who scrutinizes all, goddess freyja. your humble servant implores you for strength. please grant it.] as divine power began to spill out, nyx, who was being dragged into the ground by the shackles, let out a groan. "this is impossible... absolutely impossible¡­ it can''t be." [9th circle holy magic barrier] [deus sanctuary] using holy magic, he blocked the inflow of devil mana that would have given strength to nyx''s resurrection. completely isolated, nyx let out a desperate voice. "following magic... dark magic... and now divine power too... how is such a phenomenon possible...?" "i can make it possible. so, shut up. you''re noisy." holy magic enveloped him. davey cast a barrier of elemental magic to trap nyx temporarily and layered the grand barrier with a mix of 9th circle dark magic and 9th circle holy magic. he did not stop there. from the void, he summoned a bell branch and sutra streamer, which danced through the air like threads. hundreds of charms made of light were simultaneously launched into the sky, soon raining down and piercing the ground around them with sharp precision. [1st grade binding arts] [the taiji yin-yang orb] the powers within davey resonated and trembled all at once, creating the taiji symbol beneath him. simultaneously, linked with the charms, it produced a band of light. "no, no... let me go. human! i cannot be pulled back in again!" nyx''s voice started to distort as his physical form began to be sucked into the ground. the surrounding landscape warped, and in the place where nyx was being sealed, a gigantic stone statue began to form. it was a cross, symbolizing a god, supported by massive pillars. "rot in there forever." there was only one way for him to break free: either a being stronger than davey would have to appear and shatter his magic circle, or blue ribbon would have to slash through this barrier more than half a dozen times. davey had already overstepped with his interference to this degree. any further would be outright recklessness, but having sealed him was enough. all of nyx''s power in this world had begun to disappear. it was at this moment, while davey was leisurely wrapping up his magic and nyx''s spirit was glaring at him, not yet fully absorbed, when a shadow filled the sky. nyx¡¯s gaze met the sky. then, with a voice full of joy, he exclaimed, "grimghast! oh... it''s grimghast! the loyal servants of the dark lord! even a monster like you can''t block their attack while casting such powerful magic!!" at nyx''s shout, davey accelerated his magic while stroking his own chin. "true, i can''t kill you, but i''ve put a lot of effort into making sure you can''t break this seal. i don''t have the capacity to focus elsewhere." "attack, grimghast! attack this monstrous human! just a small opening is enough! hurry!" even the smallest gap would allow nyx to escape his domain. that was what he was aiming for. grimghast was a being that followed the dark lord''s orders, and would never betray him. but, contrary to what nyx had expected, he was utterly astonished by what happened next. "what, what is this?!" the black dragons, who followed no demons other than the dark lord, landed around davey as if saluting, and began to bow their heads to him. "the black dragons... why would they¡­?" "why indeed." as nyx was being completely sucked into the ground, davey gave a sly grin. he patted one of the black dragons on the snout, summoning the power most familiar to nyx. nyx''s eyes twitched. "the dark lord''s... hierarchy..." this novel is available on "pawread dot com". "allow me to introduce myself. i''m davey, the newly appointed dark lord from another world." "what..." "even if we''re not from the same world, as a demon, you cannot simply ignore the dark lord''s devil, right?" there could not be two dark lords at the same time. but if there were dark lords in different worlds, the demons ended up in an ambiguous position where they could not ignore either. davey''s existence was nothing but a source of confusion for them. CH 422 eing a demon that had served the dark lord''s throne all his life, this was the most confusing situation for nyx. the human, who was at war with the demons, harbored the power of the dark lord. nyx looked more confused and bewildered than ever before. "are you confused?" davey asked. nyx seemed at a loss for words at davey¡¯s question. "how can a human¡­?" "the demons follow the dark lord. although his command isn''t absolute, it carries significant influence," davey explained, to which nyx fell silent. "if the dark lord is not in his right mind, then who would stop him? it''s the demons, above all else, who should stop him.¡± "dark lord usurpation," nyx finally seemed to understand the situation. "but that is a privilege bestowed upon the demons! unless the dark lord has gone mad, he would never agree to such a conflict!" his outcry bore his firm belief in the demons. with a sly smile, davey touched the structures, the black pillar created from the 1st grade binding arts, and the cross imbued with divine power, pulling nyx toward the ground. despite his desperate struggle to escape as he was drawn into the manyfold combined sealing formation, it was futile resistance. nyx was just incredibly unlucky, nothing more. "did you ever consider that there might be other demons who did not agree with your methods?" davey asked coldly as he pressed down on nyx¡¯s skull slowly being drawn into the ground. "times have changed, and there are demons who do not want war." "it''s sophistry, human! the demons must never forget! the tragedy of being defeated by humans and banished to that dreadful place in the past!" "the war started with you, bastard." at davey¡¯s words, a flash of realization sparkled in nyx¡¯s eyes. "did you think i wouldn''t know? want me to spell out how disgusting it is that you caused all these atrocities?" "no... no! we demons..." "and yet," davey cut nyx off, continuing to press his skull into the ground. "from the standpoint of loyal subjects truly following their king, you are just a usurper manipulating the king at will." ¡°¡­¡± "your former king, perserque, ascended to the throne dreaming of harmony, but both sides were dragged into war because of you. if you had any conscience, you should have stopped it from happening twice. if you understand, think it over. you should be grateful that there''s not a single hair left on that skull." here''s the corrected version with proper grammar: had there been any hair present, davey would have made him experience the disappearance of those precious roots and the eternal struggle of balding. at davey¡¯s final words, he was dragged into the ground, speechless. considering the state of this continent, nyx probably would never be awakened from the seal. that might change if the magic faded after a long time, but that was another story. the first lich, nyx, had the power to sever dimensions when his physical body was destroyed, to free his soul, and to transfer it to another host. to kill him, a surtr-made arrow was required, but that was not the only option. self-annihilation might be a choice he would consider, given the torment he had undergone through his interaction with davey. as davey silently watched nyx¡¯s annihilation, he then turned to the black dragons awaiting his command. "kill all the demons, demonic beasts, and infected monsters. however, don''t chase those who flee." as soon as davey¡¯s words fell, dozens of mutated dragon hatchlings took flight. the black dragons began to rise. the brutal and powerful ones started to destroy anything in their path. following his orders, they attacked all beings excluding humans. a great massacre had begun. the demons that served nyx were mostly common soldiers, making up the majority of the demons. the main force had always been the grimghast (black dragon squad), and nyx¡¯s temporary venture here was simply due to an odd suspicion. walking silently amidst the screams, davey looked down at the two women who were sitting on the ground, gasping for breath, looking at davey as if he was death itself. unlike the village chief who had lost consciousness due to the beating, aeonitia was holding back tears, and euris, who endured the beatings, was still conscious. pulling out a blanket from the pocket plane, davey wrapped aeonitia and said quietly, "hang in there." as a faint light seeped into her body, her wounds began to heal rapidly. it was too cruel a punishment for a woman who had just given birth. as soon as davey cut the ropes binding aeonitia''s arms, she clung to him desperately. "my children! they are still held captive!" davey nodded at her desperate cries. "wait here." "please... please..." in the face of her desperate pleas, he knew she had no one else to ask for help, regardless of who he was or what his identity was. after freeing euris'' hands from the rope that had bound her, davey quickly cast a high-level healing magic on the village chief and her. then he turned his head. instantly, his senses heightened, and he began to perceive the entire vast outpost in his vision. davey was able to locate two newborns, seemingly lifeless, trapped inside a small test tube. [this is an order. bring the children to me.] no sooner had his will been conveyed to the black dragons than a massive explosion sounded from one side. the black dragon troop, flying around and wreaking havoc on the outpost with their breath and rough claws, displayed an almost ghostly power. whooosh!!! roaaaar!! the black dragons, carrying large test tubes in their mouths, returned. davey took the tubes from them, shattered the freezing magic on the test tubes, and extracted the two infants. they were alive but greatly weakened. although he could revive them fully with his divine power, the coagulated blood would remain hardened for their lifetime. after contemplating for a while, davey sighed briefly and immediately placed his hand on the children''s stomach, pulling up his mana or, rather, refined internal energy. "you''ve got a chance," he declared. [systemic acupressure forced circulation] almost instantly, the internal energy coursing through the lower body started to penetrate the middle body. then, without hesitation, he pushed it further into the upper body, where even a slight mishandling could result in paralysis or instantaneous death. once they could stand and walk on their own, they would likely become exceptionally talented children. this was a technique that could only be used on newborns who had met certain conditions and could only be performed by davey in his current state. whether it was magic, swordsmanship, or any other skill, if they put in the effort, they would be hailed as geniuses in no time. it was almost like a guaranteed talent voucher. if this fact became known on the continent, it would certainly make for an interesting situation. eventually, as their inner energy started to move quickly toward their upper body, the two children vomited blood. without delay, davey carried out first aid to ensure the flowing blood did not block their airways and approached aeonitia. "oh, my children, my children..." aeonitia, sobbing and hugging her children, was uncaring of her own exhausted body and the significant pain it was in from the ordeal. it was motherhood. it was incredibly baffling how this small child could become a mother so devoted to her own children. with a thunderous roar, the cacophony gradually began to subside. at last, things started to settle down. looking up at the many black dragons soaring in the sky, davey glanced briefly at a fallen demon lying dead. war was not a good thing, especially if it resulted from a dispute over power. to access the premium content, go to [ ?aw?ead.com ]. "how much longer do we have?" davey asked. [if you are asking about how much remains, it''s quite abstract. just know that we''re near the limit. it''s impossible to dismantle any more superior demons. you''ll be okay because you have that unknown dark power, but the girl with you will be bound here and slowly fade away.] ¡®having been forgotten by everyone around her, she had lost her memory, and only now had it resolved, but now everyone around her forgets her?¡¯ davey had no such intention. "seems like we need to explore some intriguing possibilities," davey commented, lightly pulling out a strand of hair. ¡®oh, the pity of my hair¡­¡¯ he threw the hair into the air, and with a whoosh, a minor force emanated from his body, creating a being identical to him. it was one of his illusions, a clone technique. though the power contained within this clone was incredibly insignificant, it did not matter as it was not created to kill an opponent. silently staring at the clone, davey lightly linked minds with the figure and moved his hand. his punch and the clone''s punch collided cleanly as if they were synchronized. "bro, work hard," they both said. davey''s strength did not only lie in brute force; he was also a master at making use of the situation with quick wit. watching the clone, who responded with the same voice and tone, davey seemed satisfied. ignoring the ridiculous glances from the people around him, he sent his clone off on one of the black dragons. "go to the demon''s home base. from there, proceed to where dark lord perserque is." if nyx''s power had been cut off, then there was a high likelihood that perserque had regained her free will. war was not good. if he could not stop the war himself, he could just force the war to stop. he would use the power of the inhabitants of this world, not his own. * * * "huh?!" the sudden change made the silver-haired girl lying on the bed open her eyes wide. "huff...huff..." perserque struggled painfully to breathe, slowly touching her horns and wiping off the sweat beading on her forehead. "the restraint... it''s gone..." the first lich, nyx, was a radical among the radicals, dreaming of a world by demons, for demons. although the demons had lost the war against humans and were driven to an artificial demon world, that was 3,000 years ago. having adapted to the artificial demon world, they had returned to the continent of tionis and won many territories through war. now, there were those who claimed that any more war was pointless. perserque was against war itself, but nyx did not leave her will alone. he had manipulated her, even if it meant deceiving all the demons, and caused this situation. during her resurrection, perserque had no choice but to follow nyx''s words due to some trick he had done to her physical body. she could not shake off the bitter emotions about all the tragedies that had happened since then. now, at least, she needed to stop the war. any more sacrifices were meaningless. she did not even need to consider why nyx''s control had been cut off. either he was dead, or his power had been sealed to not reach her. the culprit was not hard to guess. it must have been the human who had destroyed the divine tree and who possessed that strange power. the fact that such a being still existed among humans, for some reason, brought her relief. "your majesty, i beg your pardon." perserque, who had been grimacing in pain and groaning bitterly, looked at the two succubi approaching her as if they had been waiting. two succubi dressed in traditional maiden dresses lifted perserque emotionlessly, stripped her of her clothing, and dressed her in the neat attire of a dark lord. supporting the clearly exhausted woman, they led her to the battlefield where the demons had gathered. "the dark lord has arrived!!" a single demon soldier''s shout drew everyone''s attention. many beings, including upper demons and grand duke astaroth, could be seen. they were demons who had come en masse from the artificial demon world. on one side, there were also vampires who had remained in the human world and conducted numerous operations. quietly clenching her fist and sighing, she slowly moved to the throne and sat down, looking at them, and slowly opening her mouth. CH 424 support us at bit.ly/3ibfjkv. "what''s your response?" davey found there was not much to rebuke. after all, if he and perserque, who understood the inherent risks well, could agree, they could divert the course of the war. "i must ask, aren''t you outraged, despite the countless human deaths?" davey offered no response to the inquiry but instead asked a question, "what do you think?" "in my eyes, you''re certainly not someone to be just passed over." "i see that clearly. honestly, i''d prefer to send you all back to the artificial demon world immediately." davey¡¯s words, spoken so calmly, caused a wave of anger to wash over the demons'' faces. "but that''s not my role." reina had journeyed all the way to davey¡¯s world intending to act, but such was the way of things. if an outside entity interfered and attempted to change the course via unauthorized means, who could predict the outcomes? that was the harsh reality. in this world, princess aeria and he, davey, were clearly uninvited guests. listening to his words, perserque glared at davey. "your majesty! we should kill this man now or..." "no, let''s detain him. i''ll accept his proposal. keep him in custody until we''ve settled the specifics." the reaction of the demons, particularly the radical vampires like gluttony and astaroth, was a visible mix of frustration and anger. yet, a few demons displayed their unwavering loyalty toward perserque. "your highness! this is unacceptable! to even suggest peace at this late stage! when the end is so close!" despite gluttony''s desperate plea, davey turned away without a second thought. this decision was one for perserque to make, not gluttony. * * * davey, the human visitor from another world, found himself in custody after being apprehended. dark lord perserque then briefly mentioned an impending threat and proposed an alternative to the seemingly pointless war ¨C seeking peace instead. "father, what are your thoughts?" liline inquired. "humans are detestable, liline," replied her father. "yes..." "but her majesty makes a valid point." astaroth mumbled something softly before tenderly caressing liline''s cheek. "haven''t numerous lives already been lost? not just humans, but also many innocent young demons have fallen due to their futile resistance. it''s a problem we can''t simply overlook." amidst it all, the suspected demise of his chief advisor, nyx, brought considerable confusion. "so... are you suggesting we halt the war now, as per her majesty''s wish?" "no, the war will not cease. we must wipe out every last human." following astaroth¡¯s stern proclamation, liline silently nestled into his chest. "father... isn''t it time for you to free yourself from your guilt..." "liline, my precious child." "father." "you''re just like my daughter. please, don''t bring sorrow upon me." "i will... abide by your wish, father." as liline slowly retreated, astaroth exhaled a sigh of exasperation. bang!!! the firmly shut door swung open, and a vampire walked in bearing a menacing expression. "gluttony." "grand duke astaroth. what''s the situation?" "what do you wish to say?" "do you expect us vampires to stand with the demons again in such dire circumstances just to negotiate peace with the humans?!" at his outcry, astaroth''s expression hardened. he then glanced at liline. "leave, liline." "yes, father." upon his command, liline, looking apprehensive, cautiously walked out, catching the eye of gluttony. her image lingered in his gaze for a brief moment, filled with sexual desires. a chill ran down liline''s spine, and her hands shook, but she hid it well from astaroth. "watch your words. i might not be as proficient as chief nyx in battle, but i won''t have any difficulty dealing with you." "humph... this is a violation of our agreement. you clearly said you would eradicate the humans, enslave them, and hand them over to us." hearing this, astaroth exhaled a sigh. "so, what are you going to do?" "pardon?" "the human suspected of assassinating chief of staff nyx. i had doubts at first when he said he killed the dying divine tree. but if what he says is true, he''s an extremely dangerous person." "isn¡¯t he in our hands now? if we assassinate him here-" astaroth shook his head. "do you think he''s such a fool that he would come here without making such a judgment?" "there''s no guarantee that he''s not." "i agree with your opinion. the truce is realistic, but it''s far from our aspiration. this is not right." "that''s correct!" "so, what''s your plan? the dark lord seems to be considering a truce. that human named davey, who suddenly appeared, has a strong enough power to change the course of this war. if the war continues, he will appear at the front, and who will bear the countless sacrifices that will result from that?" gluttony gritted his teeth. "he''s just a human." "because of that one human, 3,000 years ago, our race was driven from the continent to the artificial demon world." this was due to sword lord ares¡¯ existence. astaroth hadn¡¯t seen it personally, but the testimonies of dark lord perserque and chief of staff nyx, who had been eyewitnesses of history at the time, matched. "we can still do something about this," said astaroth. "so..." "moreover, i''m bothered by that point. the threat mentioned by both him and the dark lord. we don''t even know what it is," astaroth muttered coldly, watching the silent gluttony. "let''s say his power is real. then, we should seize the opportunity." they needed something that did not necessarily violate perserque''s command but still solved suspicious parts. "i''ll request a truce. not a ceasefire, but a truce. so we can battle again at any time." a truce was different from a ceasefire. a truce was something that could be fought again at any time without being strange. "just wait a bit. the rebellion of nyx, followed by the intentions of dark lord perserque, is too confusing for this old man." "it''s frustrating. i was looking forward to the strongest dark lord ever, but she is truly disappointing. no dignity, just a weak girl¡­ cough!!" gluttony, who had been shouting like that, groaned in pain as his eyes bulged. astaroth''s fist had hit his throat in an instant. "watch your mouth." astaroth sighed after murmuring briefly. "if we just had a way to remove that human, then there would be no need to worry like this.¡± at that moment... "kyaaak!!!" the sound of a familiar woman''s scream echoed in astaroth''s ears. there was only one female demon in this quiet castle¡ªhis beloved daughter-in-law, liline orlouge. instinctively, astaroth jumped up and rushed outside, followed closely by gluttony. what they witnessed was truly surprising. before them stood a woman with a tall, slender figure, red hair, and sharp teeth, giving her an unsettling yet strangely attractive appearance. "oh ho. there are plenty of bugs here," said the woman in a flat tone as she held liline against the wall, gripping her wrist and daringly licked her cheek with a long, thin tongue, reminiscent of a lizard''s. "uh, uh! father," liline pleaded tearfully, her face filled with distress, seeking his help. "you wench! let go of her!!" astaroth''s eyes blazed with fury at the sight. simultaneously, a surge of black magical power burst from his body. as the grand duke of demons, his immense magical strength could easily immobilize any ordinary demon. however, despite his overwhelming power pressing down on her, the woman, seemingly driven by desire, continued to stroke and lick liline''s cheek. "really, what a delicious-looking girl. the front world has good things." the woman''s tone remained unaffected by astaroth''s display of power. "who are you?¡± astaroth shouted with a tense face. ¡®she¡¯s dangerous!¡¯ the woman felt dangerously different from the human astaroth had met earlier. while he had sensed nothing from the boy''s body, her presence exuded a heavy, dark power that sent shivers down his spine. it was the kind of power that instinctively raised goosebumps. "i''ve been wandering around and saw something fun," she said calmly, losing interest in liline and approaching astaroth. astaroth was certainly tall, but she matched him eye to eye in height. "curious about who i am?" she asked. astaroth realized his hand was trembling, a reaction driven by fear. this was definitely fear. "don''t be too scared, old bug. my name is sleesia," the woman said, flashing her sharp teeth with a sly smile. "i, i am grand duke astaroth." as he spoke, astaroth noticed the woman¡¯s expression showing greater interest. "that''s right. it appears that your kind is having quite the impact in this world. it''s actually a bit of a nuisance, but i came looking for a bug." astaroth felt a painful pressure in his chest, leaving him breathless. it was a dreadful sense of oppression. cold sweat poured not just from him, but from the others too. gluttony, with his eyes wide open, was shaking his head, a clear sign of fear. "a bug, you say¡­" fortunately, the woman did not appear to be hostile toward the demons yet. the woman who had appeared out of nowhere induced fear akin to that of a destroyer god. she was neither human nor demon, exhibiting a power whose nature was unknown¡ªjust like when her majesty, the dark lord, would glance over the demons. ¡®dark lord?¡¯ just as he was pondering this thought, sleesia¡¯s hand clasped astaroth¡¯s chin. "indeed... indeed... i quite like that. i commend you for keeping your composure. pretty good for a bug," she said calmly and then smirked. "you help me, and then maybe i lend a hand to your bug-like matters." her grin was eerily unsettling. "my kin was seriously injured by a human. though she''s useless, she holds the same rank, so what can you do? i, who is far superior to that useless creature, have no choice but to directly discipline that bug. how can a primitive bug dare to challenge the power of the princesses who have crawled up from the abyss? i''ll have to imprint that on the bug directly." though they did not fully understand her words, astaroth and gluttony knew one thing. the woman¡¯s words held no bluff, they were full of sincerity. and yet, they were unable to feel repulsion toward her description of them as bugs. it felt as if they had become pitiful beings groveling before an overpowering predator. ''but¡­ if her power is real, then we can fulfill our desire, no matter what!'' astaroth looked at the woman, lost in this thought. she was an extremely dangerous entity, not even a demon, but as long as they did not provoke her, she could be a great help. dark lord perserque had shown fear for an unknown threat. so if they could deal with that threat, they would not need such an unpleasant alliance as they had now. as astaroth was thinking of the woman as an opportunity, sleesia¡¯s interest in astaroth seemed to fade as she turned her head. in her gaze was liline, who was slowly backing away in terror. her gaze shone dangerously, but only for a moment. afterward, she turned her head toward astaroth and grinned again. "so i heard, there is a bug that''s bothering you. since i need to gather some strength to kill the bug i am looking for, i''ll kill that human as a distraction in the meantime." her voice was filled with confidence. CH 428 a sense of danger rang in davey¡¯s head. he could sense that something was odd from the face of aeria, who was looking at him with grace.0 aeria asked, "um... my head is ringing. is that supposed to happen?"0 normally, she would not have said that.0 "you don''t... recall anything?" davey asked slowly, hiding his bitter expression.0 aeria frowned, trying to think deeply about something. then, tears flowed from her eyes. "ah... i''m sorry. tears again."0 she wiped her clear tears with the back of her hand, and as she spoke, davey hesitated before placing his hand on her head.0 the silver chime had the power of immunity. according to the observer, aeria¡¯s memory was not deleted but sealed, so when she became immune, her trapped memory should have returned. but there was no change.0 "did you lie?"0 [no... it wasn''t a lie.]0 ¡°then, was the memory simply deleted?¡±0 [that''s not it either. it should have worked as per normal. however...] the observer trailed off, giving a brief groan before answering quietly. [some sort of power has locked her mind. in this case...]0 after a brief pause, he gave a surprising answer.0 [i don''t know how to help as of now. but wait a little longer. i''ll find a way.]0 "does that make sense?" davey shot back with a hardened face.0 with a puzzled look on her face as she stood nearby, eurina asked, "um... is your mind okay?"0 "at least it''s better than a corpse."0 eurina frowned at davey¡¯s sarcastic remark. reactively, she threw a punch at him, but before it could hit, a soldier appeared from nowhere, halting her by grabbing her from behind.0 "great ruler, shall i kill her?"0 seeing the soldier ask such a chilling question, davey shook his head.0 "uh, uh! where did this... come from¡­?"0 as the startled eurina fell to her knees, the soldier silently made a smacking gesture with one hand and then vanished.0 ¡°arrogant human, there is no second chance for your rudeness to the great ruler.¡±0 "did... did that soldier say something?"0 "hm?"0 "i can''t understand the language..."0 the observer explained, [you can understand the language because of me, but these humans won¡¯t understand the ancient language.]0 ¡®i see.¡¯0 in the end, nobody understood what the soldiers were saying.0 ¡°that language system. please transfer it to me.¡±0 [you. you''re slowly realizing what i can do.]0 ¡°that will do. i''ll put it to use later.¡±0 "who manages this hideout?" davey inquired of eurina.0 "the resistance was originally led by five elders. however, after the previous major disaster, two of them died, and one went missing. now, only two elders remain, seeking refuge here. everyone''s the same. they are all just waiting for their day to die," eurina replied with bitterness.0 at her words, he asked calmly, "why fight if they''re just waiting to die?"0 "what do you mean?"0 "what''s the point of wielding a weapon if they willingly offer their heads to the demons when they go out?"0 "are you... asking me to fight you?"0 thud!0 "kyah! i''m sorry. please let go!"0 in an instant, a subordinate soldier appeared and restrained eurina in a peculiar position, subjecting her to a cobra twist.0 "impudent wench!"0 "kyahhh!"0 the frenzied clay soldier''s outburst prompted davey to intervene and prevent the situation from escalating further, surprising him with the clay soldier''s assertive response to rebellion.0 "enough, stand back."0 ¡°but, my lord.¡±0 "don''t make me repeat myself."0 with teary eyes, eurina glared at him and said, "to be humiliated by a golem made of dirt..."0 "if you wanted to die, you could have just kept resisting."0 "...i''m going to die. i''ll die someday. but even if i die, i don''t plan to die futilely like this after fighting against the demons."0 davey quietly nodded, sensing that she hadn''t entirely lost hope. "guide me to that elder."0 "what are you trying to do? who are you... hmph! okay, i got it! i''ll back off for now!"0 flustered, eurina stepped back, wary of the clay soldier that had reappeared. after observing davey for a while, she slowly nodded and led him to a small underground hut. inside, two old men were quietly playing a board game called "olde."0 "team 3''s eurina has returned."0 "hmm... you''re back. but the fact that it''s you, eurina, and not belchis making the report..."0 "yes. our former leader, belchis, died gloriously in the arms of worthy enemies."0 "a thing to be celebrated."0 it can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread dot com". the conversation took a dark turn. davey stepped forward after eurina finished explaining what had happened.0 "hmm, it''s a hard-to-believe story. honestly, it''s too hard to believe..." the two old men looked at davey with doubt and wariness. "it''s hard to believe that an entity like you has appeared now. from my perspective, it seems more realistic that the demons sent an assassin to annihilate us."0 "what will you do if that''s the case?"0 "what will we do...?" the elder forced a smile, drawing a dagger from his pocket and placing it on the wooden table. "we''ll take revenge and die. the world is already the demons'', and we have no hope left. if we''re going to die either way, we''d rather swing a sword and die."0 ¡®why don''t they consider the possibility of winning?¡¯ davey thought.0 "do you have the will to fight?"0 at davey¡¯s question, the elder squinted his eyes and looked at him. "why are you asking that question?"0 "at least i don''t plan to accomplish great things in alliance with corpses." already irritated by the complications with aeria, davey continued speaking in an offensive tone. "my mood is pretty low because of the situation. i''ll be blunt. i''ll lend you the power to drive out the demons and maintain your lives. will you follow me? or will you... choose to die?"0 the elder remained silent before saying, "die, you say... what exactly are you planning to do? from what i heard from eurina, you control clay soldiers. i don''t underestimate that talent, but the kreed you killed is an insignificant existence among the stronger demons."0 "i know."0 "you know? an informed person saying something so reckless? you must have seen it on your way here. there were children and powerless women. why do you think we''re taking this stance?"0 "because there''s no possibility of winning, right? the number of humans has drastically decreased, but the demons are still thriving."0 the elder fell silent again, then said, "if you know, then leave. if you''re human, at least you can stay here."0 "i''ll make it so you can win."0 "what...?" the elder paused, locking eyes with davey, full of doubt.0 ¡°hey. i don''t like to repeat myself. think carefully when given a choice. will you, as you said, live and die like corpses while children and women are around, or..."0 "hey."0 "or, would you rather help me and fight back once more, even if it leads to death?"0 the elder, about to say something again, fell silent.0 davey interrupted once more. "at least if you''re living with the idea of revenge, wouldn''t it be best to know your enemy, know me, prepare, and take as many of them down to the pits of hell as possible?"0 for a long while, the elder did not say anything. eurina silently watched davey during this exchange.0 "is there a possibility? are you saying you can overturn this bleak situation?"0 "my people are quite competent. and there were many of them.¡±0 nyx was dead, and perserque, one of the remaining major forces, was currently under the power of sleesia. the remaining demons were under the rule of grand duke astaroth and gluttony, the radical vampire. sleesia, who controlled the demons, had found enjoyment in using them to pressure davey by engaging in war games.0 according to the observer, unlike the abyss he had encountered before, she did not have the power to forcibly consume and enhance something else. to draw her out from where she was hiding among the demons, preserving her life, it was necessary to rigorously clean her out from the game board she had spread out. strategy and tactics. in a way, it was just like a board game.0 a contest of strategic tactics that even the emperor of the continent and the grand sage could not win, eventually raising the white flag. the first move began with the king''s step. everything moved as the leader guided.0 of course, davey had no intention of prolonging this ridiculous war game, nor did he have any intention of stepping in himself. the ones fighting were the spirits of the kingdom people who had suffered for a long time in prugrepf¡¯s royal palace and the newly influxed human alliance forces. in the end, it was the old man who raised the white flag after the ongoing stare-off.0 "tell me what you want."0 "not far from here, a large number of human prisoners are held at the demon''s forward fortress. a demon named muzuguzu has detained them. there are about a few thousand. although the supplies may be lacking, for now, gather the survivors there."0 "a fight with the demon''s forward base¡­ are you going to do this?"0 at that question, davey gave a broad smile. "who said i was going to fight?"0 he only needed to take over, as the guy was voluntarily giving in. only one person needed to intervene indirectly.0 with davey''s involvement CH 433 sleesia, as though subjecting davey to an ordeal, compelled him to make a choice: catch the tumor or protect the humans. however, there was one crucial detail she was unaware of ¨C taboo''s karma.0 a black wisp began to emanate from davey¡¯s entire body.0 [urk¡­ just gazing at it gives me goosebumps. it''s as if it''s rejecting everything¡­]0 ¡°the monsters of the abyss follow their own laws. they will always transcend the laws of any world.¡±0 though entirely unreasonable, this was the harsh reality. nonetheless, it didn''t signify surrender. given sleesia''s utilization of an unreasonable and absurd power on davey, he found himself with no option but to release his grip and allow himself to absorb some loss.0 worms continued to wriggle out from the deflated flesh, hastening toward davey before detonating just in front of his defensive magic. the ensuing acid explosion dissolved everything in its path, highlighting its menacing nature. however, it dissipated swiftly before reaching davey.0 step, step, step.0 [ruler.]0 at that moment, the ground in front of davey twisted, revealing a clay soldier wearing a crown atop his head. this figure was none other than the regent clay soldier. however, in contrast to its previous state, it appeared significantly battered and broken.0 ¡°you¡¯ve reached your limits?¡±0 [forgive us.]0 it appeared that sleesia had finally unleashed her peculiar powers upon the demons, granting them strength that had crossed a boundary. this power, however, came at the cost of driving them to madness, to an extent where even the clay soldiers and stone statues could no longer contend with them.0 [furthermore, the higher-ranking demons have begun to mobilize. our time is limited.]0 despite the urgency in his words, davey didn''t turn his head to acknowledge him. he simply crouched down, placing his hands on the deflated mass of flesh from which innumerable worms continued to emerge.0 these worms, pouring out of the flesh, writhed and resisted fervently, as though rejecting davey''s touch. undeterred, davey activated his taboo¡¯s karma and immolated the mass of flesh.0 ¡ªkihyeeeeeeeeeeck!0 the mass of flesh ignited, accompanied by an ear-grating, eerie sound, until its final remnants vanished into nothingness. sleesia likely believed that davey wouldn''t succeed in eradicating this tumor, regardless of the intensity of his firepower. however, this was nothing more than wishful thinking on her part.0 davey commanded a power that she could never have fathomed him possessing. though it might have been fashioned for other intentions, it functioned flawlessly in disregarding the abyss''s existence. in essence, depending on how davey harnessed it, it could become a did (damage ignore defenses).0 ¡°thank you for your hard work, regent. it¡¯s time to stop holding out and just let it be.¡±0 [but¡­ ruler.]0 ¡°that¡¯s more than enough. the stubborn lady has finally made up her mind,¡± davey said, looking away.0 [they¡¯re here! get ready!]0 davey had just one opportunity. he nodded silently and proceeded cautiously. his final move involved leaving a body clone beside perserque.0 [their numbers are staggeringly low... there are a handful of black dragons, wyverns, a few high-ranking demons, and the soldiers loyal to them. altogether, there are slightly over 50,000.]0 out of the 500,000 troops in the demon army, only 50,000 opted to follow the demon lord''s commands. the rest? they aligned themselves with astaroth, betraying the demon lord and contributing to the disruption of the world''s balance.0 as davey had anticipated, perserque couldn''t fully manifest her powers in this realm. why? even though she now held the title of demon lord, she remained constrained by the memories she retained from her human past. witnessing the resurgence of war with the humans further plunged her into a sorrowful quagmire.0 in the face of this dreadful tragedy, perserque found herself compelled to deeply contemplate her course of action. despite the potential irreversibility of her choices, she opted to preserve more lives.0 the demons constituted a unique race, functioning solely under the authority of the demon lord. consequently, many of the powers and privileges vested in the demon lord were exclusively designed to serve the demons'' interests.0 [recall]0 it wouldn''t be desirable to eliminate all of the demons, and allowing all of the humans to perish would also pose challenges.0 davey had already resolved the issue with aeria and successfully extracted sleesia from the equation. he had effectively kindled the will to resist and fight for survival within the ranks of the human resistance army.0 now, his remaining task revolved around confronting the entity that meddled with the demon lord''s future, prompting the demons to betray their own ruler. in essence, davey''s focus lay solely on sleesia, an entity that had no place in this world.0 davey gradually knelt down on one knee, simultaneously raising his hand in a distinct cross-like gesture. after a moment of silence, he rose to his feet once more and traversed through the dimensional space.0 ***0 we are "pawread dot com", find us on google. everywhere bore the marks of scorching. the fallen bodies lay still, unmoving. those in relatively good health had managed to preserve their lives, at the very least. however, those who had perished did so in a gruesome manner, leaving no trace of their former selves. this horrific outcome stemmed from a single battle.0 the conflict hinged on the ability to sustain military provisions and endure for an extended period due to their inadequate numbers. fortunately, the resistance army had held its ground reasonably well, thanks to the assistance of the clay soldiers. yet, with the sudden disappearance of these formidable troops that had acted as their protective barrier, preventing the demon army''s advance, chaos engulfed the human ranks. they dashed about like headless flies, succumbing easily to the demons'' offensive.0 ¡°ah¡­ aaaaah¡­ my leg, my leg! where did my leg go?!¡±0 some soldiers had succumbed to madness after losing limbs, while others lay motionless, resembling the deceased. davey approached them quietly, assessing their condition and closing his eyes momentarily. perhaps, in this grim situation, it was a small consolation that their affliction wasn''t an illness.0 ¡°davey!!! where the hell have you been?!¡±0 upon reaching the fortress walls, davey beheld an even more pitiable scene. he stood there in silence, surveying the wreckage that was once a stronghold.0 eurina, clad in lightweight armor, hurried to davey as soon as she spotted him. ¡°hey! where the hell have you been?!¡±0 ¡°i was attending to something important. it seems the fortress is in dire straits, huh?¡±0 ¡°an all-out war against the demons erupted the moment you vanished. initially, the god¡¯s army that followed you allowed us to hold the line. but¡­¡±0 however, just an hour ago, the entire contingent of clay soldiers vanished. the one who had given this order was none other than davey. it was a necessary sacrifice to impart the realization he intended.0 ¡°only a short time has passed since their disappearance, yet look at the result! the demons are overwhelming, and our forces are feeble. if the next battle ensues without the return of the god¡¯s army¡­¡±0 at that point, they would be defenseless against the onslaught of high-ranking demons, devoid of the means to engage in a war of attrition. the fortress''s resilience was contingent on the disparity between the opposing sides not being too vast.0 naturally, if the unprepared resistance army faced the demon army without the support of the clay soldiers, the outcome would be all too predictable.0 ¡°you''re pondering the futility of victory, aren''t you?¡±0 eurina fell silent instantly at davey''s inquiry. at that very moment, the other high-ranking commanding officers of the resistance army¡ªgren, the native orc, arcturus, the seasoned guerilla of the resistance army, as well as several beastfolk and bushy-bearded dwarves¡ªaligned themselves by her side, one after another.0 davey''s gaze searched for euris, a fellow villager, but found no sign of her. however, every individual present had, until a short while ago, been fervently proclaiming their determination to triumph over the demons and safeguard their homes. yet, after a solitary battle, the countenance of each and every one among them had turned somber and melancholic. it seemed they had at last comprehended the terrifying might of their adversaries and the extent of their power.0 ¡°tell us. where has the god''s army gone?¡±0 davey shifted his gaze toward the crowned clay soldier that emerged gradually from the ground.0 ¡°ah, ah! it''s the god''s army! the god''s army has returned!¡±0 paying little heed to their almost fanatical reaction, davey directed his query to the regent, "has everyone departed?"0 in response to davey''s question, the crowned clay soldier nodded solemnly.0 [that¡¯s right, o¡¯great ruler.]0 ¡°alright. good job. you should go now too.¡±0 "d-davey? what on earth are you saying?" eurina exclaimed, her grasp on davey''s arms betraying her flustered state. she swiftly grasped the implications of davey''s words.0 "they are deceased. their time had to come eventually. they''ve reached their limits and can no longer fight on your behalf," davey explained.0 davey''s words weighed heavily on the atmosphere, the abrupt absence of their protective guardians shrouding them in a thick blanket of despair.0 "you... what in the name of the gods have you done?!" a dwarf, driven to panic, charged at davey with his short, stocky legs. springing upon him, the dwarf seized davey by his collar. "you!!! what have you wrought?! the enemy is nearly upon us, and you''re sending them away?! do you not grasp that it''s because of them we''ve come this far?!"0 "then perhaps you should take matters into your own hands."0 the dwarf scowled at davey''s response. "you hold no right to utter that!"0 "that''s right! your strategy is impressive, absolutely! but what can even the greatest strategy achieve against a formidable foe, huh?!"0 davey wielded power surpassing the combined might of all the clay soldiers. however, this fact remained concealed from them. remarkably, euris had kept tight lips and never delved into the specifics of how davey confronted nyx. their understanding was limited to the salvation wrought by the clay soldiers. as a result, they remained unaware of the extent of davey''s capabilities. well, to be fair, davey hadn''t fully divulged certain aspects to begin with.0 "we''re in dire straits! the demons have dispatched an emissary! it''s probably best if you all come out!"0 the assembled group turned in the direction of the loud cry.0 ***0 the envoy from the demon army arrived mounted upon a massive bone horse named phantom steed, its rider a high-ranking lich. despite the disappearance of the first lich nyx, a considerable number of formidable liches with astounding powers still existed within the demon army.0 "foolish humans. how can you resist and hasten the end of your lives?" sneered the lich in a relaxed and carefree manner.0 "are you attempting to display the arrogance of a conqueror?!" eurina, unable to bear the lich''s taunting demeanor, shouted angrily from the fortress walls.0 "fu, fufufu. well said, the arrogance of a conqueror. you''re not far off. is it not an established fact that an overwhelming power disparity separates us? how do you intend to overcome our formidable main force while you''re all battered and bruised, simply because we''ve revealed a fraction of our strength?" the lich spoke calmly as he gradually withdrew a letter. "the grand duke astaroth has issued an edict: surrender. if you surrender, he will spare your lives. he pledges to safeguard your right to existence and even provide you with a place to live!"0 the lich''s proclamation stirred unrest among the soldiers stationed on the walls. they fought this war to survive and defend their homeland. in the face of the clay soldiers'' disappearance and an insurmountable disadvantage, many began to acquiesce to the words, one after another, realizing the potential wisdom in surrendering.0 [that¡­]0 ¡°this bastard! is he trying to ruin my plans, huh?!¡±0 grab¡ª0 the instant he heard the lich''s proclamation, davey seized hold of a soldier''s halberd. in a swift, gleaming motion, he cleaved through the lich''s head, obliterating it before the creature could even react.0 witnessing the lich dissolve into a burst of light, eurina cried out urgently, "what... what in the world have you done?!"0 "wake up. those who lose have no claim to human rights," davey stated firmly.0 eurina flinched, her lips sealing shut at davey''s words. he was right. the words the lich uttered were nothing more than sugary lies woven to ensnare them. this war would never have ignited if the guarantee of their lives and homes, as the lich had promised, was genuine.0 "listen, all of you! these are merely the enemy''s ploys! have you forgotten the pain and suffering we endured in the past?!" eurina''s passionate cry reverberated, leaving the soldiers wide-eyed and visibly stunned.0 for a fleeting moment, they had been swayed by the immensely tempting offer. CH 434 "it should have been like this from the very beginning," astaroth remarked. upon hearing astaroth¡¯s words, sleesia, who was riding on the back of a gigantic wyvern while trimming her nails, smiled seductively. ¡°it¡¯s more interesting to enjoy the fun slowly.¡± the march of the large army brought forth an overwhelming pressure on anyone who saw them. for some reason, astaroth felt uneasy and restless despite his long-cherished dream finally coming true. ¡°still, it¡¯s a relief. thanks to your help, i am able to clean up those scrubby and disgusting piles of dirt,¡± astaroth stated. ¡°did you really think that you have gotten rid of them?¡± sleesia countered. astaroth frowned at the teasing tone that coated sleesia¡¯s question. he insisted, ¡°even though we have received your help, it¡¯s still our proud and majestic demon¡¯s great army that killed them.¡± ¡°well, if that¡¯s what you think, then continue to think like that.¡± ¡°then, are you telling me that they disappeared on their own?!¡± gluttony retorted, his irritation evident in his voice. gluttony, the leader of the radical vampires who had joined forces with astaroth, possessed considerable power and force. however, despite his anger, sleesia simply turned to look at him silently. a strange atmosphere draped over them, compelling gluttony to step back with a cough. ¡°cough! no matter what anyone says, this is the merit of our alliance!¡± "pfft¡­ right, this is it. this is why i like you all. you act quite pure and naive even though your purpose is very ugly and dirty." sleesia giggled, expressing her growing fondness for them. "grand duke! it''s that human!" then, they saw a boy jumping out of the quiet fortress. an ordinary person would have already died if they had jumped from that height, but the boy was still standing tall. in fact, he was advancing casually toward the demon army as if everything he did was normal. "what? is he trying to stop my great army by himself?" "no matter how strong or amazing that human is, it won''t be possible." the strength of a powerhouse would eventually reach its limits. it was ridiculous to think that a single human could halt and win the battle against 400,000 strong troops composed of several high-ranking demons and monsters. then, they watched the boy, who was slowly walking forward, kneel down on one knee and bow with his eyes closed. "ha! it seems like he''s about to surrender, grand duke! hahahahahaha!" "hmm¡­ it''s too late." they had already killed the envoy they had sent for negotiation. of course, it did not matter. even if they had accepted the proposal, the outcome would have still been the same. "it looks like that human being has finally realized that we''re not an enemy he can win against," gluttony said. however, astaroth felt that something was strange. did the human truly kneel because he wanted to surrender? clatter. at that moment, sleesia, who had been lying down leisurely, suddenly jumped up with a firm expression on her face. simultaneously, a bright and blinding light flashed around the boy as a colossal being exuding an eerie and skull-numbing aura appeared behind him. ''g-goodness! what the hell is that?!'' this reaction was only natural. after all, they were unaware of the existence of the grandmaster-class mythical beast, the king of mythical beasts megalodria. the presence of a gigantic dragon-like being emitting pressure far beyond that of nyx made their skin tingle and heads numb. even so, astaroth still could not fathom why sleesia¡¯s expression was so stiff. even if she wasn''t stronger than that dragon-like being in terms of strength, she would definitely not be any weaker. the answer to his question came the moment the kneeling boy slowly stood up. astaroth watched as the two swords in the boy¡¯s hands changed, fusing into a single sword with a transparent blade measuring around 110 to 120 centimeters in length. at first glance, the sword seemed intangible. however, that was not really the case. like ink spreading in water, a blue and red tint began to spread from deep within the transparent blade. the boy stroked the blade of the sword silently before lifting it up. simultaneously, a sheath emitting a dark light appeared around the sword''s blade. thud¡­ the boy took one step forward. it was just one step, but astaroth could feel a subtle flow of power in the boy¡¯s body, which he had thought did not contain any kind of power at all. this was the first time he had felt mana coming from the boy¡¯s body. ¡®he definitely did not have any shred of mana before, right?¡¯ one of the boy¡¯s hands held the hilt of the sword, while the other held its sheath. and slowly, very slowly, the boy tapped the hilt with his fingers as he dragged his feet back and moved into position. astaroth, who had been pondering over what the boy was doing, instinctively felt the danger and immediately flew back. slash¡­ it was just one eerie and creepy slash. however, when astaroth came back to his senses, he was greeted by a very terrifying scene. *** there were 400,000 enemies, including the high-ranking demons, and davey''s main target¡ªsleesia¡ªstood in front of him. in order to eliminate sleesia, he had to quickly slaughter all of the demons here. he had judged that these demons would not contribute to maintaining the balance of this continent. ¡®i¡¯m sorry, but all of you have to die here.¡¯ [what an amazing sword. it has a very surprising power too.] davey lightly caressed the blade of super ribbon, the combination of red ribbon and blue ribbon, as he heard megalodria''s voice, tinged with doubt and bewilderment, in his ears. then, he slowly drew his sword. the moment davey let go and released all the power he had been suppressing, a type of madness he was not accustomed to started to slowly dominate his entire being. this madness was distinct from the usual lapses of madness and impulses he had experienced so far. nonetheless, it was still nothing for davey, who had overcome them time and time again. after suppressing his madness as much as possible, davey glared coldly at the black sea of enemies marching before him. [there¡¯s something that i really want to say to you.] davey remained silent at the observer¡¯s words. [thank you very much.] after that, a gigantic and unusual magic circle appeared around davey, spinning swiftly like a lock being opened with a key. then... with a flash, the magic circle broke apart. a moment of silence ensued. davey, having determined that the time was right, finally began to summon all of his strength. ¡®well then, let¡¯s get started.¡¯ [transcendental longsword] the sword god¡¯s longsword and¡­ [paladia-style galactic spear] the profound spearmanship of [astrea], davey¡¯s swordsmanship teacher who hailed himself as the king of conquest, fused together in his hands. all davey desired and needed was to unleash a strike that combined all the strength in his body. the sword god and the king of conquest, astrea, were the two individuals who had pursued the most destructive swordsmanship and spearmanship techniques. [divine sword quick draw] [unearthing the outer core] everything happened in a blink of an eye. a bright and blinding flash appeared before the terrain was split. crack, crack, crack, crack!!! boom!!! the sword light that emanated from davey''s blade appeared to be endless, as though it would stretch on forever. it caused the dense earth beneath to vanish, as if cleaving the very world in two to reveal its core. whether they were ordinary demon soldiers or sword master-class demons, anyone struck directly by the sword light produced by the slash vanished without leaving a trace behind. as for those who managed to avoid a direct hit? they were sent hurtling backward, powerless, until they crashed heavily onto the distant ground. ¡°uwaaaaaack!!!¡± ¡°keuaaaaaack!¡± ¡°what, what the hell?!¡± shock, screams, and confusion lingered for a long time within the ranks of the demon army''s main unit. they couldn''t ascertain how many of their comrades had vanished in a single attack. ¡°three more times,¡± davey commanded. as far as he could recall, sword god ares required just one attack to dispatch this many enemies at once. nevertheless, no matter how much of their powers and skills he had absorbed, it remained impossible for him to match their level. in fact, the only person whose skills he was closest to was the thousand-day blacksmith surtr. the demons who had survived the sword light generated by davey''s swordsmanship skill couldn''t divert their gaze from the devastating aftermath. it appeared they had finally comprehended the gravity of the situation. naturally, the men remaining within the fortress behind davey mirrored the same dumbfounded expressions on their faces as they observed everything from atop the walls. davey even glimpsed eurina, whom he had incapacitated earlier, being supported by one of the soldiers, her mouth agape as she stared at him. ¡°megalodria, it¡¯s time to move.¡± the azure sky¡¯s storm dragon king megalodria slowly flew to the sky. [did you say that you were shane¡¯s disciple?] ¡°you can say that.¡± [he¡­ he wasn¡¯t as strong as you.] davey grinned at megalodria¡¯s words. ¡°no. that human is awfully strong. he had reached the point where his body could withstand the full power of the mythical beasts, right? i had designated him as my primary target, but in the end, i could only manage to catch him with rho aias after he had been turned into a bloody mess.¡± ''this is precisely why one must choose their enemies wisely. you never know, you might be dealing with a monster among monsters, right?'' [what a shocking display of power. there¡¯s nothing to worry about, i will go.] ¡°take them to safety,¡± davey said as a purple magic circle emerged from within his body. the identical magic circles that had appeared to davey''s right, left, top, and bottom ¨C circles he had already employed before ¨C began to spin, converging into a stunning and intricate multi-directional magic circle. ¡°welcome to our weather forecast. today, you will be experiencing heavy rain accompanied by intense thunderstorms.¡± [natural disaster series] [summoning lightning] boom!!! the size of the lightning bolts was drastically different from those davey had unleashed upon the former count lington¡¯s orderm territory to cleanse it of chimeras. in a similar manner, a thick and heavy rain began to pour down, accompanied by a deluge of lightning bolts. both the bolts and the rain scorched and obliterated everything, as if striving to create a sinkhole. the most unsettling aspect? the lightning bolts didn''t dissipate upon striking the ground; instead, they crept and sprawled widely across the earth. it was nothing short of a massacre. the demons, who had entirely forgotten they were charging toward the human base, now struggled desperately to escape davey¡¯s clutches after he had unleashed hell on earth. ¡®that¡¯s why i told you, no? you should have chosen your sides well. it would have been better if you chose to side with the young and pretty demon lord instead of that old and rusty old man.¡¯ while there was a possibility that perserque might be older than astaroth, it didn''t really matter. it wasn''t any of davey''s concerns. ¡°yaaaaaaaaaa!!!¡± at that moment, a few of those who had been left in awe by his earlier sword strike managed to break away from the main unit and charge at davey. there were approximately ten of them ¨C high-ranking demons fortunate enough to have evaded the sword strike''s sweep. it seemed they had chosen to confront davey and engage in combat rather than be swept away by the lightning rain, as they observed the lightning avoiding dave''s vicinity. ¡°bastaaaaaaard!!!¡± a robust demon lunged at davey, wielding a colossal hammer. this was the same demon who had seized davey by the collar during his visit to the demons¡¯ stronghold earlier. he grinned, having successfully charged at davey unhindered, paying no mind to his surroundings or his body. yet, before he could revel in his triumph, his leaping body suddenly froze in mid-air. ¡°keheok?! what the hell is this?!¡± ¡°it¡¯s telekinesis. it might be difficult for individuals like you, who are solely accustomed to manipulating demonic energy, to comprehend.¡± telekinesis usually only had the power to move lightweight objects and couldn''t feasibly manipulate something weighing hundreds of thousands of tons. [devil ylgr¡¯s crowd suppression] [finger flick] we are "pawread dot com", find us on google. as davey advanced toward the demon suspended in mid-air, he raised his right hand, tightly curling his middle finger. boom!!! then, a massive shockwave erupted as the ground, tens of meters deep, was upended by a simple flick of his fingers. the heavily built demon? he vanished without a trace after taking a direct hit from davey. well, the outcome was only natural ¨C davey didn''t and wouldn''t show them any mercy. ¡°next target?¡± the demons, having encountered davey before, lost control of their bodies. they collapsed one after another, their wide, frightened eyes fixed on davey as if he were a monster. among them, one figure stood out the most ¨C none other than grand duke astaroth. certainly, grand duke astaroth was powerful. however, luck had simply not been on his side. ¡°you, you monster. how... how can a human possess so much power?¡± astaroth murmured. meanwhile, davey gazed toward the spot where sleesia should have been. she remained unresponsive. davey had intentionally directed the first attack toward her as a gift, wondering if she had appreciated it. the ground cracked and tore, forming a chasm that was tens of kilometers deep. yet, this height meant nothing to sleesia. in fact, davey could already sense a considerable force gradually emanating from that crevice. davey gently unsheathed his sword as he advanced toward the immobilized astaroth. swoosh!!! traces of the same disaster that had unfolded earlier began to reappear. well, davey did mention he only needed three minutes to handle 400,000 formidable enemies, didn''t he? regardless of how many demons had gathered here, their numbers would be meaningless if they had no means to stop davey. astaroth stared at the deep crack, repeating the action two, three times. davey noticed the will to fight slowly draining from his face, replaced by helplessness and despair. then, davey stated, ¡°this is the fate that awaits you after living among monsters for a thousand years.¡± furthermore, due to his accursed ability to remember everything perfectly, the actual volume of memories stored in his mind was much higher than average. if his memories were compared to those that ordinary people retained, davey would possess tens of thousands of years'' worth of information. ¡°nonsense¡­¡± ¡°i don''t care whether you choose to believe it or not. what matters is what i''m about to say. the war ends here.¡± astaroth stiffened at davey''s words. ¡°you may have initiated this war, but i will be the one to conclude it.¡± ¡°bastard! you''re a monster! a monster!¡± ¡°that''s not something someone like you, who has been wreaking havoc and consuming this world, has the right to say.¡± astaroth''s eyes widened upon hearing davey''s statement. ¡°what do you mean?¡± davey could have easily finished him off, yet he chose to explain. ¡°in this world, neither demons nor humans should achieve complete victory.¡± this was true for the original tionis continent as well. failing to grasp davey''s meaning, astaroth merely screamed and ranted about his long-term plans being foiled. ¡°your demon lord was well aware of the threat i posed. that''s why she used recall. it''s a reminder that all living beings should temper their greed.¡± ¡°graaaaaaaaaa!!!¡± astaroth screamed, struggling to escape from davey¡¯s telekinesis. astaroth''s desperate struggle caused the power of telekinesis binding him to tremble. he proved remarkably resilient for someone who had accepted the entirely incompatible power of the abyss into his body. however, how could an easy-level monster compare to a high-leveled repeat player who had already conquered the ultra nightmare level? that player was none other than davey. he stood on par with a seasoned rpg gamer who had jumped into this realm wearing nothing but underwear. astaroth tightly bit his lip, blood trickling down his chin as he glared up at davey with resentment. nevertheless, davey merely aimed super ribbon at his neck, causing the image of a teenage girl to materialize slowly on his back. simultaneously, super ribbon mirrored davey''s movements, manifesting an identical sword in his hand and adopting the same posture, pointing the sword at the demon. at that moment, an immense surge of power overflowed from super ribbon''s blade, while a pair of wings with a span of tens of meters unfurled from davey''s back. the appearance of these wings exponentially augmented davey''s abilities. was this the effect of the sword''s power? yes, indeed. at this juncture, davey felt it safe to assert that super ribbon was the true divine sword, surpassing even caldeiras. after all, super ribbon had been temporarily forged by merging davey''s powers with two divine sword-level blades. it seemed fitting to bestow that title upon the sword. [super ribbon will lend father her strength.] super ribbon, a fusion of the young and adorable red ribbon and blue ribbon, exhibited a more mature and composed demeanor in contrast to her precursors, who had to totter around adorably with their short legs. with her reddish-blue hair cascading down to the middle of her calves, she resembled a stunning young woman. davey''s heart swelled with gratitude upon hearing her composed and serene voice. as he observed super ribbon directing her sword toward astaroth''s neck, he addressed her, saying, ¡°super ribbon.¡± [yes?] ¡°you should call me royal father.¡± shwaaaaaaaa!!! davey''s relaxed and composed tone stood in stark contrast to astaroth''s desperate expression, as he fought for his life. CH 435 it didn''t matter whether they were high-ranking or low-ranking demons; in the end, the fate that awaited them would remain the same. the pungent smell of warm and freshly splattered blood spread all over the place. astaroth, who faintly sensed his impending death, slowly opened his eyes, wondering why he was still conscious. ¡°what?!¡± he exclaimed. super ribbon¡¯s blade didn''t pierce through his neck but rather the chest of a woman who suddenly appeared, blocking the sword''s path. ¡°ah, aaaaaaah!!! liline!!!¡± astaroth cried as he struggled fiercely while suspended in the air. he vomited a mouthful of blood as he forcefully freed himself from the telekinesis that held him tightly, rushing to embrace the woman who had collapsed on the ground, sobbing fiercely. ¡°why? why did you come here?! didn''t i tell you to go back!?¡± he exclaimed. ¡°ugh¡­ kghhk¡­ f-father,¡± liline managed weakly. astaroth screamed. he appeared to have lost his reason upon witnessing the death of the succubus, who had never lost her smile. everything had collapsed now. davey silently looked at the woman named liline orlouge and thought about the succubus who had fought against him using a scythe back when he settled perserque in her own body. he knew back then that she had a connection with astaroth, but he hadn''t expected that the two of them would care about each other so deeply. ¡°f-father¡­¡± ¡°n-no! you can''t die!¡± seeing the tears of despair trickle down astaroth''s face, the succubus named liline smiled faintly as she slowly closed her eyes. astaroth could only gaze blankly at liline¡¯s slowly cooling body. then, his body began to tremble as he let out a loud scream, ''graaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!'' overwhelmed by the numbing pain and sadness, astaroth continued to scream and cry. he even began to pound his fists on the ground, creating massive shockwaves as he released the unbearable sadness that consumed him. however, davey simply watched in silence. ¡°human¡­ human!!!¡± ¡°you brought this upon yourself.¡± astaroth''s glare intensified the moment he heard davey''s words. however, his eyes widened as he locked eyes with davey. ¡°you bastard¡­ your eyes¡­¡± he muttered, disbelief painting his features as he continued his unwavering gaze at davey. davey''s powers had been amplified, a fact that became immediately apparent. this amplification also affected the residual trace of the demon lord''s power within him. as a result, his eyes, normally tinged with red, now radiated an even deeper crimson hue, causing his aura to shift further toward that of the demons rather than humans. with weak restraints on the demonic energy within him, the amplification caused it to surge forth, leaking from his body. this revelation left no doubt in astaroth''s mind about davey''s true nature. davey''s gaze remained steady on astaroth as he slowly raised his empty hand, the one not holding his sword. simultaneously, a gathering of black flames manifested at the tips of his fingers. gradually, these flames coalesced, forming a substantial black sphere. while its temperature remained intangible, an unsettling and spine-chilling sensation emanated from the sphere as it hovered ominously above davey''s palm. with astaroth caught in a daze by this startling revelation, davey deliberately rotated his palm, causing the sphere to ascend into the sky, all while keeping his gaze locked onto astaroth''s bewildered expression. vwoooooong¡­ vwooooooooong!!! suddenly, the black sphere set into a furious spin, generating perilous sparks that crackled through the air. its growth was relentless, rapidly expanding and swelling. in the span of an instant, it reached a diameter of several tens of meters. this eerie transformation mirrored the magical force davey had employed to obliterate megalodria previously. however, its essence was fundamentally distinct. [9th circle dark magic] [transcendental realm] [the anxious one¡¯s courtship] ¡°stop¡­ stop!!!¡± unperturbed by astaroth''s exclamation, davey continued to elevate the sphere, exerting more force until it reached an even higher point in the atmosphere. and then, as the sphere eventually descended, catastrophe unfurled. boom!!! as soon as the ominous black sphere collided with the ground, a colossal pillar of ebony light erupted into existence, spanning tens of meters in radius. this harrowing spectacle was swiftly succeeded by a deafening explosion, consuming the entire vicinity and reducing everything to a desolate expanse of ashes. the surviving demons, who had been the unfortunate recipients of this catastrophic assault, found themselves at the heart of the devastation. the infernal realm extended its grasp, slowly claiming the canyons and plains that had been sought out by the enemies as a refuge. yet, davey''s onslaught exhibited no signs of cessation. he continued to unleash wide-reaching spells of destruction, his rampage becoming an unrelenting tempest. amidst the unfathomable catastrophes that ensued¡ªan abyss of impenetrable darkness stretching into eternity, a towering column of intermingled black and white flames, and a ferocious maelstrom of lightning¡ªastaroth sat entranced, his senses dulled by the overwhelming spectacle. in the end, all he could manage was to lower his gaze, his visage contorted by an amalgamation of despair and helplessness. *** astaroth''s countenance bore an expression of profound helplessness as he crumbled to the ground. the query echoed relentlessly within his mind, ''what in the hell is this situation?'' the circumstances that unfolded were utterly incredulous, defying all logical comprehension. yet, inexplicable as it seemed, this was the stark reality they were now confronted with. any remnants of doubt that astaroth had harbored regarding the young human who had advised their surrender vanished in an instant. despite his reluctance to concede, it was undeniable that the boy possessed a power that transcended their capacity to fathom. ¡®is this what god is like? just like what was described in those ancient texts?¡¯ in a mere instant, all that the demons had toiled and constructed over countless ages crumbled to insignificance before the might of that solitary boy. their achievements, vast and significant though they may have been, were utterly and irrevocably dwarfed. like fragile bubbles caught in the wind, everything vanished into nothingness. amidst the cataclysmic turmoil that engulfed the realm, astaroth found himself encapsulated in a maelstrom of chaos. despite the surrounding inferno, he never once pondered the absence of sleesia, the formidable ally who had supported their cause. sleesia''s strength was undeniable, her formidable presence radiating an aura of impending peril. she wielded a power that rendered them ill-equipped to engage her in combat. yet, this boy was an enigma of a different kind. though astaroth struggled to articulate it, an unmistakable dissimilarity existed between the boy and sleesia. "you stand alone now," the boy''s voice pierced the silence that followed, his words bearing a weight that astaroth found nearly impossible to resist. "it took a while since i struggled to rein in my power. so, any parting words?" a subtle gravity suffused the boy''s tone, a force that pressed upon astaroth''s spirit as the resplendent wings of light upon the boy''s back began their gradual dissipation, fading into the void. ¡°you bastard¡­¡± this novel is available on "pawread.com". ¡°what?¡± astaroth''s anguished voice quivered as he clung to the lifeless form of the succubus named liline, crimson tears tracing a gruesome path down his cheeks. "curse you," he seethed, his grip on liline''s cold body tightening. "i''ll damn you to eternity! i''ll haunt you! even in death, i''ll be a vengeful ghost, haunting you!!! you''ve shattered the very essence of the demons'' desires! our hopes, crushed by you!!!" a primal scream of frustration escaped astaroth''s lips, akin to a petulant child''s tantrum. "what wrong did the demons commit? why must we endure this desolate existence, a barren land after being subjugated by humans?!!!" the boy''s response was a weary sigh, which further constricted astaroth''s already constricted throat. the compassionate look the boy cast upon him added to the oppressive weight that hung in the air. ultimately, all that remained within astaroth was a pitiful whimper. "you''re a devil, a bastard! liline¡­ her death was needless!" astaroth accused, his voice quaking with anguish. the boy appeared oblivious to the depth of connection between the two demons. however, his silence was ephemeral, replaced by a disapproving click of his tongue as his sword found its place at astaroth''s throat. "i believe i''ve already addressed this previously," the boy interjected with a somber tone. "this war was instigated by your ancestors, your forebears. and i bear the cost of that transgression. i gave you ample warning to halt this conflict midway, did i not?" astaroth''s response was silence, heavy and charged. "furthermore," the boy resumed, his voice steady despite the circumstances, "exterminating humans to secure your prosperity? that''s a lie, astaroth, and deep down, you know it. should humanity perish, only annihilation awaits you." as the words settled in the air, a grim tableau unfolded, a testament to the consequences of strife and the anguish it begets. slash¡ª! the swift swoosh of the sword slicing through his neck reverberated through the surroundings, a resounding testament to finality. with the exception of the 50,000 demons who had pledged allegiance to perserque and withdrawn from the battlefield, astaroth, along with his devoted followers, was destined to find his eternal rest here, forever enshrouded by the land. "each grave echoes a tale. if you wish to become a vengeful specter to haunt me, you''re free to do so. yet, first, you must reconcile your karmic debts," davey remarked as he surveyed the lifeless forms of astaroth and liline. a flame was ignited, consuming their bodies until only ashes remained. with the demons'' fate concluded, davey, his demeanor undisturbed, shifted super ribbon''s blade and embarked on his next course of action. "you can''t possibly fathom the extent of trouble and annoyance you caused by hiding behind these demons," davey''s voice remained composed as he addressed the yawning abyss where sleesia had plunged, an oppressive aura radiating from his very being. emerging from the abyss''s depths, obsidian tentacles snaked forth, ensnaring and hauling forth a figure draped in a pristine white gown. a beauty she might have been, were it not for the ghastly array of jagged teeth adorning her mouth, and the multitude of sinuous appendages wriggling beneath her attire¡ªa monstrous visage of unparalleled terror. sleesia''s voice trembled, her gaze locked onto the boy''s form. "what... what are you?" her words struggled to escape, bewilderment etched across her features. "how did you escape?" the rationale behind davey¡¯s actions eluded sleesia. she had posed a choice¡ªhumans or the tumor. yet, this enigmatic figure defied convention, opting for neither. adding insult to injury, he inflicted grievous harm upon her, rending her physical form. "unknown, unimportant. it seems this may become rather troublesome and bothersome, so it''s best to address matters here before departing." "you wretched pest!!!" sleesia''s fa?ade fractured, an inhuman shriek tearing from her lips. concurrently, the myriad of tentacles lurking beneath her gown congealed, forming a colossal, serpentine lower body. metamorphosing into a hybrid half-human, half-snake form resembling a lamia, her once-white eyes now glowed crimson. a resounding clap resounded through the air. thwack!!! subsequently, the very fabric of space commenced its inexorable descent into chaos. "you pose a threat to our future, you wretched fiend. it appears that urd''s torment was not mere happenstance under your malevolent grasp." sleesia''s words dripped with venomous accusation. "your realization comes far too tardily." davey''s retort bore an air of resignation. "you lack the power to end my existence. whatever method you''ve unearthed to surpass my abilities, it''s of no consequence how potent you''ve become." sleesia''s voice brimmed with defiance, unwavering even in the face of overwhelming might. "for my life force is¡ª" "ah, spare me your ramblings!" the boy erupted in exasperation, his palms alighting upon the ground with a casual yet potent touch. thud!!! in that instant, a vast expanse of white unfurled akin to ink, etching an intricate and expansive pattern upon the ground. ¡®this is goddess freyja¡¯s sentence.¡¯ ¡°i¡¯m already tired of your immortality bullshit, bastard.¡± sleesia''s vitality remained considerably formidable. nonetheless, this was no longer a pressing concern. davey had harnessed the might of his taboo''s karma, effectively neutralizing her immortality. the enigma that remained pertained to addressing her overwhelming innate defensive prowess. yet, a timely intervention arrived as super ribbon''s voice reverberated in davey''s consciousness. [father! you can use super ribbon!] ¡°can¡¯t you call me royal father?¡± [i, i don¡¯t want to!] super ribbon''s voice resonated with a hint of embarrassment, eliciting a subtle grin from davey. his gaze lowered to the sword''s translucent blade, his fingers delicately tracing the exquisite pattern etched by the bluish-red hue that coursed throughout its length. red ribbon was the blade that sundered the tangible, while blue ribbon cleaved through the intangible. the question lingered: what domain did super ribbon dominate? in a scenario involving perserque, he might have sought her insight, but her absence relegated him to speculation. one possibility emerged¡ªsuper ribbon might possess the capacity to sever the very fabric of existence itself. soon after, a colossal lance of luminous radiance manifested within sleesia''s grasp. each deliberate movement she made birthed ruptures within the surrounding space. the capability to dismantle reality with a mere gesture left davey genuinely impressed. he discerned that any contact with the affected space would result in instantaneous dissolution¡ªa realm akin to her personal creation of a black hole. in response, davey''s hands came into contact with the ground, channeling the entirety of his sanctified mana. witnessing his initiation, sleesia promptly propelled the mammoth spear, its length spanning tens of meters, directly at davey. the sheer potency of the assault instilled a shiver down his spine, its impending collision seeming akin to a death sentence. although the endeavor required him to strip away the power influenced by her presence from his body and surroundings, the undertaking was undoubtedly worthwhile. observing the scope of sleesia''s might, davey procured an understanding of her strength. leveraging her internal energy, sleesia lunged, the interminable spearhead a swift, unerring trajectory aimed directly at davey''s neck. ¡®goddess freyja.¡¯ [i ask that you protect me.] a true, manly man would never turn his back on an opponent. crack!!! davey extended one of his hands ahead, withdrawing nearly all the mana contained within him. the fissures tearing through the fabric of space, a result of sleesia''s movements, attempted to converge upon davey, yet the holy mana coursing within him surged vigorously, behaving as if endowed with a life of its own, interposing itself between davey''s form and the encroaching spatial fractures. "that''s impossible!" "it''s possible, you b*tch!" the diminutive asteroids encircling the moons syras and cryas in the heavens achieved newfound solidity and resilience, infused with the moons'' potent influence. this infusion bestowed upon them an enigmatic power, affording them an unsettling degree of autonomy and detachment from the constraints of this world. [9th circle, transcendence] [descending lunar rock] ¡®i choose you! syras, lend me two of the asteroids orbiting around you!¡¯ a colossal sphere, hundreds of meters in diameter, plummeted earthward akin to a shooting star. the impact of the attack shrouded the sky in obscurity, compelling davey to expel a mouthful of blood. as anticipated, manipulating celestial bodies at his current proficiency proved to be an arduous endeavor. "kghhk?! what in the abyss is this? gravity?!" the descending lunar rock had triggered an unforeseen gravitational anomaly. sleesia was jolted by this sudden shift in gravitational forces, compelling her to retract her spear and redirect its trajectory skyward. nevertheless, despite the asteroids'' unprecedented potency... slash!!! ¡­sleesia¡¯s assault, capable of tearing open space, fragmented the plummeting lunar rocks. ''geez, i''d be in a real fix if one of those hit me.'' in the span of a heartbeat, the momentary respite proved sufficient. it granted davey the vital breathing room he needed to prepare, super ribbon''s blade glowing brilliantly within his grasp. without delay, davey harnessed the most formidable and annihilative swordsmanship at his disposal for this singular strike. a weight, exuding tremendous explosiveness and sheer mass, materialized upon the blade in his hands. this unwieldy burden fractured the very ground beneath him, compelling it to crumble and collapse. maintaining his stance became a challenge, as the ground''s fissures rendered his footing precarious. however, this unwieldy burden was essential to extract the utmost destructive potential from his strike, and so he persevered. ''i wonder what wine derived from an abyssal serpent would taste like?'' [transcendental longsword] [world creation, one swing cut] [splitting the sun] the technique davey employed was more akin to a blunt force strike than a traditional sword slash. thanks to the influence of taboo''s karma, the entirety of davey''s power had undergone a metamorphosis, attaining autonomy and liberation from the confines of this world''s laws. this granted them the capacity to disregard sleesia''s influence and seamlessly breach her defenses. davey had already meticulously studied and conducted repeated experiments on entities that emerged from the abyss. this thorough exploration bestowed upon him an ample reservoir of knowledge and insights, thereby easing his approach in dealing with them. sleesia, her body twitching under the gravitational pull exerted by the lunar rocks, gaped as super ribbon''s blade extended, a spectacle that defied belief. "how... how can a mere insect¡­?" "had any of my mentors graced this realm, the abyss would undoubtedly face dire repercussions," davey retorted, his voice laced with a cool resolve. ¡®basically, you¡¯re lucky that i was the one that came down, b*tch.¡¯ there was a brief flash of horror in sleesia¡¯s eyes the moment she heard those words. CH 436 aeria el lyndis found it hard to regain her senses from the pressure that suddenly enveloped her entire head when the all-out war began. she did not know why it was happening to her; all she knew was that there was something trying to tear her head and consciousness apart. "oh my god¡­ what in the world am i seeing?" most of the people in the fortress shared the same sentiment. even the resistance army guarding the walls seemed to echo those words. the outcomes that a single human being had brought about were beyond their comprehension based on common sense. when the human first sent the clay soldiers back, a sense of foreboding spread among the resistance soldiers: "ah, so this is where we meet our end." they found themselves in a dire situation, with the enemy forces advancing relentlessly, seemingly untouched by the divine. in the face of impending doom, eurina, the youthful commander of the resistance army, attempted to make a heroic sacrifice to ensure the survival of her comrades. yet, the boy''s actions defied all expectations as he effortlessly subdued her. to everyone, the boy had been known merely as a highly intelligent individual who commanded the formidable clay soldiers. while gratitude was owed for his assistance, his sudden shifts in demeanor brought about bewilderment. "who dares dismiss this as mere capriciousness?" whispered an aged soldier, his halberd serving as a makeshift cane. indeed, it was not mere whimsy. the boy stood as an existence beyond comparison with the clay soldiers. wasn''t he addressed as such by the very soldiers they called "god''s army"? the great ruler. the boy, who had infused hope into humanity during the darkest depths of resistance... was he truly a human? "this... this is a miracle of god..." "don''t tell me that guy, davey, is..." a grave and somber realization dawned upon everyone, etching itself on their faces. in a world where no one else could cleave the horizon with a single strike, conjure forth cascades of explosions and lightning, paint the sky with the divine emblem ¨C god''s symbol, or plummet colossal asteroids from heavens. no one else could single-handedly tilt the tide against hundreds of thousands of demons with a solitary blow! the god of war, or perhaps the god of destruction. maybe, just maybe, the boy was indeed a deity. as the soldiers of the resistance army shook off their stupor, their attention turned to the girl accompanying the boy. an exquisitely beautiful woman of the beastfolk, her mere presence commanded attention. if the boy was a god, then... "no way, could she be the goddess...?" "no wonder... no wonder she weeps and mourns at every loss of life..." at last, divine compassion had graced humanity! the resistance army regarded aeria, whether inadvertently or not, as a goddess in their eyes. meanwhile, aeria herself found herself in an entirely different realm. an illusion, in truth, though her condition hardly allowed for such analysis. the pain she felt was akin to her head being torn asunder. ¡®u¡­ ugh¡­¡¯ aeria clutched the walls with a single hand, her ears twitching as her body involuntarily crouched under the onslaught of excruciating pain. why had this torment erupted within her all of a sudden? dizziness overwhelmed her, causing tears to trickle down her cheeks unnoticed. yet, even amidst this turmoil, an inexplicable urge compelled her to gaze beyond the fortress walls. her mind couldn''t make sense of it, but her body was moving autonomously. it was an intriguing and perplexing sensation. nevertheless, an innate sense of peril coursed through aeria''s being. fear gripped her, the fear that enduring this ordeal might lead to her demise. despite her instincts'' vehement warnings, she clenched her teeth and endured. though her memories remained elusive, her past persona ¨C one that eschewed burdening others despite her affliction ¨C resurfaced like an indelible habit. thus, her mindset inclined her to undervalue herself. theft is never good, try looking at [ pawread.com ]. prince davey had been her first acquaintance in this foreign realm, the sole individual hailing from her own world within this enigmatic domain. aeria recognized prince davey as a compassionate soul, one who consistently adorned her with smiles and safeguarded her. even now, he stood alone against the forces beyond, his sword a shield for her and the inhabitants here. in aeria''s eyes, her contributions appeared scant, her helplessness laid bare. "i must... do something..." she gasped, her breath ragged as she took a faltering step forward. instinct propelled her, urging her to descend the fortress walls and aid davey. amidst the dread and brutality of the battlefield, saturated with the acrid tang of blood and iron, an unfamiliar fragrance wafted to aeria''s nose. pursuing the scent, her gaze widened as she beheld life sprouting from crevices in the wall ¨C a shrub of cornelius cherry. warmth and solace emanated from the delicate blooms. in that instant, her attention shifted skyward, where lightning descended from a regal, purple magic circle. something within her mind seemed to shatter, as if a long-locked door had swung open. how could she have forgotten? how could the memory of her cherished one, the person she yearned for, have slipped away? tears cascaded naturally, a luminous smile gracing her lips. the torment in her head dissipated. aeria was unburdened, free of all that had plagued her. ¡®as expected¡­ you have always protected me since the very beginning.¡¯ the warm and comforting scent surrounded aeria as a voice drifted to her ears. [¡ª¡ª] though the voice''s words were imperfectly enunciated, their meaning resonated with aeria. the voice entreated her to reach a verdict, a choice of monumental consequence, one capable of upending her entire existence. astonishingly, she hesitated not, arriving at a resolute determination in an instant. ¡®if not for that person, i wouldn''t be here. his gaze upon me may have been absent, yet he shielded and safeguarded me. i¡­¡¯ aeria smiled brightly as she murmured, ¡°i love you.¡± ¡®even if your heart already belongs to another, and they stand by your side, leaving no room for me... should the need arise to rescue you one day, i''m prepared to do whatever it takes.¡¯ her choice was made, resolute and unwavering. aeria gradually drifted into slumber, comforted by the faint yet steady rhythm that emerged within her lower abdomen. *** ¡®welcome, welcome~ this is your first time being so defenseless and experiencing damage, no?¡¯ amidst the unsettling sound of rending flesh, the colossal form into which sleesia had metamorphosed was cleaved in twain. the descending lunar rock incantation stood apart from the conventional meteor strike. within this arcane spell, both moons'' mighty energies merged with the plummeting asteroids, delivering a devastating blow to adversaries. davey harnessed the crimson moon''s potency to orchestrate the asteroid''s descent, an observable might that defied denial. simultaneously, a massive sword descended, sweeping through all in its path and imprinting a bluish-red trail in its wake. [kghhh¡­ kghhhh¡­] davey held his silence, absorbing the spine-chilling and unnerving noises emanating from the immense, contorting form before him. he had foreseen her survival after the initial strike, yet the sight of her undulating and assuming such a repugnant shape left him both astonished and intrigued. [we¡­ weeeee¡­ weeeeeee¡­] attempting to articulate a response, sleesia struggled, her mangled throat preventing coherent speech. in her agony, an array of tentacles sprouted from the wounded, bifurcated expanse of her form. ¡®what the hell is a princess of the abyss?¡¯ davey couldn''t deny that the abyss held a significant advantage over the current state of the tionis continent. nevertheless, it stood as yet another realm on the opposite side, a fact he acknowledged. while tionis might lag behind in certain aspects, the parallel world shouldn''t possess the strength to rupture the barriers erected by the divine and sow chaos across countless realms. yet, the presence of abyssal princesses like sleesia and urd undeniably confirmed the breach of those barriers. that wasn''t the extent of it, though. verdandi, urd''s younger sibling, and numerous other abyssal princesses whose existence eluded davey, further attested to the shattered confines. this implied the existence of many other formidable entities akin to them, posing formidable challenges that davey would struggle to overcome. this, undoubtedly, presented a monumental and intricate dilemma. twitch, twitch¡­ before long, the entity, sleesia, ensnared in torment, commenced a convulsive motion. the environment surrounding her promptly fractured and contorted, giving birth to chains bristling with jagged edges. these lethal appendages streaked toward davey with rapidity. bang!!! as davey thwarted the chains'' attempts to breach his defenses, he experienced a notable rebound of force from his counterattacks. the potency of the super ribbon was surpassed, a consequence of its fusion of blue ribbon and red ribbon. while this rendered sleesia susceptible to davey''s onslaught, it also hinted at the challenge he would face in halting creatures like her once his powers reverted to normal¡ªa pressing concern. sleesia, now a mass of flesh, continued to assail davey relentlessly with a combination of both physical and metaphysical chains. gazing at the fleshy mass in a heavy silence, davey drew a brief breath. the realization dawned upon him that the fortress''s inhabitants had been transported by space transfer magic, with megalodria spiriting aeria away. the ruins, sleesia, and davey himself were all that remained in this desolate expanse. "let''s go for a grand gesture," davey declared. releasing the entirety of his energy previously focused on suppressing the chains, he maneuvered gently away from their reach. with the continuous generation of chains, he saw no reason to expend his efforts in combating them any longer. shutting his eyes, davey sensed the restoration and rapid replenishment of the powers he had been expanding. as he opened his eyes and directed his gaze toward the convulsing fleshly mass, he observed the regenerated segment where sleesia had been cleaved in two. it was evident that he needed to eradicate the source to halt her regeneration. utilizing his taboo''s karma ability would allow him to target her life essence without complication. [w¡­ weeeeeee¡­ weeeee¡­ we¡­ we¡­ we¡­] the amorphous lump of sleesia''s flesh emitted a continuous murmur, its words resonating akin to a slogan, a rhythmic chant. [w, w, we¡­ we are one¡­ one, one, one¡­] initially perceiving sleesia as an individual entity, davey was confronted with a revelation that shattered this notion. amidst the cacophony of hundreds of intertwining voices, he found himself unequivocally certain of one truth. the abyss was an amalgamation, a composition born from the fusion of myriad entities and objects. this extended to the abyssal princesses themselves, borne from the convergence of countless wills residing within the abyss. in essence, the abyssal princesses were the very embodiment of the abyss. following this thread of realization, davey discerned that the resolution to this predicament lay in simultaneously overcoming all the princesses. with his insight thus clarified, davey''s focus shifted away from sleesia, the lingering thoughts about her now dispelled. ¡®let¡¯s finish this all at once.¡¯ in due course, the mass of flesh¡ªwhether a conglomerate of beings or otherwise¡ªswelled to tens of meters in size and embarked on movement. simultaneously, the ebony chains, seemingly propelled by a renewed intent, surged toward davey with heightened speed. however, davey''s agility enabled him to sidestep their advances by inching his footing and utilizing the super ribbon to deflect any that ventured too close. using his unoccupied hand, davey executed a swift motion, tracing his fingertips through the air. in their wake, an obsidian magic circle began to materialize. fixated on the precise location where sleesia''s nucleus should have resided, davey harnessed all the accumulated power within him. no longer concerned about collateral consequences, davey understood that this isolated clash would bear no impact on others. consequently, he relinquished his meticulous control over his might, allowing it to surge unhindered. the efficacy of a spell did not solely hinge on its successful incantation; instances existed wherein incorrectly formulated or executed magic wielded greater potency than intended. ¡®how about a taste of odin¡¯s natural disaster magic?¡¯ employing this form of magic would invariably lead to an extraordinary depletion of mana in the vicinity for the next century. nonetheless, davey remained indifferent to these ramifications. prometheus, the 8th circle fire magic, was davey''s chosen conduit to incinerate the implanted tumor orchestrated by sleesia. manipulating the spell''s radius and potency seemed unnecessary; on the contrary, davey aimed to amplify its might. resolute in his decision to exhaust the area''s mana, davey acted without hesitation. his hypernova magic surged forth, manifesting in an unrestrained and unguided frenzy. swiftly anchoring the burgeoning magic''s epicenter to the struggling sleesia, he activated the spell in its entirety. subsequently, the hypernova magic commenced a process of absorbing all mana within tens to hundreds of kilometers around its locus. the tionis continent, perennially endowed with a wealth of mana, emerged as a veritable bastion of magical potential, a proposition independent of time or space. ¡®do you grasp the number of heroes claimed by the very magic odin forged? if you believe you possess the fortitude to withstand this onslaught, then strive with all your might to endure.¡¯ vwooooooooooong!!! [final rampant fire magic] [realm of fire] a resounding and jarring cacophony reverberated, the magic''s tempestuous resonance inundating the surroundings. davey crumpled to the ground, his unoccupied hand pressed against the earth to bear the torment as his innards writhed and contorted. boom!!! summoning the last dregs of mana within him, davey hastened the creation of a space transfer magic circle. thud! yet, in the midst of his conjuration, the frenzied magic''s lingering aftermath slammed into him from behind. the impact launched him, sending his form somersaulting across the familiar deck of a ship as he transitioned through space. ¡°urk¡­ ugh¡­!¡± [davey!] simultaneously arriving, megalodria swiftly soared toward the point of impact where davey had landed, his visage a mixture of astonishment and disbelief. [are you out of your mind? that was utterly reckless! what possessed you to attempt such madness?] hearing megalodria''s alarmed cries, davey glanced back, even though the distance between them and the epicenter spanned thousands of kilometers, the effects of his magic remained starkly evident. "i unleashed the final strike and was caught in the aftermath. let''s return," davey calmly stated before he, the unconscious aeria, and megalodria vanished in a burst of light. [transaction complete.] CH 439 while davey briefly ventured into another world, a notorious serial killer began targeting the inhabitants of heins territory. however, to gain a better understanding of the situation, he needed information. davey recognized the importance of seeking the assistance of an expert in gathering information. the most effective person for this task was aina helishana. unfortunately, she was currently on a long-term mission with annabelle and unavailable. "he''s the one who possesses the most knowledge about your culprit," perserque advised while davey silently and diligently investigated the horribly mutilated corpse. "he?" davey inquired. "the pallan empire''s crown prince, sullivan," perserque replied. ¡®prince sullivan knew about the culprit?¡¯ davey couldn''t help but wonder what connection the man had to this situation. "perserque, our task is straightforward. before that fiend can make his next escape, we must locate him and demonstrate the true artistry of justice, and i intend to do it with my own hands," davey declared. that was his plan, nothing more and nothing less. "he''s been involved in numerous heinous acts even before earning the title of the murderer [grim]. remember, he first committed such atrocities in a small kingdom in the west," perserque said softly as she toyed with davey''s ears, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "why don''t you enlighten the young one with the details?" "who?" davey asked. "you, davey. do you know why the pursuit of the serial murderer [grim] was abandoned?" perserque inquired. davey shook his head in response. "i don''t know." "it''s because they believed he was dead. that''s why the entire continent ceased hunting him. who would have imagined he was still alive and would resurface like this?" listening to her explanation, davey carefully infused a thread of dark mana into the corpse. "did you uncover anything with your abyss'' authority?" perserque asked. "regrettably, there are numerous conditions i must fulfill to access memories. my body currently can''t handle that much power, and it''s all thanks to someone," davey replied, setting aside his idea of using the abyss'' authority for further investigation. "i don''t have the luxury of time to extract information from anyone or anything. even as we speak, that scoundrel is roaming freely in this territory. i can''t allow that," davey declared. "what''s your plan?" perserque inquired. "i will uncover the truth myself," davey said, leaving the corpse behind as he made his way toward the scene of the incident. *** indeed, in locations where such gruesome events occurred, there was almost always a clue that would linger at the crime scene. ¡°ta-dah, there¡¯s absolutely nothing here.¡± davey, guided by rinne and milpieu, arrived at the scene and was left speechless upon seeing it completely devoid of any evidence. "i can''t detect the scent of blood. it''s as if someone had been masking the odor for a long time before allowing it to burst forth." "so, you''re saying that you couldn''t smell any blood scent before, and it suddenly appeared?" "that''s correct." rinne, noticing milpieu following davey silently, approached him and whispered, "davey, rinne has observed that you''ve become stronger." although davey hadn''t used any of the metamorphosis stacks, his body and soul had remained in a synchronized state for quite some time, so it was only natural that he had grown stronger. however, it wouldn''t be accurate to say that he had grown stronger. what davey had experienced wasn''t growth but rather recovery. rinne closed her eyes silently and enjoyed the moment as davey patted her head. "all i could glean from the blood''s memories was the image of a mysterious man wearing a white mask, dismembering victims while they were still alive. as for the memories leading up to that moment, they appeared twisted, as if they were manipulated." these words prompted davey to contemplate. their culprit seemed capable of manipulating others'' memories and executing their deeds without leaving any traces. given their audacity in committing such crimes without fear of being caught, davey found it hard to view the culprit as a mere human being. did this imply that it was the work of a mage or a dark mage? not likely. there was no sign of mana anywhere near the crime scene, let alone around the corpse. so, how did they achieve this? davey decided to summon several earth spirit gnoums to access the memories of the earth. he extended his palm to the ground and created a brown magic circle. [what can i do for you?] davey silently revealed his purpose to the child-like figure that appeared in front of him. ¡®show us the memories of this place.¡¯ at davey''s request, the gnoums dispersed across the ground and vanished as an illusion materialized in his mind. he witnessed a man wearing a white mask, carrying a large bag with the aid of a tool, entering the dimly lit warehouse. though the man''s physical stature was smaller than average, the way he deftly handled the items in his grasp revealed considerable strength. the man emanated a terrifying aura of malevolence, to the extent that even the earth spirits quivered. before long, he commenced a thorough renovation of the entire warehouse. after inspecting the corpse, he proceeded to inscribe words onto the lower part of the body, nodding in satisfaction. the first movement: delight. ¡°the word first being engraved there means there will be a second.¡± however, all davey witnessed were the unsettling manifestations of the man''s twisted sexual preferences, with no discernible clues. then, the man, as if orchestrating a peculiar symphony, positioned himself in front of the corpse and produced a small baton, waving it about while his head bobbed and swayed. his actions resembled that of someone possessed, and he continued this eerie performance in the silent warehouse. after this bizarre and unsettling display, the man extended a finger into the empty space before him and promptly vanished. davey was left dumbfounded. space transfer? position displacement? there was no sign of either occurring. filled with questions and confusion, davey rose from the ground and scanned the warehouse. finding a person who had vanished so quickly and completely was no simple task, and gathering all the residents for a search and investigation would be counterproductive. however, leaving the people of his territory in such a perilous state was not an option. "i have to set up a trap," davey resolved. based on the memories he gleaned from the gnoums, it seemed that the perpetrator was more of a trait ability user than a mage. trait ability users were individuals born with supernatural powers. the principles behind their abilities were often mysterious, and some of them appeared without any known parents. they belonged to this world but were still considered outsiders. although their numbers were not substantial, they possessed a wide range of abilities. in the end, davey concluded that there was only one way for him to solve this problem. *** the residents of the territory celebrated davey''s return at the break of dawn. although the presence of a serial killer in the territory could instill fear and terror, davey chose not to disclose this information. unnecessary fear would only lead to chaos and confusion. davey quietly summoned individuals to gather information from the victims and those who had experienced the terror. surprisingly, he didn''t obtain any useful information from them. despite setting a trap for the murderer, days passed with no sign of the culprit, who managed to evade all the traps. davey believed the murderer was still within his territory, judging by the estimated time of death of the corpse. "if you give me the order, i will investigate all the outsiders," monmider offered. "if we include all the outsiders, their numbers easily exceed 10,000. monmider, attempting to investigate them all would be foolish," davey, concealing his identity with illusion magic, replied as he sat on a bench in the plaza. he turned to monmider, who wore casual attire and appeared disheartened. "if you ask me to slay a god..." monmider began. "didn''t they say this murderer eluded capture even by people from other nations? tell me, how do you intend to catch such a fugitive?" "uh..." "don''t overestimate yourself," davey admonished. a dissatisfied expression crossed monmider''s face. "i wish you''d at least pretend to have faith in me." "creating distrust is not the solution." monmider chuckled before expressing his frustration. "you''re truly something else." "i''m telling you, there''s no need to push too hard for no reason. right now, we lack any information. we don''t even know the unique traits and abilities of our trait ability user. we''re in the dark about his intentions," davey advised. monmider sighed in response. all they needed was a single clue, but the man managed to elude their traps effortlessly. they didn''t know how the killer did it, but he seemed capable of detecting danger and was highly cautious. "brother." a cute brown-haired girl, approximately seven years old, approached davey while carrying a basket of flowers. "d-do you want to buy flowers?" davey smiled and took a silver coin from his pocket, handing it to the girl. "yes, please. two, please." the girl jumped with joy, selecting two flowers from her basket and placing them neatly in davey''s hands. "thank you, brother!" "you''re welcome. but i haven''t seen you around here before," davey remarked. the girl tilted her head in response. "hehehehe. but it''s my first time seeing you too." "is that so?" "actually, mom and i moved to this territory a few days ago. we heard that the lord of this territory cares for his people like they were his family. they said that he gives plenty of blessings to his people so they can live comfortably!" the girl''s face beamed with happiness as she continued, "did you know? thanks to the lord of this territory, my mom and i can eat delicious food and stay warm inside a house of our own. i used to starve every day, but it''s different here!" the girl giggled, displaying a pure and innocent smile as if she had discovered something that brought her immense joy. "i!!! i will marry heins territory''s mister prince once i grow up!" while others might have been taken aback by the girl''s words, davey simply patted her head in silence. these pure and innocent children were the future of the territory. if a child began to worry about the group''s future, it indicated that the group had no future. "that''s right. you''re very pretty, so you''ll be able to marry the lord when you grow up," davey playfully remarked, eliciting an innocent smile from the girl''s face. "really?" the girl exclaimed. "of course! i''m telling you this because this brother is very close to the lord," davey replied. "eyyy, stop lying. how can you know someone so high up, brother?" the girl questioned. "why can''t i know someone like that?" davey countered. the girl''s eyes widened at davey''s response. "your... your clothes look sloppy... a, a loafer! yes, you''re like a loafer!" davey looked at the girl in disbelief upon hearing her sharp remarks. meanwhile, perserque, who sat next to him while remaining invisible, couldn''t contain her laughter and stifled her sobs. "this brother looks like a loafer?" davey asked incredulously. "yes! mom told me so! she said loafers are people who play around and don''t work during the day!" the girl explained. davey stood up from his seat and patted the girl on the head. "is that so? then, this brother should go to work now so i won''t be called a loafer." "work?" the girl inquired. davey nodded and quietly retrieved something from his pocket plane. "here, this is a gift from this brother to the cute young lady." "wow! it''s so pretty!" the girl''s eyes widened as she held the necklace adorned with several wooden ornaments. however, davey didn''t stop there. he also cast some magic on the girl''s necklace. it was a piece he had made long ago during his carving practice and had a deep bond with him, allowing him to imbue it with magic. vwoooong... after blessing and enchanting the necklace, he handed it to the girl and then turned away. his expression grew solemn as he walked off. as the lord, he had a duty to perform so that he could protect the smiles on the faces of young children like her. *** or, at least, that''s how it should have been. under the shroud of the night''s dark skies, davey listened to rinne and milpieu''s report. they had discovered the second group of victims. body parts from as many as ten victims had been sewn and stitched together, forming a gruesome and horrifying amalgamation. these victims were individuals who had previously been reported as missing. the second movement: sadness. davey disregarded the provocative words and remained astounded by the actions of the elusive murderer who had managed to elude all the traps he had set. however, something peculiar caught his eye. "this..." in his hand, he held a broken piece of wood, a fragment of the necklace he had given to the young girl who sold him flowers. it was evident that it had been struck by something. ¡®why is the necklace here?¡¯ the wooden sculpture had been crafted to withstand even a sword''s blow, yet here it was, shattered into fragments. davey had resolved to protect the smile of that little girl and all the other children in his territory. yet, within a single day, the despicable murderer had the audacity to kidnap the young girl. it felt as if the killer was taunting him. search "pawread dot com" for the original. "davey! davey!" rinne, who had been searching the warehouse, rushed to davey and presented something. this something turned out to be a part of the body that had been used to create the tragedy before them. "it appears similar to the one in davey''s memories. rinne identifies this as a gunshot wound." davey''s eyes chilled at those words. ¡®found you, you f*cking bastard.¡¯ CH 441 milpieu, despite her half-blood heritage, stood out as an exceptional vampire. to put it simply, her blood manipulation ability was truly remarkable. however, among them, the vampire lord was regarded as the most superior and significant existence. so, davey, his face concealed by a black mask, burst into shakuntala academy''s female dormitory, abducted the still-sleeping josiah frances, and swiftly flew back to heins territory. he found himself in a situation where he had no time to explain, unsure of when the evidence would vanish. josiah, cradled in davey''s arms during their journey to heins territory, awakened the moment they arrived and regarded him with confusion. however, after a brief explanation, her expression began to change. josiah was none other than the sole vampire lord in existence. while her knowledge of vampires might be limited, she was a pure-blooded vampire possessing powers incomparable to the previous, incomplete generation of vampire lords. after discovering josiah''s existence, milpieu had initially been shocked but soon lost interest in her. josiah had been raised as a human child and was merely an apprentice mage. however, beneath her surface, she possessed a power that could rival a gangster''s authority. after all, her power was formidable enough to reshape continents. in comparison to a marquis-ranked vampire, josiah exhibited a heightened sensitivity to the flow of blood. what davey presented to her were bloodstains - the remnants of the psychopath''s blood, and no one else''s. the item he had gifted to josiah could already be considered an artifact due to its complete infusion with simple magic. perhaps the assailant had attempted to break the necklace when he tried to abduct her, inadvertently shedding some blood in the process. it appeared almost like divine intervention, a miraculous act facilitated by an item infused with counter-attacking magic. josiah seemed repulsed by the grisly scene in the warehouse. however, it didn''t take her long to employ her power on [grim]''s bloodstains. acting on instinct as she awakened her abilities as the vampire lord, josiah imposed the vampire''s unique blood energy magic upon the blood, using it to track down grim. surprisingly, the reason davey couldn''t trace him through the blood''s scent was because grim possessed a trait ability to create his unique space within a normal one. upon hearing josiah''s explanation, davey caused the entire space to tremble until he managed to create an opening. the powers of a trait ability user were comparable to an independent superpower. however, they weren''t quite as autonomous as the abyss''s powers. as long as davey could create a gap through which he could fit, breaking through was possible. "gah!" grim staggered as he attempted to rise, his body refusing to cooperate. "damn it," grim muttered to himself as he retreated a step and retrieved something from his pocket. he then attempted to ingest it. however, josiah promptly launched an assault, brutally attacking him, leaving him no room to catch his breath. ¡°you f*cking lunatic!¡± kick! kick! despite enduring relentless kicks, grim remained conscious and displayed no signs of pain. josiah frances was evidently a highly skilled apprentice mage of class f, specializing in battle magic and mana control. how on earth had she become so ruthless? she even infused her staff with mana to augment her attack power. "where in the world did you learn such brutality?" grim finally managed to speak. "from the instructor," josiah replied. after a brief silence, davey cleared his throat and intervened. "that''s enough, josiah." "instructor! let me handle this scum..." josiah attempted to protest to davey but recoiled immediately after. seizing the opportunity, davey approached grim and seized his head. he remarked, "you seem to possess quite a few interesting items, don''t you?" ¡®why don¡¯t we share it?¡¯ "fufu¡­ fufufufufufu," grim maintained a grim smile as davey held him firmly. "impressive, you found me. but why the solemn faces? a smile suits you better." grim''s voice remained relaxed, devoid of any hint of pain. just as josiah, increasingly furious, prepared to act, grim vanished, fading from sight like a specter. swooosh! clack! then, through mysterious means, he reappeared some distance away, a large pistol aimed squarely at davey''s head. clang! grim squeezed the trigger, sending another bullet hurtling at davey with devastating force. however, davey simply waved his hand, deftly catching the bullet between his fingers. he had employed the yin yang arts, a martial style distinct from the heavenly demon arts he had learned from heavenly destroyer dokgo jun, to intercept the bullet mid-air and dissolve it into nothingness. thump¡­ grim narrowed his eyes at the spectacle, his mask briefly twitching as he watched the bullet fall from davey''s hands. "what an absurd speed, huh? this won''t be a walk in the park," grim commented, exuding not just belief but confidence in his ability to take down davey. "but not at this moment," grim murmured briefly as he aimed his gun at davey, another salvo of bullets hurtling toward him. clang! clang, clang!!! in response, davey lightly raised his foot and delivered a powerful stomp to the ground. thud!!! the earth shook and quaked under the immense force. [taiji yin yang arts] [energy defense barrier] fwoosh, fwoosh!!! the bullets pierced flesh with an eerie and gruesome sound, but the flesh they penetrated did not belong to davey. "ugh," grim groaned, taken aback by the sudden impact, curling in on himself. a bullet lodging into one''s body should cause intense pain, but grim felt none, only the force of impact. grim clicked his tongue and adjusted his mask when he realized his limited mobility. he muttered, "it''s regrettable, but i have to employ the tricks i''ve concealed." "josiah, get everyone out," davey murmured quietly, his gaze fixed on grim. josiah looked at davey with uncertainty, but the expression on davey''s face made her flinch and step back. "y... yes." the apprentice mage swiftly ushered the remaining survivors out of the space. meanwhile, grim fired another bullet. however, just as an expert catches a fly, davey snatched it from the air. then, he inquired, "you''re not from this world, are you?" grim, the infamous serial killer who had terrorized the entire continent for decades, was someone who shared the same name but was clearly a different person. "davey, what are you saying?" perserque, who had shrunk herself and now sat on his shoulders, asked. however, it was grim who responded. "ho? that''s surprising. usually, npcs would never detect that i''m an outsider." the mention of the word ''npc'' raised questions. npcs were non-playable characters, essentially the game''s artificial intelligence. with the influence of goddess freyja weakening, the protective curtain around this world had visibly weakened as well. it wouldn''t be strange for someone from another world to arrive here. yet, there was something about grim''s body that davey found peculiar, something he couldn''t dismiss as a mere transfer to this world. "you may not know what this is, but you defended against it quite effectively, didn''t you? but how about this?" grim pulled something out of his pocket, a very long gun that shouldn''t have fit in a pocket. ¡®an anti-materiel sniper rifle.¡¯ the expression in grim¡¯s eyes shifted as he completed assembling the massive gun. "activate skill: reaper possession." even his demeanor began to transform. if he had previously exhibited the mannerisms of a careless and awkward killer just moments ago, he now exuded the aura and homicidal intent of a true psychopathic murderer. "grim is an artist. now, i go by reaper. should i be known as reaper grim or grim reaper? which name do you prefer?" grim asked. "well, that''s up to you," davey replied calmly, his gaze fixed on the man, and he made no move to draw his sword. "in that case, shall we hunt the boss monster?" grim inquired. clang!!! grim initiated the first move. however, davey merely leaned back, deftly snatching all the bullets hurtling his way. his opponent had clearly been shot three times, yet his body remained fully functional. the man moved with the precision of a professional, increasing the distance between them and shooting at davey to maintain control. nevertheless, davey silently intercepted every bullet, his movements executed with measured precision as he probed deeper into grim''s defenses. a chilling laugh emanated from beneath grim¡¯s mask as he watched davey leap forward without hesitation, closing the gap between them. "smile! it would look good on you if you smiled!" clack! boom! a barrett bullet, bearing immense speed and destructive power, erupted from grim''s anti-materiel sniper rifle and hurtled toward davey''s forehead. the sheer size and weight of the rifle should have made it impossible for a person to wield with one hand and endure its recoil. however, the man before him possessed astonishing muscular strength, allowing him to wield it effortlessly. perhaps grim, witnessing davey easily dodge and snatch bullets, had engineered a situation where there would be no escape from the point-blank shot of his anti-materiel sniper rifle. the impact and devastation inflicted by a bullet fired from a pistol and one from an anti-materiel sniper rifle were undoubtedly worlds apart. had davey been an ordinary person, his head might have already exploded from the shot. nonetheless, davey received the attack without hesitation, pressing deeper into his opponent''s defenses. bang! the collision between the large, sharp bullet and davey''s forehead produced a resounding sound reminiscent of metal striking metal. ¡°what the hell?!¡± ¡®it didn''t hurt me at all. i apologize, but if my head could be so easily pierced by something with just that much power, it would have already blown off from all the strange and weird things i''ve experienced.¡¯ crack, crack!!! grim attempted to distance himself from davey''s overpowering and absurd actions. however, davey had already witnessed everything he needed to. there was no reason for him to let things slide any longer. when grim regained his senses, he found his body collapsing. davey twisted one of grim''s legs and gazed down at him. ¡°kghhk¡­ fufufufufufu¡­ that¡¯s surprising. even though i¡¯m at the master level, i still can¡¯t beat a boss monster? perhaps you¡¯re a raid-type monster?¡± grim remarked playfully despite the situation. perserque frowned upon hearing his words. ¡°what the hell are you saying¡­?¡± ¡°you seem to be mistaken,¡± davey said, showing an eerie smile as he maintained eye contact with the thoroughly overpowered man. ¡°the people you have killed are not monsters or npcs in a game.¡± grim''s pupils began to shake beneath his mask when he heard davey''s words. then, davey applied force to grim¡¯s mask and slowly broke it apart. ¡°this mask must be equipment, right? did you reinforce it?¡± to access the premium content, go to [ pawread.com ]. ¡°w-what?¡± a bewildered voice stuttered from grim''s mouth. ¡°this isn¡¯t a game, you bastard!¡± crack!!! the white mask disintegrated in davey¡¯s hands, revealing the features of an ordinary asian man. yes, an asian from modern earth, distinct from the oriental people of this world. he appeared to be in his mid-thirties. grim stared at davey, struggling to comprehend the situation. then, he clicked his tongue in annoyance. the killing intent that had oozed from his body disappeared with the wind the moment his mask fell apart, leaving behind the face of an ordinary pleasure-seeker. there was much davey needed to learn about the man before him. davey, whose eyes had turned purple, locked gazes with him. the once menacing murderer easily crumpled when he saw the purple light. ¡°it was clear you were ensnared by a simple hypnosis spell.¡± ¡°davey, what on earth are you talking about?¡± ¡°this damn insane psychopath isn''t from this world,¡± davey clarified. perserque frowned at his words. then, she gently placed her hands on the unconscious man as she invoked her abyss¡¯ authority. ¡°goodness¡­¡± perserque murmured, looking up at davey with a panicked and bewildered expression. ¡°how is it?¡± ¡°i think¡­it¡¯s better for you to see for yourself,¡± perserque replied, her hands slowly reaching out to cup davey''s cheeks before placing them on his forehead. shiiiiing!!! simultaneously, the abyss''s power dormant within davey''s body reacted and displayed the memories it had witnessed. just as davey had expected, the man did not hail from the tionis continent. those from other worlds had unique and unconventional energy pathways. however, what was truly surprising was that it wasn''t just him who had invaded this place. they had entered through a virtual reality game. "he''s from earth?" davey inquired. "there are numerous dimensions with similar levels of science and technology to earth," perserque replied. "it would be challenging to pinpoint exactly which earth he hails from. as far as i know, there''s no virtual reality technology on the earth i come from." perserque groaned at his words. grim had always been a psychopath who didn''t experience pain. since he had never felt sick or experienced pain as a child, he became curious about what the word ''pain'' meant. this curiosity led him to seek pain, hoping to understand it better. the expressions of pain that the dying exhibited were something he couldn''t replicate. these expressions brought him excitement and joy, fueling his addiction and leading him to kill more people. grim had killed several people in his own reality, but reality was different from fantasy. the risks in reality were too great, and the results weren''t satisfying. perhaps that was why he developed a desire to create and cultivate a more thrilling and vivid art, shifting his focus from reality to virtual reality games. he delved into a virtual reality rpg, a game that offered freedom of movement, enabling him to continue killing and creating his art. soon, the game company updated the game, introducing a new map. grim continued exploring the new terrain, slaying npcs as he ventured deeper into the map, until he crossed over into the tionis continent. while grim wasn''t the serial killer who had terrorized the continent in the past, his sudden appearance in this world posed complications. who had brought him here? how had he been brought here? davey''s only answer was the intervention of a transcendental and divine being. however, he had no clue as to who that might be. the abyss didn''t even cross davey''s mind as a suspect, as sleesia, the one capable of dimensional travel, had been killed by his hand. sunk deep into the quicksand of unanswered questions, davey remained silent. then, perserque, who had been floating around the unconscious man, asked, "what are you going to do with him? regardless of who he is, his methods of killing are too similar to that infamous serial killer, grim. and no matter what we do here, rumors will spread, and people will claim ownership over him." "let them argue over it. since this guy fell into my hands, i''ll ensure his downfall." perserque chuckled at davey''s words. "are you planning to kill him?" "torturing someone who can''t feel pain is futile. besides, he believes he''s not a real person here but a game character. so, he won''t be shaken." based on what they had seen in his memories, the moment the man shouted "log out," he would vanish without a trace. there was a high likelihood that his body in this world wasn''t his true body but a construct. at this point, davey finally comprehended his unique and extraordinary powers, something he had struggled to explain before. it also elucidated why he could escape all the traps he had set. even if the man died here, he wouldn''t truly perish in his own reality. and he hadn''t felt pain since childhood. that meant he had nothing to fear in this world. it was a frustrating position where he held all the advantages. "i never expected to experience this absurd sensation. this must be how the game''s npcs felt." "are you just going to leave him like this?" perserque asked. "no way. if one approach doesn''t work, i''ll find another." he couldn''t feel pain? davey would make him feel pain. this wasn''t his reality? davey would make it his reality. he wasn''t going to die either way? that''s right, davey would ensure he met his end. by the will of goddess freyja, davey would ensure this man suffered. he wouldn''t easily send him into the goddess''s embrace. "look forward to it. i will show you a hell beyond your imagination." ¡®this is the price that you have to pay for touching my family,¡¯ davey thought, a dangerous glint flashing in his eyes. CH 442 what would happen if someone skinned a person alive using a sharp blade? the little girl who sold flowers to davey in the plaza was fine. however, the girl¡¯s mother was left in a dire situation. she had been tied up and mutilated by a man she had never seen before, right in front of her daughter. she must have felt despair, fear, and pain back then. whatever they felt, the fact that it was not easy for an ordinary person to endure would remain. that''s why davey asked milpieu to erase their memories. ¡°should i erase everyone¡¯s memories?¡± ¡°yeah, erase them so they won''t suffer any trauma.¡± josiah could do it, but the girl had already used too much of her vampiric powers in one go. the more power she used, the faster her instincts would awaken. they had to be careful; any unnecessary use of her power would lead to her turning berserk and irrational. so, instead of using josiah''s abilities, they opted for milpieu to erase their memories. davey could easily manipulate their brains and the memories stored within using illusion magic. however, there were a few races that could alter and manipulate one¡¯s memories without leaving any side effects, a race just like the vampires. milpieu silently cut her hand with a knife and fed her blood to the victims before activating her powers. not long after, the terrible memories disappeared from their heads. their wounds had healed, and their memories had vanished. just like that, they returned to their normal lives. however, even though their memories had been erased, the fact that something like that had happened would not disappear. ¡°so, even this territory had a villain who deserved death! wise teacher! please give me an opportunity too! i want to avenge my fellow dwarven men whom he murdered!¡± it seemed that one of grim''s victims was a dwarf. the dwarf in front of davey huffed and gripped his hammer as if he was about to break grim¡¯s head. davey quickly intervened and spoke to the people around him. ¡°you should leave for now. i don¡¯t intend to kill this scoundrel so easily.¡± ¡°what do you mean you don¡¯t intend to kill this scoundrel? are you saying you''ll spare this damn scoundrel?!¡± ¡°if he dies, then that¡¯s it.¡± the dwarf''s eyes widened at those words. then, he nodded. ¡°i see!¡± he appeared quite agitated, especially with his trembling fists. ¡°josiah, good job.¡± ¡°n-no. well, if there''s anything i can help with, i will. but... you''re not just going to sweep this under the rug after taking advantage of me, are you?¡± josiah frances asked slyly, grinning when she saw davey¡¯s eyes twitch at her words. ¡°so, as i was saying...¡± ¡°well then, it''s time for the kids to go back.¡± ¡°wait!¡± bang!!! mana flowed out of davey¡¯s hands, which were gripping josiah¡¯s shoulders, as the scenery around them completely changed. ¡°oh, my gosh!¡± ¡°it¡¯s time for the kids to sleep. i¡¯m sorry for making you witness such a horrendous scene.¡± ¡°no, what¡­¡± josiah, perhaps feeling awkward, scratched the back of her neck and avoided davey¡¯s gaze. ¡°then, instructor!¡± josiah shouted with firm determination after pondering for a very long time. it seemed like she had finally made her choice. of course, davey used his space transfer magic and didn''t even listen to her words. ¡°blood¡­ please let me have a bit.¡± davey felt like she was asking him for a favor, but it didn''t seem to be important, so he chose to ignore it for now. the moment he returned to heins territory, he immediately lifted the red alert and ordered chief attendant bernile and amy, who were waiting for him, to prepare for the victims'' funeral. ¡°you look very busy.¡± ¡°i brought a lot of things over from that side.¡± perserque smiled, flew up, and settled down on davey¡¯s head. then, she tapped his head and smiled playfully. ¡°you''ve worked hard, davey.¡± ¡°i really have worked hard.¡± davey would normally have answered playfully. but this time it was a bit different. plans for what he needed to do piled up one after another in his head, and he felt exhausted. ¡°you''re worn out. the fact that you admit you¡¯re exhausted means that you''ve used up a significant portion of your soul''s capacity,¡± perserque said, returning to her original form and gently resting davey¡¯s head on her thighs. ¡°just for a bit. take some rest, just for a bit.¡± ¡°¡­¡± davey rested his head on her thighs without any hesitation and closed his eyes. ¡°right. there''s no rush.¡± perserque looked down at davey with a mischievous expression on her face. to access the premium content, go to [ ?aw?ead.com ]. *** ¡°we don''t have any connection with each other, do we?¡± ¡°this is strange. why can¡¯t i log out...? is this some kind of annoying and bothersome quest?¡± ¡°what use is it to you, asking me something like that?¡± grim frowned at davey¡¯s indifference from beneath his broken mask. but davey did not care about that and looked around for the pistol he was using. no matter how much he examined it, it looked very similar to the pistols from earth that he knew. ¡°desert eagle,¡± davey murmured quietly to himself as he read the inscription written on the side of the gun with squinted eyes. ¡°how about putting down that dangerous toy, hmm?¡± ¡°dangerous toy? do you think i don¡¯t know how lethal this is?¡± ¡°ha! you uncivilized people wouldn¡¯t even know how to handle that thing.¡± ¡°i can kill you with this. well, let¡¯s stop talking about nonsense and start exchanging necessary information with each other.¡± ¡°kghk¡­ kefufufufufu. do you think i¡¯ll say anything?¡± since he did not feel any pain, he did not have any fear. and since he had a heart that would never die, he also did not fear death. of course, davey also had to wonder if death would stimulate him since he was someone who thought death was a natural part of the process. well, since grim stirred, provoked, and entertained davey, it was only natural that he returned everything in kind. clack¡­ bang!!! ¡°ugh?!¡± grim''s expression changed when he saw davey load the bullet into the magazine, pull the trigger, and fire the shot seamlessly. he stared strangely at davey, who shot a bullet into his leg without any hesitation. "did you think you had already become an expert in killing people?" ¡°what are you talking about? i am only making art.¡± ¡°art. bullshit.¡± bang!!! "kghhk?!" grim¡¯s expression twisted when the bullet lodged in his arm. it seemed like he was finally starting to struggle. davey walked slowly, grinning as he loaded another bullet into the magazine. all of the bullets that grim had left in the pocket by his waist? davey would use them all. "felt unfamiliar? that¡¯s what pain is." "keuk¡­ ugh¡­ heup.¡± grim frowned at the sensation that he had never felt before. "how¡­ do you know how to handle that? furthermore¡­ this sensation¡­ this feeling¡­" "ah. of course, one wrong move, and an ordinary person would die from this. but you''re quite sturdy. you wouldn¡¯t die so easily, would you? and you must be curious about this, right?" clack¡­ bang!!! another shot pierced through grim¡¯s body. ¡°if you¡¯re curious, then keep on being curious, you m*therf*cker.¡± bang!!! another shot caused grim''s body to twitch, and he gasped as he glared at davey. "in any era, artists are never persecuted, especially when they create something valuable. my hometown''s history spans thousands of years and is a testament to this..." "you scoundrel... do you even know how a psychopathic killer like you meets his end on earth?" davey calmly said as he lightly grasped one of grim¡¯s fingers and applied pressure. "keuaaaaaaaaack!!!" simultaneously, a red energy slowly emanated from davey¡¯s hand, scorching one of grim¡¯s fingers. terrible pain surged through grim¡¯s body, and he let out a scream. however, davey turned away from him with an impassive expression. "you will meet your demise here. just so you''re aware, i''ve disabled the logout function you seem so confident in. so, don''t even entertain thoughts of escaping." "you scumbag... so, you''re not an npc. are you a player?" "did i appear as a player to you?" grim gazed at davey with a mixture of confusion and disbelief. it was understandable, as in a world devoid of games, davey''s existence raised perplexing questions. "that''s absurd. according to your own words, this place is reality. but there are no games in this world! this means that your proficiency with the gun, your knowledge of the game''s elements and systems ¡ª it''s all a deception. how dare a data anomaly like you mock and scorn the supreme among all creations?!" "who ever told you that you are the supreme being among all creations? you''re nothing more than an entity that could be considered a mutation¡­" bang!!! davey fired another shot through grim''s unusual body. grim''s body seemed to regenerate, growing back if severed, while his injuries vanished after inflicting pain. davey surmised that grim''s body operated on a concept similar to hp in standard games. if more beings like him emerged, the continent might face substantial transformations. after all, they were entities that could resurrect even after death, never aging or tiring. they resembled a blend of angels, devils, or perhaps nephalems[1]? even a berserker''s body wasn''t akin to this. "i have nothing to discuss with a savage like you who lacks any comprehension of my art." grim might have been disoriented by the pain he experienced for the first time in his life, but his intent to kill remained unwavering in his glaring eyes. and for someone who preferred silence, numerous challenges awaited him. a mana saw, dubbed conversation. a rapidly rotating mana drill, named negotiation. a whip crafted from drake bone and leather, known as peace. lastly, a miniature mana cannonball called mercy. these weapons had all been fitted onto megatron. however, they had been downsized from golem proportions to dimensions more suitable for ordinary individuals. davey hadn''t crafted them himself; it was the dwarves who, despite their initial trepidation upon seeing megatron''s equipment, had successfully modified and enhanced it. "do not equate art with ruthless and senseless murder." "in my eyes, a scoundrel remains a scoundrel. and you, you are nothing more than detestable trash in my eyes." [8th class holy magic] [high recovery] baaaaaang!!! ¡°keuaaaaaaack!!!¡± "does it hurt? i shot you so you''d feel the pain." "this is a crude action that lacks any purpose or reason!" "but isn''t that what you''ve been doing? don''t you think so too? don''t worry; you''ll be seeing a lot of me for a very, very long time. you''ve lived the way you wanted so far, right? then keep in mind that you won''t be able to do that anymore." of course, davey could dismiss the heinous and vicious weapons mentioned above. after all, a pistol was more than sufficient. *** would someone be called a psychopath if they had a similar reaction to normal and ordinary people? of course not. it has to be understood that grim was a true and genuine psychopath. the fact that he could not feel pain nor empathize with others'' feelings was the telltale sign of this. after venting his anger under the pretext of an interrogation, davey shook his hand and observed grim, who was moaning in pain but had not yet lost consciousness. in any case, davey was sure that the man in front of him had lost a significant portion of his mental resistance by now. grab! davey seized grim''s head and immediately employed dark magic. many ghosts and spirits were still lingering around, unable to pass through and instead turning into grudges that clung to the space around grim. the moment davey raised his hand, the ghosts and spirits eagerly rushed toward him and clung to him. "you''ve always been at the top, right? always in a position where you could do anything to someone without facing the consequences? you know, i don''t really care about the information that will come out of your mouth. it''s not necessary for me." davey merely wanted to demonstrate to him how it felt to be on the receiving end of the actions he had inflicted on others. "research and studies on what changes occur in a person''s brain when subjected to extreme stress and fear are considered taboo. that''s why i didn''t dare to approach that subject recklessly. however, it seems like luck is on my side, doesn''t it?" grim had no choice but to cooperate with davey on this. not long after, the person who had lived for a very long time without knowing pain and had callously taken others'' lives screamed desperately. *** there was a specific reason why davey took the time to torture and bully grim. it was because the weaker his mental state, the more vulnerable he would become to davey''s probing. "how is he?" "it''s just as you expected. no matter how i look at it, it seems like he truly is from earth." "earth... but there shouldn''t be virtual reality games on earth, right?" "well, i delved into his memories here and there," perserque said as she recounted what she had seen. from grim''s memories, it was apparent that virtual reality technology had rapidly spread on earth. like fast-growing bamboo shoots, technology had started to develop quickly, leading to various fields springing up and flourishing. among these fields was gaming. earth''s population thoroughly enjoyed virtual reality games like rpgs and fps, and grim was no exception. as a psychopath who couldn''t feel pain and lacked empathy, grim had already killed others on earth. however, the search for him had narrowed down, and he had no choice but to disappear. in the end, he hid behind the mask of art, satisfying his urge to kill inside the game. many aspects of the game felt remarkably realistic, which satisfied grim immensely. but the problem began there. no one knew who created or distributed the virtual reality game, and while grim explored it, he stumbled upon a bug. from davey''s analysis, the bug acted as the gateway for grim to enter this world. once here, he carried out his art and evaded his pursuers by alternating between this world and earth through extended logouts. something powerful enough to create dimensional shifts had also appeared. to be honest, davey wouldn''t have been too concerned if grim were the only one experiencing this irregular phenomenon. "i''m certain that''s not the case at all." "yeah, it''s too unnatural to be dismissed as a mere coincidence. there''s a high chance that this is just the beginning." someone had intervened on earth. davey was sure it wasn''t goddess freyja. however, if this entity had the power to interfere, create virtual reality games, and force dimensions to shift, then their motives likely extended beyond mere amusement. they must have a purpose. unfortunately, davey had very little information to investigate this matter. he could attempt to go to earth and investigate using his dimension key, but the truth was, it often sent him to random locations. davey and perserque both pondered this dilemma with furrowed brows. that''s when he sensed a familiar presence slowly materializing in the room. "just come in," davey murmured softly as a man in a black robe appeared, as if he had been waiting for a long time. "aina." at davey''s words, aina immediately returned to her original form, a slim dark elven figure, by touching her necklace. "how did you know i was here?" "because i can see you." "but i''ve improved a lot compared to before." "don''t get ahead of yourself." compared to hermesia, a hero from the hall known as the king of assassins, aina''s abilities were child''s play. how dare she think she could surpass davey? "right. what did you find out with annabelle?" davey had sent her to investigate rumors about vedandi and the reports of an immortal appearing in the small kingdom in the northern part of the eastern continent. aina and annabelle had been on this mission for a considerable amount of time. "let me tell you this, i think you''ll be shocked... do you want me to continue?" "shocked? well, from the way you sound, it seems like you''ve found something significant." "the people around... could you ask them to leave?" at her words, davey looked around. it appeared that aina was referring to rinne and perserque, who had been eavesdropping since her arrival. ¡®well, there¡¯s no problem then.¡¯ "continue. it doesn''t matter." aina sighed briefly and tapped her face with her palm before continuing, "first, the person they were calling the immortal was a woman named [kuina]. she appeared to be around 17 to 20 years old. i tried to dig deeper since it seemed like she was using an alias, but i had no way of finding out her real name." "anything else?" "there are also many questions regarding the immortal''s healing abilities. i''ve looked at different angles with annabelle, but from what i could tell, the recovery ability she uses is quite different from holy magic." ¡®recovery magic and not divine magic?¡¯ "and... to be honest, i don''t quite understand what it''s about, but i think i should tell you this first..." "what is it?" "she often says strange things like ''i don''t like this class'' or ''it''s too hard to level up.''" davey didn''t know what impact these statements might have if they continued to appear. that''s why he wanted to prepare to get a head start. but as soon as he captured grim, someone else appeared? the atmosphere around davey started to turn cold. "it sounded like nonsense, but i couldn''t just ignore it." aina didn''t know about grim, but when she heard those words, she couldn''t let them go. in other words... "i''ve seen phrases like those used all over the continent in the guild''s records..." ''oh my god, goddess freyja.'' davey''s forehead throbbed faintly. it seemed like signs of something troublesome were appearing once again. 1. nephalem, a race in diablo, offspring of an angel and a demon. ? CH 443 a week passed by in a flash. in addition to the person named kuina, who was being hailed as an immortal and whom aina had discovered, davey also asked to investigate other individuals. however, this time, he didn''t commission aina alone but utilized the power of the entire echo guild. since echo guild wanted to collaborate with him and establish a bridge connecting them, they readily accepted davey''s request. of course, davey had no intention of harming these individuals once he found them. to be honest, he was primarily interested in understanding the principles and workings of their abilities. however, his interest went no further than that¡ªneither more nor less. davey still had limited knowledge about this unfamiliar world. goddess freyja was the great will that had existed since the beginning of time, but davey knew only a fraction of her. "how can you say that so confidently?" perserque asked, her hands gripping the reins of the carriages they were using for transportation around the academy. she seemed to be enjoying herself, and her driving skills had significantly improved since their first ride. davey gazed at the tranquil scenery of the academy from the fast-moving carriage. he gently patted rinne, who clung to his neck, on her head and asked, "rinne, are all the weapons you can manifest based on my memories?" "rinne denies this explanation. rinne has judged that it was part of the knowledge installed in rinne''s brain circuits from the very beginning." rinne''s weapons were primarily created and manifested by gathering particles of light. using rebar and referring to it as the savior of mankind during battles was just rinne''s personal preference. as for the high-temperature gun and the unique type of lightsaber she wielded in addition to the rebar, these were weapons not found in davey''s memories. there was no other explanation except that they had been part of her programming from the very start. if that were the case, it would indicate her origin. "but the ancient civilization from 10,000 years ago created similar things several times..." "no relic related to rinne''s weapons has been excavated so far. even the abyss monsters did not possess detailed information about rinne." perserque appeared surprised upon hearing davey''s words. davey continued with his speculations as they headed toward the academy''s enormous central auditorium. "the abyss itself did not have extensive knowledge of rinne''s existence. moreover, they were not well-acquainted with the weapons rinne wields. i''m merely offering a conjecture; i don''t possess concrete proof." the issue here was that the ruins where hercules'' clone had fought abyss creatures for 10,000 years were similar in structure to the ruins controlling the entire heins territory or the ruins where rinne''s body and the god of machinery (deus ex machina) were discovered. such a uniform design suggested a nearly impossible time gap between their constructions. so, how did this happen? "who knows? that''s the part i''m still skeptical about. but if we think about it further..." "davey, we have arrived at the central auditorium." rinne stretched out her finger and pointed at the auditorium. davey slowly stood up and placed rinne on the ground. the central auditorium was buzzing with activity as many people had already gathered inside. "there''s only one possibility i can think of right now. the race or technology that created rinne 10,000 years ago was extremely secretive." it was a hypothesis with almost no chance of being true. moreover... "it could have been a civilization that existed for a very brief time." if this were the case, it meant that the civilization that created rinne had quickly fallen, and another civilization, the one responsible for hercules'' clone, had risen and fallen just as swiftly. this was also an unlikely possibility. that was because it was not the effect caused by the simple flow of cause and effect. it meant that the entire civilization had completely evaporated and god¡¯s will had created an entire new life form. *** "you don''t seem happy," davey remarked. perserque''s eyes widened in shock upon hearing davey''s words. "your expression hasn''t been good since we discussed that topic earlier." "ah, it''s nothing, davey." she seemed to be concealing something, but davey didn''t pry any further. perserque was no longer under his leadership; she was now a respected adversary. he couldn''t force her to reveal her concerns. upon entering the auditorium, countless eyes fixated on davey. most of them were in their early teens, some even younger. by earth''s standards, they were children at elementary or middle school age. these children had all lost their parents in various wars, making them bereaved families. they were completely adrift, uncertain about their future and survival. it was far from amusing to consider their gathering as a mere attempt to overlook the needs of these war victims. although the tionis continent was known for its relative freedom and disregard for common norms, this area was inevitably neglectful. the only thing left for these victims was their honor; there was no real compensation. hence, davey felt compelled to embrace them. the reason behind his choice lay with one little girl, the very reason he decided to take them in. when davey glanced to one side, he spotted myuu in her academy uniform. the girl excitedly jumped and waved at davey upon seeing him. ¡®you said that you wanted to go to school, right? well then, i¡¯d rather make one than leave you in the hands of someone else.¡¯ *** compensations were provided to the bereaved families of war veterans. for those in this category, it was a matter of concern. young children, still unfamiliar with how the world worked, believed that the nation and the government were simply helping them. however, for those who had already learned the harsh realities of life, it was a different story. even though these children may have been ignorant and lacked education, they were not slow-witted. to them, nobles were distant figures perched at the top of society, individuals who could capriciously take their lives without reason. for those who could fend for themselves and act as adults, it wasn''t a significant issue. however, for young children who had only lived with a single parent, carrying the label of a bereaved family made their lives much more challenging. they now had to worry about whether they would have enough to eat tomorrow. but something had changed. someone had promised to solve these problems for them. roseid, a boy in his early to mid-teens, was the son of a commoner. his father had died while serving as a soldier in the pallan empire. his father had been an exceptional hunter who volunteered as a soldier to protect his kingdom and home during the war. however, roseid''s father never returned. the last time roseid saw him, they had a small argument in the morning. roseid felt bitterness. the only things his father had left behind were a sharp dagger and a well-maintained, albeit somewhat aged, bow. while roseid aspired to follow in his father''s footsteps and become a hunter, the path was still far beyond his reach. his inability to work made it difficult for him to procure food for survival. although he could rely on his neighbors for a time, roseid knew that when they reached their limits, he would be forced to take risks to survive¡ªeither by hunting on his own or begging on the streets. despite considering this unfair, roseid felt he had no other option. he eventually ventured into the forest to hunt for food, tracing a path he had taken with his father when he was younger. although he was still young, he had learned many things from his father. however, he ventured into the forest on market day, and unfortunately, encountered a wild monster that seriously injured him. left with a battered body that could no longer hunt, roseid found himself in despair. lacking the resources to eat properly, roseid''s health deteriorated, and his body wasted away. those around him had reached their limits and were unable to provide further assistance. they were already struggling to make ends meet, so helping others became an impossible task. roseid gradually reached his breaking point. just as he could no longer bear it and contemplated ending his life, he heard that a noble from another nation was looking for him. this noble promised to heal his body, provide him with an education, shelter, and clothing. at first, roseid couldn''t believe it. after all, weren''t all nobles the same? he remembered the tyranny of the noble from his previous territory, who had conscripted people overnight to gain favor with his attractive mother. however, roseid had no means to refuse this offer, so he ultimately agreed. then, he arrived in heins territory. it was entirely different from any place he had lived before. living there felt like a dream. as roseid rode in a luxurious carriage, a mode of transportation he had never experienced before, he couldn''t help but wonder how they would use him. however, his thoughts were interrupted when they entered a massive building. why? because there were many children in situations similar to his own. perhaps they were genuinely trying to compensate him for his father''s service? this thought suddenly crossed his mind. as roseid followed the woman guiding him through the academy, he witnessed an eerie scene. although people were present, what greeted him and the other children were translucent figures dressed strangely. these were actually the spirits of the deceased from a lost civilization that had been cursed 5,000 years ago. however, their curse had already been lifted, initially only in the parallel world. surprisingly, a week later, the ghosts on this side were also liberated from their curse. [what? ghost? brat, do you want to die? tch!] the male ghost roared angrily, floating quickly until he was in front of roseid and fixing him with a sharp glare. [hey.] ¡°y-yes, sir!¡± [do you think i¡¯m a ghost?] ¡°not at all, sir!¡± roseid thought that he should deny it first, since the male ghost obviously got angry when being called a ghost. however, ghosts were not your ordinary beings. [i¡¯m obviously a ghost, but you¡¯re saying that i don¡¯t look like a ghost. what the hell, are you an idiot?] grit¡­ roseid gritted his teeth when he heard the man¡¯s very blunt words. ¡®what the hell is he saying? is he a crazy ghost?¡¯ no, why was a ghost wandering around this place in the first place? but the surprise didn''t end there. roseid was assigned to a dormitory and provided with various supplies. when he ventured outside to explore the academy, he saw numerous ghosts. adding to the ghosts, there were also various beings from different races, including beastfolk, dwarves, elves, and others, within this academy that appeared to be meant for noble children. of course, the ghosts were not students of the academy. [kyaaaack!!! this is the ladies¡¯ restroom! get out of here!!!] ¡®d-damn it! there¡¯s a ghost blocking the restrooms!¡¯ the moment he entered the restroom, a ghost appeared and went hysterical, kicking him out in the process. roseid just couldn''t understand what the hell this place was. ¡°that¡¯s the ladies¡¯ restroom.¡± ¡°ladies¡¯ restroom? are the restrooms for men and women separate?¡± roseid asked incredulously. whether in public or private settings, restrooms for commoners were not separated by gender. from what roseid had heard, there weren''t even proper toilets and restrooms in many territories around twenty to thirty years ago. one of the boys explained to him, ¡°i don¡¯t know either. anyway, that pattern is for the ladies¡¯ restroom, and this is for the men¡¯s restroom.¡± then, the boy said they should go inside. so, he pulled roseid with him, and... [hmm. these are amazing muscles. yes. this is truly satisfying. hmm? what¡¯s going on here?] ¡°ah¡­¡± [you probably came in here because you have something to do, no? then, i won¡¯t bother you.] roseid¡¯s jaw dropped open when he saw a muscular ghost scatter with the wind. but he wasn¡¯t the only one that was surprised. after the academy¡¯s internal tour, the children were herded into a strange carriage and were sent to the central auditorium. one of the humans that sat in the front row manipulated something with his hand, and the carriage began to move on its own. it was quite bizarre too. not long after, roseid arrived in a beautiful and magnificent hall, a hall that he would never be able to see as a commoner, and saw countless students standing side by side. he could not help but gulp when he saw some people standing in front of the podium. ¡°fufufufu¡­ welcome¡­ welcome¡­¡± a man smiled grimly while holding a potato in his hand. the man was obviously a strapping and handsome young man but strangely enough, roseid¡¯s instincts were saying that he was dangerous. ¡°i can¡¯t be the only one that suffered. i¡¯ll make sure to knock all of the education that i received into you.¡± if roseid did not hear those murmurs then he might have felt at ease. but that wasn¡¯t all. there was also a woman among the priests. that woman was called the symbol of benevolence and mercy, the goddess¡¯ daughter. these people were all beautiful. however, roseid noticed the hidden feelings contained in their benevolent smiles. and that made cold sweat drip down his back. ¡°no matter who it is, we will catch them and turn them into a priest with monstrous abilities.¡± ¡°aaaah¡­ aaaah! my power is overflowing!¡± they somehow sounded like they were very determined to teach. it was strange. for a moment, roseid wondered whether this place was truly a place where nobles attended. however, he could not make any conclusion. in the first place, roseid and the other children here had no way of knowing that the people standing on the podium were all bigshots that would never be seen in any other academies. not long after, amidst the silence that enveloped everyone, the hero of the continent, the person that was called the saint and the one that started all of this, appeared. his age was not that much different from roseid. however, the aura and momentum in those eyes was completely different from all of the other nobles that roseid had seen. roseid felt something deeper than the skills and dignity that he had seen from his father but in a way there was a playfulness in his eyes. everyone¡¯s eyes grew wide in shock when they saw a silver-haired girl walking beside the hero of the continent. no matter how poor he was when he grew up, it did not mean that he did not have eyes. the girl that was walking side by side with the boy was just too beautiful. the girl showed a troubled smile. perhaps it was because she felt troubled by the burdensome stares that were directed at her body. usually, they would get their necks chopped off if they dared to look at someone like that. however, they could not take their eyes off of her. it was as if they were possessed by her beauty. when the black-haired boy reached the center of the podium, where the knights, the priests, and the mages stood, the silence that enveloped the children finally broke apart. it can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread.com". ¡°welcome everyone. i¡¯m sure all of you here are very surprised, no? you¡¯re probably asking why this situation is happening?¡± the buzz disappeared at the boy¡¯s words. ¡°you can¡¯t think of it as a mere reward. it doesn¡¯t matter who did it, no? thank you, everyone. thanks to the strength that your parents have lent us, the continent has overcome the crisis, and we were able to maintain the peace.¡± they thought that it was nothing but a mere lip service. well, that was what the quick-witted older children had thought. as for the younger ones? they were just mesmerized by the appearance of their pretty and handsome older brothers and older sisters. however, most of the children thought that no matter what the boy said he would only talk about dignity and honor. but then, they fell silent at the boy¡¯s following words. ¡°i might not be able to replace your parents¡¯ existence but in the name of this continent¡¯s saint, i promise you¡­ i will never forget your parents¡¯ contributions. they are the great and mighty heroes that saved this continent. since your parents could no longer hear me, i will tell you this instead. thank you. thanks to you, many people survived and lived.¡± the straightforward words felt foreign to the children. that was when they heard someone sniffle loudly somewhere. there were some children that thought that it would be alright even after hearing that their fathers had passed away. if this place was such a difficult place to live in then they¡¯d rather have their parents die here and be born in a better place. they thought that it was fine. at the very least they were able to quickly escape the hard life of a commoner. so¡­ why? ¡°sob¡­ sob, sob, sob¡­¡± ¡°sob, sob, sob¡­¡± so, why were they crying? CH 444 "i will never forget the contributions your parents made. even if everyone forgets, i will ensure that i remember. once again, i welcome you all. in this place, you will learn how to lead a better life in the future.¡± if they did not know how to write, they would be taught. if they lacked knowledge of swordsmanship, they would be instructed on the ways of the sword. as for magic, they would be guided toward the truths. ¡°if we put our trust in you, lord,¡± one of the astute children cautiously inquired. ¡°what awaits us?¡± ¡°a future.¡± ¡°stop lying! i''m sure there''s no need for such grandiosity!¡± ¡°just trust in me.¡± not many children grasped the full weight of davey''s imposing words, but they could all sense his sincerity. the entire auditorium became a sea of tears. the quick-witted older children wept as they looked around, as if remembering that their parents had already passed. even the younger ones joined in upon seeing most people around them crying. ¡°wow... what am i witnessing?¡± ¡°my goodness... so, he built this grand academy for these children?¡± the students of shakuntala academy''s class f stepped back, their jaws nearly touching the ground. ¡°i always thought he was a completely crazy psychopath¡­¡± ¡°he''s the kind of person who backs up his words with actions.¡± ¡°that''s probably why he holds the title of ''saint.'' his ability to follow through is extraordinary.¡± they realized that even if davey lacked the funds or power to execute his plans, he would find a way to make them happen. that was the kind of person davey, the eccentric instructor who had taught them for a short while, was. timmy lendarouge, one of class f''s students observing davey from a distance, glanced at his classmates when he heard their surprised murmurs. he saw alyssa yosefov shedding tears, evidently influenced by the sobbing children. loisa foren and serend reta''s eyes had reddened as well. even the gruff and brusque celvice avoided timmy''s gaze and cleared his throat. however, timmy could see his pupils trembling. ¡°our instructor may usually come off as a crazy psychopath, but¡­¡± ¡°he''s a man deserving of respect. despite being only slightly older than us, we have much to learn from him.¡± none of the students of shakuntala academy had ever thought or planned as deeply as davey. although they sympathized with these children, they lacked the courage to take action on their own. their instructor, who was their age, was different. perhaps that was the distinction between them and him. many things had changed for the students of class f since they first met davey. in a short time, class f had become a formidable group that even class a students feared. if that was the case for them, what about josiah frances, the highest-ranking student in class f? "slurp..." timmy, hearing a peculiar sound, turned to its source, his eyes widening. josiah was gazing at instructor davey as if he were a delectable meal. read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the "pawread dot com" "i think he''d taste good if i could sink my teeth into his neck..." clearly, she was a girl who had previously shown little interest in anything or shared her troubles with others. but much had changed in this short span. did she, by any chance, harbor inexplicable feelings for instructor davey? timmy couldn''t help but shake his head. it appeared that the walls josiah had constructed around herself were far more intricate than he had imagined." *** the academy opening was a success. as for the students, they all completed their entrance ceremony successfully, marveling at their new, mysterious, and beautiful surroundings. interestingly, there were more children from other nations than from the rowane kingdom. since they had attracted people from outside of their own accord, they were now facing criticism. "these are the complaints sent by each nation. some nations didn''t participate, but this thoughtless behavior cannot be seen as a good thing either." archbishop alice, who had taken on the role of vice dean, handed several documents to davey. "ah, wait... i only came here to teach. i didn''t intend to interfere in the prince''s politics." "there''s no avoiding it; we''re just getting started. just ignore their complaints. it''s quite ironic, isn''t it? these mean-spirited individuals normally wouldn''t care if they lived or died. it''s only at times like this that they take their time to criticize others." "well, i don''t have the right to get involved in this matter." as archbishop alice said, they were just part of the faculty. getting involved in politics would only cause trouble. "uncle!" davey immediately wiped the troubled expression from his face when he saw a half-elven little girl running toward him. he opened his arms wide to welcome her. "my goodness, myuu, you grow bigger every time we see each other, don''t you?" "it''s because myuu is uncle''s friend! myuu will definitely grow as big as my uncle!" davey ruffled myuu''s hair affectionately when he saw her ears perk up. "is your room okay?" "yes! it''s very clean and cozy!" elves typically preferred things that were in harmony with nature or closely related to it. however, perhaps because myuu was a half-elf, it didn''t bother her much. well, for a child who preferred meat to vegetables, what did something like that matter? "good. make sure to make lots of friends." ¡°hngh¡­ myuu only needs uncle.¡± ¡°nope. you have to make a lot of friends. also, myuu, make sure to learn all of the things that you want to learn, okay?¡± ¡°yep!¡± myuu pondered briefly before flashing a bright smile. then, she turned to look around. following her line of sight, davey saw some of the girls with their heads sticking out and looking at myuu. it seemed like the half-elf had already made some friends. ¡°well then, go now.¡± ¡°yes!¡± davey watched myuu run to her friends before turning away and tearing the documents in his hands. these were audacious individuals who had the nerve to send letters and demand compensation from him for taking the children under his care. ¡®i''ve made sure to remember all the names of your nations.¡¯ *** whoever fired the first shot would be the first to experience hell. this was precisely what happened to the countries attempting to exploit the situation and advance their own interests through political maneuvering. as for the nations that chose to remain silent, refraining from expressing any stance, they remained outside of davey''s purview, along with the few nations that supported his cause. in a scenario like this, it wouldn''t have been unusual for them to protest immediately. however, they had chosen the wrong target. davey hadn''t even touched them; all he had done was use the territory''s funds to pay the ransom demanded for the children. davey''s behavior had left them utterly surprised. nevertheless, they had no choice but to remain silent when they heard what davey declared next. [from this point on, heins academy will be entirely independent of your nation. we will not send heins academy graduates to your country.] if the children grew up surprisingly well, they wouldn''t reap any benefits. to put it simply, only other nations would benefit from heins academy, and the competition for its graduates would decrease. some declared, ¡®don¡¯t say nonsense.¡¯ while some said, ¡®do you think those lowly commoners would have any value when they grew up, huh?¡¯ however, those were things that could only be solved with time. that was all that davey intended to do. however, there were some who reacted strongly upon seeing davey standing still. what happened next was that the three empires supporting the mission of heins academy stepped forward. they demanded to know how these nations dared to claim the rights to these children when they were the ones who had neglected the families of the deceased veterans, those who had sacrificed their lives for the safety of the continent. furthermore, they declared that they would ensure these nations faced consequences in the future. what kind of consequences? "even if an emergency were to occur and they sought assistance from other nations, their requests would be denied." "they''re foolish. people who fail to consider the broader context tend to become like that." since they had initially embarked on this journey with noble intentions, their side overwhelmingly won the argument. however, they inadvertently killed the goose that laid the golden egg. since then, many changes had occurred. josiah frances, the vampire lord, notorious troublemaker, class skipper, and top student of shakuntala academy''s class f, had caused quite a stir. she achieved early graduation. josiah frances, a genius who had amassed considerable power and prestige, suddenly challenged the faculty exams in pursuit of her goals. to everyone''s astonishment, she not only passed but did so with flying colors, earning herself an early diploma. for shakuntala academy, this development was both a source of pride and embarrassment. few students had ever graduated early from the academy. in fact, the faculty exams they had administered were filled with questions and problems that were still far too advanced for students with limited experience and knowledge. since josiah had aced the challenging math and mana control tests, which even faculty members found daunting, they couldn''t justify making her go through middle and high school levels anymore. josiah frances, now qualified to join shakuntala academy''s faculty, chose to forgo the conventional path laid out for her and went straight to davey after visiting the mage tower. "please give me a job," she proudly requested. "i''m highly confident that i can teach children now, considering i passed the exam." davey grinned at her request. despite being close in age, he still viewed her as his student, given the short time they had spent together. under davey''s guidance, josiah''s potential had grown exponentially. while some of her progress could be attributed to her exceptional lineage as the vampire lord, it was also the result of her hard work. observing her confident demeanor, davey asked, "you want a job here? it won''t be easy, you know?" "i don''t mind," she replied confidently. davey smiled warmly and teased, "stop causing a commotion, josiah frances. your interest lies not in the students but in my blood." "oh my, you got me," she replied, revealing her sharp fangs. "you didn''t reward me earlier, did you? well, then, give it to me now. let me take a sip." "no." she frowned, a furious expression crossing her face at davey''s straightforward response. "no. why?" "why? are you going to spread rumors that you''re a vampire just because you''re experiencing withdrawal symptoms?" "ugh..." "see? it''s like this. besides, you''re not yet good enough to join the faculty here." in essence, she didn''t meet the standards. josiah glared at davey, a resentful look in her eyes. "other places are willing to extend an olive branch to me! why can''t i join this place?" "all the humans here are much stronger than you, and they''ve all received lessons from me." josiah paled at davey''s words. "that... that..." "i''ll let you join if you really want to. however, you''ll need to take special lessons from me for a month or two." ¡®don¡¯t worry, i¡¯m not such a scary person. at the very least, it would be more lenient than how i was taught.¡¯ "i''m already content being a part of the faculty!" it seemed like josiah didn''t want to experience hell once again, given her anxious withdrawal. "i feel ashamed whenever the instructor hits me! it''s the first time i''ve felt disgusted with myself! why do i even feel good even after being hit?" "then our conversation is over. what about the others?" "everyone already had a goal in mind. as for me, well, i don''t really care about goals. but everyone seemed sad when they heard that i would be joining the instructor." "i''ll have to set aside a day to speak with them, then." it was quite amusing to see josiah smirk at his words. "so, what should i do?" "if you head east of the academy, you''ll find the magic department. go there and report." josiah wouldn''t have to worry about her salary. davey assured her that she would receive various benefits and even a bonus. after sending josiah away, davey turned his attention to the remaining issues he needed to address. "please let us enter the academy!" "that''s right! why can commoners enter and not us?" "are you telling us that those lowly commoners can come before us?" davey realized he needed to deal with these clueless and naive individuals sooner rather than later. CH 445 this presented the ideal opportunity to tarnish heins academy''s reputation by accusing the institution of engaging in reverse discrimination against nobles, and indeed, that was the situation at hand. naturally, many noble families enrolled their offspring here with the intention of forging connections with davey, the academy''s dean, and the distinguished faculty, which included saintess candidate archbishop alice, the young sword master sir olman from the pallan empire, and several other influential figures from various realms. however, a firm decision had been made right from the outset. during the academy''s early admissions process, nobles were not accepted. davey fully understood that this choice would incite substantial backlash. davey had already engaged in numerous discussions with others on this matter, but the problem lay with those who had come to meet him, as they were making quite a fuss. "please inform us! regardless of your fame as the continent''s saint, this treatment is undeniably unfair!" "that''s correct! this constitutes reverse discrimination against nobles!" we are "pawread dot com", find us on google. davey nodded in agreement with their protests. "you can certainly label this as reverse discrimination." davey conducted himself with respect. "very well. yes, i''ll concede that point. however, you see?" davey held up a document before them and maintained a composed smile as he said, "there would be no issue if you were to endorse this." the document davey held was their protocol. nonetheless, for nobles accustomed to elitism, there were several contentious clauses. first, they would be prohibited from using their status, whether deliberately or unintentionally, while within the academy, and any violation of this rule would result in expulsion. just this aspect alone presented a considerable challenge for those who took pride in their lineage and standing. it would not be surprising if mutiny were to arise. however, the most crucial point was this: whether they were nobles or commoners, all students were to be treated equally. if they refused to attend classes alongside commoners and treat them as equals, then leaving the academy would be their only alternative. some appeared to be swayed by the protocols, while others displayed evident dissatisfaction. "this is unacceptable! we are nobles! among us are even members of royalty! yet you expect us to interact on equal terms with those commoners¡ªthose individuals who lack any noble lineage or parentage¡­" boom!!! the boy, who had taken it upon himself to represent others, found himself suspended in mid-air before he could complete his sentence. "keheok?!" he exclaimed, attempting to rise, his face marked with a frown. however, davey''s foot firmly held him down as he uttered, "hey." with just one word, davey''s voice lost its warmth, prompting the boy to gaze at him in surprise. "who do you think is responsible for your comfortable existence here, huh?" davey inquired. "that... that..." "who do you think emerged victorious in the war and safeguarded your lives, even at the risk of their own?" davey persisted. the boy clenched his teeth in response to davey''s words. even if they were aware of this fact, they would likely deny it. some might not express their sentiments as openly as the boy, but undoubtedly, there were others who shared his feelings. "alright, let''s shift the narrative, shall we? are you a noble?" "t-that''s correct!" "that''s rather informal." stomp!!! "kghkk!" "state your rank." "count solom''s... godos..." "i asked you clearly. state your rank." the boy''s eyes widened as he comprehended davey''s intent. "you are nothing more than the son of a noble, lacking rank or title. yet you approach me in this manner, pretending to be pretentious?" davey remarked. the more discerning individuals had already begun to step back, while those who remained unaware of the situation continued to snarl and growl at davey, accusing him of reverse discrimination. reverse discrimination... that perspective had its merits. however, the academy was not yet prepared to admit members of the nobility. at the very least, they needed to foster a sense of cohesion, acclimate everyone, and cultivate a stable atmosphere within the academy before considering such a change. "all of you should return. it hasn''t even been half a year since the academy''s completion. i''ve already corresponded with your families to address any questions they might have. it will take at least half a semester to establish the admission standards for nobles. these are my conditions." davey expected them to comprehend his intentions, and indeed, the quick-witted ones nodded in understanding when they met davey''s gaze. "if that is your sincere intent, we will willingly comply. we''ll see you again in half a semester." however, the less perceptive individuals continued to shout and curse at him. "this... this is reverse discrimination!" "reverse discrimination?" frowns creased their faces upon seeing the smile on davey''s lips. then, he firmly emphasized his point. of course, davey would never falter in his commitment to laying the foundation for the commoner children who had finally grasped this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. to davey, these individuals weren''t even worthy of consideration. "if you''re dissatisfied, then aspire to become the dean, you wretched scoundrel! i''m the one in charge here, not you!" as for his reputation as a prince, davey paid it no heed. *** if davey were in a position to receive substantial funding, he would need to tread cautiously. however, he was not receiving any funding; he had been covering all the expenses himself. this was why he considered these individuals unworthy of his attention. admittedly, he had consumed a significant portion of their finances, but everything had been resolved when aeonitia introduced her second invention. in davey''s eyes, she was the epitome of an outstanding worker. after all, aeonitia consistently devised new inventions whenever she had the time. of course, she was the one putting in the effort, while davey was the one reaping the financial rewards. "what a stern older brother you are. you''re particularly hard on that child, aeonitia." "every person has their unique path to growth. the more challenges aeonitia faces, the faster she will develop." more importantly, she would only learn to voice her grievances independently if she could express her complaints on her own. and the anger that would follow? well, as her older brother, davey could make that sacrifice for her. of course, even after unveiling her new invention, aeonitia''s moniker as the watch princess remained unchanged. with those issues resolved, the classes proceeded without a hitch. the academy offered a wide range of subjects, including etiquette, reading and writing, and various essential life skills. they also fearlessly included basic mathematics and general societal knowledge in the curriculum. although they might currently be mere commoner children, davey was confident that they would grow up to become influential figures in their respective nations. were there children who seemed to lack talent and potential? davey dismissed such notions. he believed he could turn any underachieving child into a prodigy, but doing so personally would be far too time-consuming. the academy''s issues had been addressed, and even the problem concerning the senior soldiers of prugrepf was gradually being resolved. the only remaining issue was... meeting with aeria, who had finally awakened. "your, your highness! it''s... it''s imperial princess aeria!" davey frowned upon hearing the cries of the beastfolk maid rushing toward him. "what''s the matter?" "she... she''s returning with the people of the lyndis empire..." "what?" *** "your imperial highness... are you truly feeling better now?" "yes, i''m feeling better." grand duchess kathryn, hearing the girl''s much brighter reply, muttered to herself, "this is strange... what on earth happened...?" aeria had remained unchanged since the very beginning. she couldn''t even conceal her affection for the boy she liked, like a cute, pure, and innocent child. davey had been monitoring aeria''s condition whenever he had the time in the past week. he said that she was simply mentally exhausted. nevertheless, kathryn still felt worried. fortunately, her concerns were alleviated when she saw that aeria was fine upon waking up. however, that was it. aeria had told her that they should return home. considering her personality, she should have wanted to stay here longer. that''s why kathryn was wondering what the problem was. "that... imperial princess aeria el lyndis." "oh my! i must have forgotten. here, please take this," aeria said, smiling purely as she placed a small purse in the hands of the beastfolk maid. "it''s a simple treat that i hope the prince will like. it''s sweet, so it will definitely taste good." "ah... i''ll make sure to tell him!" then, aeria turned around. "he''s busy. if we stay here and insist on seeing him, we''ll just be a nuisance." "why? why are you just giving in like this?" kathryn asked in frustration. however, aeria simply shook her head. "that''s not it. that''s not it, kathryn." aeria flashed a bright and pure smile, rendering kathryn speechless. "i already know how much he cares about me through this incident. also, i have already received something precious." "something... precious?" "yes, it''s a secret." aeria smiled and slowly and carefully stroked her belly. "well then, shall we go?" aeria''s ears twitched as she moved to cover her body with her elegant and classic robe without any hesitation or regret. "urk..." but then... although she tried to contain it, she ended up vomiting helplessly. "are, are you alright, your highness?!" kathryn, who had almost lost aeria once, immediately rushed to her in a panic. however, aeria raised her hands and stopped her. "i''m fine. i just feel a bit sick." aeria''s eyes crinkled with delight, and the smile on her face grew brighter and wider. "what in the...world happened to you?" "i''ve seen a lot of things, kathryn. i wanted him to return my love, but in the end, i was left with unrequited love." however, that was enough for aeria. even though there was some distance between them, it was sufficient for her to gain a glimpse into that person''s thoughts and feelings. she felt content with what she had. then, she said, "now, all i need to do is wait. i''ll wait for the day when the prince finds me again." "are you... truly okay with that?" kathryn inquired. "i''m already receiving plenty of love. is there any reason for me not to be okay with it?" aeria responded, a serene smile on her face. kathryn could only offer a helpless smile in response. "if that''s how your highness feels..." as they prepared to leave the territory, aeria spotted the black-haired boy. it appeared he had come out upon hearing the news of their departure. aeria''s heart longed to run to him and embrace him, but she restrained her emotions and closed her eyes. "you''re leaving already? i haven''t even had a chance to check if your condition has improved." "it''s fine. i''m already much better," aeria replied, her cheeks flushing with shyness. "i''m truly grateful to you, prince, for everything you''ve done for me and for the precious memories we''ve created." "you''re welcome to visit us anytime." "thank you." aeria beamed at davey, then boldly approached the boy, gently placing her hand on his cheek. she couldn''t help but smile as she noticed davey''s flustered expression. "i''ll be eagerly awaiting the day you come to find me again," aeria said softly as she stood on her tiptoes. "i''ll always cherish the warm and comforting scent of cornelian cherries. until we meet again." ¡®i love you, prince.¡¯ with those words echoing in her mind, she carried out a very brief and fleeting action. aeria, standing on her tiptoes, planted a kiss on davey''s lips. "consider this a form of protest on my part," aeria said with a curtsy before turning around happily, observing davey touching his lips in a daze. "that''s odd. she seems more cheerful than usual," davey muttered, audible to aeria as she moved away. however, she remained silent, simply boarding the carriage and departing from the territory. *** ironically, it was davey who felt a tinge of disappointment as aeria departed without hesitation. perserque had retorted, questioning the oddity of davey''s words, yet he couldn''t quite explain this peculiar sensation. more significantly, he found it somewhat embarrassing that the girl had boldly kissed him. "just as the saying goes, ''a fair face may hide a foul heart.''" "that''s an old saying from earth." "anyway... congratulations, davey. you finally had that heart-pounding first kiss between a man and a woman, didn''t you?" "shut up, perserque. don''t talk as if it''s none of your business." "anyway, you shouldn''t be so obstinate and should consider having a wedding. it doesn''t matter to me whether i''m the first or the second wife." "oh? you''re not saying no anymore?" davey asked perserque with curiosity. perserque''s smile faded at the question. "my head hurts too." however, davey wasn''t even ready to marry perserque yet, so he didn''t find it amusing to hear her suggest that he might marry someone else. he still needed to prepare for the impending battle against the princesses of the abyss through metamorphosis. so, davey, accompanied by rinne and perserque, traversed through space and entered a very familiar forest. the hyeon empire, a nation renowned for its archery and situated on the western side of the continent, had previously entered into an agreement with davey. part of the forest they used for their tests and trials had become davey''s territory in exchange for his protection of their guardian deity and nation. this land proved to be the ideal location for davey to undergo metamorphosis. ¡ªkihyeeeeeeeeck! the moment davey set foot in the forest, a massive firebird, engulfed in flames, descended from the sky. "goodness, fire chicken," davey remarked, grinning at the quick-witted bird. without delay, the bird extinguished the flames on its body as it landed in front of davey, nuzzling into his hands. the vermillion bird fire chicken was notorious for its temper in this area. no one could effectively manage or control fire chicken''s anger management issues, not even the monstrous rock giant or reina, who had been assigned to care for the two divine beasts. however, as soon as davey appeared, fire chicken immediately reined in its anger management issues and became docile. it was likely because the bird had been defeated by davey before. "what about the others?" ¡ªkihyeeeeeeeeck! davey looked up when he heard fire chicken shout and saw the bird flap its wings toward the sky. since reina and rumble were nowhere in sight, it appeared that the two were still occupied with dealing with the remnants of vampires. "well, good work," davey said calmly as he ventured deeper into the forest, where the monstrous rock giant resided. the forest was a mysterious land where the power of the spirits had lingered for a very long time. due to this, it could naturally enhance one''s healing abilities as well as the efficiency of various forces. [human, you¡¯re here.] ¡°how are you holding up?¡± [i have gotten a lot better. for the time being, i believe i will be able to maintain my reason and sanity by myself.] "i''m going to use this land." davey needed to undergo metamorphosis, and the problem was that he had only one chance. if he failed, he would lose his way to temporarily save megalodria, who was sleeping in the card. currently, he had 120 metamorphosis stacks with him, and he believed it was well worth a try. after all, he didn''t know when another opportunity for metamorphosis would present itself. "gnoass," davey called out. the spirit of the earth, gnoass, rose from the ground, and his expression appeared less than pleased. [don¡¯t keep calling me for useless things, contractor.] ¡°so, you¡¯re not going to do it?¡± [¡­i will do it.] gnoass waved his hand in defeat at davey¡¯s sly and smooth words. thud!!! at the same time, gnoass created a massive psychic hole that would have reached around davey''s chest if he were sitting down. davey then summoned the spirit of water, ellaim. "now then, come forth, slaimmy." [who''s slaimmy?! my name is ellaim! it''s the name given to me when i was born during the origin!] for a moment, an intensely angry expression flashed across ellaim''s face. in fact, davey could almost sense her grinding her teeth. could spirits even do that? "so, you''re not going to do it?" [i''ll do it!!! i''ll do it!] seeing ellaim''s irritation, davey immediately retrieved the leather bags he had prepared in advance. after all, this was essential mana divine water. mana divine water acted as a catalyst, amplifying the efficiency and abilities of metamorphosis by enhancing the power of the forest-dwelling spirit, shane scrift''s genetic information, and the metamorphosis stacks. if davey failed this attempt, he''d be overwhelmed by embarrassment. with a confident smile, davey kicked the ground, releasing an immense surge of energy from his body, causing significant changes in his surroundings. at that very moment, davey experienced an odd sensation. it felt as if someone were watching him, a gaze that filled him with a subtle sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu. CH 446 ¡®my name is ford and i am thirteen years old. i originally lived with my father, who was a tanner, and only did errands for a living.¡¯ honestly, ford never anticipated such a turn of events. it was inconceivable that someone as humble and illiterate as him would find himself studying in a grand and magnificent institution, learning from illustrious educators. according to the prevailing narrative, malevolent forces had emerged on the continent, prompting the nation to call upon its citizens for assistance. in response, ford''s father retrieved his grandfather''s antiquated armor and sword, heirlooms concealed deep within their studio. these relics were, in fact, woefully outdated, so ancient and deteriorated that they verged on being unsettling. yet, commoners like them had no choice but to bear arms, even though the cost was so exorbitant that they could only pass these precious items from one generation to the next. with the sword and armor, passed down through generations, in hand, ford''s father bravely ventured out to participate in the war. he even promised ford a gift upon his triumphant return. those were the last words ford ever heard from his father. ford''s mother had passed away long ago, and he had no siblings to lean on. consequently, he was the sole survivor. nevertheless, ford was too young and inexperienced to follow in his father''s footsteps and continue the family''s tanning tradition. during that time, the territorial lord approached him with the decision to dismantle their studio, filled with his father''s memories, and replace it with a garden. ford realized he had no recourse but to acquiesce. only a fool would dare to oppose them, for he understood that defiance would inevitably lead to his demise. in the blink of an eye, ford lost everything. he was thrust into a life on the streets, begging for sustenance day after day. existence became a torment, and as his emaciation grew more pronounced with each passing day, ford resorted to desperate acts. he stole bread from bakeries and even relieved the pockets of unsuspecting passersby. in just a matter of months, ford underwent a profound transformation. perhaps his father would shed tears if he could witness the sorry state of his son from above. nevertheless, ford harbored a tenacious desire to cling to life. he refused to forfeit the world his father had bequeathed him. regrettably, the world was far from accommodating. as was his custom, ford resorted to pickpocketing, targeting the son of a high-ranking noble. in the end, he was apprehended and subjected to a brutal lashing, leaving him on death''s doorstep, devoid of the willpower and strength to persevere. his body had been so brutally battered that he felt as though his bones were shattered, and his intestines were bruised and weakened. agony consumed him. what had ford done to deserve such pain and suffering? for the first time, he felt a profound resentment toward the father who had left him in this unforgiving world. wasn''t it better for him to simply embrace death? perhaps he was indeed being punished for his transgressions, just as his father had warned. just as ford believed his demise was imminent, individuals clad in black robes suddenly materialized, halting the advancing knights. he strained to discern if they were nobles, but all he could perceive were their voices. [name: ford. his father perished in the war against the vampires. he is the offspring of a distinguished man. verified.] one of the men extended a piece of parchment adorned with what appeared to be intricate, serpentine symbols. the nobleman''s son retreated at the sight of this document. ford was spared, though he remained clueless about why they had intervened. without further ado, he trailed the people who had come to his rescue, boarding a splendid carriage where he encountered numerous children in circumstances similar to his own. ¡®where on earth are we heading?¡¯ this question nagged at ford during the days he spent within the carriage. eventually, they disembarked in an entirely unfamiliar place. the locale was remarkably picturesque, with a vast stream of shimmering water suspended in the sky, adorning the territory without a single droplet falling. additionally, a magnificent clock tower stood proudly in the center of the landscape. ¡®where is this place?¡¯ ford''s query was only answered when he and the other children entered a resplendent palace¡ªthe heins academy. ford had asked because he had no prior knowledge of it, and the people he queried informed him that it was a school. subsequently, ford encountered several other children in similar circumstances and met a young man, slightly taller than himself, with jet-black hair, piercing eyes, and a mischievous grin. to ford''s initial judgment, the young man appeared to be a noble, prompting him to bow his head promptly, fearing dire consequences otherwise. however, the boy defied ford''s expectations. [i will never forget the peace and the contributions your parents made. even if everyone else forgets, i will ensure that i remember. once again, i welcome all of you. this is heins academy. this is the home i have prepared for you, your new starting point. here, you will acquire the necessary knowledge and learn everything you desire.] at first, ford didn''t grasp the full meaning of the speaker''s words. [don''t, even for a second, believe that learning and studying are meaningless. as long as you work hard, this place will undoubtedly help you achieve your dreams. do you want to master the sword? here, we will guide you to reach that level. do you aspire to master magic? then, we will unveil its secrets to you. nothing is insurmountable. with unwavering determination, nothing remains beyond your reach. so, learn and study. each one of you is precious.] for reasons he couldn''t quite fathom, ford felt tears welling up and streaming down his cheeks. ¡®father. can, can i follow him? can i really stay in this splendid and majestic place?¡¯ after the departure of the black-haired saint, the prince, ford and the other children were escorted by a maid to their accommodations. these lodgings were impeccably maintained, surpassing the standards of their humble childhood homes. they referred to it as a "dormitory." they were then led to a restaurant where they could partake in a lavish meal, a luxury that had existed only in their dreams before. much like ford, the other children had endured hunger and now devoured their meals with an almost possessed hunger. normally, such ravenous behavior would warrant reprimand, but no one scolded them. in fact, the staff merely smiled and encouraged the children to eat heartily. ¡®father, this must be heaven.¡¯ it appeared that faith in the saint, the bestower of this surreal existence, was blossoming in ford''s heart. after everything, he attended his first class. in addition to learning to read and write, along with proper etiquette and manners, they were given the opportunity to acquire various small yet seemingly inconsequential skills. ford''s aspiration was to master swordsmanship, so he eagerly enrolled in the swordsmanship class and attended his inaugural lesson. their instructor was a knight renowned as a sword master. however, curiously, ford couldn''t shake a sense of unease upon seeing the peculiar and unsettling grin on the teacher''s face, along with the firm grip on a potato. [welcome, newcomers. fufufufufufu. do any of you have any idea how long i''ve been waiting for you? follow me, all of you. i will impart the ultimate purpose of the sword to you. is there anyone among you who believes they lack talent? no one? well, it matters little to me. i will ensure that each of you becomes something extraordinary.] upon their arrival, ford and his friends had regarded the man with curiosity. however, ford''s friends had dispersed. some had chosen to enroll in magic classes, while others had decided to study holy mana. despite the instructor''s seemingly warm demeanor, ford couldn''t shake a peculiar sense of fear. and after a week... ¡®s¡­ save me, father.¡¯ *** the mysterious gaze felt both strange and oddly familiar to davey. he had experienced this very same gaze before. it bore a striking resemblance to the gaze of the missing observer who had granted him the final ten minutes of opportunity in the other world. however, simultaneously, it felt distinctly different. for some inexplicable reason, it sent a shiver of peculiar terror down his spine. "what''s wrong? is there something out there?" perserque queried, observing the sudden change in davey''s expression. she reacted as if he had seen a ghost, but judging by her responses, it was apparent that he was the sole recipient of this unsettling gaze. the gaze left davey feeling both intrigued and uneasy. no matter how intently he scanned the surroundings, he couldn''t pinpoint the exact source of the gaze. it had a peculiar, murky quality, as though it emanated from beyond the confines of this world they inhabited. "davey?" "it''s nothing," he replied, though his unease lingered. the gaze soon dissipated, seemingly satisfied with whatever it had observed. "rinne." "rinne, awaiting orders." "scout the surrounding area. if you encounter anything suspicious, subdue it. if there''s resistance, handle it as you see fit. there shouldn''t be... any issues." "rinne highly values your trust!" as davey watched rinne disappear on her scouting mission, he stepped into the fray, activating his status window using the abyss'' authority. he possessed more than 120 metamorphosis stacks, a quantity he believed to be more than sufficient. however, to be honest, he was uncertain about how to utilize them. nonetheless, he was confident that he could find the information he needed through research. and the answers were right there in the title window. [half metamorphosis] (a title given to those that knocked on the door of evolution and metamorphosis by themselves.) ¡ªcan undergo metamorphosis by paying a special price upon consumption. ¡ªmaterials needed for complete metamorphosis are in possession. ¡®i knew it. it¡¯s similar to lifting a ban.¡¯ davey was not sure if the term existed in this world. nevertheless, he jumped into the space that he secured and activated the title without any hesitation. ring¡ª! at the same time, dim and vague characters began to flash in front of his eyes. read the most updated version of this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at [ pawread.com ] ¡ªconfirming the conversion of the title ¡®half metamorphosis to complete metamorphosis¡¯ by using the required number of metamorphosis stacks in possession. initiate conversion? ¡°ho?¡± davey raised his hand gently toward the phrase, which appeared in front of him and asked him, much like a game system would. vwoooong¡­ then, a small grayish and translucent cauldron appeared in front of him. ¡®what in the world is this?¡¯ ¡ªadditional elements can be added to the process of metamorphosis. would you like to add something else? with those words, light started to engulf davey¡¯s body. ¡°huh?¡± it was a power with a structure he had never seen before, yet it felt strangely familiar. it was god''s will, a title bestowed upon him by goddess freyja, the one who had twisted the rules of this world. in simple terms, this power was god''s miracle. "urk?! my eyes! davey?!" perserque exclaimed in surprise. ignoring perserque''s startled cry, davey narrowed his eyes to examine the power that emanated from his body¡ªa twisted ladder. ¡®a twisted ladder, huh? then, it¡¯s a large fragment of dna, no?¡¯ davey could instinctively discern the nature of this object. it was none other than the genetic information of shane scrift, one of davey''s teachers at the hall of heroes and the mythical beast summoner and original owner of the currently sealed megalodria. ¡®so, it was in my body, huh?¡¯ the fragment of dna, composed of light, departed from his body and was drawn into the cauldron. at that moment, davey grasped what he needed to do. he began retrieving containers filled with water from inside his pocket plane. these containers held none other than the divine mana water he had acquired from the final room of the prugrepf royal kingdom, just before the stone chamber where the cursed deceased resided. davey poured out all the precious water he had obtained, emptying the containers in the precise location indicated by the observer. if he didn''t utilize it here, he surmised there would be no other purpose for it. so, he spared no expense. the cauldron consumed everything, resembling a black hole, as soon as davey opened the containers. ¡®should i also include the silver chime?¡¯ davey contemplated, thinking of the silver chime he had obtained by saving the cursed dead upon his return to the original tionis continent. the silver chime possessed the ability to defy the world''s rules, much like taboo''s karma, but without the accompanying penalties. why? because its potential was limited. davey had a hunch that incorporating it might extend the duration of his complete metamorphosis. ¡ªhave you finished adding all of the elements? he quickly took out the silver chime upon having the urge to do so. then, he placed it inside the cauldron and incorporated it into his complete metamorphosis. ¡®well, it will work out somehow. first, let¡¯s put everything in and shake it!¡¯ davey contemplated what else to include. suddenly, he retrieved a very small bottle and held it in his hand. "let''s add this... too," he remarked. "davey, that..." "a poor imitation of an elixir. the real elixir has already been depleted. this is a replica with less than half the efficacy of the original." davey knew how to create something of this caliber, so he didn''t anticipate needing it for a long time. he poured nearly everything into the cauldron, reserving only a small amount to reproduce the elixir once more. this metamorphosis was opulent in every sense. it featured a substantial quantity of divine mana water, the dna of a trait ability user, a silver chime, and a small quantity of imitation elixir. davey even incorporated all the herbs he had received as bribes, though he didn''t hold high expectations for their effects and efficacy. however, he was certain that a change would manifest when all these elements converged. "i don''t know what you''re up to, but there''s a saying on earth that having too much of something is bad for you, davey," perserque cautioned. "i''m aware of that. i only have one chance, so i''m being extremely cautious," davey replied. after brief consideration, davey clapped his hands lightly. clap! simultaneously, a massive magic circle emitting a light green radiance materialized beneath the cauldron. davey had incorporated everything he could find. finally, many young forest spirits released their power as well. shwaaaaaaa! as the magic circle began its operation, various forces residing in the forest started converging in torrents. it was as if the cauldron had been patiently awaiting this moment, drawing in the spirits'' energy. there was no need to release the power from within his body; everything being absorbed came from the outside. davey seated himself in front of the cauldron and observed as these forces were slowly drawn inside. "now, all we have to do is wait," he said. after a brief period of anticipation, davey pressed on the title column and activated its effects. he retained just enough power to sustain the forest and allowed the remainder to be absorbed into the vortex of energy the cauldron had been drawing in earlier. vwoooooooong!!! at that moment, all of the metamorphosis stacks that davey had accumulated disappeared from his status window. it was quite ridiculous to use everything since it was more than what was needed. however, instead of thinking that ¡®too much is bad for you¡¯, davey was thinking, ¡®the more the merrier.¡¯ ¡®well then, shall we start on the changes?¡¯ boom!!! subsequently, the cauldron erupted into massive streams of light that cascaded into davey, seated directly in front of it. it had finally commenced. davey instinctively pushed perserque, perched on his shoulder, away. "stay away from me until everything is over. i won''t be able to do anything if you get caught up in it either." "davey, don''t overexert yourself." "can''t you trust your older brother?" davey quipped. perserque, wearing a solemn expression, could only smile helplessly upon hearing davey''s playful remark. "i am older than you." then, davey''s vision plunged into darkness. his consciousness severed ties with his surroundings, with the last recollection being the luminous envelopment of his entire body. *** "davey, rinne saw..." rinne, who had flown from the other side of the forest and was flapping her wings, abruptly halted her report upon encountering a figure radiating an immense amount of light within a colossal magic circle. the only one remaining in the clearing was perserque, who gazed vacantly at the figure. "miss per, rinne demands to know davey''s whereabouts." "he''s over there," perserque replied, her voice trailing off as she held rinne in her arms. "ah... detecting a significant energy surge. rinne highly evaluates this." rinne might have appeared expressionless, but she was actually quite astonished. perserque knew davey was powerful, but it seemed he could no longer remain in his current state. in any case, perserque believed it might be for the best. rinne also found herself silently observing davey''s figure. she had grown accustomed to his eccentric and unconventional behaviors and actions over time. at this point, she no longer had any questions or doubts about him. but then¡­ boom!!! davey''s body, bathed in radiant light, twisted and convulsed before releasing a powerful surge of energy that instantly enveloped the entire forest. "kghk?!" "ugh..." perserque''s eyes trembled as her instinctual reaction caused her to recoil. "goodness..." "rinne has detected an immense concentration of energy. it''s immeasurable. rinne... highly regards davey''s actions," rinne muttered in shock, her entire body quivering in response to the power. boom! then, another wave emanated, extending its reach far beyond the confines of the forest. boom! yet another wave expanded, this time encompassing not only the forest and its vicinity but also the hyeon empire, the country of the bows. it was an enormous power fluctuation, evident to anyone who should be aware. however, the wave of power showed no sign of ceasing. it continued to spread, wider and wider, until it enveloped the entire continent. while there had been many powerhouses undergoing metamorphosis, nothing like this had ever occurred before. those who had experienced and witnessed davey''s true power recognized the unique characteristics of his energy and could identify its source. davey, already formidable, had embarked on his first complete metamorphosis. although he had been enigmatic about it, perserque couldn''t help but harbor heightened concerns for his well-being. metamorphosis was a process that occurred when a person''s body reached the pinnacle of their abilities. it allowed their body to evolve, enabling further growth. the issue was... if davey underwent further evolution here, perserque couldn''t foresee what kind of monstrous entity he might become. boom! as if anticipating her realization, another immense and terrifying wave radiated outwards, engulfing perserque''s senses. *** all of the mighty individuals could sense the presence of this intangible, colorless, and odorless wave that permeated the entire continent. "..." further transformations unfolded within a small cottage nestled in the dense forest just north of the eastern part of the continent. a beautiful black-haired woman, cradling a petite magic book in her arms as she slumbered, slowly awakened. of course, the changes didn''t cease there. in the southernmost region of the western part of the continent, a colossal entity began to writhe and convulse as the wave washed over its form. similar alterations also began to take place in the southernmost region of the central part of the continent, a tumultuous area often referred to as the graveyard of ships. CH 447 was it "too much is bad for you" or "the more, the merrier"? which would davey choose? after pondering over this matter, davey entered a state of metamorphosis. to be honest, this was the very first time that perserque had seen davey appear so defenseless. his body was inherently strong and powerful. however, if a strong and powerful being were to attack him right now, there was a high chance that his metamorphosis would fail. that was why she needed to take action. clap!!! perserque clapped her hands together and retrieved the item she had received from davey earlier. despite her indescribable and breathtaking beauty, she wore an expressionless face that now curled into a smile. "fufufufu. come to me. you have no idea how long i have waited for you," perserque mumbled to herself, rubbing her cheeks against the staff as if possessed. rinne glanced at perserque with a strange expression. "rinne evaluates miss per''s behavior poorly." "cough. each individual has their own preferences." perserque coughed a couple of times in an attempt to hide her embarrassment. then, she slowly closed her eyes and held the staff with both hands. vwoong... at the same time, small amounts of demonic energy began to flow out of her body, gradually forming a small barrier. the size didn''t matter; what mattered was the efficiency and the effects. "grow, quickly!" energy continued to flow from the tip of the transcendence''s demise, creating a black curtain that surrounded davey and the magic circle beneath him. then, perserque plunged the staff into the ground and knelt silently in front of it. "miss per?" "davey will stay in that state for a long time. we have to ensure that no one will harm him." "rinne values protection highly!" rinne exclaimed as she retrieved several small cubes from her pockets. clack! clang!!! then, the small cubes changed their shape in an instant and turned into two gigantic golems. [taking over command in the name of the elder brain. eliminate all threats in the vicinity.] [puma has received the orders.] [sniper has received the orders.] the golems didn''t possess sophisticated artificial intelligence like rinne''s, but after countless iterations of their algorithm, they had become more agile and quicker in their movements. the decepticon fleet consisted of combat golems specializing in both offense and defense. sniper was equipped with an overwhelmingly heavy mana photon gun designed for long-range shooting. on the other hand, puma wielded two hard and sturdy swords, designed for close-range disruption of enemy lines. they had undergone several upgrades since their creation, and their quality and combat prowess had grown significantly. they were now capable of fighting on par with sword masters. a sword master-ranked golem might sound ridiculous to those from the alchemy schools, but for perserque, it was nothing extraordinary. the golems that had been developed under rinne''s supervision had long surpassed the standards of this continent. now that beings like them had been created, they could no longer be called mere golems. "begin scouting the surroundings. equip the light particle gun. rinne highly values its firepower.¡± although rinne didn''t often use this weapon due to its inefficiency, she manifested it and hefted the massive light particle gun, a weapon known for its formidable firepower, onto her shoulders. she aimed it at the surroundings, resembling a child showing off their cuteness¡ªa sight that made perserque chuckle. "we''re still uncertain about the repercussions of what just occurred. i just hope that everything will turn out fine," perserque added with a hint of concern. *** profound changes were sweeping across the continent, yet humans remained largely unaware of their nature. deep within the continent''s recesses, countless highly dangerous evil beasts had been lurking and nesting for an extended period. in the pandora region, located in the northernmost part of the central continent, the knights of the last wisp known as the ''alpha reinforcements'' were confronting an entity that had long slumbered in extreme cold, similar to shandra minea''s presence. it wasn''t only shandra minea who lay dormant in the depths of the pandora region; several immensely powerful beast kings were also believed to rest there. or, at least, that''s how it used to be. recent changes had disrupted the status quo, not just in pandora but in other regions as well. these formidable beings had sensed the colossal surge unleashed by davey, rippling throughout the entire continent, and it was anything but a favorable development. "damn it! stop them!" cold sweat dripped down the backs of the men, who were wearing uniforms that resembled a dopo[1], that tried to block the advance of a gigantic monster. "damn it! what in the world is happening here?" the last wisp stationed in the western continent found themselves in a nightmarish situation. one of the evil beast kings that had long slumbered in the heichass great forest, located just south of the central region of the western continent, had suddenly, as if possessed, gone on a rampage. this monstrous creature, a gigantic being with four heads, capable of single-handedly dominating and laying waste to an entire region, had earned the moniker [gigadra] from those who had witnessed its terrifying might. in fact, gigadra was so formidable that tales and legends of its power had inadvertently spread beyond the boundaries of the heichass forest. there were even parents who would use gigadra''s stories to scare their crying children, warning them that gigadra would appear and swallow them whole if they didn''t stop crying. of course, to most people, these were nothing more than frightening tales. after all, no one had ever truly seen gigadra in all its glory. however, for those who secretly guarded the demon''s nest, gigadra was a very real and monstrous presence. and now, this creature, which had remained dormant for an extended period, had begun to stir, seemingly possessed by some unseen force. the power of the last wisp''s ''alpha reinforcement'' was woefully inadequate to halt gigadra. all they could do was attempt to divert the monster or monitor its movements. consequently, the knight order was in a state of emergency. "if that monster gets loose, everything will be lost. so, stop him!" could they block him with a sword master? it was sheer nonsense. use the great sage''s magic? an impossibility. seek the aid of reina, the warrior who had led the victorious battle against the demons? an impractical dream. they all knew that it was impossible to halt this berserk four-headed dragon. "damn it! he''s approaching!" perhaps it was the knights who had obstructed its path that had irked the four-headed dragon, gigadra, as it turned to gaze at them. witnessing this, the knights hastily abandoned their posts and scrambled to evade the approaching menace. shwaaaa!!! the area they had hastily evacuated from became frozen in an instant. it was as though an immense and overwhelming breath had swept through, leaving behind a colossal iceberg on the ground. those who were too slow to evade or couldn''t react in time found themselves permanently trapped within the frozen prison. as for those who survived this calamity, they were left dispirited, with nothing to do but pray and hope that this berserk monster would cease its rampage and return to its slumber. however, gigadra, the four-headed dragon, showed no signs of stopping. he continued on his path, heading straight for the nearby small kingdom, just a short distance from the forest. to be precise, he was making a beeline for the great forest located in the bow country, the hyeon empire. crack, crack...! crack!!! at that moment, onlookers watched in helpless horror as gigadra''s tough and unyielding back skin was torn asunder. their eyes widened as they witnessed something bursting forth from his back. "th... look at that!" it was a colossal pair of wings. gigadra, who had been thought to only walk on his four legs, had now unfurled his wings. this could only mean one catastrophic thing. "notify the order! we need everyone''s support! we must stop that monster!" "but, commander!" "never forget our mission! if that creature escapes, the entire continent will be doomed! why do you think we''re here? we''ve safeguarded this place for hundreds of years, and we will continue to do so!" despite the pleas, gigadra quickly adapted to his newfound wings, effortlessly flapping them and taking flight. a tremendous gust of wind swept through the area, causing chaos. in the end, the knight order didn''t even have a chance to halt gigadra''s advance. "the direction gigadra is heading..." "he''s going that way." the forest of trials, the most sacred forest in the hyeon empire, was a mysterious woodland protected by a guardian deity. "we felt a massive surge of power wash over us a while ago. do you think he has something to do with it?" "so, you sensed it as well?" "yes, all our members at sword master level or above felt it too." "i have no idea what transpired over there... let''s move. we need to gather all our forces. if that monster is heading for the forest of trials, it might be an opportunity for us. we might be able to overwhelm him before he can escape that vast forest." perhaps they could even succeed in killing him. "failure is not an option." failure equated to death. however, what they remained unaware of was that someone within that forest had enchanted and placed gigadra under a trance. *** a typhoon churned into existence wherever gigadra passed. his colossal presence had already drawn significant attention upon entering the vast forest, saturated with the power of spirits. even those who had previously regarded gigadra as nothing more than a legend and a frightening tale had now confirmed his existence. all of them stood frozen in fear, trembling at the sight of the four-headed dragon soaring through the sky. their fear was entirely justified. the violent and savage monster described in their myths and legends had become a horrifying reality! however, the reason they hesitated to approach was not solely due to their fear but also because his very presence instilled panic and terror in them. boom!!! ¡ªroaaaaaaaaar!!! gigadra roared loudly, declaring his presence in the forest. he instinctively surveyed the vast area before him, then began to move forward. no one could stand in gigadra''s way as he plowed through the dense forest, effortlessly tearing down trees obstructing his path. the forest lay in eerie silence, as all its animals and beasts had fled in fear. ¡ªgraaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! gigadra roared loudly as he continued on his path of destruction. ping¡­ boom!!! it can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread.com". a resounding boom echoed as smoke billowed from one of gigadra''s heads, resembling the detonation of a powerful bomb. ping! boom!!! boom!!! boom!!! several bullets flew from the forest, piercing gigadra''s colossal body in rapid succession. even the four-headed dragon, known for its overwhelming majesty, faltered under the relentless assault. shiiiiing¡­ clang! a black golem emerged from the depths of the forest, thrusting its sword into various vital points on gigadra''s body. every living being had its vulnerabilities. screams and roars erupted from gigadra''s colossal maw as the onslaught continued. however, these sounds were not of pain but of irritation. swoosh¡­ bang!!! after a brief moment, the dissipating smoke revealed an undamaged head. gigadra opened his mouth and unleashed a frigid breath that froze everything within its range. it was a shocking display of violence, as he released an extremely cold energy. in fact, each of gigadra''s heads possessed different powers. his first head wielded blazing heat, the second extreme coldness, the third the ability to create storms and typhoons, and the fourth could generate and discharge lightning bolts. baaaaaaaang!!! as the extreme cold energy, capable of freezing the world, escaped from one of his mouths, another head released an overwhelming and scorching heat wave that reduced the forest to ashes. ¡ªgraaaaaaaaaaa!!! it was an overwhelming display of power. rinne, who watched everything from afar, couldn''t help but mutter with a blank expression after witnessing this terrifying spectacle, "detecting large amounts of energy. judging the existence to be stronger than shandra minea''s clone. rinne has underestimated the situation." the situation was dire. shandra minea''s clone was considered the pandora region''s evil beast king, nearly reaching a disaster-class level. but the being before them far exceeded that. excluding davey, the only individuals present were rinne and perserque. perserque maintained the barrier, leaving rinne as the only one capable of confronting gigadra. the problem was that, no matter how many times she ran simulations, rinne couldn''t foresee any chances of winning against this formidable foe. rinne silently materialized a crowbar in one hand and an ultra-high heat lightsaber in the other as she stared at the four-headed dragon. then, she declared, "rinne will defend. rinne vows not to allow that being to take another step forward." there were things she could and couldn''t do, but in this moment, rinne had to act, regardless of her limitations. *** baaaaaaaang!!! bang!!! on the fourth day of davey''s metamorphosis, a deafening roar echoed from the other side of the forest. perserque, who had been vigilantly watching over davey''s condition, furrowed her brow at the sound. she wasn''t sure what rinne was facing out there, but as she maintained consciousness in case of emergencies, one thing was certain. the explosions and roars reverberating through the forest and the overwhelming presence she sensed from afar indicated the presence of a highly unusual and formidable foe. bang! her questions and doubts were dispelled when she witnessed a charred figure flying from the depths of the forest. "rinne!" perserque could see that rinne''s once-white dress was now charred black, and the bandages she had wrapped around her feet were burnt. rinne appeared severely injured, with hardly a spot on her body untouched. perserque''s expression stiffened as rinne crashed into the barrier she was maintaining and fell lifelessly to the ground. she had confirmed the presence of an intruder, but her predicament left her unable to move. any action on her part would dispel the barrier, leaving davey defenseless. so, perserque remained on her knees, shouting anxiously but unable to check on rinne''s condition. "rinne! answer me! are you alright?" perserque screamed, urgency permeating her voice. however, rinne didn''t even twitch on the ground. her condition, whether alive or dead, remained unknown. was rinne an ordinary entity? the answer was no. rinne was an ancient biological golem with the living and growing god of machinery in place of her heart. from the outset, she was formidable enough to combat sword master-level beings, if not surpass them. now, she had grown even stronger, easily defeating sword master-level foes. and yet, someone like rinne had been beaten to the point of being unresponsive. this indicated that their opponent was no ordinary entity. flap... flap... boom! doubts and questions about the adversary filled perserque''s mind until a colossal, golden-scaled monster appeared in the sky from the direction rinne had come. the creature boasted six heads, tough scales, wings, and powerful limbs, leaving perserque wondering if it was a mythical creature from legends. there was no doubt that this monster was responsible for rinne''s dire state. the monster examined the motionless rinne with curiosity. two of its heads were directly connected to its body, while the other four appeared to share a single neck, branching into two. perserque nervously swallowed as she felt the creature''s terrifying aura. she believed she could confront this being successfully if she lifted the barrier, but her limited experience made it difficult to gauge the arduousness of the process. the possibility of victory existed, but it came at a steep cost. her dilemma was whether to save rinne or leave davey defenseless. perserque gritted her teeth and began to pray desperately. ¡®please, please rinne. wake up, please.¡¯ vwooooooooong¡­ not long after, a tremendous surge of mana began to coalesce around gigadra, the enigmatic creature fixated on perserque, davey, and the protective barrier. perserque harbored confidence in the barrier''s ability to withstand its power. however, she couldn''t afford to let it continue, risking rinne''s safety as she could potentially be caught in the impending breath attack. in that brief span of time, perserque''s mind wrestled with a flood of concerns, yet she found herself lacking both answers and the determination to make a choice. if only she had fully mastered her abyss'' authority. if she had unlocked all her powers as the demon lord, she wouldn''t have felt this overwhelming shame and helplessness, unable to shield those dear to her. all perserque could do was suppress her anger, her hands clenching into fists. the gathering light particles in front of gigadra took on a countenance reminiscent of a countdown, and perserque realized that the monster had already reached a decision, targeting the barrier to ensure that rinne would be caught in the impending attack. protect davey, who remained in metamorphosis, or safeguard rinne, grievously wounded? these thoughts flashed through her mind in a state of panic. the six heads continued to emanate breaths of varying attributes, coalescing into a massive breath that steadily expanded. "please... please wake up, davey!" the best course of action would be for davey, in the midst of his metamorphosis, to awaken. however, the probability of his awakening at this very moment was low. he had remained silent and motionless for four days. desperate and tearful, perserque reached out toward rinne, fully aware that rinne was within the range of the impending catastrophic breath. but then... "megalodria, show him who''s on top." a familiar voice resonated as a colossal entity shot into the sky at an astonishing speed, delivering a powerful kick to gigadra''s suspended body. the impact triggered a thunderous shockwave that sent gigadra hurtling hundreds of meters away, its massive form embedding itself deeply into the ground. [bow down, you insignificant beast. i am the true king of mythical beasts, the true storm.] perserque, rendered rigid by the awe-inspiring and majestic voice, sensed movement beside her. the radiant egg-shaped object that had remained silent for days began to fracture. baaaaaaang!!! simultaneously, an immensely powerful storm began to coalesce around davey''s form as the radiant egg disintegrated, unveiling his figure. 1. a gentleman¡¯s long and wide-sleeved outer coat. ? CH 448 the egg shattered completely, transforming into particles of light that vanished with the wind. boooooom!!! a fierce and relentless surge of energy erupted, unleashing a tremendous shockwave and causing the ground to quake violently. "ugh..." we are "pawread dot com", find us on google. instinctual fear surged within perserque as she beheld megalodria''s appearance above the boy emerging from the shattered egg, effortlessly vanquishing the six-headed dragon. she understood that she shouldn''t fear him, but the sheer potency he radiated made her feel minuscule and insignificant. could this truly be the outcome of a normal and typical metamorphosis? it seemed highly implausible. throughout her long life, perserque had observed numerous individuals undergo metamorphosis, albeit in a vague and restricted manner due to its human exclusivity. one of the most extraordinary facets of metamorphosis was the degree to which the power within one''s body was magnified. while metamorphosis naturally fortified and enhanced the body, experiencing such an astonishing degree of augmentation was exceedingly rare. in essence, metamorphosis represented a form of physical evolution. the greater one''s inherent potential, the more remarkable their transformation, and the more substantial the amplification of their power. in terms of innate capability, davey''s foundation was arguably situated at the pinnacle. "what on earth... how strong have you become?" perserque had previously witnessed davey''s true might when he unleashed it to subdue the first lich nyx in the maritime city of valkass. she had a sense that he hadn''t fully unleashed his power on that occasion. if the davey she knew were to regain his former strength, her concerns would likely dissipate. the heroes of the hall were exceptional in their own right, but davey, their student, posed a different kind of threat. he possessed unparalleled versatility, mastering various crafts through the guidance of his mentors. perserque harbored both expectations and anxieties about davey''s newfound strength. in truth, davey had been suppressing something within himself with the guidance of his mentors'' powers. if that seal were to be released in this world, and he were to regain his original abilities... ¡®no. we have to stop that.¡¯ those were words davey would frequently utter while sipping red wine. he remarked on the capricious nature of his existence, suggesting that it wouldn''t be entirely surprising for him to vanish just as unexpectedly as he had appeared. for some inexplicable reason, those words had become etched in perserque''s mind. *** davey leaned slightly toward the spot where the egg had been. he felt refreshed as his senses slowly opened up throughout his entire body. it hadn''t been long since his consciousness had returned. when he opened his eyes, the first thing that greeted him was the six-headed dragon that had turned rinne into charred remains and was preparing to unleash another breath attack toward perserque, who was maintaining the barrier. from what davey could perceive, this creature was an evil beast king with power comparable to that of shandra minea''s clone. it seemed to have been drawn to davey''s location after sensing the surge of power he had released during his metamorphosis. while there were still countless remote and hidden areas in the world, which meant there were plenty of unknown evil beasts and evil beast kings, davey had heard of the six-headed dragon before him. or more precisely, he should be the four-headed dragon known as gigadra. stories about gigadra appearing and frightening crying children were quite famous. however, now he sported two additional heads on his body. ¡ªgroooooooooooooar! gigadra cried out strangely as he attempted to escape from megalodria. however, megalodria was at the pinnacle of the food chain. he was a mythical beast king who stood above all others. he was someone that gigadra alone would struggle to contend with. could someone like gigadra take down a grand master-level foe? no, especially not when he was only utilizing half of his power, as he had not yet formed a contract like megalodria. [what a trifling being!] bang!!! megalodria threw gigadra on the ground. using his uniquely huge body, he grabbed one of gigadra¡¯s heads and slammed it on the ground repeatedly. riiiip!!! however, it seemed like megalodria was still not satisfied with what he did. exerting some force, he ripped the head off of gigadra¡¯s body. shwaaaaaaaaa!!! red blood splattered across the area. in the end, gigadra was nothing more than a monster. in the face of megalodria''s majestic power, the embodiment of storms himself, gigadra was insignificant. "d-davey?" davey, who had been silently observing the battle between megalodria and gigadra, saw perserque approaching him with a somber expression. her steps were unsteady, clearly drained from maintaining the barrier. having remained on her knees for an extended period, perserque could only support herself with the transcendence¡¯s demise. when she finally reached davey, she collapsed into his arms as if her legs had lost all strength. "is that really you, davey?" davey smiled at perserque as she gazed at him, almost as if she were seeing someone else. then, he gave her his usual playful grin while gently pushing her head against his chest. "yes, it''s me." "right... you''ve changed a bit, but it''s still you." "i''ve changed?" anyone who underwent metamorphosis would experience a significant improvement in their overall health. this was a well-known fact. davey''s body was no exception; it was in peak condition. metamorphosis often brought about noticeable changes in one''s physical appearance, although not to the extent that others could not recognize the person. davey was aware that his appearance had changed for some reason. however, as much as he wanted to examine the alterations in his body, there were more pressing matters that required his attention. davey walked past megalodria, who was fiercely battling gigadra, and turned his gaze to the figure lying on the ground, resembling a charred mass. this figure, covered in soot-like markings, was none other than rinne. her condition was a mystery¡ªno one could determine if she was alive or dead. it appeared as if she had shut down, as there was no response from her body. "rinne." there was no response. davey observed the still and silent rinne, noticing a severe bite mark on her right arm. the bite looked brutal, even though her eyes remained closed. it seemed as if she had been bitten in such a manner to prevent her from escaping and to bear the full force of the breath attack. "megalodria," davey called out with a solemn expression as he continued to assess rinne''s condition. [let¡¯s talk later. i¡¯m still a bit¡­] "enough. move aside," davey ordered, dismissing megalodria as he rose to his feet. sensing that something was amiss, megalodria promptly lifted his front foot that had been restraining gigadra. as soon as it was removed, davey retrieved two sheathed swords from his pocket plane. vwoooong... vwooooong!!! the two swords began to resonate with davey''s power and underwent a transformation. they merged into a single sword longer than either red ribbon or blue ribbon, known as super ribbon¡ªa blade formed from the fusion of the two sibling swords. davey had believed that he wouldn''t be able to wield super ribbon unless he forcibly awakened it with another power. however, his successful metamorphosis had evidently brought him to the baseline required for its awakening. ¡®just half.¡¯ after confirming the condition of his physical body, davey slowly pulled out super ribbon from her sheath. ¡ªgraaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! the six-headed dragon gigadra shrieked in agony as pain coursed through his body. breaths of various attributes manifested in front of each of his mouths the moment he spotted davey. "you''re quite noisy," davey remarked. clack. [heavenly destroyer] [demonic (spirit) sword 79th form] [ghostly possession] [beheading slaughtering technique] at the same time, the black inner qi created by the heavenly destroyer flowed out of davey''s body, taking on the shape of an evil spirit behind him. when davey pulled his sword, the evil spirit mimicked his movements, drawing its ghostly sword as well. shwaaaa!!! a brilliant flash of light materialized even before the sword was fully drawn, ripping apart the space in front of davey. a massive sword energy materialized, cleaving hundreds of meters of space ahead, obliterating everything in its path and striking gigadra head-on. gigadra didn''t comprehend what had just happened. in the blink of an eye, two of his heads were severed, disappearing in an instant. all he could do was bellow in agony as the pain surged through his body. desperately shrieking and roaring, gigadra contorted his massive body. he had likely never experienced such excruciating pain before. after all, there had been no one powerful enough to challenge a being like him, hailed as the evil beast king. of course, the attack hadn''t killed gigadra. changes manifested instantly at the stumps of his severed necks, his heads regenerating promptly as though they had been anticipating this moment. now, gigadra had eight heads. at this point, one could confidently compare gigadra to the mythical creature hydra. however, the sight of two heads regrowing from the stumps left behind by the severed ones was rather comical. [father¡­] davey gently stroked super ribbon¡¯s blade when he heard her downcast voice. ¡°you did a good job.¡± hearing davey''s murmur, super ribbon dispersed her powers, returning to her original form as the two swords. simultaneously, the evil spirit''s figure, which had lingered behind davey, slowly dissipated into nothingness, like a phantom fading away. "davey! his head!" "it''s alright," davey replied briefly as he turned around. his actions clearly demonstrated his indifference toward gigadra. then, he cradled the charcoal-like rinne in his arms and channeled his holy power. [almighty god of this world, goddess freyja, may you bestow upon your lamb who walks in this pitch-black darkness your kindness and mercy.] vwooong¡­ [¡­] davey pondered briefly, his tongue clicking in annoyance. ¡®ah, i don¡¯t care.¡¯ [enough. just give me your grace.] a tremendous amount of holy power poured out of davey''s body, enveloping rinne. although rinne was a golem, she was of a different type¡ªa biological golem. thus, davey decided to use holy magic to treat her. rinne''s charred skin slowly began to regain its original pale color. even her unmoving body started to gradually warm up. davey remained silent as he channeled all of his holy mana into rinne. he only relaxed his hold after witnessing her torn and ravaged arm recover, returning to its original appearance. davey then lifted rinne. despite her petite appearance, rinne was quite heavy, weighing around 200 kg. however, for some reason, davey felt that she was much lighter than that. holding rinne closer to him, he approached perserque, who had been sitting dazed, and sighed when he saw how much damage the forest had suffered due to gigadra. "too much can be as bad as too little, don''t you think?" davey had inadvertently summoned this formidable creature through his metamorphosis, and he couldn''t help but reflect on the situation. had gigadra emerged because he had drawn so much power during his transformation? davey was certain that there might be more unexpected changes occurring across the continent. he had not anticipated creating such a massive ripple with his complete metamorphosis. "davey! that evil beast is still alive!" perserque shouted urgently, making davey turn his head. why was she so alarmed? it was because gigadra, who had seemed immobilized earlier, had started moving once more. the monster roared and screamed as if to release his pent-up anger. seeing gigadra''s eight heads, davey couldn''t help but wonder about the limits of his abilities. however, he simply waved his hand dismissively, even as he observed the monster gathering power, ready to unleash his blazing heat, extreme cold, lightning, and more. "it''s over." "what...?" "there''s no need to worry. he''s just a brute who can''t handle a proper response." davey''s confidence radiated as he spoke. spurt¡­ at davey''s words, a strange sound emanated from gigadra, who was preparing to counterattack. in an instant, dozens, perhaps even hundreds or thousands of solid and clear lines appeared all over gigadra''s golden body. then, in the blink of an eye, his body shattered into pieces, collapsing completely before he could utilize the power he had gathered. "how could we be threatened by a brute who couldn''t even realize he''s been dead for a very long time?" davey smiled, his back turned to the dragon without a second glance. it was reminiscent of the heroic scenes from the movies davey had seen in his previous lives¡ªthe epitome of masculinity and coolness, where the hero never looked back at his defeated foes. thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!!! the heavy sound of the countless pieces of gigadra¡¯s flesh falling to the ground rang loudly in the forest.