God-Tier Villain

Chapter 75: Chapter 75

Would she never be allowed to stay at his side as his personal maid again?

"Demon Emperor, Ethel..."

"Ethel only wants to tend to the Demon Emperor’s daily life."

He guessed at the lack of confidence and offered encouragement. "It doesn’t matter if you make mistakes."

"I trust you completely."

"Don’t tell me you want to disappoint me?"

"No, no! Whatever the Demon Emperor commands, Ethel will do! I’m willing to do anything, I’ll gladly take charge of the Alchemy Pavilion!"

Little pearls of tears came over the brims of her eyes and slid down her cheeks.

She looked pure and delicate enough to make anyone’s chest ache.

Did I say something harsh just now? Ethel, why is your reaction this dramatic?

"Then it’s settled."

"You’re innocent by nature, taking it over cold will mean some bumps along the way."

"I’ll find someone trustworthy to guide you..."

"...until you can hold up the Alchemy Pavilion on your own."

Ethel wiped her eyes. "Thank you, Demon Emperor, for trusting Ethel."

"Ethel is willing to give her absolute all to run the Alchemy Pavilion properly."

Soren was satisfied.

The decision made the newly appointed Alluring Fox Elders and herb executives distinctly nervous, but the Demon Emperor had spoken, what else was there to say?

News of the Alchemy Pavilion moved through the territory fast.

Jared was so overjoyed his fingers shook, his gratitude toward Soren took another leap.

Plenty of female clansmen envied Ethel, they sighed over it in groups, saying out loud how blessed her destiny was, ever since she’d been tied to Soren, she’d gone up to the heavens in a single bound.

The Independent Space, the Demonic Fortress.

Soren walked in the lead, Lysara and Ethel stayed a step behind, one on either side.

Every so often Lysara lowered her head and cut a glance across at Ethel.

She couldn’t work it out.

Why hand something as critical as the Alchemy Pavilion to an inexperienced girl? Ethel’s expertise in pharmacology aside.

Shouldn’t Lysara herself be more suitable?

Skill in alchemy didn’t translate to skill in management.

She had been Empress of the Moonveil Human Domain, she had her own faction and years of running it.

Among the people at Soren’s side, she and Orathis held the highest cultivation, that slumping comedian of a Spirit Ancestor was obviously out of the question.

She was the undisputed choice.

And the result? Soren handed the whole thing to Ethel without a second thought.

Something soured in Lysara’s chest.

Jealousy was part of it, under that sat a flatness she couldn’t name.

She had stood above the crowd her entire life, valued by everyone, praised by everyone.

Here, with Soren, she’d learned what defeat felt like.

Soren watched the Strategy Encyclopedia panel, the Absolute Loyalty title flickered on, faint, and held for three or four seconds.

It dimmed again, but it proved she wasn’t far from lighting it permanently.

A smile too small to catch touched his lips.

Not long after, he stopped in front of the door of a sealed room.

It was about time Arnold came out of seclusion.

The heavy doors parted inch by inch, Soren stepped inside.

"This old servant greets the Young Master."

As expected, Arnold had finished refining half a vial of the Earth Core Holy Nectar.

However.

Who are you?

Soren looked him over several times, the white hair and beard had gone back to glossy black, the hunched posture was straight and imposing, he was a middle-aged man now.

Lysara stared. "Is this the power of the Earth Core Holy Nectar...?"

"To think it rejuvenated him by several hundred years!"

"Though his height hasn’t changed at all."

"Is that because he’s a pureblooded Dwarf Demon?"

The demon race didn’t carry the branch tribes and species classifications the Spirit or beast races did, it split three ways, High Demons, Dwarf Demons, True Demons.

High Demon clansmen stood at least six meters tall, averaging ten to fourteen.

Dwarf Demons were like Arnold, around one meter, many averaged eighty to ninety centimeters, Arnold counted as towering among them.

True Demons were Soren’s category, heights and physiques practically identical to the human race, and the largest share of the demon population.

Arnold bowed and performed a grand, formal demon race greeting.

"The Young Master’s timing is impeccable."

"An incense stick’s time ago this old servant finished refining the Holy Nectar, I was preparing to tidy up my appearance and notify the Young Master."

Soren was quiet a moment before making himself accept the new face, hearing a man in his prime still call himself this old servant was going to take longer.

Breaking through to the King Realm bought you long-term youth, breaking through to the Emperor Realm locked your appearance until you died.

So Lysara and Victoria looked twenty, twenty-one at most, when in fact they had cultivated for hundreds, sometimes thousands of years.

Soren’s attention went to several clean slashes gouged into the stone walls, wind blades, generated by demonic energy, cutting through air.

"You’ve broken through to Upper-Tier Demon Venerable?"

"Ho ho ho, as expected, nothing escapes the Young Master’s eyes."

"It’s all thanks to the Earth Core Holy Nectar the Young Master acquired for me, it restored my youth and vitality, and let me break through smoothly."

Soren was pleased.

The Nectar had no cultivation-boosting property of its own, Arnold’s breakthrough came from having his body restored to peak state.

Arnold’s role wasn’t Bruce’s, he had no need to chase combat strength.

If Soren was the Lord of this demonic fortress, Bruce was his personal bodyguard.

Arnold was the grand steward.

A grand steward who was also an Upper-Tier Demon Venerable, nothing to complain about.

"Arnold, I have a task for you."

"Yes! This old servant has been impatient to serve."

"This is Ethel, a little Alluring Fox girl I trust deeply."

"Ho ho ho, it seems a great deal happened while this old servant was in seclusion, judging by the Young Master’s swift temperament, could it be that you have already..."

"...defeated the Great Demon Emperor?"

Soren nodded and gave him a brief account of recent events.

Arnold was trembling with excitement and ready to go pay his respects to Sylene at once.

She was his former Master, and Soren’s mother, respects had to be paid, whatever else was happening.