I'm Secretly the Father of the Yandere Villainess's Daughter

Chapter 49: Who is Exploiting Whom?

Suddenly, Matthew’s wrathful aura surged, and his terrifying shadow energy erupted violently like an arrow pointed straight toward Levra, compressing the very air within the grand hall.

Matthew barked in a tone as sharp as a sword, "You white-livered scoundrel!.. Will you truly sit by and merely spectate while you recognize with absolute certainty that your Master is plummeting into the abyss, his pride crumbling, while you and the remainder of the commanders stand idly by without a single shred of shame?!"

Levra did not flinch; instead, he adjusted his posture and delivered a counter-argument that seemed logical and practical in a sense, stating with sheer coldness:

"I prefer a million times over to live with my hands bound, Matthew... For in the end, even if I unshackled myself and attempted to parade my valor, it would avail nothing whatsoever because she would slaughter me in a fraction of a second! And if I perish and the organization is annihilated, who will remain after us to wish the Master good fortune in his life?!"

Yet for Matthew, the matter transcended a mere dread for life. Even if they were terrified by Lucy’s dominion, they ought to at least manifest some genuine respect and unadulterated loyalty toward Lord Cain—the man whose benevolence and grace encompassed every single individual seated within this hall!

Matthew directed piercing, lethal glances toward the Demon King. Levra exhaled in utter helplessness and uttered, "Man, do not glare at me with those murderous eyes; it is not as though you possess a magical solution tucked inside your pocket! I am not the sole individual here dying of fright because of Lucy... You can inquire of anyone upon this table who has previously confronted her, and you will comprehend the extent of her horror. She even managed to dominate the Master himself! Does this deduction not render you cognizant of the absolute impossibility of the battle?!"

Matthew was on the verge of forfeiting all hope... His final and solitary aspiration had been anchored upon the prominent members of the organization, hoping that one of them might possess a unique capability or an alternative stratagem to proffer assistance and avert their Master’s descent into the abyss of exhaustion.

Yet it appeared that everyone, without exception, lacked a solution, preferring safety. This circumstance was exceedingly wretched and shocking to Matthew; for he, too, began to be persuaded—against his will—by the notion of abandoning the matter to fate and retreating. This plunged him into a vortex of self-flagellation, and he began to doubt the authenticity of his allegiance to his Lord... Was his loyalty truly unshakeable and deeply rooted as he invariably claimed? Or did he merely profess this in public, while in reality, he was a coward retreating at the very first genuine confrontation?

He internally repudiated this notion, resisting it with the entirety of his being, yet the heavy silence that loomed over the hall following Levra’s words was weightier upon his heart than any epic battle he had ever waged in his existence.

And suddenly... BOOMMM!!!

A deafening, gargantuan explosion jolted the entire foundations of the towering spire! Everyone around the roundtable instantly pivoted toward the source of the thunderous resonance and the violent impact that had materialized within the lower levels of the spire.

Yet the impact did not halt there; rather, a succession of terrifying, consecutive explosions trailed, advancing with the speed of lightning toward the supreme council chambers: Destruction!.. Destruction!.. Destruction!..

Everyone registered the imminent peril, and the commanders alongside the 9-star powerhouses began preparing their combat capabilities, deploying their legendary auras to confront whatever was charting a course toward them and breaching their structures.

BOOMMM CHHHH!!!

The massive wall of the council chamber exploded, its fragments scattering in every direction. The dense dust gradually dissolved to manifest the entity that had dared to infiltrate their sanctuary...

Enveloped in a celestial, revered aura overflowing with purity, and possessing a terrifying might that transcended boundaries to reach the Imperial Level, stood a majestic unicorn—Jade! He unfurled his sublime celestial wings that unleashed sparks of light, his eyes entirely concealed by his brilliant, blinding white aura.

It was Jade! And it was glaringly evident from his resonance and aura that he was residing at the absolute peak of fury. Jade bellowed in a voice that shook the chamber:

"You scoundrel!.. Your accursed Master is undoubtedly the source of everything!.. He is the primary reason my magnificent Mistress entirely forgot me, forgetting my very existence during that accursed carriage incident!.. She abandoned me and cast me aside for the sake of your accursed Master!!"

He was directing his speech straight at Matthew.

Matthew’s eyes flashed with shock; he recognized Jade instantly! This was the unicorn that had previously manifested within the verdant courtyard of Duke Cain’s mansion on the initial day his Master encountered that woman. Matthew deduced at that moment that Jade was an emissary dispatched by Lucy personally to slaughter him and rid herself of him because he was attempting to weave conspiracies to banish her from his Master’s life.

Matthew countered with an offensive strike and a darkened aura, "Hah!.. I deduce that your exploitative, parasitic Mistress is the one who dispatched you to execute me because I am attempting to awaken my Master from the illusion he resides in and break his brainwashing!.. You are truly a despicable and ungrateful faction!.."

Yet Matthew’s words caused Jade to erupt in a redoubled, burning fury, flapping his wings with scorching violence:

"You accursed wretch!.. Accursed are you and everyone aligned with you in this filthy organization! My pure Mistress is the one being exploited and manipulated by your Master!! He exploits her unyielding love and devotion toward him to isolate her from the world and monopolize her for himself!.. Your Master is despicable and vile... and you deserve death as a curse trailing him!..."

Matthew and Jade were on the absolute verge of engaging in a heated, merciless combat that would annihilate the spire entirely, yet Demon King Levra, who was monitoring the dialogue with intense concentration, discerned something thoroughly bizarre and contradictory within the words.

Levra bellowed, "Hold on a moment, you and that celestial beast!.. Cease this nonsense for a single second!"

With sweeping swiftness, Levra shifted via his magical movement into the center, intercepting with his physical form and demonic aura between the two, averting their direct engagement. He then pivoted and gazed at Jade with widened eyes, "Are you not the magical unicorn belonging to Lucy Montgrad?! Is what I just heard from your mouth authentic?.. Are you truly stating that our Master Cain is the one exploiting your Mistress’s love for him, and not the inverse?!"

Jade turned a disgusted, enraged gaze toward Levra, recalling his features instantly; this was that vile demon who had his arms severed by his Mistress in the past because he possessed the audacity to request her hand in marriage.

"Are you not that perverse, lustful Demon Lord?! Distance yourself from me instantly... for I do not desire my pure celestial hide to be contaminated by your foul, rotten demonic filth!.."

"Filth?!" Levra was stupefied, his mouth agape in bewilderment. He then screamed in self-defense, "Man, are you blind or what?! Only yesterday, I purchased an intensely exorbitant magical body wash extracted from ancient Imperial Flowers! Do I not appear younger, more radiant, and more attractive than before?! How can you utter the word filth?!"

Yet Jade entirely ignored the rambling of this foolish, superficial Demon King, persisting in his verbal assault directed at the entire hall:

"I harbor no concern for any creature seated here within this organization! I could not exact vengeance upon your Master Cain myself, given that he is overtly more powerful than I and possesses terrifying capabilities... yet that signifies by no means that I shall not exact vengeance upon his followers and close entourage! I shall annihilate you so your Master never dares again to exploit the kindness and naivety of my magnificent Mistress!"

At that precise moment, thousands of literal question marks and exclamation points materialized upon the countenances of all the assembled commanders! The entire circumstance had become intricate, intertwined, and surreal to an extent that no human or demonic mind could comprehend!

The succubus Lilith advanced with her alluring aura and provocative strides, intensely interested in untangling this riddle. She gazed at Jade and spoken in a playful, inquiring tone,

"Hey... you gargantuan horned beast... Are you truly stating that our Master exploits your Mistress because she loves him?.. How can this be reasoned?! Is your Mistress Lucy not the one exploiting our Master Cain, absorbing his energy and magical essence within that enclosed chamber because he is in love with her?!"

This dialogue appeared incredibly surreal and comical; two opposing factions complaining that their respective master was the emotionally exploited victim!

Jade shrieked in defense of his Mistress,

"Exploitation by whom, you scheming demons?! You are attempting to distort facts and invert reality! My Mistress Lucy contemplates nothing in this universe save for that scoundrel Cain throughout the entirety of her time! She spends her nights and days speaking of how deeply she loves him, that he is the father of her cherished daughter, Amelia, and she desires from the depths of her heart for them to become a unified, warm family together forever!.. Yet he, via conclusive proof, has deceived her, swindled her emotions, and deluded her with the concept of a warm family merely so she sits by his side, shielding him with her legendary might and granting him her status!"

Matthew ignited with blind rage, tendrils of shadow emerging from his hands, on the verge of initiating an actual assault to sever the unicorn’s head. Yet Levra obstructed him once more with his body, staring into the void with blank stupefaction, attempting to digest this twisted plot and unexpected familial drama.

Matthew shrieked in desperate wrath, "You are the accursed scoundrel here!.. Speak of Lord Cain with total courtesy and respect, or I shall slaughter you and shred your wings right now! This is undoubtedly a malicious trick and a perfected scenario crafted by your Mistress Lucy to render you and the world convinced that she is the wretched victim, while she is the true parasite!"

At that absolute moment... everyone, without a single exception around the roundtable, began clutching their heads, collectively afflicted by an acute, surreal migraine from the sheer overlapping of truths and the total loss of logic within their Leader’s love story!