Side Story Chapter 45
Meanwhile, Anna was headed to the dungeon alone. She also didn’t trust Lacoon from the very beginning, but she still went anyway for a single, simple reason.
“I really can’t contain my curiosity,” Anna muttered.
She had become the foster daughter of a member of the Imperial Family of the Swallow Empire, but she had returned to Avalon for a similar reason. She had been born and raised in the Avalon Empire, so she wanted to know the wellbeing of the people she used to know there and if anything had changed in the Empire.
Above all, if there were traps in the underground floor, Anna would be able to prove a good point to Kireua—that she was the only one who was trustworthy.
“Hahaha, you’ve been blessed, Your Highness. Try scouring the world and see if there’s a woman who can assist you better than I can.” Anna hummed as she descended the stairs.
She arrived at a long hallway with a single entrance at the end. Since Anna could use her wind to detect presences, she could be sure that no one was there. After several attempts, she was certain that there was no one alive anywhere in the underground—
“…Huh?” Anna’s eyes widened. Beyond the door, she suddenly discovered a single presence that was both faint and vivid at the same time. The contradictory sensation stopped her dead in her tracks.
“He’s really here?” she blankly murmured.
Lacoon den Adsarak had said that the castle’s original lord was alive and locked up in the dungeon. Judging from what happened upstairs, Anna could understand why there wasn’t a single guard around here. The noble lord was dying, so there was a slim chance of him escaping, and he had no value as a hostage.
“Should I save him or not…?”
Despite what she said, Anna strode forward and opened up the door without hesitation. The hinges squealed unpleasantly as it swung.
The first thing Anna noticed was the moldy smell of the dark dungeon, but Anna’s eyes were glued to the person locked up behind the thick iron bars.
“This is not exactly the best neighborhood to move around with luggage,” Anna said, tilting her head thoughtfully.
Anna currently had one goal: make Kireua the emperor. Although the Second Prince had promised that her life would be spared, there was no telling how the situation would change once the Emperor of the Avalon returned.
In that regard, anyone could become the next emperor right now. The two princes had worked together to reclaim the southern region, so both of the princes could take half of the credit. Therefore, it came down to who reached the north first after reclaiming their assigned region, the east or the west, respectively.
However, winning a war wasn’t the only requirement for becoming the emperor. The next emperor needed to be compassionate enough to not turn his back on his nobles in times of trouble.
“Gosh, this is why I’m the only one for him. Joshua Sanders, I’m sorry, but you won’t have a seat in the Palace even if you return because I’m planning to have your son wrapped around my finger.”
Anna was grinning as she arrived in front of the cell and created a flurry of wind blades. The iron bars were destroyed as if they were made of tofu. Nevertheless, the person inside didn’t budge.
“Hey, mister. Are you alive?” Anna asked.
The person didn’t answer.
Anna tilted her head. “I went through a lot of trouble to get here, so I hope you’re not going to waste my efforts…”
The withered prisoner slowly raised his head.
“Grrrrrrr.”
Anna 's eyes widened. It sounded like an animal’s growl. The man’s eyes shone in red light, and when he opened his mouth, Anna wsa struck by the reek of a rotten corpse. Her questions were answered.
“…The old saying is right. I should have listened to my hubby.[1] ”
* * *
Committing a massacre didn’t stop Kireua for a moment. People with power usually liked high places, so the rebel leaders must be upstairs too…
“It seems there is an invader inside the castle.”
“Do you think it’s the Second Prince?”
“If so, then it’s perfect. I don’t know what his goal is, but he’s walked into his grave.”
“You can’t be so dismissive. Cain de Harry, the Combat Emperor, is by the Second Prince’s side.”
“I don’t think he’s with the Prince right now. I just received intel that the Combat Emperor showed up at the border where our main force is.”
“What? That’s a big problem too!”
When Kireua reached the end of the third floor, he could hear the rebel leaders’ entire conversation. He quickly approached them while blending into the darkness to avoid detection.
‘…There are seven of them, but they’re strong. They all know how to use their mana,’ Kireua mumbled in his mind.
He focused his mana into his eyes. This technique he had recently learned was very versatile. All living beings had their own mana flows, and Kireua could see them—and kill them. He could vividly feel the energies of the people behind the door.
‘The person in the deepest part of the room has so much mana that I can’t guarantee my victory against him, so that would probably be Marquess Turtler, the head of the western rebel army.’ Kireua analyzed.
Meanwhile, the conversation continued.
“I don’t know who the invader is, but if they escape the castle, we have a problem. They must have found out about the force we’ve been raising in secret.”
“Lord Turtler, I believe it’s time for you to make a decision.”
“I agree. The fight in the south has concluded, and the north army has mobilized all of their forces further north. The armies that are still functional are us and the east.”
“The most efficient technique in a large-scale war with many parties involved is to turn one enemy against another. That’s the method that we had been using until now, but since things have come to this, I believe it’s time to change the whole plan.”
The conversation was mainly among the six rebel leaders; Turtler, who was in the top seat, hadn’t said a word until he suddenly asked, “What do you think the chances are of the east army winning against the national army?”
“Dargo rane Suspen died much more easily than we'd expected, and it was Selim Sanders the First Prince that pulled it off.”
“Get to the point,” Turtler said brusquely.
“The eyewitnesses say that Selim Sanders is as powerful as Joshua Sander was when he was the First Prince’s age. Considering that, I dare say it’s a fifty-fifty chance.”
They were basically saying that one hero would determine the outcome of the war—but their conversation wasn’t over yet.
“Then how about us?” Turtler asked
“Are you asking about our forces at the border?”
“Including the one in the castle.”
“…Since the Combat Emperor is there now, the best they can do is hold out, but that alone is only possible when you participate in the battle yourself. However, if we reveal our hidden elite force to the world… our chances of winning are over ninety percent.”
Kireua’s eyes turned cold because he now knew that the rebels weren’t bluffing, as shocking as it sounded. In fact, he had seen what they had done with his own eyes. Once humans were possessed by demonic power, they were no longer humans. Even if two knights were in the same class, the one possessed by demonic power would be several times stronger than the other, just like a knight benefitting from the effects of Suspen’s authority of the White Tiger.
On top of that, their overall physical abilities increased drastically. In contrast to mana, which was about coexisting, the sole purpose of demonic power was destruction, making it incomparably more lethal than mana.
“Isn’t it a little too early to reveal them?”
“He’s right. The initial reason why we made demonkin wasn’t just to conquer Avalon. After conquering this Empire, we have to branch out to the rest of the continent in the future.”
“Such is the history of rebellion. Once the ruler of a country changes, chaos inevitably befalls it; in order to quell the people’s discontentment, we need to direct the citizens’ attention outside of the Empire.”
“But we have to take over this Empire before doing any of that. Otherwise, we won’t be able to even dream about conquering the country.”
Kireua swallowed nervously. It was clear that Kireua himself would have had difficulties winning the fights without Coal. How many hidden troops were there?
However, he had another question. For ordinary people to be possessed by that much demonic power, then their demon host should be nearby…
“…Wait.”
The atmosphere inside the room suddenly tensed.
Kireua's eyes widened when he heard the new voice. The number of the radiant mana flows he could see beyond the door was still seven. Nothing had changed.
‘Are there eight of them…?’ Kireua was bewildered—but he didn’t have long to worry about it.
“We have a rat,” the voice mumbled.
The exploded outward, its fragments scattering everywhere. Kireua held his breath, but the person the eight voice belonged to was looking right in his direction.
“How…?” Kireua mumbled in disbelief.
“Surprising. I didn’t expect a human’s stealth technique to be this good. I thought Belial’s a good assassin, but you’re as good as him.”
Kireua dropped down from the ceiling. “Who are you?”
“Marbas.”
“It’s my first time hearing your name.”
“In my realm, I was also called Demon King of Gluttony.”
Kireua's eyes widened. “Yo-You’re the Demon King of Gluttony?”
“Yes.”
It didn’t seem that Marbas was lying, but his next remark erased every single trace of doubt in Kireua’s mind.
“I’ll be the one asking the questions this time: what is that thing on top of your shoulder? It looks like the demonic power I detected belongs to it.”
Coal had returned to its original size and was stroking its belly on top of Kireua’s shoulder. If Marbas could see Coal, then he must be a demon.
“His appearance… Is he really the Second Prince?”
“He’s nuts. I didn’t really expect him to come here on his own.”
Kireua didn’t pay attention to the other people. His entire focus was on Marbas, the man covered in black clothes who had introduced himself as the Demon King of Gluttony.
Kireua actually felt relieved. After finding out that he had zero talent in the spear, he had put his blood, sweat, and tears into training his stealth techniques and swordcraft. If the presence Marbas had detected was Coal’s, not Kireua’s…
‘...I have a chance in this fight.’
Kireua’s eyes gleamed with murderous intent. He had one target, so there was one secret technique that his teacher, Aisha Sestropi, the Darkness Emperor, had taught him that would be perfect. With this most advanced technique, reality temporarily became an illusion while illusion became reality. By traveling from shadow to shadow, his enemies wouldn’t be able to see him, use their other senses to track him down, or detect his presence.
Darkness Emperor Secret Technique Number Three—Shadow Exchange.
Kireuay vanished like smoke and reappeared right behind the top seat of the room. No one responded, not even the Demon King. For now, Kireua would take care of the head of the enemies first.
Kireua swung his sword like lightning toward Turtler’s neck.
1. There is a term called 夫唱婦隨, which means it’s the right move for the married couple for a husband to make a decision and a wife follows the decision. The term originated from the Chinese poem named Thousand Character Classic. Since the literal term is a bit patriarchal, the term is now used to refer to a happily married couple who are good partners to each other. 👈
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