Side Story Chapter 49
When only Joshua, Iceline, and Sersiarin were left in the council chamber, Sersiarin immediately asked, “What happened?
“How are your eyes?” Joshua asked, peering at her orbs.
“They became fine long ago, so don’t change the topic. And don’t think about running away again—I’m going to keep my eyes on you!” Sersiarin deliberately opened her big eyes wide, her radiant golden irises sparkling.
Joshua burst into hearty laughter. “Haha! I’m really happy to see my family after so long.”
“I’m not happy,” Iceline pouted.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“No way.”
Iceline scoffed. “You’re full of yourself.”
“There is nothing wrong with that. Can you imagine me acting humble?”
“…Yeah, yeah, you’re great.”
“Uh-oh—if you admit it that easily, it’s embarrassing.” Joshua chuckled quietly.
Iceline fixed her posture and looked straight into Joshua’s eyes. “So tell me now where you were for the past decade.”
“The Demon Spirit is alive.”
“Excuse me?!”
The two women were taken aback. That was the last thing they’d expected to hear.
“The De-Demon Spirit?” Sersiarin spat. “But he was destroyed after going through Father and Aden von Agnus’s bodies…”
“If he could die that easily, he wouldn’t have been a god.”
“Th-Then is everything okay now?”
“Not yet.” Joshua shook his head.
“Oh, no…!” Sersiarin covered her mouth.
The air around Iceline became colder and colder. “I want to crush that demon… Where is he?” she growled. “I’m going to freeze him right now.”
“He’s already frozen.”
“…Pardon?”
“It’s okay. It’s almost over, it’s just a matter of time. But the problem is that my power isn’t intact right now…” Joshua narrowed his eyes.
“Your power… isn’t intact?”
“Yeah, my body is sealed together with the Demon Spirit’s soul, so I can’t lift a finger in my real body for at least a year. In other words, I can only advise Avalon right now.”
“That’s…” Iceline was at a loss for words.
Even Sersiarin’s face darkened. “That is a serious problem. I thought that was all over now. I feel like it’ll be for the best if we keep this under wraps.”
“Yeah, that is why I made all the nobles exit the chamber. We have to let the kids take care of the civil war anyway.”
“It’s okay, Your Majesty. Your children have grown up to be fine adults,” Sersiarin said with certainty.
Although Iceline didn’t say anything, a faint smile danced on her lips too.
“Then I should trust my kids and do what I can do right now.” Joshua nodded.
“Just stay by my side and don’t do anything else. You don’t even have your power.”
“Come on, you can’t treat me like an old man. Should I keep you awake all night again? That has been a long time.”
“All night?” Iceline leaned backward.
“Hehehe.” Joshua chuckled slyly.
Iceline was so confident with her offer, but her face reddened so easily.
“Please stop harassing Her Majesty. Keep talking—what do you mean by ‘doing what you can do’?” Sericiarin asked.
“On my way over here, I heard that the civil war isn’t the only problem in Avalon right now,” Joshua began.
“For example?”
“Like the condition of the continent. The rumors from the Hubalt Empire are especially bad.”
“Wait.” Sersiarin raised her hand in objection. “You aren’t thinking of going abroad in your current state, are you?”
“There’s more to me than just my fighting ability, isn’t there?”
“You mean…?”
Joshua grinned. “I’d forgotten about them for a while, so first, I’m planning to meet my friends again.”
* * *
Kireua and Anna were now at the bottom of the mountain. When Kireua glanced backward, there were no pursuers, so he and Anna finally let out a long sigh of relief.
“Should I consider myself lucky?” Kireua murmured.
-Burrrrrrp.
Kireua was sure that the real Demon King of Gluttony was Coal. Otherwise, how could someone with a fist-sized stomach swallow that amount of demonic power?
‘Hey, you’re the Demon King of Gluttony, aren’t you?’
-What’s gluttony?
‘…So you plan to keep feigning innocence, huh? Once I return to the Palace, it’s over for you. Many of my family members are experts on beings like demons.’
-Yawwwwn. My tummy is full. I’m sleepy.
‘Should I just throw it in a pot and boil it…’ Kireua thought.
“Your Highness, what are you going to do?” Anna asked after catching her breath, interrupting Kireua’s musings. “We shook off the trackers, but we still have a long way to go.”
“The top priority is regrouping with Sir Cain; then we should wipe out the rebels on the west border.”
“Do you think you can do it?”
“There is only one reason why the national army in the west was on the defensive: they didn’t know when the elite forces on the top of the mountain were going to come down and strike—but those elites won’t be able to move easily now,” Kireua explained.
“Because of your ability, right?
Kireua nodded. Although the rebels weren’t sure who Coal was, they had found out about Coal’s ability, so the rebel demonkin couldn’t act rashly. Demonic power was essential for demonkin to sustain their lives, but Coal could take it all away. Even more dangerously, the demonkin that lost their powers would become comatose for a certain amount of time.
“Speaking of which, what is that ability?” Anna asked.
Since Anna had been watching everything by Kireua’s side, he realized that he couldn’t hide it from her any longer, so he delivered the response he had prepared in advance.
“It’s my authority,” he casually answered.
“I knew it!” Anna’s eyes were sparkling. She seemed to have expected that answer. “You’re a Class A knight and manifested authority, huh?”
“That’s what happened.”
“Wow, you’re great in everything, aren’t you?” Anna patted Kireua’s buttocks proudly.
“What are you doing?!”
“I’m just proud of you. If you keep growing like this, you’ll be able to reach the level of the Nine Stars, not just a Superhuman.”
Kireua's eyes widened.
The Nine Stars were the current strongest people on the continent. Compared to them, the people in Avalon who had manifested the Four Guardians’ authorities were nothing. In fact, none of those people were at the level of a Star.
Apart from the Emperor of Avalon, whose level was unmeasurable, there was one Star in Avalon, four in Hubalt, and two in Swallow. The other two Stars were part of extranational organizations.
Kireua could feel his long-forgotten dream spark back to life When he remembered his childhood, his dream of surpassing the Martial God, he realized that his dream was never going to change. On the day Kireua had left the Palace—practically kicked out—he had sworn again and again that he was going to prove himself to the world and protect his beloved people.
“Ascending the peak without any talent for spears… I’m going to prove that it’s possible by ending this civil war for good.”
* * *
“…Cough!” A rebel knight was catapulted away by Marquess Turtler’s mana-infused kick.
Nevertheless, none of the rebel knights moved—or rather, couldn’t move. Due to the tremendous external shock they had received, all the Black Turtle Knights were stunned.
Turtle didn’t stop. He punched and kicked, wiping out everyone nearby. The rebel officers, who had been watching everything from behind, nervously held their breath. After some time, over fifty of the rebel knights were strewn out across the floor.
“Arggghhhhh!” Turtler shouted as he came to a halt. “Should I kill these useless sons of bitches right now?” he muttered.
“Lord Turt-Turtler, why don’t you calm—”
“Calm down? Do you really think I can calm down right now? I laid low and spent all the effort gathering these knights, but look at them right now! The side effects are terrible!”
“Th-The knights couldn’t have predicted this situation, so our current priority should be preserving their power. Otherwise, we would be doing the national army a favor.”
Turtler huffed and puffed for a long time until he finally took a deep breath and whirled around.
“Say something,” the Marquess demanded.
“This incident was beyond my expectations.”
“Is that what you call an excuse?” Turtler growled, glaring at the demon that stood casually to the side like a bystander. “You were so certain that creating demonkin would enable me to knock down the Empire in no time, but this is the result!”
“My answer remains the same. Excluding the involvement of the prince we met earlier, of course.”
“Excluding the prince? For fuck’s sake! The reality is that that very prince personally joined this war—so what are you going to do about it?”
The demon shrugged. “I’ll have to come up with a solution for the future.”
“If I hadn’t made any demonkin in the first place, I wouldn’t have to worry about this! I spent all that time and effort cooped up in the mountain, but it was a waste of my time!”
The demon’s eyes turned sharp. “Do you really think so? Your final goal wasn’t Avalon to begin with.”
“What?”
“In order to deal with the paladins in Hubalt, you have to partner up with me. Don’t you already know that?”
“Ah… Shit!” Turtler cursed.
“I have an idea of what the Prince’s ability is.”
Turtle's eyes widened. “Are you saying that you have a solution for this side effect? It seems to be an authority of some sort.”
“It’s similar. I was wondering where it went, but I never imagined the prince of Avalon would possess it.”
“Break it down so I can understand that more easily. What is that power?”
“It’s just a speculation right now, but if I’m right…” The demon trailed off for a moment. “It’s the authority of Gluttony, one of the Seven Evil Sins.”
“What? Wait, you said you have the authority of Gluttony.”
“It’s a complicated story… In short, the Demon Kings of the Seven Evil Sins have changed several times in the long history of the Demon Realm. The main principle of the Demon Realm is the strongest take all, so the owners of the Evil Sins’ powers changed several times.”
“So?” Turtler tilted his head.
“To cut to the chase, I’m not the proper Demon King of Gluttony. My father, the previous Demon King of Gluttony, left behind only one heir—and that is me.”
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“In other words, you lost your authority and only have the title of the Demon King of Gluttony. So you’re all bark and no bite. Hah! Things are getting worse and worse by the minute!”
“Don’t get too angry. This matter involves you humans too.”
“What nonsense are you talking about now?”
“The person who killed the previous Demon King of Gluttony was a human. In fact, you know him very well.”
Turtler’s eyes widened. “Wait, are you saying…?”
“Yes, that human is Joshua Sanders, the man you’re always gnashing your teeth over.”
Turtler and all the other rebel leaders froze like sculptures.
“I recently heard from another highest-ranking demon in the north, and he asked me to send him a message once I discover a trace of the missing Evil Sins’ authorities.”
“Wait, I thought demons don’t form groups.”
“You’re right, but it’s different if we’re talking about the enemy that knocked down us demons’ home,” the demon said.
“And that is the Emperor? Why did you wait this long to tell me something this important?!”
“I wasn’t sure, and there was a chance that other demons were scheming to steal the Evil Sins’ authorities.”
Turtler trembled in fear. The chances were one in a million, but the Emperor of Avalon’s return would spell disaster. If Joshua Sanders showed up at this point, ten years of Turtler’s effort would be rendered utterly meaningless.
“Doesn’t that sound too convenient? Right after we hear news of Joshua Sanders’s return, a person with one of the Evil Sins’ authorities showed up,” Marbas mused. The rebels flinched. “That means that you never had a choice, so trust me on this like you have until now.”
The demon turned and walked away.
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