Chapter 198

〈 Chapter 199 〉 Demon King Subjugation (1)

*

The next day.

On the deck, Gwen asked with a serious expression.

“Did it work?”

Then Luel, who had his hand on her stomach, shook his head.

“Nope, it didn’t.”

Gwen made a sulky face.

To comfort her, Luel said,

“It’s okay. Just like offering a prayer, we can keep trying until we succeed.”

“Well, that’s true.”

It seemed that my opinion on this would not be taken into account.

I also wanted Gwen to be happy, so I was willing to go along with it as long as it wasn’t too much.

“But let’s do that after we subjugate the Demon Kings first.”

I was currently standing on the deck, having recovered enough to walk.

Luel’s help had been quite significant.

“Lucy, what’s the situation with the Demon King side?”

Lucy was looking into the distance through the telescope made by Luel.

Specifically, it was the island occupied by the Demon King side.

“For now, it’s the same. Some might have left, but there isn’t a big difference.”

“Really?”

It had been three days since we drifted through the Central Sea to treat my injuries.

I had expected the Demon Kings to retreat to some extent during that time.

But for some reason, they still hadn’t retreated.

Luel speculated on the reason.

“It’s probably because there’s been no movement from the Central Island.”

Indeed, ever since we escaped, the heroes on the Central Island had not shown any significant activity.

It had been enough time for orders to be given, but perhaps the High Priest was tied down by her position.

After all, she couldn’t tell the heroes to capture a hero who was going to defeat the Demon King.

However, it was strange to think that the Demon Kings would remain, just because the heroes on the Central Island weren’t moving.

There was still the threat posed by us.

Luel answered that too.

“That’s probably because they haven’t been in contact with me.”

“Why’s that?”

She explained.

“Originally, I was the main force behind the Central Sea System operation, and they probably don’t think I’ve betrayed anyone yet.”

“Why not? You’re helping me right now.”

“Because you are the betrayer who betrayed the High Priest. They have likely fallen into the error of thinking that the enemy of my enemy is my ally.”

That made sense.

Regardless of the reason, it was clearly a good situation for us, who needed to subjugate them.

“Then let’s proceed with the subjugation before they start to suspect Luel further.”

“Yes.”

“Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

Everyone on the ship responded.

It seemed they were all ready to go.

Everyone but me.

“This is kind of annoying. I can’t join in alone.”

Of course, it was enough for them to subjugate the Demon Kings on their own.

Still, it couldn’t be helped that I felt a bit disappointed.

“Maybe I can help even a little…”

They then started glaring at me menacingly.

“Allen, didn’t I say I would handle everything from here on out? Your role was already fulfilled when you saved me.”

“Allen, if you keep having delusions in that condition, I might have to lock you up on the ship. I’ve already been generous by letting you just watch.”

Lucy and Sara nodded in agreement.

“Well, it seems there’s no choice here.”

It seemed that watching them from behind was the best course of action.

“Alright, everyone, is everything ready?”

After confirming everyone was prepared, I ordered Lucy at the helm.

“Lucy, you know what to do?”

“At full speed? Of course.”

She pulled the lever with all her might.

“Hold on tight.”

*

“Hey, what are you eating now?”

“Rice cake and fish cake.”

Demon King Levia sighed.

“You’re so relaxed in such a situation.”

“As I always say, I’m not obligated to cooperate with you fully.”

“This is what I get for the early Demon Kings…”

“So, you don’t need my information?”

Of course, I needed it.

The reason I contacted her was to gather information through her.

I must not forget that goal.

“Right, tell me the developments on the Central Island and Allen Pleuk.”

The current situation could be seen as either good or bad.

The Barrier Zone being pulled to where she and the other Demon Kings were stationed was a bad sign, but since we had to invade the Central Island anyway, it wasn’t too bad.

“The Central Island still shows no movement.”

Moreover, it seemed the heroes on the Central Island had not moved yet.

If those heroes started moving, it wouldn’t matter if Violet would contact me and retreat.

On the other hand, the movement of the Barrier Zone itself could also be a good sign.

It meant that my ally Luel had successfully entered the heart of the Central Island at least once.

Moreover, she was being helped by the High Priest’s betrayer Allen Pleuk.

‘Allen Pleuk…’

I still couldn’t grasp his intentions.

It was due to the sudden news right after the Leim Kingdom incident.

‘He deceived the High Priest.’

Even his subsequent actions left her with doubts.

‘He’s confronting the High Priest instead of hiding.’

That was a perplexing move.

‘There’s absolutely no benefit from doing that for himself.’

She, too, was a being that existed before becoming a Demon King.

She knew very well what humans were like.

‘They absolutely won’t act unless they find some benefit for themselves.’

That principle was the foundation for her strategic planning and the reason behind her victories over many heroes.

So she thought.

‘If there were some benefit from confronting the High Priest…’

There was only one.

‘Perhaps he’s trying to use this as a pretext to join our side.’

Such cases had occurred in the past.

Heroes lured by the power of the Demon Kings and infinite lifespan had betrayed the Church and contacted the Demon King side.

Of course, only a very few among them actually became Demon Kings.

Becoming a Demon King… was completely insane by normal human standards.

They had to accumulate chaos to a critical point and be ‘called.’

If one could not be ‘called’ or failed to respond to the ‘call’… that would be the end.

They would die while rampaging as a Chaos Beast.

Most of those who simply wanted power ended up dead.

But the rare few who survived had something in common.

They genuinely wanted to destroy the world.

These were the current later Demon Kings.

‘If Allen Pleuk becomes a Demon King…’

He would surely become an enormous force.

At least he could restore the power lost with Libero’s death.

And even if he could not become a Demon King…

‘I can count it as having gotten rid of a bothersome opponent.’

He already had a history of ruining the plans in the Leim Kingdom.

Even if he became a Demon King, he would certainly not be someone I could completely trust.

So it might be better to get rid of him instead.

However…

All of this required the premise that he would turn to the Demon King side.

And then…

“His ship is approaching. Quite fast.”

He was coming.

Now I could confirm his intentions.

“What are you planning, Allen Pleuk?”

Of course, it was true that he claimed he would bring back one of his companions and immediately strike the Demon King side.

But from her perspective, that seemed quite unrealistic.

“His companions are four, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

To challenge all the Demon Kings here with just five?

There was no Saint-level hero among those four.

In fact, the only proper high-ranking hero among them was Lucy Teracian.

So, the chances of them making the first move were slim.

That left one option.

“Then let’s have a conversation with him. Let’s see what he wants.”

And then, regardless of whether Allen Pleuk became a Demon King or not…

Together with the Water Sage, we would follow the original plan to destroy the world.

“I’m starting to think I’m underestimating them too much… but, oh well, it doesn’t concern me.”

Yes, that’s not your concern.

So just keep hiding in your corner.

“Violet, contact the Demon Kings. Tell them not to attack yet and to respond.”

“Got it.”

Again, Violet muttered something and soon conveyed the instructions to the other Demon Kings.

Then the gazes of the other Demon Kings quickly focused on a single approaching ship.

Finally, the figures standing on it began to enter her sight.

‘Allen Pleuk…!’

I had heard he had suffered serious injuries three days ago, yet he was already standing on deck, completely fine.

It was a moment when I was distracted by his appearance.

Suddenly, the red-haired girl standing beside him drew her sword.

‘Hmm?’

Was she trying to fight?

No, even if she didn’t fight directly, she surely needed to be vigilant.

That was what she was thinking.

Right until the flames erupted from that sword.

‘Huh?’

Just before the ship reached the shore.

The red-haired girl swung her sword and jumped off the ship onto the land.

And in that moment…

She realized she had made a grave mistake.

Boom!

The flames that erupted from the swung sword engulfed the island.

And the power of that flame was…

‘Saint-level?’

This was definitely power that could rival a Saint-level hero.

All the Demon Kings on the coast were swept away by that powerful fire.

In the space created by that, Allen Pleuk and the others also landed.

‘This is bad!’

Allen Pleuk never had any intention to converse from the beginning.

He had come here solely to subjugate the Demon Kings.

‘What should I do…’

She struggled to grasp the current situation with a panicked expression.

The red-haired girl was still swinging her imposing flaming sword.

On the other side, a black-haired female knight was splitting a sturdy Demon King in half with a single strike, while the high-ranking hero Lucy Teracian was on the hunt, finishing off the regenerating Demon Kings with her greatsword.

And Allen Pleuk was just standing still, watching them.

‘Can we win?’

I couldn’t form a proper judgment.

But one thing was certain…

‘Even if we win, the losses would be too great.’

If we were outside of the Barrier, I might’ve been able to try even if the opponent was a Saint-level.

But since we were inside the Barrier, the powers of the Demon Kings were greatly weakened.

So she made a decision.

“Violet, command everyone to retreat!”

We had to preserve whatever power we could for the next opportunity.

Having determined that, she spread her wings.

Flap.

And she took to the skies to escape.

However, that was the moment.

Thud.

An arrow struck her wing.

Moreover, as though that was just the beginning, arrows continued piercing through.

Thud, thud.

She saw it.

The dark energy arrows sharply drilled into her skin before breaking apart.

‘This is…!’

Immediately, a subtle vibration reached her.

Zzzz.

At the same time, the three arrows that had struck her resonated and exploded.

*

A Demon King was falling, their wings shredded.

Watching that, Luel said,

“Allen, didn’t I tell you? If you step out like this, I’d confine you to the ship.”

“Isn’t… shooting a bow fine?”

“You just used Enhancement on your body with Sublimation, didn’t you?”

That was true.

“But now I’m quite accustomed to body enhancement.”

Using body enhancement skills with blood magic, if done incorrectly, could cause a lot of strain on the body.

If one miscalculated, one could even die right then and there.

But now it seemed I had trained enough that enhancing just my right arm to shoot the arrow didn’t seem too taxing.

“Well, that’s true.”

As Luel held my forearm to check, she said,

“Then shoot only 30 arrows. Don’t exceed that.”

“Got it.”

From now on, my role was to monitor the Demon Kings trying to escape into the sky.

Of course, it wasn’t an absolute must to catch them, but it was more beneficial to hold as many as I could here.

‘Maybe I can also get closer to inheriting the fifth Stigma.’

The cumulative SP required for the inheritance of the fifth Stigma is 6000 SP.

I had to accumulate the same amount of accumulated SP as I did when I inherited the fourth Stigma.

Because of that, inheriting the fifth Stigma was pretty much seen as impossible.

‘But you never know.’

Giving up without trying didn’t match my personality.

With that thought, I aimed for the escaping Demon King.

*