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Side Story Chapter 155
The red spear flew higher and higher, and it didn’t even need Theta’s help. Longin traveled much faster than Duke Tremblin had with the help of various spells, and reached one of the bone dragons in no time.
Longin’s razor sharp tip pierced the target’s chest where its heart had been before the dragon’s death. Although the skill it took to hit a target at such a distance was remarkable, that wasn’t the most impressive part of this feat.
-Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
The undead were supposed to be unable to feel pain, but the bone dragon writhed like a fish stuck a harpoon. The bone dragon had evidently been made from an adult dragon, no less.
“Woah...” Valmont’s jaw dropped to the ground.
Tremblin's eyes widened in wordless agreement. He had dropped to the ground after delivering a successful attack, this time the roles had been reversed. The bone dragon slammed into the ground like a meteor right where the demons were, kicking up an enormous cloud of dust.
“...His Majesty’s power is supposed to be limited, right?” Valmont dumbly mumbled.
“That is what I heard.”
“He threw a spear like that when his power was restricted?” contemporary romance
“He must be referring to his standards.” Tremblin shrugged.
“He’s not even in his own body.”
“Don’t try to understand. Applying common sense His Majesty will only torment you,” Tremblin cheerfully replied.
Valmont tugged at his hair. “I feel like absolute crap. Have I lived my life wrong? If I knew that was going to happen, I would have tried harder instead of slacking off...”
“There are walls that you can’t overcome no matter how hard you try. They call those walls ‘geniuses’.”
“I was called a genius too, you know?!”
“A genius like His Majesty?”
Valmont shut his mouth. Joshua Sanders, the Martial God, had reached the level of a Master when he was a teenager, so how could Valmont compare him to himself?
“You know that you’re pretty annoying, old man, right?” Valmont grumbled.
“I’m a duke, you know.”
“You officially bequeathed your title to your child and retired. What do you mean you’re a duke? People don’t even know you’re alive.”
“Right back at you.” Tremblin chuckled.
The patter of footsteps made Valmont and Tremblin turn; to their delight, they saw the people they had desperately been waiting for walking toward them.
“Your Highness! Silver-Eyed—no, Your Majesty!” Valmont yelled.
“No, it’s Silver-Eyed Ghost Sword.”
“Huh?”
“The Emperor of Avalon has used up all his remaining power after throwing that spear just now,” Lilith explained.
“W-Wait, what are you talking about?”
The news came like a bolt out of the blue. The highest-ranking demons and tens of thousands strong undead army was impossible to stop without the Emperor of Avalon.
Selim noticed Kireua had arrived and had heard their conversation as he moved toward them.
“Is His Majesty really unable to join the battle?” Selim asked, frowning.
“He says that that would be possible if he overworked himself, but that it would take longer to annihilate the Demon Spirit.”
Everyone here knew what the Emperor of Avalon was going through right now. He had sealed himself away for over a decade to eradicate the last vestiges of the Demon Spirit, so no one could force him to sacrifice himself any further.
‘...It’s safe to say that the war against the Hubalt Empire is going to happen, but no one can stop this man named Bel when the worst happens,’ Selim thought.
The prince then turned his attention to his brother and his eyebrows immediately twitched. The air around Kireua was much different than it was before—in fact, it looked like Kireua was a completely different person and only his appearance was the same.
“You...?” Selim murmured.
“I don’t think you have time to chit-chat right now,” Kireua said.
Selim and the others turned in the same direction—where the clouds of dust were slowly settling.
“Huh...?” Valmont stared. The bone dragon that had been brought down was entirely gone. “What... What is going on?”
When the dragon had hit the ground, it created clouds of dust, tremors, and a skull-rattling boom. They all indicated that the bone dragon had in no uncertain terms hit the ground—and yet that very same bone dragon was gone now.
Burp.
It didn’t take long for them to figure out the reason why—there was a demon who looked like an ogre patting his abdomen and picking his teeth.
-Blegh. Doesn’t taste good.
The ogre-like creature bared his yellow teeth and spat out a white bone, which obviously belonged to a bone dragon.
Valmont’s jaw dropped to the ground once again. “Is it really possible to swallow a bone that’s dozens of times bigger than him?”
“Once again, the biggest problem is those demons.”
“Shit. The undead army makes me sweat already! Hey, Ghost Sword!” Valmont gestured at Lilith.
Lilith blinked, startled by the sudden callout. “Who? Me?”
“Yeah, you. Can you at least deliver a message to His Majesty?”
“H-Hold on.” Lilith closed her eyes and focused for a moment. When she opened her eyes again, she said, “You can talk now.”
“Your Majesty, you’re watching this, aren’t you? If you can’t help us right now, tell us a solution! Everyone in Arcadia is going to die at this rate!”
Valmont paused.
“...Huh? Why isn’t he answering? Are you sure that you delivered the message correctly?”
Lilith frowned. “Hold on. He’s listening, even if I don’t repeat it.”
“You could have told me that earlier, you know.” Valmont relaxed slightly from the state of high tension he’d been in for the last hours, but it didn’t last for long.
“...He says that we’re on our own.”
“What?!”
“By the way, he says that he has a message for you, First Prince.” Lilith looked at Selim.
“Wait, wait! His Majesty said that for real? Seriously?” Valmont asked.
Of course, things weren’t too bad, compared to earlier. The way Avalon’s soldiers on the ramparts erupted into cheers when they witnessed the Emperor of Avalon’s spear plow into the dragon made it obvious that their morale had risen dramatically. However, that was it. Even Duke Tremblin, the Sword Emperor himself, said that the real problems were yet to come into play.
-Selim.
Selim flinched. He was receiving a telepathic message from Lilith, but he was only confused for a moment—he instinctively knew where the message was actually coming from.
-Your Majesty...?
-Kireua can take care of the undead army, so don’t worry about them too much.
-Are you... sure about that?
-Yes, dealing with those demons won’t be much of a problem with all of you and what I prepared. But the bigger problem is...
Selim’s eyes slowly widened as Joshua detailed his arrangements. When Joshua and Selim finished conversing, Selim kept throwing glances at Kireua.
“What? What is so secretive about the conversation that you have to talk with telepathy?” Valmont grumbled.
“Valmont, I don’t mind it when you’re talking to me, but think about whom you’re speaking to. It’s His Highness and His Majesty,” Tremblin quietly warned Valmont.
“It’s because I’m frustrated. Frustrated!”
A rumbling beneath their feet demanded their attention once again. Valmont looked up and found the ogre demon who had swallowed the bone dragon was approaching him and the others.
-My body is so itchy that I can’t stop myself. You lambs did quite good earlier.
“Demon...!” Valmont gritted his teeth.
-I, Terbion the Gormandize Demon, will fight you. Consider it an honor, hehehe.
Before the humans’ astonished eyes, the nearby undead withdrew from the demon’s path like a receding tide. In fact, they went down on their knees and bowed politely.
“...What the literal fuck?” Valmont cussed as he stepped forward. “I’ll deal with that arrogant demon.”
“Are you going to be okay on your own?”
“Old man, you have a tendency to underestimate me, but I was once known as the greatest genius of Avalon, you know. I was the most promising candidate to be the next Knight-Commander when I was in my twenties for a reason.” Valmont confidently declared as he strode forward.
The undead on each side radiated deathly energy toward him, but Valmont didn’t even spare them a glance.
-Oh, I see that quite a high-spirited guy came out as the first contestant.
“I’ll start by crushing your cocky mouth!” Valmont yelled.
Before his words had even left his lips, Valmont disappeared, just as fast as one would expect of the Rapid Star. In a flash, Valmont’s sword was swinging toward Terbion.
“One...!” Valmont muttered under his breath.
However, his eyes widened. Despite the ferocity with which he had swung his sword, he wasn’t feeling anything.
Terbion appeared right behind Valmont and threw a casual punch. He moved very nimbly considering his huge figure.
“...Agh!” Valmont was hit squarely in his back and slammed face-first into the ground.
-But you’re weak. I’m the seventeenth strongest demon, and you’re too feeble to be my opponent.
“Seven...teenth?” Valmont’s lips trembled. He had met demons several times before, but he had never met a demon whose rank was as high as Terbion.
-Just die. You aren’t worthy enough for me to eat you.
Terbion slowly raised his leg. However, Valmont couldn’t budge—just breathing was already a struggle.
Valmont shut his eyes. ‘I’m... going to die just like this?’
He’d been cocky and underestimated his opponent. How could he possibly get knocked down with one strike...
The moment seemed to stretch... and stretch. Valmont was confused because no matter how long he waited, he couldn’t feel the pain that he had been expecting. He cautiously opened his eyes to see a familiar red-haired man holding the ogre demon’s enormous feet in the air.
“Prince Kireua...?”
“I won’t be as good as His Majesty, but I can at least act like him.”
“What now...?”
Kireua turned and provided Valmont a demonstration of what he meant.
“Reveal yourself,” he commanded.
Demonic power, black and violent, clouded the air so densely that even Terbion, a demon of the highest ranks, flinched in surprise.
-This power is...?
The ground split asunder, and hordes of dark creatures emerged into the light of day, one after the other.
“Death... knights!” Valmont shouted.
Joshua’s preparations had finally been revealed.