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In an antique room.
Smoke swirled and lingered.
A man dressed in plain clothes sat cross-legged on a cushion with his eyes closed. If one were to ignore the fleshy insects crawling on his legs, the scene would have been quite poetic.
Knock, knock.
A cautious knocking sound came from outside.
The originally tranquil room seemed to be disturbed, and the smoke permeating the room suddenly paused.
It was only then that one realized these "white mists" were not gases at all, but another type of even smaller insects. Their dense numbers created the illusion of smoke.
Now, these insects began to stir, causing the "smoke" to rapidly gather towards the door.
Fortunately, the man sitting on the cushion in the center opened his eyes. He whispered softly, and the insects in the room immediately quieted down, returning to the initial state of lingering smoke.
The fleshy insect that had been sitting on the man's leg straightened its body and leaped. Despite its seemingly clumsy body, it possessed an astonishing jumping ability.
It easily covered the distance of several meters to the doorknob in a few leaps. Finally, its plump insect body opened up like a suction cup, enveloping the doorknob as if unlocking the door.
The female attendant who pushed the door open and entered seemed accustomed to the scenes in the room. She quickly approached the plain-clothed man in the center and respectfully reported:
"Your Highness Danye, the Seventh Prince's Twin Demon Insects have been confirmed dead."
As she spoke, the female attendant handed over an ancient lantern. The lantern flickered with a subtle glow, and inside the lampshade, the silhouette of an insect could be seen.
However, the insect inside had long lost its vitality, reduced to a shriveled insect skin.
After receiving the lantern and nodding, the plain-clothed man murmured a few words towards it. Immediately, there was movement at the wick of the lantern.
It turned out that the wick was not maintained by any flame, but by a group of self-illuminating insects resembling fireflies.
Now, these fireflies inside the lantern, upon receiving the command from the plain-clothed man, began to flutter within the lantern. Using their light and shadows, they recreated the complete death process of the Twin Demon Insect inside the lantern for the man.
The process was simple.
The originally crouching Twin Demon Insect suddenly stood up, indicating that the host was facing a crisis. Next, the Twin Demon Insect began to move about excitedly, expressing that the host was engaged in battle but still very confident.
Everything was still normal up to this point.
But in the next moment.
Bang!
The female attendant remembered that although the Hero had many teachers, the one His Highness referred to here must be the pioneer of human magic, the most outstanding and unsurpassed figure to this day—Malvin, the Great Guardian.
Wait, wait.
No.
The female attendant quickly realized something and showed a confused expression. The Second Prince had mentioned that the Hero was the strongest human, so why was it that the Hero couldn't survive, but Kazaar could live until now?
Moreover, what about the Hero's other companions?
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Furthermore, if the Great Sage Kazaar was truly a hero, he should have harbored an immense hatred for the demon race. However, this contradicted what His Highness had just said about the Great Sage actively incorporating the demon bloodline into the insect egg techniques. This was completely self-contradictory.
Regarding the series of doubts that arose in the female attendant's mind, Danye shook his head this time. He simply patted the female attendant's head and didn't explain further.
Or rather, he changed his method of explanation.
He suddenly shifted the topic.
"Lana, actually, there was one thing you said earlier that was wrong. Olba wasn't eliminated by those three Hunters with strange insects. They didn't have the capability. Moreover, the holy sword in my brother's hand has a special effect against the insect race."
"Then who exactly..."
"It was the Great Sage's friend, or at least a former friend. However, according to our empire's terminology, they should be called, hmm, the remnants of the old days, right?"
Remnants of the old days!?
The female attendant had a vague impression of this term.
These people seemed to be the traitors who betrayed humanity and pledged allegiance to the demon race a thousand years ago. Even though the demon race was annihilated, they still lurked in the shadows, attempting to contact other foreign races and bring destruction to the world.
They were the greatest threat to the empire. Even during the Seventh Imperial Succession, they suddenly organized resistance forces around the world and nearly succeeded in overthrowing the empire.
But now...
To the bewildered female attendant, the plain-clothed Second Prince patted her head again and rose from the cushion.
"The Great Sage has done us such a great favor. We should fulfill our agreement."
"Lana, please help me change my clothes. It wouldn't be appropriate to meet our future allies wearing these casual clothes."
Allies?
Could His Highness Danye be referring to...
The Second Prince had a habitual smile on his face as he softly said,
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend, isn't that so?"