Book 8: The Fifth: Chapter of the Final Battle: The Battle Declaration from the Light—The Alarm that the Demon King Set Forth

Book 8: The Fifth: Chapter of the Final Battle: The Battle Declaration from the Light—The Alarm that the Demon King Set Forth

When I returned to the party, Taylen and Charlotte were surprisingly still at the same spot waiting for me, and there was even an additional Michel. What is he doing, shouldn’t the leader be very busy? It’s fine if Charlotte and Taylen often skip out on their duties, but why is Michel slacking off here as well?

“Grisia, you’ve finally returned!”

“Who in the world was that person?” Charlotte was dying from curiosity. “Is he really your butler?”

“I don’t think so.” Without waiting for my reply, Taylen came up with his own analysis. “His pace as he was walking was firm, and he actually had quite an intimidating aura. I’m afraid he’s stronger than me.”

Charlotte made an expression of disbelief… What is there to disbelieve? Not only is Adair’s strength above Taylen’s, it’s even in the high heavens way above his head!

Adair’s swordsmanship was ranked among the top ten in the Holy Temple. If Taylen had seventy percent of Adair’s strength, I would not need to wait for him to slowly improve. I could have him advance to the perimeter of the Demon King’s Castle immediately, and confront opponents on the level of dark warriors!

It is a pity that we are only able to do battle with minions at this stage. This made me so bored that I had no choice but to use farsight to peek at various places.

Michel shook his head, saying, “Stop bothering Grisia, you two. If he doesn’t want to talk about it, then leave it. In any case, there are so many things that he keeps quiet about. This one wouldn’t be missed.”

Your first two sentences sound like advice, while your last two sentences sound like sarcasm!

“Let’s discuss some proper business first. The Church of the God of Light has officially announced that they are going to dispatch troops. It is estimated that the troops will be sent out in two weeks time. Also, they allow adventurer parties to form the auxiliary unit of the army, and follow them into battle. As long as they pass the assessment, they will be accepted. But places are limited, so we have to hurry up and register!”

Taylen frowned and asked, “How many troops did the Church of the God of Light dispatch?”

Michel said, “I only have information that the Adventurers’ Guild sent out. According to their visual assessment and other rumors, the number of holy knights and clerics add up to around seven to eight thousand people. But they have also imposed a limit of three thousand men on the auxiliary unit, and the teams with high level professions have priority during the recruitment. So altogether, it might be around ten thousand people.”

Ten thousand people… Lesus, are you actually coming at me for real?

Michel continued the discussion, “We have three high level professions, and one of them is even a mage. The chances of us getting recruited are very high, and the pay given by the Church of the God of Light is also pretty good. How about it? Shall we go for the recruitment? Grisia, you aren’t going to say again that if we do this or that, you will leave the team, are you?”

Do you have to hold a grudge to this degree? I only said it once, okay! I gritted my teeth and said, “Go, of course we’re going!”

After getting my approval, Michel turned toward Taylen with a questioning look.

Taylen nodded his head. “I too agree that we should go.”

“Great!” Michel breathed out a huge sigh of relief. “I was truly worried that the two of you were planning to become heroes, and wouldn’t be willing to join the Church of the God of Light’s army!”

“Who’s planning to become a hero!” Taylen and I shouted in unison, and then we looked at each other simultaneously. I didn’t see any expression worth noting on Taylen’s face, so I couldn’t guess what he was thinking about. However, I was certain that my expression was extremely ugly!

Even though I wanted to join the Church of the God of Light’s army to find out what Lesus was up to, what would happen to my game of heroes then?

How could Taylen be on par with the Twelve Holy Knights, his strength wasn’t even at the level of a vice-captain’s. The moment he joined, he definitely wouldn’t become a hero. It was more likely that he would clean shoes for heroes instead!

Curses! Lesus is to blame for all this. He’s actually going to crusade against me, and he has even dispatched troops. It is clearly such a difficult thing to do, yet astonishingly, he was able to overcome the numerous obstacles — all for the sake of crusading against me!

Lesus, do you hate me that much?

“Grisia…”

I came back to my senses upon hearing someone call my name. Charlotte was observing me timidly at that moment and said, “Grisia, what are you thinking about? Your expression is really frightening!”

“Nothing much.” Feeling too lazy to come up with a reason, I simply changed the topic. “Oh right, that person who came to find me was my childhood sweetheart… no, I mean my childhood friend!”

What childhood sweetheart? I definitely don’t want to be the sweetheart, and even more so, I don’t wish for Adair to be my sweetheart. I’m not so pathetic that I have to find a man to be my sweetheart!

“What is that?” Charlotte giggled.

“Just a guy I’ve known since young.”

Charlotte asked curiously, “Oh? How young were you when you met him?”

“Around eighteen… I mean eight years old!” I hurriedly corrected myself. Meeting someone at eighteen really couldn’t be considered a childhood sweet… childhood friend!

“But didn’t he call you Captain?” The curiosity on Taylen’s face was even more obvious than Charlotte’s. “What were you the captain of previously?”

“Nothing!” I impatiently composed a lie, “When I was young, I was the king of the children. He always called me Captain, and couldn’t get rid of his habit after we grew up. That’s all!”

“You were the king of the children?” Charlotte didn’t look convinced. “You look like the type to get bullied by others!”

Her words were truly accurate. I got beaten up frequently, but I would ruthlessly take revenge after that.

It was probably because of my ugly expression that Charlotte and Taylen didn’t dare to continue pursuing this topic even though they looked extremely doubtful.

Michel asked hopefully, “Is it possible for your childhood friend to join our party? Taylen said he looks very strong.”

“He’s not free!” He’s busy building up the Demon King’s undead army!

Michel rubbed his nose as he said, “Looks like Grisia isn’t in a good mood today either. I’ll make myself scarce first to avoid getting struck by lightning.”

The last time, I really couldn’t stand any more of Taylen’s nagging. With a wave of my hand, I struck him with lightning magic and sent him flying for least ten meters.

Michel turned around and left. The other two were a little hesitant. From time to time, they secretly raised their eyes to glance at me, as if to observe whether my mood was extremely bad or not.

I coldly said, “If you have something to say, hurry up and say it. If there’s nothing, hurry up and scram. I want to meditate.”

“It looks like his mood is extremely bad.”

“What are you whispering about?” Seeing Taylen and Charlotte move close together and whisper to each other somehow made my mood even worse!

“Nothing!” Taylen panicked and waved his hand, saying, “I-I’m going to practice my sword! Michel, Michel, wait for me!”

Taylen hastily spun around and sprinted off.

When she saw the two of them run off, Charlotte also hurried to catch up to them. “I’ll go and see if anyone got injured during sword practice and is in need of treatment!”

“You don’t want to stay in the same place with me that much?” I said frigidly.

Hmph! You used to love me so much that even if the whole world became your enemy, you still wanted to snatch me away. Yet now you’re always running after Taylen!

“Huh?” Charlotte halted her footsteps. Pouting, she said, “You’re so fierce right now, who would dare to be with you! Even Michel and Taylen were scared off. It’s too unfair that you’re scolding me but not them!”

I fell silent. What did I just think? The previous Charlotte died a long time ago. The “Charlotte” in front of me only shares the same name. They don’t even look alike… maybe their personalities are a bit similar?

“Grisia?” Charlotte tilted her head, and whispered, “You, you wouldn’t happen to have fallen in love with me right?”

A wave of heat suddenly rushed to my cheeks. I growled, “Rubbish! Who would fall in love with you, a boorish woman lacking in temperament. It wouldn’t be a problem if you were a bit prettier, but you are not a beauty. What nonsense!”

Charlotte’s face changed at my last words. Upon using farsight, I further saw that her entire face was red, but her eyes were even redder. She sniffed, then lifted up her skirt, turned, and ran off.

However, her turning away could not prevent me from seeing… the tears she shed.

I had not intended to make her cry at all. Those words were not my genuine feelings. I was just, just too mad at Lesus! Blame that guy for crusading against me for nothing!

That guy, Lesus, is currently at…

“Instant Teleportation!”

I appeared above a corridor in the Holy Temple. My position was just right. That person was below me to the front, while I floated in midair and leisurely looked down at him, looking at — Lesus Judgment.

“Lesus, it’s been a while since we last met.”

Lesus paused, and slowly raised his head. There actually wasn’t a single trace of surprise on his face. Even if I appeared suddenly, it still wasn’t enough to sway his cool face.

On the contrary, it was Vidar behind him whose eyes widened and who was obviously shocked. His skill at acting cool was far inferior to Lesus’s.

I used farsight, and then regretted it. Elmairy had matured; I never imagined that Lesus would too. Previously, everyone was already in their twenties. Theoretically, they should have already reached their full growth. Why do they all continue to grow?

Is Lesus twenty-five or twenty-six years old? At this age, how is he able to acquire such an imposing manner?

Even if someone didn’t know Lesus, and merely ran into him on the streets, everyone would probably feel that this man was “extremely important,” “by no means a pushover,” and “they would surely come to no good end if they provoked him.” Then, they would treat him with fear and respect, even if they didn’t know his profession.

Black hair, black eyes, a pair of sharp eyebrows that were customarily locked in a furrow, his eyes as keen as a sword and, at all times, focused and alert. Lesus, don’t you find it tiresome living this way?

Compared to a year ago, Lesus looked a lot more mature now. His face was a little longer, and the wrinkle between his eyebrows was even more defined. Unsure if it was truly because I hadn’t seen him for so long, I even felt that his eyebrows had become more angled. If he wore brand-new black armor with silver patterns and an identically colored cape, dark warriors, Illu, and the Death Monarch would all be sidelined!

It’s been this way since a long time ago. Lesus doesn’t need to do anything; just by standing there, he gives off a daunting presence and so long as he opens his mouth to speak, everyone will listen to him!

“What are you thinking about?” He looked at me calmly. I didn’t expect this to be the first question he would ask. Normally, shouldn’t one ask, “What did you come here to do?”

I replied maliciously, “I’m thinking that you are really annoying!”

Lesus’s frown deepened, but he didn’t utter a word. On the other hand, it was his vice-captain, Vidar, beside him, who reacted strongly. He roared back angrily, “How can you say that? Knight-Captain Judgment has done so much for you, yet you say he’s annoying?”

Vidar, on the other hand, didn’t appear like he had grown much older. Even though he and Adair were around the same age, he had always looked younger than Adair. When the two of them stood together, they looked like brothers, the sort that were at least three years apart. However, I also wouldn’t rule out Adair as having grown too old… cough, I mean mature!

In any case, he was a loyal subordinate who had just defected. It would be better to say fewer ill things about him.

I smiled faintly and said, “Vidar says that you’ve done many things for me. What do you say about that? Lesus.”

“You are not the Sun that I know.” Lesus said indifferently. “I do not want to have any private conversations with the Demon King.”

“You!” A wave of rage rushed over my heart. “How dare you say such things to me!”

“So what? You plan to attack me again?” The corner of Lesus’s mouth actually lifted into a smile. “I guarantee that this time, it definitely won’t go as smoothly as the last.”

The last… Oh right! Last time, I’d already hit Lesus, so there is no need to fear him at all! I raged, “Lesus, you had best not come over and get in my way! If you really attack me, I will definitely show no mercy!”

“It was you who allowed us to attack you. You said you would wait in the Demon King’s Castle for us, yet now we’re not allowed to fight anymore?” Lesus maintained a cold attitude throughout. Even though his words were already beginning to be a bit provocative, his tone was still very calm. Without a trace of anger, he said, “So after becoming the Demon King, even your words hold no worth anymore?”

“Who says I would go back on my word?!”

How could I not have felt that Lesus’s words were begging for a beating in the past? Just hearing them makes me furious! I roared, “Of course you can fight! If you dispatch troops, then I’ll send out an undead army. When the two armies battle it out, how many holy knights do you think will perish? Do you want to cause the deaths of so many people just to spite me?”

Lesus’s expression finally changed. Although he tried his best to hide it and keep up his calm attitude, he still couldn’t help but explain, “It’s not out of spite toward you at all! The reason for my actions, you should be the person who understands the most!”

The reason… I shook my head, pushing aside all unnecessary thoughts. “No matter what I’ve said in the past, that was all in the past. Lesus, I am now the Demon King, not the Sun Knight! You had best not treat me like that weak and useless guy again!”

“The current you is definitely not Sun.” Lesus actually nodded his head in agreement. However, he changed the subject and said sternly, “But Sun is definitely not a weak and useless person! He chooses to take responsibility, and sometimes he even takes on too much. He uses everything in his power to prevent the people he cares about from getting hurt. But you, the Demon King, are a person who chooses to run away.”

After saying that much, Lesus’s calm attitude completely disappeared. He said angrily, “The weak and useless person is the current Demon King Grisia, not the past Sun!”

I am weak and useless? Me?

My rage turned into laughter, and a large amount of dark element burst out from my body. Lesus’s black hair and the black robes he wore were blown about madly, while Vidar was even pushed back several steps and obviously felt very uncomfortable.

“Lesus, you’re being rather irrational right now. Maybe I should kill you first, before your impulsively made wrong decisions cause the deaths of too many holy knights!”

To my surprise, Lesus drew out the Divine Judgment Sword, and said unyieldingly, “Then come!”

As I confronted Lesus, Vidar stood to the side, looking a little overly frightened and at a complete loss as to what to do. Now this is the expression you should have when facing the Demon King!

I looked down at Lesus. As expected, this angle of looking down at him was really awesome. Lesus was raising his sword with a serious and livid expression, his entire bearing like one who would slay a god if a god were to hinder him, who would strike down a demon if a demon were to block him, but because he had to raise his head to look at me, half of his grandeur was immediately lost.

At this point, I was suddenly a bit curious. Lesus’s presence is extremely overwhelming, but I am not that formerly blond haired, blue eyed, smiling Sun Knight anymore. The current me should look a little more imposing, right?

There aren’t any mirrors nearby… Oh right, I can just use farsight to look at myself!

The moment I used farsight, I was face to face with myself. It felt rather strange.

We both had black hair, black eyes, and black robes, but Lesus and I were not similar in the least. My waist-length black hair fluttered in the air; my entire body of black contrasted with my skin that was as white as snow, particularly my face that was framed by black hair. My skin was so white that it was comparable to an undead creature’s!

There wasn’t a single speck of white in my eyes, just a shade of black that was darker than the deepest night. Even though there was a hint of a smile on my face, it wouldn’t make anyone feel like smiling in the least. Together with the thick dark element that surrounded my entire body, oppression and fear was all that I could induce… Is this me?

“The enemy is here to attack!” Vidar suddenly shouted, “Hurry and provide support, someone is trying to assassinate Knight-Captain Judgment!”

I gave a “hmph” and withdrew the dark element by a bit. However, I didn’t fully suppress it, but compressed it to form something similar to Light Shield. This was in case Lesus suddenly realized that rather than going through the trouble of dispatching troops, it would be better to take me down right here.

“What are you being nervous about? I won’t get into a fight with Lesus right here. It won’t be that simple to duel me! If you want to battle, you’ll have to pass my undead army first. I’ll wait for you to fight your way into the Demon King’s Castle! As for any holy knights who perish in battle, I will count those all on your head, Lesus.”

I didn’t imagine that Lesus would say, “I made the decision, so of course it will be my responsibility. Since I’m going to send out troops, I’ve already consciously prepared myself to carry a lifetime of guilt!”

A lifetime of guilt… Why does it have to come to this point? I didn’t know what to say, and merely left my final ruthless words, “Very well, then I will wait for you in the Demon King’s Castle!”

Having said my piece, I flew a little higher and then turned around. Just before I cast Instant Teleportation, I hesitated and turned my head back slightly.

“Lesus, the first time I cast Resurrection, I lost my eyes, the Sun Knight’s blue eyes. The second time was the Sun Knight’s golden hair. The third time even my affinity for the holy element disappeared. What do you think the God of Light means?”

Without waiting for Lesus to reply, I cast Instant Teleportation and left.

Taking away my blue eyes, golden hair, and holy light, the God of Light had already expressed it so clearly — He doesn’t want me to be His Sun Knight! Why would I be so shameless as to continue to stay in that position?

In any case, being the Demon King is a hundred times more enjoyable and relaxing than being the Sun Knight! Only the previous me would be stupid enough to stubbornly remain in the position of the Sun Knight even if he had to go against the gods to do so. Dead stupid!

I did not leave the Holy Temple, merely teleporting to my room, the Sun Knight’s room. It was working hours at the moment, so there shouldn’t be anyone there.

A rare trip to the Church of the God of Light, and Lesus insists on attacking me. For wrecking my game of heroes to a point where I don’t know how to play on, I can’t just let him off like this, I must at least destroy a few things!

Mm… How about I burn the army provisions that they’ve prepared? If they don’t have food, it will certainly delay the expedition, and then perhaps I can still play my game of heroes for a while more.

I briefly observed the place first. The room hadn’t changed a single bit, and it was even being kept quite clean. It seemed that someone had been cleaning the room, but in the past, I had never allowed anyone to enter and clean my room. That was because the secret door to the cellar was not “secret” enough, merely covered with a mat. If someone came in to clean, they would instantly discover it.

Even without mentioning the wine cellar, as long as one opened the cupboards, inside would be ingredients for facial masks, essence oil bottles, yeast for brewing wine, blueberry chocolates from Ice, sweet seasonings that I got from Leaf, love letters that I rarely received… in short, none of them looked like things the Sun Knight would have.

If people were allowed to enter and clean the room, then the following day the Sun Knight’s reputation could be swept away as well.

Who is cleaning my room for me? Probably not the Twelve Holy Knights. Everyone should be busy all the time now. It would be utterly impossible for them to have time to do something as minute as cleaning… but there is no guarantee that that Mama Leaf wouldn’t still come to clean.

A gasp came from the doorway, and only then did I realize that the door had been opened. A person stood in the doorway, looking at me with wide eyes.

I was truly a little too careless. The Demon King was in the Holy Temple. Indeed, I should be a little more alert and at least expand the range of my sensing ability.

Luckily, the person who had come in was a kid. He was wearing the uniform of a holy knight-in-training and holding a bucket along with rags in his hands for cleaning. It looked like he was here to clean the place, but why did they send him to do the cleaning?

What will they do if my secrets are discovered… Hang on, why does this child’s face look a little familiar?

I turned around to face the child, and at the same time, I carefully scrutinized his face. I shouldn’t have taken note of any of the holy knights-in-training before. They usually did not appear in the important areas of the Holy Temple; they were always at the training grounds at the back of the Holy Temple… Elaro?

I finally remembered! I had met a brother and sister pair, and he was the brother with the golden hair and blue eyes, the greenish “blue eyes.” I had seen him once during the time when I sporadically used farsight.

This time, on closer inspection, I felt that this child’s looks were pretty good, especially that pair of sharp eyebrows and large eyes. His facial features were truly a bit like, like Teacher Neo’s… Teacher, this kid wouldn’t happen to be your illegitimate child, right?

Elaro’s eyes widened, his face full of terror. After pondering for a moment, I finally recalled that terrifying image I had just seen of the Demon King. Elaro was considerably courageous for not screaming or fainting on the spot.

But what is Elaro doing here?

At that moment, he threw aside the bucket and rags, then spun around and dashed out.

I quickly flew after him, reached out, and grabbed his collar. I dragged his entire body into the air.

At long last, Elaro screamed, “Help! Monster, help!”

“Elaro.” I called him.

Hearing his own name, he was stunned. He turned around to glance at me, fear written all over his face, and then he started screaming again, “Help me–”

So noisy! I covered his mouth and said, “Have you forgotten who I am? Take a good look at my face. Don’t only pay attention to the eyes.”

Only then did Elaro carefully observe me. After a close look, his eyes widened and I released my hand so he could speak. He immediately exclaimed, “Big sister?”

“…” I smiled and said, “What did you call me; repeat it once more, I didn’t catch it!”

“… Big brother!”

I nodded and then questioned him, “What are you doing here?”

Elaro stuttered, “I, I listened to you and came to the Church of the God of Light to look for you!”

“You arrived way too early!” I said grumpily. At that time, what I meant was for him to come and take part in the selections for the Twelve Holy Knights. There were still about six more years to go from now until the selections!

But then again, looking at Elaro’s age, perhaps he was a bit too old to become one of the Twelve Holy Knights. Maybe it was right for him to come and be a holy knight-in-training straightaway. He might be able to become a platoon member or even a vice-captain of the Twelve Holy Knights in the future.

“How old are you this year?”

“Almost nine.”

Then he really is eight years old? My estimate is truly accurate. But in fact, Elaro is too tall; he actually looks older than eight. It wouldn’t even be a problem to say that he’s ten.

If he is eight, then maybe it is still possible… Hold on! What am I thinking about this for? The Holy Temple won’t let me choose the next Sun Knight now. I don’t need to worry over the problem of candidates at all.

But then, Adair has also run off. Who will be the Sun Knight now?

Halfway through my thoughts, I raised my head. Several holy knights were currently rushing over. It looked like Elaro’s cries had actually caught people’s attention. After all, this place was where the Twelve Holy Knights’ rooms were located. They could not let a child scream here yet not provide help.

“Elaro, do you want to stay here or leave with me?” Taking Elaro’s age into consideration, he was still a little too old. If I wasn’t the one choosing, he might be eliminated in the first round.

Since he couldn’t be the Sun Knight, he might as well follow me to the Demon King’s Castle. I could at least bestow a random title on him like the Demon King’s Imperial Knight or something similar.

Elaro froze. “Go where?”

With a smile, I said, “The Demon King’s Castle. How about it, do you have the courage to come?”

Elaro looked at me with wide eyes. His two originally large eyes were now as large as a horse’s eyes. He looked a lot like Teacher whenever he’s glaring madly at someone. But he was not Teacher, so I was not afraid of him. I only had the urge to poke his eyes!

“Ouch!” Elaro grabbed his right eye and said, feeling aggrieved, “Why did you flick my eyelids?”

At that moment, I heard the sounds of hurried footsteps. Even Elaro noticed it. He looked toward the direction where the sounds of footsteps were coming from and then turned back to look at me. He anxiously said, “Big brother, y-you should leave quickly! If not, they will capture you!”

This kid was actually quite clever. Even though he did not understand what was happening, he knew that I would get arrested just by looking at my current appearance.

“I should indeed be leaving. I’ll give you three seconds to consider whether or not you want to leave with me. I’ll start counting now. Three, two…” I counted slowly, but in my heart I wasn’t expecting Elaro to go with me. I only wanted to see him feel troubled for a while.

“One.” I released my hand and allowed Elaro to drop straight down. Hmph hmph, who told him not to follow me. I even saved him before. What a heartless brat…

Elaro suddenly turned around and hugged me tightly. He shouted, “I want to go with you!”

I was dumbstruck. I didn’t expect him to say that.

Elaro started to slide downwards. He was a child after all, not strong enough to support his entire weight. Despite that, he desperately grabbed at my clothes, not allowing himself to fall down…

After sliding downwards almost completely, he finally grabbed onto the ties at my waist. However, those ties were only for decorative purposes and were tied very loosely. This grab was essentially useless and his entire body plummeted downwards…

“Ah– Eh?”

Elaro raised his head to look at me. I was holding onto his arms. I snapped at him, “Congratulation, you’ve ripped off the Demon King’s waistband. You have successfully become the first ‘hero’.”

He laughed.

“Are you sure you want to follow me?” I asked calmly. “Let me make it clear, I’m not anyone else. I am the real Demon King. If you come with me, you will become the Demon King’s subordinate!”

I looked at Elaro seriously — he was more like the Demon King’s little servant, and momentarily did not know what to say.

At that moment, the holy knights finally arrived. They looked at me and Elaro, and all of them were stunned, as if they could not understand the current situation.

“I want to go with you.” For an eight year old child, Elaro’s serious expression was truly a bit impressive. With incomparable seriousness, he said, “It doesn’t matter what I will become, I just want to follow big brother!”

This kid is really quite interesting…

“Let that child go!” The holy knights below us seemed to have regained their senses. They kept shouting, “Don’t make things difficult for the child!”

Other holy knights even yelled “Don’t be scared, we will rescue you” and other similar phrases to comfort Elaro.

I carried Elaro with my left hand and, like a demon king, declared arrogantly with a loud laugh, “This child is already mine! Hahahahaha–”

I flew up in a single motion, letting the dark element open the way for me. I smashed straight through the rooftop of the Holy Temple, but this was not enough. As I crashed through the rooftop, two huge dark blades flew out and destroyed a large part of the roof over the entire Holy Temple.

Shouts arose from below. But of course holy knights wouldn’t shriek; most of them were exclamations. I even seemed to hear Blaze, that loud guy, roaring angrily.

Looking down, only the group of holy knights that had seen me take Elaro away were silent. It was truly a bit unusual. Could they have been knocked unconscious by loose rocks from the roof? Holy knights shouldn’t be so useless, right?

Just when I was thinking about extending my sensing ability to investigate further, a shout erupted from below.

“The Demon King has kidnapped a little boy!”

… Why does kidnapping a little boy sound like something every pervert has done? Besides, what I’ve done is considered abduction, not kidnapping alright? Elaro left with me obediently!

“Our little knight-in-training had been taken away! Hurry and save him!”

Still shouting? I stretched out my hand and gathered dark element, intending to obliterate the area. This is the Twelve Holy Knights’ rooms. I wonder, what sort of expressions they will each show when they see their own rooms in ruins?

Just thinking about it excites me!

“Don’t!” Elaro grabbed hold of my hand and shouted nervously.

I raised an eyebrow and gestured below. Below us, the more they shouted, the more exaggerated the shouts became. Words like “The Demon King is a pervert, he actually likes little boys” and such were all being said.

“…” Elaro was speechless for a while. Then he begged, “Please! Can we just go to the Demon King’s Castle right away?”

Elaro looked to be in such a frantic state that he was on the verge of tears, and I also did not feel like comforting a child. Fine, fine, at least this evil deed of kidnapping was really done by me, and I was not being blamed for something someone else had done.

I withdrew the dark element, tucked the little boy under my right arm… I mean, tucked Elaro! And then cast Instant Teleportation.

“Demon. King!” At that moment, Lesus’s furious shout came from below. “You dared to…”

You dared to? I didn’t destroy his room, why is he so angry… Oh, maybe because I destroyed the roof over the rooms?

“I wonder what Lesus said,” I mumbled to myself.

Elaro whispered, “He said you dared to destroy Sun’s room.”

I blinked. The previous scenery of the Holy Temple changed to that of the Demon King’s Castle.