Chapter: 22. What Do You Think?
Setting aside the content of the conversation, the atmosphere in the Demon Kingdom’s palace was truly suffocating.
Two rows of dimly flickering candle flames burned continuously along both sides of the Grand Hall of the Demon King’s Castle, swaying without any breeze.
The dark red carpet extended forward to the purple crystal throne of the Demon King, ominous and solemn in its grandeur.
The current Demon King, Dizna Hald, sat firmly upon the throne.
With fiery short hair, blood-red eyes, and a robust physique.
Surrounded by thick magic, his crimson armor declared the presence of the Demon King, an absolute posture that could not be defied.
Behind him, a pair of jet-black six wings extended over two meters, shimmering softly, their shadows dragging long across the crystal walls.
As one of the strongest beings in the world, the Demon King had long ruled from this place.
Beside Dizna stood a woman of striking beauty, with a graceful figure and captivating looks. Her long silver hair, as bright as the moon, was complemented by a dark blue, dreamlike gown.
Though her six wings were not as imposing as the Demon King’s, they possessed a different kind of grace, with glimmers of magic cascading down like gentle raindrops along the wings.
This was the current Queen of the Demon Race, Herlith Hald.
When the King and Queen of the Demon Race gathered, even the legendary deities that had never descended might hesitate to approach.
However, this fearsome Demon King was, at this moment, unable to contain his sighs!
“Aaah! This is so infuriating!”
“Oh dear… Dizna, that’s already the ninth sigh of the day, isn’t it?”
Herlith smiled lightly, placing a finger to her lips in reminder.
Upon hearing this, the Demon King Dizna frowned even more!
“What do you want me to do? Just leave me be!”
“But Dizna, didn’t we agree to discuss this matter calmly? Your constant sighing is making me anxious. Don’t you think a big part of Xue Fei’s running away is due to your impatient nature?”
“What does that have to do with me?! That girl Xue Fei is just too much to handle, isn’t it partly your fault for spoiling her since she was little? Aaaah…! Let me say… uh?”
“That makes it the tenth sigh… ha, my dear Dizna, this was your last warning!”
Hearing the crackle of accumulated magic near her…
Dizna quickly turned to look beside him!
He saw his wife “smiling,” her hands gradually forming a sharp, magical ice shard shimmering with colors, illuminating her gentle face.
The once imposing Demon King, who had been filled with authority, quickly stood up and waved his hands in apology.
Even the wings behind him curled inward as if bowing in submission.
“I’m sorry! Herlith, please don’t be angry! It’s all… all my fault for not taking care of the child enough! Blame me, blame me!”
Seeing him accept blame, Herlith dispersed her magic.
She returned her hands to her front, dignified and graceful as always, tilting her head and giving a gentle smile.
“Mm-mm, Xue Fei’s situation is a shared responsibility, we can’t shift the blame because of impatience, right?”
“Yes… yes!”
At that moment, you couldn’t tell who the real Demon King was.
Dizna sighed and turned back to the stone table in front of him.
Even so… as he gazed at the pile of petitions hoping to continue attacking the human race, he felt as if a heavy stone was pressing on his heart.
“This is ridiculous… Xue Fei pretending to be captured, doesn’t she think we would believe it? If she were truly captured, I might as well resign as the Demon King! I bet she has bribed a hero; otherwise, who would accompany her in such nonsense?”
“Ha ha… I think Xue Fei has predicted that, and we just can’t do anything if we don’t believe it. After all, she’s my daughter—clever and resourceful; her escape is flawless.”
“Why are you so proud of that… Is it something to be proud of?”
“Depends on how you see it~ I think it’s fine! Treat it as a break for the child to go on a trip, isn’t that good?”
“You’re surprisingly easygoing…”
As for whether Xue Fei was truly captured or pretending, the Demon King and Queen felt they didn’t need to think about the answer.
After all, only the two of them knew Xue Fei’s true strength.
Eight wings.
Human race to catch her?
They might as well try using their heads?!
So when the messenger of the Demon Race brought back the news that the First Princess had been captured by a hero, it was not met with the usual lamentation.
The Demon King wore a black face.
The Queen, on the other hand, burst out laughing.
One could only say, truly my daughter~ her way of slacking off is abundant!
The more Dizna looked at the petitions demanding a fight to the death, the more he felt a headache coming on.
He wanted to continue lamenting but dared not breathe under his wife’s pressure.
In the end, he could only push those papers aside and absentmindedly ask this question.
“What’s the situation with Belis lately?”
“It’s as if her father has to ask me…” Herlith replied, concern slowly appearing on her face, “That child has been locking herself in her room these past few days; she didn’t attend the royal meeting before.”
“Absurd!”
Dizna’s broad hand slammed onto the armrest of the chair engraved with beast heads.
Instantly, a powerful wave of pressure echoed throughout the vast Demon King’s Grand Hall.
“As the Second Princess of the Demon Race, being so willful, how will she command respect in the future?”
“Here we go again… Although the two sisters do not get along well usually, they are still blood relatives. Belis thinking Xue Fei was truly captured and being in a bad mood is understandable.”
“Let’s hope she’s just in a bad mood.”
The conversation then halted abruptly.
The door to the Demon Grand Hall was knocked with a heavy and powerful sound.
The door emitted a low groan akin to a magical beast.
Someone was visiting.
This was precisely the reason the Demon King and Queen were present in the hall today.
Dizna adjusted his sitting posture and merely tapped his toes lightly, causing the heavy door, weighing several tons, to slowly creak open.
After a moment, the sound of heavy boots clashing against the crystal floor echoed.
The footsteps became louder as they approached.
Finally, a six-winged figure emerged from the dim purple light.
Simultaneously, the Demon King’s deep voice suddenly rang out.
“Jeffrey, you have arrived?”
“Old minister has arrived, Your Majesty.”
An elderly and unchanging voice responded to the call of the Demon King.
An old man with white hair, held his head high from amidst the dim light.
Upon seeing this familiar, aging face, the Demon King couldn’t help but frown lightly.
Jeffrey was the head of the largest duke family in the Demon Territory and was rumored to have lived for over three hundred years, making him quite experienced.
Counting Xue Fei, there were five six-winged beings in the demon race.
Jeffrey was one of them.
Compared to the Demon King, who had already lived over a hundred years, Jeffrey had witnessed more of the history of the Demon Race.
Jeffrey folded his six wings and placed one hand on his chest, kneeling on one knee towards the throne.
The Demon King waved his hand to indicate he need not be so formal.
“Jeffrey, I have heard you have important matters to report?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
After standing up, Jeffrey staggered slightly, his hand revealing a cane shaped by magic to support his body, steadying himself on the ground below.
Though appearing decrepit, this was only on the surface.
In reality, the Demon King knew of his capabilities.
Six wings were not for show.
Jeffrey’s slightly cloudy eyes had no visible emotion, as he reported the situation to the Demon King.
The pace of his speech was unhurried, yet each word was clear.
What he was saying was entirely within the Demon King Dizna’s expectations.
“Your Majesty, Princess Xue Fei has been captured; this is a great shame for our race, and the human race must pay the price for this.”
“Oh? Just in time, many recent petitions have been discussing this matter.” Dizna rested his arm on the throne, propping up his cheek with his palm, exuding the demeanor of a monarch, “Jeffrey, are there any strategies you can offer?”
“No.”
“……”
No?
Then what exactly did you come here for?!
To be honest… the Demon King had been quite irritable recently, with nobles of varying ranks in the Demon Territory petitioning to continue attacking humans. Today even this old fellow Jeffrey had insisted on seeing the Demon King in person.
And now after all the time he had made them wait, he delivered this?
Just as Dizna was about to hold him accountable.
Jeffrey’s magical cane tapped lightly on the floor, opening his mouth to continue speaking.
And the eight words he spoke were decisive, with heavy weight.
“Break the treaty and launch an all-out attack.”
“Oh…? Please share the details with me.”
Jeffrey remained calm, continuing to articulate each word clearly.
“The old minister believes… the matter of Princess Xue Fei’s capture has already incited the anger of our entire race. We need not continue maintaining the treaty with the High-Level Races; at this moment, our race should devote all our strength to exterminating the human race swiftly.”
“The 6th and 8th elite battalions of the Demon King’s Army have yet to withdraw from the human borders and can attack at any time. If war reignites, then surely for a short period of time… the human race will still use Princess Xue Fei as a bargaining chip for a ceasefire and would not dare to act recklessly.”
“At the same time, we should send six-winged beings to Aulus Kingdom’s capital to rescue Princess Xue Fei amidst the chaos, and decisively obliterate the Aulus Kingdom; this is a sound strategy.”
Having listened with a hint of impatience, Dizna spread his hands and inquired.
“What if the High-Level Races come to attack our race?”
“Old minister is willing to face it head-on.”
After saying this.
From Jeffrey’s feet, a circle of magical energy surged forth.
Clearly, it was grand and powerful, yet it didn’t damage a single stone within the hall.
Instead, it dispersed the clouds in the sky outside the Demon King’s Castle.
With his cane striking the ground again.
Jeffrey withdrew his magic, becoming the frail old man once more.
“Even if the Dark Dragon King were to come, what could he do to me?”
After a moment of silence…
What Jeffrey heard was not the Demon King’s consent.
But muffled laughter.
Gradually transforming into unrestrained guffaws!
“Ha ha ha… hahahaha!”
“Your Majesty…?”
“Ha ha ha… Jeffrey, your temperament is truly admirable and impressive!”
As the laughter subsided.
The Demon King Dizna’s blood-red eyes suddenly glimmered with ominous sharpness.
“Jeffrey… first
let’s not discuss whether your strength can truly withstand the attack of the High-Level Races; even if it could, if my daughter Xue Fei were to meet with any mishap during your so-called rescue, can you bear that responsibility?! How can you be so sure the human race wouldn’t dare to act recklessly?!”
A chaotic tide of magical energy surged even more fiercely than Jeffrey’s energy, causing Jeffrey’s robes to billow wildly.
In an instant, it extinguished a whole row of dim purple flames on the left, while the row on the right remained flickering as before.
As the flow of magic dissipated.
No emotion could be discerned in Jeffrey’s eyes.
But he silently sighed, the magical cane in his hand gradually fading away, kneeling on one knee again, just as before.
“I am very sorry… Your Majesty, it was my oversight.”
“It’s alright! Hahahahaha! Hmm…?!”
Unbeknownst to Jeffrey, the Queen Herlith suddenly slapped the back of the Demon King’s head!
With a loud thud, the echo reverberated through the vast hall, ending the long silence!
As Jeffrey looked up in confusion, Herlith stepped forward. The tone of her speech had less of the Demon King’s sharpness, yet her authority and majesty remained intact.
“Jeffrey, we understand the feelings of you and the others. As parents, Dizna and I are just as anxious, but as commanders, we must not act on impulse.”
“What the Queen says is absolutely correct.”
“We will negotiate with the Aulus Kingdom to bring Xue Fei back peacefully. If that fails, we will take up arms. The weapons remain in our hands, and since you, Jeffrey, genuinely care for our race, there is no need to rush now.”
“……”
At this point, Jeffrey had nothing further to say.
It was unclear whether he agreed or not.
However, he exited the palace while maintaining the impeccable etiquette of a noble.
The doors to the Demon Grand Hall closed once more.
The dim purple lights were then turned back on.
Demon King Dizna frowned as he watched Jeffrey leave, clicking his tongue in disdain.
“Anxious for quick results and seeking to leave a legacy, that old fellow has half a foot in the grave… rushing to achieve merit, speaking grandly, does he really think he cares about my daughter’s well-being?”
“It is what it is, and it need not be stated.” Herlith still smiled with her eyes narrowed, calm and beautiful, “Compared to that, you should pay more attention to Xue Fei’s feelings and see when she can return home.”
“Aaah…”
“Another sigh?”
“No… this time I am reflecting on myself, don’t misunderstand.”
Once again looking at the pile of attack documents…
Dizna began to self-doubt… whether his previous family education truly had issues, whether he had put too much pressure on Xue Fei, leading her to pack her bags and run away from home.
The Demon King expressed deep concern.
“I wonder what Xue Fei’s situation is now; could she be destitute and sleeping on the streets?!”
“Aaah… if you can say such a thing, it means you truly don’t understand our daughter; she can make others suffer, but she won’t suffer herself.”
“Could running away from home come with feast-like comforts?”
“What do you think?”
