After a full day of rushing about, Duanmu Huai finally returned to the Fortress City.
Seeing Shizuka come back safe and sound, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
However, when they learned that the girl standing behind Duanmu Huai, wearing a dark expression as if someone owed her several million, was actually a Demon Person, everyone was stunned!
"Lord Inquisitor, is she really a Demon Person?"
Even King Gandhi subconsciously took a few steps back after learning the Demon Person's true identity, staring at Sezer in shock. Hearing King Gandhi's question, Duanmu Huai curled his lips.
"Whether she is or not, why don't you try it yourself?"
"Chikako!"
"I understand!"
Upon hearing King Gandhi's order, Chikako—one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Seth—hurried forward and raised her hand toward Sezer.
"Flame Arrow!"
Accompanied by Chikako's shout, a flaming arrow shot forth, blasting toward Sezer. Sezer neither dodged nor moved, standing there calmly as the flaming arrow flew toward her. The next moment, everyone saw a bright crimson barrier abruptly appear in front of Sezer, effortlessly blocking Chikako's attack!
"Invincible Barrier!!"
Seeing this, everyone around was completely dumbfounded and instinctively retreated. Watching these humans' fear and terror toward her, Sezer proudly lifted her head, a cold smile appearing on her face.
"Hmph, mere humans, daring to attack a Demon Person? If it weren't for—"
Before Sezer could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by Duanmu Huai.
"Sit."
"..."
The next second, Sezer obediently sat down on the ground like a dog.
"Extend your hand."
Sezer gloomily stretched out her hand.
"Spin around twice."
Sezer walked two circles around Duanmu Huai.
"Alright, go stay over there."
Then Duanmu Huai kicked her straight into the corner.
"..."
Everyone present was completely stunned.
"Lord Inquisitor, how did you… do this?"
"You really turned this Demon Person into a familiar?"
Compared to the utterly baffled King Gandhi, his daughter Magico could more or less guess the reason—after all, she had been the one who took Duanmu Huai to take the Beast Tamer trial back then.
Still, even Magico hadn't expected that this could actually succeed.
"Yeah, that's basically it. I defeated her, then turned her into a familiar."
Duanmu Huai patted Sezer's head like he was petting a dog. Sezer ground her teeth in anger, but there was nothing she could do.
"If this gets out, Beast Tamers across the entire continent are going to go insane…"
Magico didn't know what else to say and could only press a hand to her forehead and sigh. She could even imagine that if word spread that Duanmu Huai could subdue Demon People, Beast Tamers might become an even more popular profession than Mages!
After all, who wouldn't want to subdue a Demon Person?
"Heh, if they're not afraid of dying, they can give it a try."
Duanmu Huai didn't care in the slightest. Thinking about it carefully, though, it did make sense. For a Beast Tamer to subdue a magical creature, the prerequisite was defeating it first. Duanmu Huai's combat power was unquestionable—he had already slain two Demon People, and even the former Demon King Jill had died at his hands. Someone like him capturing a Demon Person as a familiar wasn't that hard to justify.
But ordinary Beast Tamers… better forget it.
That would just be rushing off to die.
Soon, everyone recovered from the shock of Duanmu Huai subduing a Demon Person and began discussing the next issue.
That was—
How to counterattack?
According to Sezer, three Demon People had led the invasion of Seth. Now that one had fallen, two remained. In other words, as long as those two Demon People were eliminated, the Demon army would collapse immediately.
From King Gandhi's perspective, he actually hoped Duanmu Huai could subdue a few more Demon People, but Duanmu Huai clearly had no such intention.
Strictly speaking, his method could be used on both men and women—but Duanmu Huai obviously wouldn't use it on men, so Gik was as good as dead.
As for Camilla, although she was female—and a beauty at that—Duanmu Huai had already heard from Sezer that Camilla liked beautiful young boys…
Alright, completely incompatible. Coupled with the fact that Duanmu Huai had only acted against Sezer to verify his hypothesis, and now that the hypothesis had already been confirmed, Camilla had no further value.
Might as well chop her to death.
Hearing this, Sezer's heart pounded in fear.
Good thing I was lucky… otherwise, wouldn't the one getting chopped be me?
Wait—does this even count as being lucky?
Or would it have been better to just get chopped cleanly?
Survival or death.
For Sezer right now, that was truly a question.
While Sezer wrestled internally with her dilemma, King Gandhi and the others felt much more relaxed. With Duanmu Huai here, they could finally breathe easier. After all, only two Demon People remained—kill those two, and the Demon invasion would essentially be defeated.
Naturally, Duanmu Huai had already learned about the remaining Demon People's abilities from Sezer.
As one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon race, Camilla's strength was beyond doubt. According to Sezer, Camilla was also a Dragonkin—the last female Dragonkin of the dragon race. Later, the Demon King at the time bestowed blood upon her, transforming her into a Demon Person. That was precisely why Camilla's power was so immense, earning her a seat among the Four Heavenly Kings.
Hmm… speaking of Dragonkin, Duanmu Huai thought of Nos, whom he had casually killed back in Leazas…
Well, probably not that impressive anyway.
Gik, on the other hand, was far more troublesome. According to Sezer, Gik's most terrifying ability as a Demon Person was his power to transform into anything.
If such an ability fell into the hands of a sinister and cunning individual, it would be utterly lethal.
Fortunately, Gik wasn't that type of person. On the contrary, he was quite the gentleman. He never used despicable means to defeat opponents, always preferring open and honorable duels…
So what the hell is the point of your ability, then?
In Duanmu Huai's eyes, this power was tailor-made for assassination, infiltration, espionage, and killing—yet he was being told that Gik chose to fight head-on like a knight?
Well, as an enemy, that was actually pretty good.
At least Duanmu Huai wouldn't have to waste time hunting him down.
As the saying went, know yourself and know your enemy, and you'll never be defeated. With the intelligence squeezed out of Sezer, Seth's counteroffensive plan was quickly finalized. King Gandhi would personally lead a force of five hundred thousand troops, including the remnants of the Ice Legion and the Thunder Legion, and launch a direct counterattack against the royal capital where Camilla was located.
When the two armies faced off, with Sezer already taken out, the one commanding the Demon army would undoubtedly be Gik. Given Gik's personality, as long as Duanmu Huai issued a pre-battle challenge, Gik would definitely step out to accept it. Once Duanmu Huai killed Gik in front of the Demon army, their morale would collapse instantly. Then they could press the advantage, charge straight into the royal capital, kill Camilla, and eliminate all future worries!
Of course, all of this hinged on Duanmu Huai.
After all, Demon People had invincible barriers—aside from Duanmu Huai, no one else could kill them…
"Your Majesty!!"
Just as they were pushing pieces around the sand table and finalizing the battle plan, a soldier with an ashen face rushed in.
"This is bad, Your Majesty!"
"What is it? Have the Demon army already begun their attack?"
Seeing the soldier's expression, King Gandhi immediately grew serious. The soldier shook his head.
"No, not the Demons! It's Leazas! Their army has already arrived outside the fortress!"
"Leazas?!"
Hearing this, King Gandhi's body shook violently. Duanmu Huai raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Kanami standing nearby. She immediately turned her head away and started admiring the scenery outside the window.
Hmm… how should I put it—this isn't surprising…
Let's say it again: aside from being a lovestruck idiot in front of Duanmu Huai, Lia was actually a very competent queen. Faced with an opportunity to expand her territory like this, if Lia didn't act, she wouldn't be worthy of the throne.
To ordinary people, Leazas's behavior might seem shameless—taking advantage of chaos—but viewed from a political perspective, Leazas's choice made perfect sense.
First, there was no alliance treaty between Leazas and Seth, so there was no talk of betrayal. It was like the Three Kingdoms—Wei, Shu, and Wu—anyone fighting anyone was normal.
Second, Seth's situation was already total chaos. Even the royal capital had fallen. The nation of Seth was basically only alive in name. There was no reason for Leazas to show courtesy to a king of a fallen state.
Finally—and most simply—
If the Demons were going to invade through Seth anyway, then it was best to fight them on Seth's land.
Why fight the Demons on your own territory instead?
Wouldn't that be a massive loss?
"Sigh…"
Seeing this, Duanmu Huai let out a quiet sigh.
No helping it—he'd have to clean this up himself.
Meanwhile, atop the border fortress between Leazas and the Kingdom of Seth, Lia stood there, gazing down at the refugees below. Ever since the Demon army's invasion began, refugees from Seth had continuously fled toward Leazas. And now, for Lia, this was a rare opportunity.
"Are preparations complete?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Hearing Queen Lia's question, Rick, commander of the Crimson Legion, immediately replied. Lia nodded in satisfaction.
"Very good. With the King of Seth unable to even take care of himself, by using these refugees as shields, the Seth army won't be able to respond in time. Then we can seize the chance to crush them in one fell swoop—Seth will be mine!"
As she spoke, Lia looked toward the distant Seth fortress, a cold glint flashing in her eyes. Then she reached out and picked up the microphone.
"Ah… ah… mic test, mic test, campus broadcast, campus broadcast… this is a mic test. Good, sounds fine."
Hearing the transmitted sound, Lia nodded and raised her hand.
"Then—swear the oath!"
"We, Leazas! Do hereby swear to seize this opportunity and openly and honorably take Seth—"
"What are you saying?"
Before Lia could finish, a voice suddenly rang out, interrupting her. Her expression changed instantly.
"Who is it?!"
Speaking angrily, Lia turned toward the source of the voice—and saw a tall figure standing not far away, staring at her.
Seeing that tall figure, Lia froze. The next moment, she threw away the microphone, rushed forward, and hugged Duanmu Huai tightly.
"Darling——!!"
"We're in the middle of fighting the Demons. Why are you here stirring up trouble?"
Duanmu Huai looked at Lia unhappily. She stuck out her tongue.
"Lia is working! There's nothing I can do about it…!"
"Working? Aren't you afraid I'll punish you for doing something like this?"
Hearing this, Duanmu Huai raised an eyebrow and glared at Lia. Her body trembled.
"Punishment…"
As if thinking of something, a blush appeared on Lia's face.
"Lia wants to be punished, so… let's still attack Seth…!"
"...…"
This one is beyond saving.
"No."
Duanmu Huai coldly cut her off. Upon hearing this, Lia immediately panicked.
"Huh? Then doesn't that mean Lia won't be able to be punished?"
"I said no means no. If you keep making trouble, don't appear in front of me again."
"Uu——!!"
Hearing this, Lia hesitated, then helplessly lowered her head.
"Alright… Darling. I'll listen to you."
(End of Chapter)