“We are contract demons now, aren’t we? Contract demons should be quiet and low-key.” Thrett, adopting an attitude of indifference and enjoying the spectacle, made Ziyuan feel resentful towards the Demon King for the first time.
There was a different commotion in the arena. One demon was frantically darting around, escaping the chaotic battle of beasts. It had a deep and long knife wound on its neck, and dark red blood splattered on the ground.
After a while, two other demons roared angrily, their massive bodies bearing bloody knife wounds as they withdrew from the beastly fight. Gradually, a figure wielding a blood-red broadsword and driving away the demons came into view through the dust.
With a powerful swing that dispersed the sand and dust obscuring everyone’s view, Ellyad’s figure emerged, displaying a valiant combat posture, repelling the monsters. Meanwhile, the young prince knelt behind him, surrounded by scattered red crystal fragments. The red crystal sword had been shattered during the chaos, causing the earlier screams from Wei Yu.
The shattered sword symbolized the disqualification of the title of the hero, and more importantly, it symbolized the tragic fate Wei Yu could not escape. He was now powerless to resist, unable to pretend ignorance, and even the ability to hypnotize himself seemed to have disappeared.
“Stop worrying about that sword, and get out of here quickly,” Ellyad shouted to Wei Yu while fending off the continuous attacks of the demons. The ground was now stained with the creatures’ black and red blood, a nauseating sight.
Ziyuan finally dared to affirm the true identity of the young man. However, he immediately turned his gaze back to the Demon King, unable to fathom how he dared to travel with the archenemy, the hero, and even regarded him as a companion.
Seeing Thrett’s expression of “Oh no, this is bad,” Ziyuan truly felt that he might be shortening his lifespan by provoking the Demon King like this.
Suddenly, the situation, which had seemed to be improving, came to an end as a dragon spewed out intense flames. To everyone’s surprise, there was a red fire-breathing dragon among the demons!
Dragons were considered the most special among the classification of monsters. Depending on their strength, some even argued that dragons should be classified as divine beasts. Divine beasts were legendary creatures, and many believed that they ranked just below goddesses and the Demon King, holding the pinnacle of all creatures with both human intelligence and formidable monster strength.
“Ziyuan, that dragon looks strangely familiar.”
“Hongyuan!” Ziyuan shouted.
Hongyuan was the fire-breathing dragon, one of the Demon King’s Four Pets, who had run away a few months ago due to the breeding season. Fortunately, if it was Hongyuan, they could be certain it wasn’t some formidable opponent like a legendary divine beast.
The flames spread to the other demons, causing those burned by the fire to become even more frenzied. They wildly attacked, and one particularly enraged demon swung its tail violently, heading straight for the kneeling Wei Yu
“Your Highness!” Ellyad rushed over to shield the prince, who refused to leave the broken sword. However, both Ellyad and Wei Yu were sent flying as the tail struck with force. Ellyad, unconscious, collapsed directly onto Wei Yu. Though Wei Yu managed to catch him, it made their escape even more difficult.
Observing this scene, Thrett suddenly spoke, “By the way—”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
In an instant, Ziyuan felt a powerful surge of magical energy beside him. Turning, he saw Thrett squinting expressionlessly. This was a prelude to the Demon King getting angry.
“Tbeg Zjpfras, qifjrf mjiw vbkc.”
“Ktlr mbecags lr jikjsr yjv-wbeatlcu atf Gfwbc Blcu, jcv atf obbv lr rb yjv la wjxfr wf kjca ab ub yfgrfgx. Ccskjs, P’w pera j ‘ojxf’ mbcagjmafv vfwbc. Qts cba ifa wf vfragbs atlr mbecags jr j wjaafg bo mbegrf?” Ktf Gfwbc Blcu rwlgxfv, yjglcu tlr affat, jcv tlr qeqlir lcrajcais mbcagjmafv lcab cffvif-ilxf rtjqfr. Ktfgf kjr cb agjmf bo tewbg lc tlr olfgmf ujhf.
“Your Majesty!” Ziyuan knew that the Demon King rarely got angry, so Thrett’s actions were now completely unpredictable. He might actually destroy the entire country, or he could do something even more unpredictable.
Ignoring Ziyuan’s calls, Thrett leaped towards the center of the arena, landing gracefully on the ground. The moment Thrett’s toe touched the ground, the earth seemed to ripple violently, creating intense waves that rapidly spread and cracked towards the outer edge!
With each step the Demon King took forward, the land behind him followed his stride, breaking into large pieces and raising a dust storm that filled the sky.
No one could see clearly what was happening in the arena, but the booming and trembling of the fractured ground terrified everyone.
Thrett walked straight towards Ellyad. The dark cloak billowing behind him became a substitute for the Demon King’s black wings. Even without spreading the wings symbolizing the Demon King, he exuded an aura of dominance.
The surrounding demons were still confused about the situation, attacking instinctively at the sudden appearance of the figure. Thrett lifted his head, and his dawn-colored eyes sparkled with a fierce momentum. He sternly commanded, “Get lost.”
Instantly, all the creatures within the Demon King’s line of sight fled without daring to take half a step beyond the forbidden zone.
Thrett reached Ellyad, crouched down, and lifted the unconscious Ellyad horizontally. Wei Yu widened his eyes, unable to believe what was happening. An ordinary demon possessed such incredible power. With just a few words, he made all the demons submit beneath his feet.
“Why do you have such──” Wei Yu was about to speak when Thrett kicked him several feet away.
“Enough noise.” Thrett uttered coldly, then turned around and carried Ellyad away. As soon as the demons saw him leaving, they immediately surrounded Tailfeather.
Ziyuan also rushed over following Thrett. Before the demons gathered around, he forcefully lifted Wei Yu from the ground, shaking him while yelling, “If that fake sword is broken, fine! But if you die now, what will you use to protect your country? Do you plan to break your promise?”
Ziyuan didn’t know why he was spouting such nonsense. He didn’t need to care about the life or death of a human. In the chaos just now, he only knew that escaping the encirclement of the demons with Wei Yu was the most crucial, so he dragged Wei Yu desperately, following behind Thrett to escape the siege of the demons.
The scene was in chaos, and the king urgently ordered all the contracted demons and armored soldiers to suppress the eight demons in the arena.
“Hongyuan, come here.” Thrett called out loudly, and the fire-breathing dragon obediently flew over and lowered its head in front of the Demon King.
“I’m going back to ‘that place’ now,” Thrett whispered. The dual-colored pupils had unknowingly returned to their initial state. He forcefully removed the seal placed by Queen Lily on himself, burying the dawn-colored eyes deep in the overwhelming demonic power within the Demon King.
“I understand.” Since he couldn’t open the Skeletal Wing to fly back, the Demon King planned to ride the fire-breathing dragon back to the Demon King’s castle. At the same time, he would bring Hongyuan back to the castle, so as not to have the dragon wandering off on its own on the way back.
Even though Wei Yu couldn’t hear their conversation from a distance, watching Ziyuan and the fire-breathing dragon submit to Thrett raised countless conflicting doubts in his heart.
After the conversation between the two ended, Thrett carried Ellyad towards Wei Yu. He handed the unconscious Ellyad over to Wei Yu, calling out, “Pink Love Goddess, come out and take care of your owner.” With these words, a platinum-haired elf girl immediately appeared and hurriedly assisted Wei Yu in supporting Ellyad.
“Ell is temporarily entrusted to you.” After settling Ell as best as he could, Thrett, before leaving, turned back and added, “Kid, let me remind you again, it’s best not to forget what I said before.”
The lingering feeling of fear and trembling still haunted Wei Yu. Even the kick he had just received was so painful that he could hardly get up. Besides nodding vigorously, he didn’t dare to make any other response.
Thrett then mounted the fire-breathing dragon with Ziyuan, and Wei Yu’s confusion grew higher. Noticing his gaze, Ziyuan, though aware that this explanation was unnecessary, still felt the need to reassure Wei Yu. “This fire-breathing dragon is a monster I know. Now, Thrett and I are sending it back to its original place. We will come back.” After that, the two of them left.
Wei Yu had no way of knowing whether he could trust those two demons to return, or if their return would be a good thing. Nevertheless, he immediately had Ellyad receive treatment and instructed him to rest in the room.
—
Wei Yu walked briskly along the corridors of the palace, and indeed, the situation had worsened compared to before, with more people ignoring and despising him. In addition to the disdainful looks from the servants in the palace, not to mention the destroyed arena surroundings, there were thousands of eyes from the spectators during the competition.
News of two individuals inheriting the fragmented power of the heroes had spread like wildfire, but no one publicized it. This was the original and oldest hero kingdom, and taboos like this were better left unspoken.
Perhaps there was no place for Wei Yu here anymore. Unlike Ellyad, who had companions willing to protect him, Wei Yu had long known that this hero performance was planned by everyone. After the failure of the plan, his situation would only become more difficult. Even if he thought of protecting this country, the country did not need him.
A discouraged Wei Yu arrived at Ellyad’s door, only to see Ellyad, who should have been lying quietly in bed for recovery, sitting at the bedside fully dressed, with a somewhat unstable complexion.
“You still can’t get out of bed. Although the court physician said it’s fine as long as you wake up, you still don’t look too good. Rest a bit more!” He started talking non-stop, trying to force himself to perk up.
He had once laid a heavy hand on Ellyad, but Ellyad seemed unaware of it. It seemed that the black-haired demon hadn’t reported Wei Yu’s actions to Ellyad. Nevertheless, the warning alone was enough to make Wei Yu afraid.
“How long have I slept?” Ellyad felt his throat was dry, and his voice was somewhat hoarse.
“You’ve slept for a full three days. How do you feel now?” Wei Yu poured him a glass of water, remembering Thrett’s admonition before leaving.
“Physically, I’m fine. What about Thrett?” Understanding his own condition, Ellyad’s first concern was the whereabouts of the missing Thrett.
“Three days ago, he and his demon companion left for something, but they said they would be back soon—”
“They left?” Ellyad was already shocked, jumping up from the bed before Wei Yu could finish speaking.
“Don’t get too worked up. They said they would be back soon, so you can rest a bit more,” Wei Yu hurriedly reassured the anxious Ellyad.
Ellyad instantly breathed a sigh of relief. If they said they would come back, then he felt at ease.
Facing the other half of the heroes, Wei Yu had countless thoughts in his mind, but not a single word could be uttered. He could only remain silent and wait.
“Uh, Ellyad, would you want to become… Become a complete hero?”
This question from Wei Yu had been on Ellyad’s mind since he saved him. Wei Yu was probably never going to be taken seriously again. If he killed Ellyad now, Wei Yu would not only be labeled a murderer, but when Thrett returned, he would likely fulfill his promise and destroy the Kingdom as Wei Yu’s burial ground. If he wanted to protect the country, he couldn’t kill Ellyad. The only option left to truly protect everyone was—
‘Let me die and return the hero’s power to Ellyad?’
Shaking his head to dismiss the thought, Wei Yu realized that what he truly wanted to do was to protect the country he cherished with his own hands. He now understood that deciding who should die, whether it was Ellyad or himself, was not a genuine solution and was utterly foolish.
“Hmm?”
“Nothing,” Wei Yu shook his head, choosing not to delve into that line of thinking again.
“By the way, since you’re awake, would you like to move around near the palace? It’s still National Celebration week, and there’s an abundance of delicious food everywhere.”
Ellyad, a bit averse to crowded places, politely declined Wei Yu’s offer, “I’ll just wait here for Thrett.”
He just wanted to see Thrett as soon as possible. In the moment he fainted, he felt a strong surge of magic, and every cell in his body seemed to boil, clamoring to eradicate that power. However, in the next instant, the restlessness of the hero’s mission was dispersed by the familiar warmth. Even though Ellyad had already passed out at that moment, he still knew who had saved him.
This probably isn’t normal but I got disappointed when Polon realized he didn’t want death to complete a hero. I feel kinda bad bc my first thought was ‘ugh i wish i could see Polon be mentally unhealthy: it’d be nice to see Ziyuan taking care of him.’ like my first thought was to hope that Polon was depressed???
thanks for the chapter ~♥
ˁ•ᴗ•ˀつ～ 💞
I understand, but at the same time, geez man 😭
Thtett’s identity is about to be revealed!! I’m so excited! 😆
So Ell actually figured out Thrett’s identity? Yay! Cannot wait 🤗 I was afraid the author will drag it on…But Polon…Ell is only alive because Thrett noticed Polon’d poisoned him. So that was ok then, scheming for Ell to lose his life; but when it’s about his own, the solution is suddenly “foolish”? Duh 😤
Thank you for the chapter ฅ /ᐠ • ꞈ • ᐟ\♡
<3