Chapter 175 – Chapter 35: Battle #2
After leaving Curtis, In-gong’s group was able to reach the Demon King’s Palace in 10 days. It was an incredibly long time compared to using the transportation formation, where they could move in the blink of an eye. However, according to Sepira, they arrived quite quickly. She stated she had been able to reduce the time by two days thanks to good weather.
There was a welcoming crowd at the flying ship airport, with a very good face at the front of the crowd.
“Shutra! Felicia unni!”
“Caitlin!”
As the stairs of the Black Flame Dragon were laid out, Caitlin spread her arms open, and Felicia hurried down the stairs. Then Caitlin dragged Felicia into a hug like she couldn’t wait anymore. The two of them had become really close since the Red Lightning tribe event. Caitlin buried her face in Felicia’s chest before approaching In-gong and opening her arms. Caitlin’s intention was clear, so In-gong hugged her. As In-gong was now taller than Caitlin, it was no longer awkward for him to hug her.
After a short hug, Caitlin looked up at In-gong’s face.
“I’ve heard the story. Weren’t you very active this time?”
Her golden eyes seemed to shine like lanterns. In-gong felt better and asked,
“Yes, Noona. Aren’t I amazing?”
At In-gong’s implicit request, Caitlin’s eyes widened but only for a moment. Then she smiled brightly and shouted,
“Amazing!”
The darkness in In-gong’s mind dissolved. It was like cleansing magic being used on the undead.
‘Hu, I have to admit it. The Amazing Princess is really amazing.’
Green Wind admitted defeat in his ears, while Felicia covered her face with a fan and laughed.
“Noisy.”
An elegant voice interrupted the bright and lively atmosphere. Caitlin looked up at Anastasia who was slowly descending the stairs.
“Anastasia unni.”
Caitlin’s voice subsided somewhat because their last encounter at Baikal’s tea party hadn’t been particularly good. Chris spoke on behalf of Caitlin,
“Anastasia noonim, I heard that this time was pretty dangerous.”
The sociable atmosphere instantly disappeared, replaced by tension. Then there was the loud sound of clapping, and Anastasia smiled slightly instead of snarling.
“It was dangerous. If it wasn’t for Shutra, I might not have returned to the Demon King’s Palace again.”
Chris frowned at her words. He had to admit that he was confused. Meanwhile, Anastasia finished descending the stairs and looked at In-gong.
“Shutra, I’ll be going first. I’ll see you later. Felicia, Silvan.”
Felicia nodded from beside Chris, while Silvan, who was still on the Black Flame Dragon, winked with his eye which wasn’t covered by the eyepatch. Other people would think he just closed his eyes, but Anastasia knew Silvan and understood him immediately. She smiled and turned toward Caitlin. Caitlin blinked as she received Anastasia’s attention, but Anastasia smiled again and spoke first.
“Caitlin as well.”
It was just a few words, but it was sufficient. Caitlin laughed again before Anastasia stepped forward gracefully. Her followers and her aide, Chandra, lined up behind her. Chris watched Anastasia’s exit quietly, then he said to In-gong,
“Hasn’t Anastasia’s attitude become softer? Did Shutra do something else?”
“Only what was mentioned.”
In-gong replied lightly, making Chris look toward Felicia for a further explanation. Felicia just said with a prudish expression,
“Well, it is a story for later. Let’s move on.”
Chris laughed and raised his hand to In-gong’s shoulder.
&
“Um, you gathered here so naturally that I can’t say anything.”
The children of the demon king were gathered in the reception room of In-gong’s mansion. It was a gathering of Shutra’s faction, consisting of the 5th Prince, 6th Princess, 7th Prince and 8th Princess. For example, it was common to scatter to their own mansions after returning to the Demon King’s Palace. However, this time, they had all gathered at In-gong’s house very naturally.
Chris said with a shrug,
“Shutra is our focal point. There is no better place to discuss things than your mansion.”
Among the children of the demon king, it was Chris who In-gong hadn’t seen for a long time. Chris seemed to have many pent up stories. However, he couldn’t listen to Chris’ story straight away. It had been quite a while since In-gong had returned to the mansion, so there were a few things he need to do first.
“Master, the talking raccoon has become a pig raccoon. Fat.”
Green Wind said with a frown as she solidified next to In-gong. Amita, who had gotten a slightly bloated, hit the ground with their tail. Although their tail was raised, the sound was softer than before.
“No? I just became slightly overweight from relaxing and sleeping a little bit!”
“Raccoon, don’t deny reality. You can’t even run as usual.”
“Sob.”
Carack’s brutal assessment caused Amita to grab their chest. In-gong glanced at Daphne, who was behind Amita, to ask what happened, but Daphne just shook her head with a sad expression.
“Anyway! I created many things in the meantime. I will show it later.”
Amita said with a grunt. In-gong nodded as he visualized Amita’s diet plan in his head.
“I understand. I have a lot to show you, so please look forward to it.”
“What? Did you get your hand on another item of an elder dragon?”
Amita asked with confusion. In-gong nodded again.
“There is also this.”
The Giant King’s Sword and Lizardmen’s Horn. Both of them had been made by the indigenous species 10,000 years ago.
“Hah, truly… you have the luck of a god. How is it that every time you go somewhere, you manage to sweep up all the goods?”
“I don’t know about good luck, but I have a guardian.”
In-gong stroked Green Wind’s head from where she was sitting next to him. Of course, Green Wind was good but…
Unfortunately, Nayatra wasn’t present in the mansion to share her story. She had left the Demon King’s Palace more than a month ago to gather information. The task In-gong had entrusted to her had been to investigate the sin of the gandharva. However, even if Nayatra was excellent in gathering information, it was unreasonable to expect her to figure it out in a month.
It was unavoidable, so In-gong turned toward Chris. This time, he intended to listen to Chris’ story. However, right then, just as Caitlin was having fun pressing her fingertips to Amita’s belly…
“Your Highness, the 4th Princess has come to visit you.”
Flora entered the reception room and said in a quiet tone. It was an unexpected visit, so In-gong didn’t know about it.
“Anastasia noona?”
Chris and Felicia were surprised. Felicia, who had a good relationship with Anastasia, nodded, but Chris frowned.
After a moment, In-gong replied to Flora,
“Flora, bring her to this room.”
“I understand.”
Flora left for five minutes and showed up again with Anastasia and Chandra. Anastasia sat down on the couch and looked at Chris who had a cold expression, Caitlin who seemed lost, Felicia and Silvan who had a relative calm expression. Then Anastasia said in a relaxed tone,
“Everybody is gathered.”
“Did something happen?”
At In-gong’s question, Anastasia turned her gaze toward Felicia.
“It is due to Felicia’s urging. Didn’t you say there should be a reward for saving me at the central fortress?”
She had said that clearly. Rather than giving a further explanation, Chandra handed Anastasia a small box with a small necklace inside it.
“Here.”
Anastasia handed the necklace to In-gong. In-gong was already wearing the Tears of a Dark Elf, which meant he would be wearing two necklaces, but it still looked presentable because both were very thin.
“Succubus… Tears?”
In-gong muttered the name of the item which popped up, and Anastasia nodded.
“It is similar to the Tears of a Dark Elf, but it’s different. By default, it has a strong resistance against mental attacks, but it also contains attraction…”
‘It is like a strong attraction drug. The effect is remarkable.’
The last part was sent through message magic. In-gong nodded automatically. The Succubus Tears was one of the so-called ‘tear series’, a great item which contained Anastasia’s attraction ability and defensive ability against mental attacks.
‘Wah, Anastasia is actually giving this to me.’
In Knight Saga, he had no choice but to defeat Anastasia. In order to do that, he had to defeat the succubus’ territory and take down the 2nd Queen Titania Nekrion.
‘Is this an item that can create a bizarre play?’
It was literally a love potion. In-gong touched the purple jewel at the end of the necklace and smiled. However, unlike In-gong, Felicia frowned as though she disliked it.
“Unni, the effect will overlap with the Tears of a Dark Elf. Isn’t there anything more helpful?”
“Don’t you think it is helpful enough?”
It seemed that Felicia wasn’t interested in the attraction effect. Then at that moment…
“Hoh, everyone is gathered here.”
A familiar voice was heard from the terrace. The first to react was surprisingly Anastasia.
“Sword Duke?!”
The sword duke, who had appeared out of nowhere, laughed instead of answering and opened the door to the terrace. He had appeared so suddenly that everyone was perplexed. In particular, Chris and Silvan were so surprised that they were almost frozen.
Anastasia was the first one to recover. She hurried to cover her armpits, but it was too late. The sword duke took one step and was already right in front of her nose.
“Kuk!”
The sword duke’s big hands went underneath Anastasia’s armpits. Anastasia struggled desperately and shouted,
“S-stop!”
However, he didn’t listen. The sword duke laughed and raised Anastasia up high.
“Higher! Higher!”
“S-stop it!”
Anastasia, who had always been graceful, shouted with a grouchy expression. She was spun round and round toward the ceiling as the hem of her dress spread out wide. After several rounds, the sword duke set Anastasia down, and she staggered. The sword duke clicked his tongue.
“You liked this when you were a child… You’ve changed, Princess.”
“I didn’t like it when I was a child!”
There was no elegance this time. The sword duke clicked his tongue again before moving his gaze. Felicia noticed where he was looking and shouted urgently,
“W-wait a minute!”
Felicia wasn’t much different from Anastasia. She was grabbed by the waist and spun round and round in the air.
“Put me down! I’m telling you to put me down!”
Felicia struggled like how Anastasia had done, but the sword duke didn’t budge. After a while, Felicia landed on the ground was in a similar manner to Anastasia earlier. Felicia then sat down on the ground and muttered complaints about the sword duke.
The sword duke laughed at the two princesses and turned to Caitlin. Unlike the previous two, Caitlin actually welcomed the sword duke.
“More!”
The laughing Caitlin exclaimed as soon as she was put on the ground. It was a pleasurable response, but the sword duke’s expression only changed subtly.
“Well, I’m glad that you are happy, but… I feel like it is less exciting.”
The sword duke finished patting Caitlin’s head and turned toward the princes this time. Silvan opened his arms in anticipation, while Chris watched the sword duke. Fortunately or unfortunately, the sword duke only greeted the two princes.
“It is nice to see you. I’m glad that both of you seem healthy.”
“I greet the sword duke.”
“M-me too.”
Chris and Silvan responded hurriedly. After finishing the very brief greeting, especially in comparison to the greeting with the princesses, the sword duke finally looked at In-gong.
“Sword Duke, did something happen?”
There had to be a reason for his sudden appearance. The sword duke took a deep breath and looked at In-gong with his unique and penetrating gaze.
“I heard about Curtis. So, I was wondering how much you’ve grown.”
After finishing his test, the sword duke crossed his arms and laughed at Anastasia.
“It wasn’t in the direction I expected, but… you have definitely become stronger. Additionally, your performance in the military was quite good. I am looking forward to the court gathering.”
“The court gathering?”
They had heard that the court gathering would occur three days later, at the earliest. He felt a strange feeling after hearing that the sword duke was looking forward to the court gathering. However, the sword duke didn’t reply. He glanced at the panting Anastasia and Felicia on the floor and moved toward the terrace in the blink of an eye.
“It is great to see you with Princess Anastasia. Then I will see you at the court gathering.”
The sword duke disappeared like the wind. In-gong opened the mini-map reflexively, but he couldn’t find the battlefield. Indeed, the sword duke was a true hero of the Demon World. The reception room was silent, like the sea calming down after a storm had passed.
“Annoying.”
Anastasia, who still hadn’t regained her elegance, muttered, and Felicia nodded in agreement. It was a moment when the relationship between the sisters became stronger.
“Um.”
Carack closed the terrace door and muttered in a low voice as he approached In-gong. Then Carack scratched his head and said,
“Prince, it is obvious that something is going to happen on the day of the court gathering.”
“Yes.”
In-gong leaned back on the couch and agreed. He couldn’t help laughing.
&
“My appearance isn’t a surprise.”
“The appearance of the 4th Queen is within the expected range.”