Chapter 122: Childhood Friends, Demon Race Rebellion
Blood, mixed with severed limbs and shattered bones, splattered everywhere as the Earth Wyrms rampaged and swept through the stronghold. Any enemy foolish enough to block their path was instantly pulverized into a bloody paste.
"You demon wearing human skin!"
"You murderous monster!"
"I'll kill you!!"
...
Merazophis felt deeply exasperated. Why did he have to encounter these thoroughly brainless idiots every single time he fought? You are literally a bandit and a pillager, yet you have the nerve to run over here and call *me* a demon? What a joke.
With a flash of his blade, the final bandit collapsed, and the Earth Wyrms halted their slaughter, silently shifting to guard Merazophis from behind.
Standing atop a literal mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, Merazophis looked out over the absolute carnage and muttered to himself, "My heart is actually completely at peace... Is it because I am no longer human?"
Perhaps he had long since prepared himself. From the exact millisecond he became a vampire, it was preordained that he would exit the realm of humanity. As long as he held onto his inner resolve and refrained from turning into a mindless monster that existed solely to slaughter, he would be fine. He still carried the mission of protecting his young mistress and guiding his master toward a proper life; he absolutely could not allow himself to fall into depravity or darkness.
What he didn't know, however, was that his young mistress, Sophia, had already veered firmly onto a remarkably bizarre and twisted path.
"Monster, stay back!"
Right at that moment, a childish voice echoed from a short distance away. Merazophis followed the sound. He spotted a tiny little girl who looked no older than four or five, trembling violently as she hid behind a boy of roughly the same age, staring at him with wide, terror-stricken eyes.
"Uh..." Merazophis froze. This must be the reincarnation Lady Ariel had mentioned.
Even though the little boy was shaking from head to toe, he still stood resolutely in front of the girl to shield her. Since he couldn't kill these two children, Merazophis simply ignored them and continued walking toward the sector of the stronghold where the slaves were caged.
"I have no interest in children. You can leave." After dropping those flat words, he turned to walk away.
"Wait!"
"Hmm?"
Looking at his parents lying lifeless in pools of blood, the young boy's eyes flared with intense, burning hatred. "Tell me your name!" He clenched his fists tightly, glaring fiercely at Merazophis.
Merazophis knit his brows slightly, detecting a dense, heavy aura of negativity radiating from the boy–a cocktail of raw hatred and profound grief.
"Merazophis." He cast a downward glance at the child. Clearly, this boy was about to embark on a grueling, agonizing path of vengeance.
Merazophis had absolutely no intention of stopping him. Everyone possessed their own convictions, and he was no exception. *Stake everything you have and come seek your revenge against me, boy,* he thought to himself, stepping deeper into the stronghold.
"Just you wait! I will absolutely kill you!!" the young boy shrieked, his teeth grinding as he stared at the retreating back.
Merazophis's footsteps paused for a fraction of a second. He glanced back over his shoulder, a charming, enigmatic smirk playing on the corners of his lips. "I look forward to it."
The two young children watched in silence as Merazophis carried the unconscious elf girl out from the iron cages. To bandits, an elf was a priceless piece of war loot, so two little kids naturally never had a chance to get near Ms. Oka. In fact, they hadn't even known an elf was being kept inside the stronghold. They had very fortunately crossed paths with their teacher without ever realizing it.
Kunihiko Tagawa and Asaka Kushitani.
This pair of childhood friends from their previous lives had quite ingeniously reincarnated together within the exact same village in this life. Naturally, they had gravitated right back to one another. Asaka had sensed that something was fundamentally off about the village from the very beginning, so she had wanted to take Kunihiko and leave the area to find a peaceful place to enjoy a stable life.
While Kunihiko hadn't noticed any anomalies in the village, he had wanted to leave regardless. He harbored dreams of becoming an adventurer and exploring the vast, unknown world. Neither of them expected their wishes to be granted in such a horrific fashion.
They dug graves to bury the villagers, gathered up all the remaining money and valuables, located a carriage inside the stables, and began driving toward the nearest town.
"Tagawa-kun, do you absolutely have to become an adventurer?" inside the carriage, Asaka spoke up, a trace of melancholy in her voice.
"In the past, wanting to be an adventurer was just about fulfilling my dream of exploring an alternative world. But now, I want to become strong so I can personally seek out that bastard and get revenge!" Kunihiko's eyes burned with pure fury. "I swear, one day I will kill him!"
Asaka let out a quiet sigh. "I understand."
Asaka, who deeply craved a comfortable and tranquil life, chose to abandon her own ideals for the sake of the boy beside her. Neither of them could bear to be apart from the other, but their philosophies were inherently mismatched; one of them simply had to compromise. The young girl's concession paved the way for the boy, and though the boy was rather dense, he would eventually come to a profound realization down the road. As the saying goes, what is constantly remembered will eventually echo back.
Merazophis stood in the distance, silently watching the two children enter the town. Ultimately, following the advice of the town guards, the pair entered the Word of God Church to seek aid.
Once he confirmed everything was secure, Merazophis handed the young elf girl over to the extraction team dispatched by Agnar. By the time Ms. Oka finally opened her eyes, there wasn't a single trace of the demon race to be found around her. Instead, she was currently being escorted by an elf squad that was returning to their territory after delivering grain supplies to the demon realm.
She fully believed her own clansmen had rescued her from peril, feeling incredibly relieved and fortunate.
"Thank the Goddess of Luck for watching over me." Given how she managed to turn every single disaster into a narrow escape, she felt like she was rapidly burning through her entire lifetime's supply of good luck.
Meanwhile, back in the backyard garden of the manor inside the demon territory.
Shirazawa curled his lip. "The Goddess of Luck doesn't possess that kind of capability."
Severing the mental link with his mini-spider clone, Shirazawa knew that his teacher's safety was essentially secured. However, to ensure absolute certainty, there was one final variable that needed to be crossed off the list: the Word of God Church operating within the human empire.
"What is it now?" Inside the office, Ariel looked at the red-robed man who had suddenly materialized out of thin air, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly. *Showing up out of nowhere like that is seriously terrifying, you know.*
"How about accompanying me on a little trip to the Word of God Church?" Shirazawa cut straight to the point.
"I'm incredibly busy."
"Are you... certain?" Looking at a certain someone who was casually holding a wine glass and slowly sipping the crimson liquid inside, Shirazawa couldn't help but roll his eyes. You've literally dumped all the operational work onto Balto; what exactly does a person who just gives commands have to be busy with?
"It's an internal issue regarding the demon race. A specific faction has been acting quite restless lately, and it's giving me a massive headache." Ariel raised her goblet, taking a small, elegant sip. "I'm just drinking a little wine to relax my mind."
"Is that so...?"
"I'll help you sort that out in a little while. For now, come with me to the Church first." Shirazawa pondered for a moment and decided he would step in to resolve Ariel's annoying problem.
On the surface, he looked like he was just slacking off every day, but his mini-spider clones were never idle. The clones scattered across the entire continent allowed him to harvest any piece of intelligence the exact millisecond it manifested, giving him total control over the grand chessboard.
The issue currently plaguing Ariel was that a group of individuals within the demon race was secretly plotting a coup, aiming to overthrow the Demon King's tyrannical rule to "liberate" their people. However, she had no idea who the true masterminds behind this faction actually were. The conspirators could be certain high-ranking nobles, commanders of specific legions, or prominent administrative officials. The difficulty lay in the fact that the rebels were hiding far too well, leaving Ariel unable to separate friend from foe.
But a complication of this caliber was a laughably minor issue for Shirazawa.
"Fine, I'll take a trip with you then." The exact millisecond Ariel's words left her mouth, Shirazawa grabbed her small hand, and *swish*–they completely vanished from the room.
Inside the Holy Palace of the Word of God Religion.
A crowd of priests dressed in pristine white clerical robes was currently conducting their routine meeting under the convocation of Dustin. Out of nowhere, a suffocating, overwhelming wave of Demon King pressure enveloped the entire hall.
"Holy crap! The Demon King?!"
(ｷ｀ﾟДﾟ´)!!
Every single priest present was instantly scared out of their wits, and the hidden agents of the shadow organization lurking in the darkness were equally paralyzed with shock.
Only Dustin felt a massive headache coming on. *If you're going to drop by, at least have the common courtesy to knock on the door.* The old man was well advanced in years; his heart really couldn't take these kinds of sudden shocks.
---
[100 Ps = 1 Bonus Chapter.]
[20 total review = 1 Bonus Chapter.]
[] Patreon:
➔ Unlock advanced chapters & exclusive supporter roles in discord!
➔ For 50 adv chapters. [email protected]/Prince_of_LanLi