A little girl was swinging her legs happily as she rode on top of a carriage and looked upon the fortress walls with shining eyes.
Demon King Orias had finally arrived in the northern kingdom.
The carriage she was on passed through the checkpoints with no problems, and soon the sights of a bustling town with people rapidly moving about made itself clear. Orias was observing everything around her with rapt attention as she listened to the conversations she heard.
"The King is retiring so soon huh? I'm excited to see the coronation of the queen in the days to come!"
"Bah, you're still going on about that? That's the wrong thing to focus on man, it's all about the new foods being distributed and sold right now. I wonder how the princess was able to do what she did."
"Haha, its a blessing from the world, simple as that! Come on, let's go buy some more and stock up for the future!"
The people in the kingdom seemed to be relatively happy, not the types that knew they were in the middle of the war with invaders breathing down their necks.
Orias absorbed these sights as a small red pen and black notebook appeared in her hands as she began writing notes.
-Morale is high in the kingdom. Change in leadership is imminent.-
The carriage she was on came to a stop at a certain shop as the merchants began to batter and unload their products, looking longingly at the shining produce that could be seen in many of the shops around them.
There were signs of construction going on across the town and in most other places you looked at as more inns and houses were being built to accommodate the continued refugees that fled into the kingdom. Orias continued to scribble in her book.
-Unlike how most other kingdoms in this world are currently, the kingdom in the north seems to be actively expanding.-
She was recording the littlest of things as she tried to be very thorough. Even if they didn't seem important, when she went over them later she might find something that could point her in the right direction.
She moved around carefully as she continued to observe the kingdom, most of her information coming from the conversations that continued to occur around her.
"Sir adventurer, I heard you were in the battle and watched first hand how the hero defeated the demon king, can you describe what you saw?!"
A small conversation quickly made her ears perk up as she neared the location where a bunch of mercenaries and adventurers were cl.u.s.tered.
"Haha you wanna hear about how the demon king fell? Very well, listen closely! The hero flew valiantly in the skies with wings of light blinding the demon king. Hell flames were summoned all around as the hero raised his hands to the sky...and called down a golden sword of light that vanquished the demon king where he stood! Haha…"
The notes Orias was writing in her book stopped as she looked at this drunkard that definitely did not see how that crucial battle went, but she continued to collect any information about the newcomers that appeared that day. They were the individuals she needed information about the most.
She continued to walk around the first town of the kingdom as she looked towards the four floating peaks in the skies. Her eyes turned into slits as they shined red and focused, her figure disappearing from the crowds of people as she silently teleported to one of the peaks in the skies.
Her unique skill, [Spatial Travel] had been used. Orias's daring figure appeared on Snowy Peak, the floating landmass where most of the talk about the soon to be enthroned queen was taking place. If there was anywhere with abundant information, it would be here.
The figure of the little girl inconspicuously moved across the crowds of merchants and adventurers on Snowy Peak as she continued to collect information in the next few hours.
-A significant amount of time has been spent observing so far, nothing out of the ordinary. Except a distinct feeling where I received looks longer than I should have, but that could just be from my cautiousness.-
She finished her last note as she prepared to find a hideout to stay in before she carefully continued tomorrow, with another body and face at that too. It was at this moment a dark-haired man that seemed like the most overly dressed noble opened the door to his carriage that was passing by the road.
"Ah! Such a sweet little child, where are your parents?"
The man seemed very caring as he looked at the figure of Orias, his eyes showing a disgusting expression as they sn.a.k.e.d up and down. The demon king's attention was quickly picked up as she smiled cutely.
"Haha, I was lost, and I'm looking for them right now. Would you help me find them, mister?"
The man holding the carriage door open looked around the environment, as if checking to see if anyone was paying attention before replying,
"Yes, yes, I'll help you find them! Come into the carriage and you can tell me where you lost them."
He seemed to hurry her along as if he didn't want to be seen. Orias looked at this bumbling man as her eyes shined dangerously. This was one of the reasons she preferred this small form so much. It seemed so defenseless and easy to bully, that disgusting people like this would always appear to throw themselves at her.
She enjoyed killing these disgusting creatures in the most vilest of ways. The moment they thought they were a predator about to prey on an innocent girl, they found themselves headless with their lives turning into complete darkness.
Orias smiled innocently as she stepped into the carriage which closed its doors. It looked like she had found her hideout for the day, as the location this carriage was heading to would only find itself bathed in blood today.
She looked at the disgusting expression on the man's face that seemed to say he couldn't wait as his slimy hands reached out towards her and landed on her shoulders. A dangerous light passed in her eyes as she prepared to innocently ask what the man was doing when a drastic change occurred!
A flash of silver light erupted from the man as his expression wholly changed to become one of utter focus as killing intent erupted. After the silver light passed, the carriage became empty.
In the short span of time that was one minute, the area around the carriage had been completely cleared as preparations put into place and luck met all at once, causing this astounding scene to occur.
The 59th ranked Demon King as well as the dark-haired man that baited her...had disappeared!
Chapter 130 - 30 Seconds!
A plan can be made perfectly, but then many things can go wrong after. One of the only ways to make a plan successful is to be the one holding the most information and account for all the possibilities.
The possibility that a lone Demon King that was proficient in spying and quick movements would come to collect information about the place where a momentous event occurred was high.
The question after was how would you know who this Demon King was, and even possibly get your hands on them. The memories from a close-knit individual from their ranks gave all the answers, and brought about the outcome occurring now.
Multiple posters had been passed out over the last few days showing the very clear face of a little girl, a gallant man, and a poor old lady that were in Gremory's memories over the many soldiers and guards around the kingdom. The moment they were to see any of these figures, they had to quietly report right away. Shadow Guards were placed on the front lines with their covert abilities and had been working overtime these past few days.
Yet, this was just one of the cards that I played. Another one that was even more foolproof was the unique skill of my favorite princess, {Golden Rule}. The skill allowed the user to see different colors of light depending on what intentions and possible effects a person could have on the user. The effects that a demon king could bring were huge, so Adelaide would be able to confirm whether I was facing a demon king the moment the eyes spread out all over the kingdom found any resemblances of the pictures drawn out.
Among the many forms she took, Demon King Orias's favorite form was that of a defenseless girl that any d
isgusting pervert would try to get their hands on. Orias's favorite hobby was flaying these perverts slowly as soon as they showed themselves to her. This was the form I placed a high chance of seeing.
So all I had to do was to first find her as soon as she appeared in this form, confirm I made no mistakes with Adelaide's eyes, and put on a play of something she had been used to seeing. The moment the communication came through that a girl matching the description had been found, I felt the adrenaline rush through me as the plan seemed to be perfectly falling into place.
I silently moved Adelaide out of the Spiritual Land and watched as her face drained of color when her eyes landed on the figure of a little girl moving around Snowy Peak. After getting this confirmation, everything was ready to move on to the next phase. The battle had to take place at a completely different location, as too many lives would be lost if I attacked her right in the throngs of moving people.
I changed into the most extravagant clothes I prepared and rushed out with a carriage towards the location she was moving in. Shadow Guards were on stand by as they got ready to clear the area out at the slightest signs of any issues. Putting my emotions in check, I opened the carriage doors and acted the part of the vilest human in existence, and I was able to get my hands on her before I cast [Teleport] on the both of us.
The next part of the plan lies here. This demon king was one of the few that held two powerful unique skills, one for quickly moving anywhere she wanted, and another for changing into her many forms.
She didn't have high battle power, but could simply use her unique skill that was leagues above [Teleport] to simply leave as soon she felt a threat to her life. This was the next thing that I had to counter.
Amazingly enough for me, after using the demon's [Power Jewel] on my LEGENDARY skill and creating [Corrupted Sigil of Hegemony], a beautiful new feature that perfectly countered the powerful spatial skill of the demon king was there.
[Corrupted Sigil of Hegemony] :: A highly protective sigil establishes itself as far as 30 meters around you, empowering you and your allies while hindering your foes for 30 seconds. Another 30 seconds are required before the runic forces can be activated again. Absorbs half of all damage dealt while active. +300% Casting and Attack Speed. +300% damage to enemies in sigil. +300% Speed. -75% Enemy Elemental Resistances. -75% Enemy Speed. Restrict Movement is applied.
Restrict Movement.
This newly added function after being enhanced by the [Power Jewel] allowed the skill to heavily restrict any movements while enemies were in the range of the skill, and this also applied to spatial movement.
This meant that the Demon King's unique skill that allowed her to teleport anywhere she wished would be of no use for 30 seconds. It was in these 30 seconds, that I had to kill her!
If these seconds passed and she was still alive, she would run away in the next instant and they would finally have information about me. In these next 30 seconds, I couldn't even allow her to think.
RAAAA!
The [Emperor Penguin] and other beasts were already waiting on standby in the underground area of the Spiritual Land. They threw out their most powerful attacks where the figures of me and the Demon King just appeared as a blue runic sigil inlaid with red was already spreading out to cover all of us.
[Corrupted Sigil of Hegemony] was initiated. 30 seconds!
OOONG!
Orias quickly adapted as she found herself in this perilous situation, her body quickly transforming to become blood red as her figure exploded in size. Hellish flames began to swirl around her as they formed into multiple layers of shields.
My attacks were already flying out as every single powerful skill I had was initiated. {Primal Conjurer} was cast beforehand as two terrifying [Trolls] carrying heavy weapons struck down on the body of Orias, smashing through the fiery shields and mangling her flesh while grounding her bones as her body received the full debuffs of the [Corrupted Sigil of Hegemony] and a recently cast [Enfeeble] , all while my summons were heavily boosted by it.
The two [Trolls] summoned from the {Primal Conjurer} skills were extremely physically powerful LEGENDARY beasts, their strikes causing panic to appear in the blood-red eyes of Orias. The Holy Blight had the hordes of [Defiled Corpses] already throwing themselves at the blood-red demon as they exploded spectacularly, a poisonous breath rolling out from it right after.
Not a single inch of breathing room was given to the Demon King as attacks continued to rain left and right.
20 seconds!
My body was moving backwards from the center of this explosive mess as the incarnation of a corrupted sword saint wrapped all around me, [Bear Emperor's Fur] wrapping it up right after and [Demon King's Haki] activating and making the entire area around me tremble, pushing Orias's figure into the ground as freezing storms of ice elements surrounded me from [Absolute Zero].
OOOONG!
A red light was blooming from the Demon King's body as she tried to retaliate the swarming of two LEGENDARY [Trolls], EPIC beasts, and the Holy Blight's attacks. All that met her was an [Arctic Breath] that was thrown out from me next, freezing everything in a storm of destruction that was dissipating right after.
WAAAH!
Her figure let out a wail as the hazy outline of a terrifying banshee formed around her, elevating her injured body while trying to heal the heavy wounds she was dealt.
10 seconds!
My now large figure spun rapidly in midair with a humongous blade in hand, gaining speed as I shot myself down like a missile with the sword stretched outright. [Bone Spear] was cast as multiple deathly pulsating spears appeared en masse and went down with me towards the struggling body of the Demon King.
The hazy outline of a red banshee was broken through and scattered as the blade pierced down towards the frozen earth.
BOOM!
The blade broke through the freezing ice and the figure of the Demon King that was held in place, meeting the forehead of the demon and nailing it to the ground.
I breathed heavily from the adrenaline as I watched the destructive cold elements split apart muscle and bone, a red light shining thereafter as the 59th ranked Demon King...met her end.
0 seconds.
Chapter 131 - An Astounding Retreat
Shock and horror passed through the minds of every single ruler of the Demon World as they felt the death of yet another one of their peers, and in such a short instance at that!
Yet another channel of communication was opened as the Rulers congregated, and found the one to be missing was the one they all had immense trust in for the ability to keep themselves hidden and safe as they could disappear to the ends of the world at the slightest sign of trouble.
There was only silence in the communication channel as an inviolable calm voice that was filled with wrath at the same time rang out.
"Pull out all forces from the Beast World."
There was another period of silence after the Rulers heard this command. Nobody could raise an objection to it, its will seemingly descending down across the vast worlds they were in. The voice rang out once again.
"Blacklist this world and add it to the list. It is not worth the losses to continue a battle with an enemy we do not know."
The voice paused for a short moment before continuing, this time directed at a specific person that was also listening closely and seemingly about to erupt.
"I don't want to hear anything from you, Barbatos. You've defied me long enough. Prepare your forces and be ready to descend to the Lost World of Atlantis. The supreme treasure, the Trident of Neptune, might be in our grasp in the coming months. Make haste."
"Hmph!"
An arrogant huff filled with anger that seemed to be screaming 'I told you so' was the only reply to come on the other end as the rest of the Rulers remained quiet. The reality of losing two of their peers in this Middle World in the corner of the universe gave them a shock, but a reminder at the same time. No matter how confident they were, there were always unexpl
ained beings and mysteries that could take the lives of individuals as powerful as them.
They didn't know which terrifying expert they had provoked, but it made no sense to continue sending their forces in a location where even more of them could face true death.
The demons were arrogant, deceitful, and strong, but they knew when to pull back when they hit a tough wall. Not a single Ruler in the communication channel defied the voice that spoke as they swallowed their anger and talked about how they would move thereafter.
The voice that demanded the attention of all of the rulers that neither of them could go against was coming from the Ruler that was ranked first in the Demon World, the Oppressive Tyrant, Baal.
---
Barbatos sat on a throne made of bones in the center of a destroyed world. A dark miasmic air was floating around as she stood up and looked at her legions of undead that stretched for miles.
Ferocious looking skeletons holding jagged swords, deadly liches that could summon droves of zombies, and bone dragons were just among the many undead that she controlled.
A dark light escaped from her hands, forming into a black pearl that shone its light towards the legions of undead around her. As if escaping in a black hole, all the powerful figures were sucked into this pearl as Barbatos continued to move.
She was furious at the old fool that always called the shots, but she couldn't defy him. Even with her terrible level of power, Baal still wasn't someone she could go against. She would have chosen to descend down into that Beast World no matter how many treasures they had to use to bypass the laws that protected the middle world.
As long as the world was lower level, universal laws would not allow powerful individuals vastly surpassing the level of power that is the peak for that world to descend. Otherwise, every single world would be taken over by the Prime Worlds by now.
Yet, for huge worlds, it did not matter what level you were, as the laws were loose when it came to worlds where powerful figures roamed. This made it much easier to use weak pieces to travel across worlds. For someone like her to descend in a world that only had MYTHICAL beings at the peak, the cost was simply too much.
Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse c1-705 Page 56
