TBE CH214.2: Extra

“Is it here?” an apprentice from the Mage Tower mouthed.

They carefully controlled their footsteps, making the obsidian corridor almost silent. The demon palace did not welcome strangers, which made it practically a labyrinth for them. However, driven by a simple sense of loyalty to their teacher, they secretly resolved to save their mentor, Roland Xavier.

Not far behind them, a few demon lords followed even more furtively.

Although the situation was already on the verge of spiraling out of control—

It didn’t hurt to take a moment to review how things had come to this.

Before the wedding began, the Mage Tower disciples were assigned to the best seats with the best view.

That is, the VIP seats closest to the wedding ceremony.

Even Roland’s true blood relatives, a group of nobles who had traveled all the way from the kingdom, could only helplessly sit in the back rows. However, Princess Debbie was happy no matter what. She loved attending lively celebrations.

Opposite these fervent supporters of Roland, sat the Demon King’s retainers.

Kriesmeier had no living relatives; if one were to insist, they would have to dismantle the white bone throne. However, it was best for such a situation not to occur, so sitting in the Demon King’s family section were a few Demon Dukes who were quite familiar with him.

These were the Lord of Gluttony, the Lord of Lust, and the Lord of War.

The Lord of War was included primarily because of his unusual fanaticism for power and his significant racial prejudice, taking great pride in his identity as an Abyss demon. He was a monster forged of steel and blood, and a fanatical supporter of Demon King Kriesmeier, believing that their King was so immensely powerful that he deserved the subjugation of all living beings.

The Lord of War had not considered that their Majesty would choose to marry a human.

“The Sovereign must have a deeper purpose,” the demon stubbornly muttered, staring at the romantic and flamboyant roses on the table. He had always held this view, even believing upon arrival that this was merely a ruse to engage with the human race.

So, when he saw the two names outlined in gold thread on the rose petals, and the heart connecting the two names, the demon’s voice remained stubborn, but sounded like he was about to cry: “His Majesty must just be playing around.”

“Enough,” the Lord of Gluttony said, “Do not speak ill of His Majesty’s intentions, and do not underestimate that human.”

As the sole insider, it had lost count of how many lamb chops it had grilled for the demon palace.

Sometimes it suspected that the reason why lords around it changed constantly while it always managed to survive was entirely because that human had gotten used to the taste of its cooking. At this moment, it stood up, deciding to supervise the banquet kitchen.

After the Lord of Gluttony left, the Lord of Lust then immediately spoke:

“Honestly,” the demon with purple horns winked at the Lord of War with a smile, saying ambiguously, “you might as well stop resisting. His Majesty hasn’t even left the demon palace for days, completely obsessed with keeping his secret lover hidden for so long. Our King is truly infatuated with that human.”

“You’re also a demon,” the lord with flames leaping from his horns glared at him, “Don’t you know our race simply doesn’t yield to weak emotions like love? I don’t believe he can forever hold His Majesty’s favor!”

“Hey, hey, quiet down.”

The Lord of Lust narrowed his eyeliner-traced eyes, subtly glancing at the Mage Tower group at the next table who were intently listening, then chuckled softly,

“At least for now, he’s still very much favored. You really should visit my domain; then you wouldn’t be so irritable. Think about it, the Archmage, also a strong individual, willingly married into the demon palace to be the demon queen, imprisoned and humiliated by our King, subjugated for so long, so it’s only natural that His Majesty would develop an insatiable craving—”

The sound of a chair collapsing interrupted his half-finished sentence.

The apprentices from the Mage Tower next door could no longer contain their furious anger, standing up with grim faces, cloaked in their dark robes.

Roland’s students were few but elite; those who could enter the Mage Tower were all idealists and exceptionally talented leaders in their field.

When they drew their staffs, even the Lord of War had to straighten up.

“How dare you speak ill of our mentor?” the leading student rotated his wrist, the cold staff core pointed at the Lord of Lust. “That’s complete nonsense! Our mentor is not at all as you describe!”

The Lord of Lust remained lazily composed, “Is that so? – I’m merely stating the truth. To be frank, your mentor should thank me; I meticulously selected many gifts and sent them to the demon palace. I hear they were quite pleased! You are still too young; you can’t even stand to hear such things.”

Another apprentice retorted unequivocally, “It’s your Majesty the Demon King who is subordinate to someone else.”

As soon as the words fell, the demon with purple horns could no longer maintain his composure.

He stared at the apprentice opposite him in shock, feeling both the scorching heat of the violently flickering flames beside him and an extreme sense of disbelief.

“Are you serious?” the Lord of Lust said, “No, no, no. That’s absolutely impossible, complete nonsense!”

He uttered “no” three times in a row.

They, these demons, knew best what kind of tyrant Kriesmeier was. This Majesty had even devoured his own kin, let alone anyone else who tried to cling to him.

When he spread his wings, they were enough to cover the sky, as if a pall of gloom obscured vision, a legendary demon god descending from the heavens. They didn’t even dare to look directly at the Demon King’s blood-stained horns—

The Lord of Lust simply could not imagine how anyone could believe that this tyrant would willingly be subservient to another.

Just as the apprentices of the Mage Tower could not imagine how anyone could believe that the greatest mage in history would willingly be subservient to another.

Both sides glared at each other, angry and incredulous, trying to find a hint of hesitation in the other’s eyes. But there was none; the air crackled with a palpable tension that was ready to ignite at any moment.

They all felt that the people sitting across from them were creatures with completely incomprehensible mindsets, and both had reasons not to back down.

Then, the first to laugh was the Lord of War.

“Foolish humans,” he said, “how dare you speak ill of our Majesty? The Sovereign’s wrath will burn your bones dry. But before that, if you just considered it for a moment, you’d know that by choosing to hold the ceremony in the Demon King’s City, your esteemed Archmage has, of course, willingly married in to become our demon queen.”

“This must be your conspiracy.”

The Mage Tower apprentices said with grim faces, their dark mage robes appearing exceptionally mysterious in the moonlight.

As the evening wind rustled their robes, they gradually calmed down. The runes inscribed on their robes rustled, seemingly responding to the vast sky, slowly converging into a powerful magical force.

“Hey, hey,” the Lord of Lust saw this and felt something was wrong. “What are you planning to do—”

“The Archmage’s Tower is just as good as the Demon King’s City,” the fervent supporters of Archmage Roland declared. “Master fell into your trap, but we will never let you succeed. Anyway, after the wedding is interrupted, we can hold another one at the Mage Tower. Then you’ll know that it’s your Majesty the Demon King who can’t live without our mentor.”

Their figures suddenly flickered and vanished from the VIP seats.

The Lord of War immediately felt something was amiss and reached out to grab the Mage Tower group, but his hand found only empty air. However, he could still sense the direction of the human aura with his fingertips.

Undoubtedly, they were heading straight for the demon palace behind them.

“If we can’t stop them,” the demon with flames on his head said, his face ashen as if scorched by fire, his earlier arrogance gone, “His Majesty the Demon King will surely use our souls as dinner for his guests.”

The figures of the two great demon dukes also hastily vanished from the VIP seats.

Thus, the two groups finally met in the obsidian corridor of the demon palace.

Unlike the commotion outside, Kriesmeier’s demon palace never allowed outsiders to trespass. Whether it was the obsidian ceilings and floor tiles, or the shimmering, dark silver candles, everything added to the mysterious and dangerous atmosphere of the place. In such an utterly vast space, even the most carefully hushed footsteps would sometimes produce hollow echoes.

The mage apprentices used silencing spells to conceal their tracks, secretly moving through the demon palace corridors.

The ceremony was about to begin; their mentor must be in one of the palace rooms right now, separated from the Demon King according to wedding customs. They firmly believed this, cautiously exploring.

“Did you hear something—” The leading apprentice tiptoed back, mouthing the words. The apprentice immediately following nodded and boldly took the candle, stepping first into the seemingly endless corridor.

Demon King Kriesmeier was indeed brutal and terrifying; even just traversing the demon palace’s corridors was oppressive enough.

They thought this, not noticing the two horned figures that had appeared in the shadows behind them.

But even if they had noticed, it wouldn’t have mattered.

The Lords of War and Lust were currently lurking in the shadows, their expressions quite grim. If only they had been a little earlier, if only they had followed them a little earlier, they wouldn’t have had to watch them walk into the most dangerous corridor. Now it was too late; they simply didn’t dare to make any slightly loud noise in front of the Demon King’s bedchamber, let alone subdue this troublesome group of mages.

The Lord of War could swear on his life.

If there was any place he would never set foot in this life, it was absolutely here.

He and the Lord of Lust exchanged glances. Ultimately, still uneasy, they too stealthily slipped into the shadows ahead, following that group of reckless humans. With every step, he felt his life hanging by a thread.

That was Demon King Kriesmeier.

The most terrifying, most dangerous, most brutal Abyss demon, the best example for all demons, and also the natural enemy that all demons avoided.

The flames on the Lord of War’s horns extinguished; burning here would be too ostentatious and dangerous. They transformed into crimson纹路 imprinted on his cheek. The deliberate suppression of his aura made the demon somewhat distracted, until the Lord of Lust beside him suddenly yanked him, making him realize what was happening in front.

The mage apprentices had collectively stopped.

No, rather than stopping, they were completely frozen.

The hand that the Lord of Lust was dragging him with also seemed to turn to stone, suddenly clenching tighter and tighter. The Lord of War tilted his head and could see his pupil trembling uncontrollably, as if a sharp needle had pierced it.

What happened…

As the demon pondered in confusion, a faint sound finally reached his ears from somewhere.

It was a low groan.

The voice was hoarse and muffled by the distance, completely unclear. But at that instant, it was as if countless needles pierced the Lord of War’s mind. How could he not recognize the owner of the voice? Just as the lord’s mind went blank, only able to think “we’re doomed,” he heard the voice next to him take on a hint of pleasure.

All the uninvited guests in the corridor wished they could hold their breath and instantly vanish from this world.

“Kris,” yet they all heard the human’s voice, speaking gently and with restraint, “Quiet down, there seem to be some guests outside the door.”

Suddenly, a terrifying, chilling aura swept through the surrounding air.

It was merely a gaze through a door.

Good, the Lord of War thought, this was certainly his burial place.

And before he died, he would have to know clearly and definitively that he was completely wrong. Essentially, the demon’s worldview collapsed at this moment.

The demon blinked desperately, not a hint of impropriety appearing in its mind. It was just as Kriesmeier had mentioned; after hearing what it shouldn’t have, it only worried about its own life.

Through a door, the Demon King’s voice seemed to pause.

But that must have been the result of extreme restraint.

In fact, on the other side of the door, he bit the human’s shoulder. His dark golden eyes were filled with desire, his damp silver-gray hair wrapped around Roland like a spider web, but the tips of his ears were very red.

Roland slowly smoothed the Demon King’s long hair and then kissed his horn, as if he felt no pain on his shoulder.

“My dear,” he said into the Demon King’s ear, “the wedding is about to begin, and while I’m very happy you came to find me—”

Lovers’ whispers were usually barely audible, but the uninvited guests outside the door all possessed some uncommon talents, so most of them heard clearly.

They wanted to escape immediately, but someone’s movement caused a slight collision, which suddenly froze everyone in place again.

“I’ll get it out for you first.”

The human’s voice was rational yet tender, his amber eyes looking at Kriesmeier. The Demon King felt, for the umpteenth time, that those eyes were truly enchanting, and suddenly remembered the piece of amber he had crushed.

He slightly shifted his pupils and nodded.

Those outside the door listened, trembling, to another sentence.

The Lord of War understood nothing this time, even feeling a sense of relief.

But the Lord of Lust beside him seemed to suddenly have his strength drained, almost kneeling to the ground. From his expression, it seemed he wished he could find a corner to hit his head against and die.

No, I must leave quickly—

The thought occurred again, but he was at a loss for what to do.

The Lord of War suddenly felt his wrist being tugged by something. Before he could resist, his mouth was covered, and he was dragged into a blazing white light.

In the white light, the corridor before him slowly melted, as if an illusion.

Opening his eyes again, the purple-haired witch stood before him, pursing her lips, her face pale.

“Why are you joining in their fun?” she quickly scanned the demons she had brought out, scolding them unceremoniously. Although this was the first time they had ever met in their lives.

Then the witch activated a teleportation array and suddenly vanished from his sight.

Hilda’s rescue strategy was to stealthily infiltrate the castle, grab people, and run. And the effect was very significant—mainly because they didn’t run into Demon King Kriesmeier alone, and the Demon King was currently immersed in tenderness and had no time to bother with them, otherwise, they wouldn’t even have had time to collect the bodies.

In fact, even the Archmage had no time for them.

The moment Hilda arrived, a sound-proofing spell had already been cast in the demon palace.

Even if demons only possessed a hint of shame when specifically pointed out by humans, Roland preferred Kriesmeier at this moment to be entirely beautiful, possessed solely by him.

The purple-haired witch, panting, once again fulfilled her role as savior. She now completely understood her mentor’s words; saving others was indeed not a good job. Especially when this group of people were purely asking for trouble.

In her opinion, it was enough that her mentor and His Majesty the Demon King loved each other so much they would die for each other.

“Understood?”

Hilda called out names one by one, fearless even when facing the demon lords. Even the fulfilled mage apprentices obediently listened like quails; their recent experience was enough to become a deeply ingrained lesson in their minds.

“But,” an apprentice suddenly said, “Master will surely be very happy.”

“Uh, yes,” Hilda said, “but don’t get off topic, reflect properly—”

The Lord of War suddenly spoke. His voice was unusually hoarse and terrifying, as if always striving to gain the upper hand: “His Majesty the Demon King will surely be happier.”

“Enough,” Hilda couldn’t help but rest her hand on her forehead.

But just then, the bells suddenly chimed.

It wasn’t a real bell; no one had cast a bell near the Abyss. These were the wedding countdown bells, jointly played by the elven orchestra, clear and crisp, with a lingering, melodious aftertaste.

The wedding was about to begin.