DKIE CH24: Performance

Alec liked to monitor others, and he also worried about being monitored.

The guildhall was usually filled with various means to obstruct snooping, but at this moment, they became an obstacle for the law enforcement team to lock onto the culprit with their divine sense.

The magician’s hand speed was quite fast. Luka had torn open the space scroll a second before firing, yet the acrid smell of gunpowder still reached him.

The cloak was torn apart by the impact, and his brain buzzed.

In the dizzying spatial movement, it was difficult for Luka to even cough.

Is Alec dead?

Luka guessed not.

Not to mention that the other party definitely had means of self-preservation, just based on Alec’s own strength, it was unlikely that he would be so easily killed by an explosion.

After a chaotic teleportation process, accompanied by ripples in space, Luka appeared on a relatively remote street.

The entire Holy City was vast, and an ordinary scroll simply couldn’t take him directly out.

“Cough, cough…” Luka coughed violently a few times.

As Alex had warned, once the Traction Method was used, he would fall into a state of exhaustion.

“The demon generals haven’t arrived yet.” He leaned his head back against the wall, his skin a few shades paler. “Alec is definitely injured, and the demon servants’ strength will also be greatly reduced.”

The ‘servant’ in ‘demon servant’ came from the fact that they would offer a wisp of their soul to their master. If the master was harmed, the servant would be injured.

Theoretically, now was the perfect time to leave the city.

However, the streets were almost entirely filled with the sound of hurried running. Once a major event occurred, except for the law enforcement team, flying was strictly prohibited throughout the city.

Even the ground was vibrating slightly, and defenses were being urgently set up everywhere. If this continued, it was only a matter of time before the Holy City was sealed off.

Since the explosion, Quill had fallen into a brief silence. Yesterday, it had been supplied with too much blood at once, and then was made into a musical instrument. It would occasionally get distracted and rest.

In the end, Luka happily carried a bag of explosives, greeting everyone with “good morning.”

…Now it was completely awake.

Quill transmitted its voice: “The city is already under martial law.”

Luka grunted, not too panicked.

The Ten Thousand Realms Gathering had only just begun. To cause such a big commotion in the Holy City, which was personally overseen by the Saint, it wouldn’t be long before he was arrested by the law enforcement team.

Therefore, proving his own value would be very important.

Holding on by a thread, according to his original plan, Luka barely managed to climb to the roof. The moment he stood on it, he still felt a little dizzy.

Luka took out the musical instrument from his torn cloak sleeve and prepared to play.

Quill had been quite curious about this instrument. Finally seeing him take it out, it subconsciously floated up a little. The air it gently exhaled brushed over the tip of the pen, bringing a ticklish sensation.

It focused its mind and listened intently—

The next moment—

“Neeeeee~~~”

A sound like mountains collapsing and the earth cracking erupted from a place resembling half a bowl.

The hairs on Quill’s head were unexpectedly swept up by the wind.

“…”

The thick and deafening penetrating power was not suitable for listening up close, but from a distance, it was a completely different feeling.

The young man’s clothes were ragged, but the sound produced by the suona had a force that pierced the sky. The people in the surrounding streets heard the sound at almost the same time and looked towards the source, wanting to see what it was.

Luka chose the suona for this very reason.

What could be more astonishing than a top-tier instrument?

The key was to be loud.

It was just as the morning sun was rising. The golden light happened to reflect on the young man’s face, for a moment even dyeing his eyelashes.

Because his body was already a bit sore and tired, Luka tried to relax his fingers and waist. It had been a long time since he had played the suona, and his memory was a bit rusty at first.

The law enforcer in the clouds heard the penetrating sound and glanced down.

“What a special instrument.” He had never seen it before.

When he saw the black hair peeking out from the tattered cloak and dancing in the wind, the law enforcement captain paused for a moment.

“Is it him?”

Below, some passersby had also recognized Luka by his iconic black hair.

“Iliad, it’s him, it’s that mutt… mixed-blood!”

Although he had changed his mask, there was probably no second person with black hair in the entire Holy City.

The crowd of onlookers was in an uproar.

The demon race’s guild hall had exploded, and Luka was playing music on the roof. The impact of this scene… was truly too subtle.

The layman watches the excitement, the expert sees the skill.

“What kind of instrument is this? Have you ever heard of it before?”

Everyone shook their heads.

The human residents of the Holy City had quite a picky taste for art. They were already accustomed to the sorrowful cry of the Lujiao Qin and the ethereal sound of the stringed zither. The recently popular voodoo drum was barely new.

Unfortunately, to cater to the aesthetics of the nobility, the performers now were all pursuing graceful and melodious tunes.

The dwarves, beastmen, and others did not like the winding and sentimental music.

Now, the wide and bright timbre was a breath of fresh air for them.

Some merchants were already wishing they could record the instrument from 360 degrees, fantasizing about replicating and selling it.

“When it comes to instrument appreciation, the elves are number one in the world. They collect all sorts of rare instruments. If this gets out, will they buy it for a high price?”

The image of an elf playing… no one dared to imagine it.

The more they thought about it, the more curious they became. Some were even considering whether to take a recording stone to the elven lands to see.

At this moment, even the dwarves who were not on good terms with Luka did not deny the value of the suona itself.

Its range was very wide. A musician on the scene wanted to compete. He had just taken out his Lujiao Qin and plucked it twice when his presence was completely suppressed.

The law enforcement captain should have stopped the gathering of people at this time, but in the end, he chose to go directly to the crime scene.

Who could blame him when the song was so pleasing?

“Hymn to Humanity.”

The statues in the city were all manifestations of the Saint’s will, constantly overlooking and listening to the wind and grass in the Holy City.

Above the high tower, the Saint’s gaze precisely locked onto Luka’s direction and he recited the name of the piece.

Yesterday, the Demon King had said he wanted to see if the Holy City still had the style of the Battle of Saman. “Hymn to Humanity” happened to be a piece composed after that tragic war, symbolizing the rebirth from blood and fire.

“How marvelous.” The Saint half-closed his eyes, his silver hair fluttering in the wind. “Such a bright timbre, yet it simultaneously combines sorrow and joy.”

The blood of a demon, the hymn of humanity, an instrument more brilliant than the Lujiao Qin.

Truly a perfect performance.

When the Saint opened his eyes again, he casually scooped up a ferret from behind the bookshelf and said in a gentle voice:

“Go inform Eric to lift the martial law.”

The ferret squeaked, jumped out of his arms, and turned into a stream of light, flying out of the Holy Tower.

On the distant street, Luka’s suona performance was coming to an end. The lingering notes were tragic. After the piece ended, he bowed towards the Holy Tower.

No one came to arrest him, which proved that his goal had been achieved.

To attack the demon race in the Holy City was undoubtedly a slap in the face to the demon race. Instead of simply presenting the suona to show his value, it was better to let his value be displayed to the fullest.

Luka held a grudge, and he knew even better when to extricate himself. There was no better time to present the instrument than now.

Clap, clap.

Clap, clap, clap.

At first, it was just a few thin claps. Later, a tide of applause came from all directions. Regardless of Luka’s identity, this performance was truly brilliant!

Luka looked at the soaring flames in the distance and smiled without a word.

It was this glance that made everyone suddenly realize that they had been so engrossed in the music that they had completely forgotten about the explosion.

The law enforcement captain had just left. If they rushed over now, they might not miss any important news. Seeing that Luka was already starting to come down from the roof, the steps that had previously stopped began to move again. Only some shrewd merchants remained, crowding around to ask more questions, all about the instrument.

“As long as we cooperate, I guarantee that this instrument will become popular throughout the Holy Demon Continent.”

A traveling merchant magician promised.

Luka shook his head.

After a few perfunctory words, he finally sent them away, not mentioning a single word about the specifics of the suona throughout the process.

The more mysterious, the more it would arouse curiosity.

When he successfully escaped, he could think of a way to contact Lilian and help her write a detailed introduction to the suona. The origin, spread, and promotion would be enough to write a special feature, and the popularity would definitely not be small.

The music ended and the crowd dispersed. The smell of gunpowder spread in the air. No more law enforcers were seen passing by.

Luka turned into a deserted dark alley again and unhurriedly took out two space scrolls.

After a moment of hesitation, he finally chose to put away the one on the right.

Quill, having been baptized by music at close range, returned to its usual tone. Its gaze drifted to a direction not far away. Not to mention birds, even the wind seemed to bypass that place.

It suddenly transmitted its voice and asked, “Why not use the other one?”

Luka had a total of three space scrolls.

One was from the Boulder City, which he had obtained by “black eat black” not long after he transmigrated. One was a gift from his partner Cullen, and the other was bestowed by the Saint.

Space scrolls also had their pros and cons. The one consumed during the explosion was very ordinary.

Of the remaining two, it was needless to say that the space scroll given by the Saint far surpassed Cullen’s in terms of teleportation distance and stability. However, Luka was prepared to use the one given by Cullen.

Taking one last look at the Holy City, Luka didn’t answer and prepared to activate the scroll directly.

A thick and powerful voice suddenly appeared at this moment, interrupting his action—

“Why not use the other scroll in your hand?”

The same question, but the tone was a bit deeper, with a sense of authority without being angry.

Luka was startled. He had clearly confirmed that there was no one around before. He looked up again. Not far away, a tall figure was standing there at some unknown time. The other party did not deliberately conceal his figure, but if he hadn’t spoken, he wouldn’t have realized there was a dragon standing there.

“Your Excellency Rio?” Luka was surprised.

Rio walked over, glanced at the space ring on his hand, and said, “The scroll you just put away should have been personally drawn by the Saint.”

It had a very obvious aura of the Saint on it.

If Luka had chosen to use it from the beginning, he wouldn’t have had to go through the trouble of a big explosion.

Luka fell silent.

He knew that this was the path of life the Saint had left for him, and he knew even better where this path of life led… he would be teleported to the vicinity of the dragon race’s territory.

If the demon race insisted on hunting him down, and the dragon race intervened to save him, it was very likely to become the trigger for the deterioration of the relationship between the two races.

All shortcuts have a price. Luka only liked things with a clear price tag.

He would sell a low-cost item for a very high price, and he would extract the faith he needed from the customer’s emotional attachment, but that didn’t include letting the customer pay the price for him.

Seeing that Rio was still holding the blind box, Luka was silent for a moment, then changed the subject with a smiling tone: “Life is like a blind box. I prefer to head towards an unknown direction.”

For a few seconds, Rio didn’t speak, just looked at him. When he spoke again, he said:

“Actually, dragons are not social creatures. Because their numbers are relatively scarce compared to other races, they form a peculiar cohesion. The area of the Dragon Islands on the entire continent is second only to the Holy City and the Demon Realm.”

Luka: “Huh?”

Weren’t we discussing the scroll? All of a sudden, why are we talking about the Dragon Islands?

Before his thoughts could jump over, a strong sense of weightlessness suddenly assailed him. When Luka came to his senses, he was lying on hard, cold scales, and a strong wind was scraping past his cheeks.

Is the wind picking up?

No, are we taking off?!

In the blink of an eye, Rio had already transformed into his original form and had taken him a thousand meters into the sky above the Holy City.

In Luka’s astonished eyes, the giant dragon asked in a familiar voice, “Want to be a guest on the Dragon Islands?”

Luka didn’t know how to respond. If Rio wanted to help, he only needed to confirm that there was no space blockade outside the Holy City.

But personally taking someone to the Dragon Islands was of a completely different nature.

He had just completely offended the Demon King at the Ten Thousand Realms Gathering. To directly take him away under the watchful eyes of everyone was simply a blatant slap in the Demon King’s face.

Luka looked down at the dense crowd on the street below. Even if he couldn’t see their expressions, he could imagine their surprise.

The robust giant dragon easily passed through the boundless clouds. Seemingly knowing his worries, its tone was full of indifference:

“The Saint and the Demon King gather to play chess at every major event, using the chessboard as a battlefield to weigh the pros and cons and play against each other… The mountains and rivers are so vast, how can they be simulated by a single game of chess?”

The comforting tone quickly calmed Luka down.

He found that although he had just emptied it, his body had surprisingly produced some more golden light spots. Although not as many as before, the color of the golden light was purer.

Is the concentrated version the essence?

Luka quickly asked Quill.

Quill did not give an answer immediately as usual.

Affection can be ten percent, or it can be twenty percent. Emotions have strengths and weaknesses, and the corresponding energy naturally also has purity.

Back when Luka was writing, in order for the dragon race to empathize, he had specially created a pitiful little protagonist.

But what he didn’t know was that only at this moment did the images of the two truly overlap.

The protagonist in the book constantly tried to find food to offer to the demon beast. Even at the critical moment, he didn’t shout for help, but reminded the demon beast to escape.

Weak, young, and not seeking something for nothing.

Even Quill had to admit that this was a precious shining point.

Not hearing an answer, Luka couldn’t help but ask again, and also asked another question, “Did Rio just happen to appear, or…”

Or was he following all along?

If it was the latter, didn’t that mean he saw the moment he fired the truth!

“What do you think?”

Quill asked back faintly.

Luka’s suspended heart finally died.

Rio continued, “You’re quite bold, daring to make a move directly in the Holy City.”

Luka clung tightly to the giant dragon to prevent himself from falling off during the high-speed movement. Hearing this, he couldn’t help but feel a little proud. “Alec will clean up the mess.”

The demon race worshiped the law of the jungle. When other demons heard that Alec had been seriously injured in a sneak attack, they would only look up to this exiled former crown prince.

Of course, Alec would hide this matter.

“What a pity,” he said with some regret.

“Pity what?”

Anyway, my true face has already been exposed.

Luka pouted. “This time I didn’t hear Alec cry for his father to save him.”

He just liked to beat others until they cried for their parents.

Rio laughed heartily. The giant dragon flew towards the more distant mountains. Neither the guards outside the city gate nor the demon servants dared to step into the air to stop them.

“Your Excellency Rio has left with Iliad.”

The area around the guild hall was all ruins. The law enforcement captain, after listening to the report from the guard in the communication stone, asked Alec, “Is the explosion related to them?”

Alec no longer had the image of an elite demon. One of his hands had been blown off, and a hideous scar had appeared on his face, extending all the way to his shoulder.

Unless he could find a suitable demon limb to transplant, he could only find a dwarf to customize a replacement mechanical arm in the short term, which would greatly reduce his strength.

At this moment, the Demon King was also present.

His own race’s guild hall had exploded, so he naturally had to come over.

A cold, stable gaze fell on Alec. The Demon King looked at him, also waiting for an answer.

Alec felt an unprecedented pressure.

No, I absolutely cannot tell the truth.

Once the matter of Iliad using magic to injure him was exposed, the Demon King might change his mind and restore his status as crown prince.

For the first time in his life, Alec clenched his teeth slightly and lied in front of the Demon King.

“No.”

The physiological trembling of his injured muscles concealed his guilt.

“How could the dragon race use explosives?” Alec tried to say in a normal tone, “I think that after the explosion, Iliad took the opportunity to ask the dragon race to take him away.”

No one would doubt this sentence. If the dragon race wanted to kill Alec, they wouldn’t need to resort to other means.

Moreover, he hadn’t been killed.

As for Luka’s image as a magic good-for-nothing, it had been deeply rooted since his birth. Without the help of the dragon race, it would be difficult for him to succeed.

Alec clutched his wound. “A demon servant suddenly self-destructed. The reason is still unknown.”

The law enforcement team exchanged a glance. The onlookers who were watching the excitement from a distance began to whisper among themselves. They probably all thought that this was no wonder.

The demon servants’ souls were incomplete. Under normal circumstances, it was absolutely impossible for them to betray. No wonder Alec was not on his guard.

Only the Demon King’s gaze had at some point shifted from Alec to a piece of torn cloth exposed in the pile of rubble, his expression thoughtful.

It was a piece of a torn black cloak, definitely not the kind of cloth a demon servant would wear.

After a long time without hearing the Demon King speak, Alec couldn’t help but look over, just in time to meet the Demon King’s meaningful gaze.

Alec’s heart skipped a beat.

__

Author’s note:

Excerpt from Luka’s diary:
Super cute. –Rio’s note.

Luka: This is not a message board!!!