DKIE CH44: The Victor

The originally orderly city gate was suddenly crowded.

The neighing of the fierce horses was continuous.

Being stuck there, unable to advance or retreat, was already frustrating enough. Inside the carriage, Alec heard everyone outside talking about Iliad’s might, and his face instantly darkened by several shades.

“Enough.”

Prince Nordin said with a low cough, “Don’t worry about temporary gains and losses. I have other arrangements.”

…

Capital City.

Unlike the Holy City, there were not many active demons on the ground nearby. Giant demonic beasts slowly pulled carts, the largest of which was a full hundred zhang long.

Above, the starry sky was covered.

That’s right, a starry sky in broad daylight.

The stars were all small cities. Some nobles with status could occupy a whole city. From time to time, rumbling sounds could be heard from underground. That was the true center of the demon race’s power: the underground city.

A total of one hundred and eighty complex demon caves formed the outer part of the Demon King’s palace.

The guiding puppet executed its orders, leading Luka to jump down from a ten-thousand-zhang abyss, straight into the core of the earth.

“So rich, yet they don’t pay child support.”

Special magic created the change of seasons. Luka looked up. The demons walking on the street were all dressed up, not at all as arrogant as the stereotype from the outside world.

However, beneath the etiquette was extreme indifference and arrogance.

The puppet’s heavy footsteps attracted the surrounding demons to turn their heads. When they saw Luka with his black hair, they seemed to think of something.

No one bowed, and no one came forward to mock. They just stood there, one by one, watching coldly.

Luka sighed lightly, “Just as I remember, all friendly faces.”

The capital was the most fanatical place for pure-blood supporters. The ancestors of almost all the original inhabitants were great demons.

In order to maintain the purity of their bloodline, they even practiced inbreeding.

Luka continued to follow the puppet. On the side of the street, some elegant lady crushed a cherry in her hand and said, licking her fingertips, “What’s wrong with the Blood Demon Guards?”

They actually let a dirty half-breed in.

Her voice was soft and gentle, without any profanity, as beautiful as a song.

“This is what’s wrong.”

Luka took out a memory stone and played the scene of him riding the hellfire horse.

Even through the image, one could feel the grandeur of the scene at that time. Luka felt he was quite photogenic. If he had known, he would have made a selfie stick in advance, held it higher, and it would have made his face look smaller.

“Impressive, right?” he said, raising an eyebrow at the elegant lady.

The air was instantly silent.

This was no longer just impressive. Away from the Demon King, who would ride a hellfire horse like a horse?

That was a hellfire horse!

While they were shocked, Luka’s footsteps did not stop.

The underground city was large. Layer after layer descended, giving the illusion of heading towards the nineteenth level of hell.

He held the memory stone and walked all the way.

Before reaching his destination, Luka heard no more mockery. All passersby’s attention was on the memory stone, and then they were astonished and shocked.

When he was almost there, Luka felt a little regretful and sighed with pity:

“There are no more spectators.”

From here on, commoners were forbidden to pass. There were only fully armed guards.

The puppet explained some prohibitions. Luka was absent-minded the whole time.

After walking through several winding mountain roads, a huge, pale head protruded from the wall ahead, almost face to face.

On the way, Luka had seen similar scenes no less than ten times.

These were all criminals of various races who had tried to assassinate in the demon palace. They were once incredibly powerful, but in the end, they were dismembered and nailed here.

At the end of the road was an inconspicuous room.

“Audience at ten o’clock tomorrow morning.”

Leaving behind eight bland words, the puppet left with resounding footsteps.

Luka walked a few more steps. When he was truly standing at the door, his mood suddenly became a little complicated.

This should be the place where the original body once lived.

He slowly pushed open the door. It was exactly the same as the scene he had seen while unconscious. It was just an ordinary room, filled with bookshelves everywhere.

With a casual sweep of his eyes, Luka’s gaze suddenly became sharp.

Quill Pen: “What’s wrong?”

Luka said in a deep voice, “Someone has been here recently.”

The books on the bookshelf were surprisingly not very dusty, especially the shelf filled with forbidden magic books, which was exceptionally clean, obviously having had a cleaning spell cast on it.

What was worth rummaging through in the room of a disgraced prince?

He swallowed, subconsciously thinking of Alex’s diary.

Squeak.

A tiny sound interrupted his thoughts. Luka’s expression changed.

Quill Pen: “On your head.”

A ferret was lying upside down on the ceiling, its small, dark eyes looking at him.

In the Holy Tower, the Saint also had a ferret.

It couldn’t be wrong. That spiritual feeling was hard to find a second one in the world.

Luka breathed a sigh of relief and reached out to catch the ferret, “How did you sneak into the underground city?”

Who knew the ferret didn’t need to be caught at all? It stopped steadily in front of him, dropped a letter, and left.

After walking a few steps, it suddenly turned back, jumped onto Luka’s shoulder, lovingly patted his head, and then left again.

Luka: “…”

Quill Pen flew out from his sleeve and floated in mid-air.

“Given its age, it can indeed be your grandfather.”

Luka was still curious about how the ferret got in.

Quill Pen: “Its presence is much weaker than that of ordinary precious beasts, but this comes at a price.”

For example, it could not speak the languages of other races and could only remain in its beast form forever.

Luka opened the letter. In the meantime, he gave Quill Pen a strange look. In the past, he would only speak when asked. Today, he actually jumped out to answer on his own initiative.

His attention was quickly attracted by the content of the letter.

The letter was from Cullen. It first explained the reason why the ferret was willing to deliver the letter. Last time, when it was helping the Saint buy a book, the ferret had left a special communication stone as a gift.

The subsequent content was the key point:

[Every time the Chamber of Commerce auctions off a high-priced item, a great mage is specially sent to watch over the buyer for a period of time. If they encounter a weak robber, they will intervene to protect the buyer’s rights and incidentally build a good relationship. If they encounter a powerful one, they will turn and run.]

Luka shook his head. What first-class after-sales service.

[I received news that the buyer who bought Alex’s diary at the Flint Pavilion a few months ago was killed. The murderer is suspected to be the Demon King.]

A straightforward sentence, and Luka’s breath immediately tightened.

[The results of the fate observation have been transmitted to the human race. The time of the fate observation is about the same as when the buyer was killed.
I don’t know if these two things are related. Considering your increasingly deteriorating relationship with the Demon King, I decided to inform you.]

There were only a few words in the letter, but Luka knew that the reason Cullen had asked the ferret to notify him was definitely more than this.

For example, given Cullen’s shrewdness, he might have incorporated the situation of a useless prince suddenly being able to use magic into the whole event and made various speculations.

If even Cullen was like this, given the Demon King’s cunning, he would definitely think more.

He looked at the books that had been touched, his eyes lowered, his expression unreadable, “Do you think… the Demon King might have guessed your existence?”

After all, there were already some legends in the land of exile.

If so, when the results of the hunt were announced, the other party might take the opportunity to verify it.

The more Luka thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

“When you see the Demon King tomorrow, don’t follow me for now.”

It was impossible for Quill Pen to let him move around alone.

But Luka did not give Quill Pen a chance to speak, “Have you heard the saying? A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. It means that those who have done great and bad things should stay away from dangerous places.”

Quill Pen fell into deep thought, asking doubtfully, “Is there really such a saying?”

It sounded a bit strange.

“Of course,” Luka said with a straight face. “As for my safety, don’t worry.”

He still had two scrolls on him that could save his life at a critical moment.

Quill Pen shook his head, still wanting to say something.

Luka did not give him a chance to speak and first analyzed rationally, “If you go, you’ll likely be a wasted effort. Staying behind is my strong backing.”

One word, “backing,” made Quill Pen’s ears turn red.

At this time, inside the palace.

In the huge space, there were only a few Blood Demon Guards on duty. The figure standing on the long red carpet below looked particularly small.

This was a man with handsome, pale features, coughing softly.

In front of him, the Demon King’s wings were folded. It was unclear if it was because his posture was too casual, but when he looked down, there was a playful look in his eyes.

The Demon King listened to the grand words of the great demon below.

“After so many years, I’ve entered the capital again. Everything is as prosperous as ever. I’m at ease now, and my efforts back then were not in vain.”

The man speaking was Alec’s biological father, Prince Nordin.

This was a rare royal with real power. Before the truce between the human and demon races, it was he who risked his life to hold back the lord of the Boulder City, successfully buying time for the Demon King.

The Demon King obviously did not treat him as casually as he treated other princes and asked a few words of concern about his health.

“The younger generation is more outstanding than the one before. They are much stronger than I was back then. I have to live a few more years to see the demon race reach the top of the continent again with my own eyes.”

Prince Nordin paused slightly and said, “On my way here, the votes were being counted in various places.”

The Demon King nodded, “Tomorrow is the day the results of the hunt are announced.”

Prince Nordin’s attitude became even more respectful, and he bowed his waist, “As I said before, the younger generation is the hope for the future strength of the demon race. I boldly propose to reward the winner of this time with a chance for a blood pool baptism.”

The entire palace fell silent for a moment.

The Blood Demon Guards were secretly shocked. They could roughly determine who the final winner would be.

A blood pool baptism had many benefits for pure-bloods, but for half-bloods, it was very likely that they would die from being unable to withstand the power.

Just as they were thinking, the Demon King had already given a cold answer, “Granted.”

…

All the princes were gathered in the capital. For many of them, this was a sleepless night.

Luka had thought that after returning to the underground city, he would also be unable to sleep. Unexpectedly, he had a dreamless night.

In the darkness, Quill Pen did not sleep. His consciousness swept over the books on the bookshelf one by one. At the same time, he found some sheepskin paper, it was unknown what he was going to do.

The next day, the weather was nice.

Although the day and night in the underground city were fake, the fake sun hanging high in the sky was very real, and the temperature was just right.

Unfortunately, there were very few windows, and only in a few places could the light shine in.

The palace, which was empty yesterday, was now filled with princes and nobles.

When the lighting was the main source of light, everything looked even more magnificent.

The throne at the very top was very distant from the banquet hall. It was personally forged by the dwarf clan leader during the peak of the demon race’s power. The throne had gone through several generations of power changes, yet it still showed no signs of fading in the years.

The high-level demons were laughing and talking. As they drank and toasted, their gazes swept over the direction of the door several times.

“They’re here,” someone said softly.

The luxurious lights cut out light and shadow. The youth who had just arrived was wearing a relatively simple formal attire.

Of course, this simplicity was only relative to the demons present.

In reality, Luka was wearing black trousers that were very flattering to his legs, and a loose, silk-like thin shirt. The gem at the collar shone brilliantly.

He had inherited more of the Saintess’s facial features, only his eyes had completely inherited the Demon King’s sharpness. Because he was not old, this sharpness created the illusion of being fragile and easy to abuse.

Since entering the hall, Luka had walked all the way to the front and stood in the most conspicuous position.

The surrounding demons: “…”

They were used to Iliad’s past identity as a transparent person. This time, they were a bit stunned.

Luka keenly sensed that there were malicious gazes around him.

With his current strength, he could already clearly identify the direction of the malice—it was from the east, south, west, and north!

To the east, there were several princes.

To the south, Alec and Prince Nordin stood together.

To the west, near the royal pillar, was Princess Mary in a gorgeous formal dress. She held a delicate fan and did not give a show of force in public, but rather looked like she was waiting for a good show.

To the north, directly above, after Luka had turned his neck halfway, the Demon King tore open space and appeared on the throne.

All the nobles immediately lowered their wine glasses, stopped talking, and stood facing the throne.

The Demon King looked down on his subjects from high above. His penetrating gaze first swept over Luka.

Luka shivered, certain that the Demon King was privately investigating him.

Sure enough, the uninvited guest who had broken into his room was very likely the Demon King.

Without a single word of nonsense, the Demon King opened the sealed letter in his hand, “The results of the hunt have been tallied.”

For a time, a thousand gazes were focused on the letter. Some demons were happy, and some were sad.

“The winner of this hunt is—”

Although he had roughly anticipated the result, Alec still held a glimmer of hope in his heart, staring intently at the Demon King’s lips, hoping for a different answer.

Luka impassively scanned his surroundings. Besides the nervous princes, many recording stones were embedded in the royal pillars today. The surrounding patterns that burned like fire were actually inscriptions made of magic stones and special patterns.

This setup was very familiar to him: a live broadcast.

Just like the year-end examinations at the magic academies, the results of the hunt would be synchronized in real time.

Luka subconsciously wanted to promote some products.

Just as he was a little distracted, he suddenly heard his name echoing in the huge palace.

“Iliad.”

Word by word, the Demon King’s tone had no ups and downs.

No matter how jealous and unwilling they were in their hearts, at this moment, Iliad had officially become the winner of the hunt. The stakeholders of the various princes forced a smile.

At the same time, a thousand cities in the demon domain solemnly repeated the results.

The common people outside the capital stared at this scene in a daze.

He, he really won?

Who was voting for a prince with no foundation?

Looking at each other, many demons averted their eyes guiltily. They had just voted randomly. Was the result this shocking?!

By the ancestors of the demons, this joke had gone too far.

The echoes in the palace lingered for a long time. The silence surrounding the guests in the banquet hall continued.

The last glimmer of hope was shattered. Alec’s mood sank to the bottom.

After the subconscious regret, the other princes were actually happy to see this result. Compared to Alec, who had all the advantages in the demon domain, it was better to let Iliad have the spotlight.

Anyway, this spotlight was destined to be temporary.

The Demon King glanced down carelessly and spoke again:

“I have discussed with some of the princes. The reward for this hunt, besides the allocation of resources and the granting of one request, also includes an additional reward.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire palace suddenly became distorted, and the light and shadow on the ground changed angles.

Luka was instantly alert and was about to make a move when he found that the other nobles were not resisting at all.

After confirming that he felt no killing intent, he also remained still.

Under the strong and rapid sense of weightlessness, the surrounding light was chaotic and dazzling. When he opened his eyes again, he found that he was still in the palace, just in a different place.

The other nobles were also there.

A short while ago, they had been collectively teleported through space.

Although the spatial jump distance was not very large, it still proved the Demon King’s unparalleled and terrifying talent in the way of space.

Luka looked around. The fake sunlight could not reach here. In front of him was a huge shadow.

In the center of the blood pool stood a great statue. Any being standing below could only look up, unable to see its true face.

Compared to the statues of other races, the Demon Ancestor was more mysterious, shrouded in a magic robe, with what seemed to be laws revolving around him.

The water in the blood pool was boiling, more like a sea of blood. The area was even more exaggerated than the palace, with translucent bubbles gurgling up.

The moment he saw the statue, a noble seemed to have guessed something, “Could the reward be…”

The Demon King spoke calmly, “A blood pool baptism.”

A few light words, yet they were like a heavy bomb, bringing a shock far greater than the announcement of the winner’s quota.

All the guests had only one thought in their hearts: Are you crazy? What’s the use of giving the quota to Iliad?

“A blood pool baptism.” None of the princes present were unmoved. Alicia even muttered it again.

A lucky person who underwent a blood pool baptism would have their strength advance by leaps and bounds. Some could even improve their aptitude.

Why could only the winner of this session enjoy such good treatment?

If they had been notified at the beginning, they would not have sat by and watched Iliad’s victory.

Alec, who had known about the arrangements all along, sneered inwardly. A blood pool baptism was extremely effective, but that also depended on the situation.

The backhand his father had left behind came in handy. Those with impure blood would only make a fool of themselves by going in.

Baptized under the watchful eyes of countless nobles and dignitaries, and it was a live broadcast.

The degree of shame and drama would definitely be recorded in history.

__

Author’s note:
Excerpt from Luka’s diary:
A blood pool, is it for a hot spring bath?
Then I can just wash up and go to sleep.
…