TBR CH179

Kriesmeier had originally intended to solve the problem with violence.

Elves have slender builds, different from human proportions. Despite their seemingly delicate appearance, like living on flower petals and dew, their masterful manipulation of natural elements can often give unwelcome guests a hard time.

The entrance to the Elf Forest connected to a verdant hollow, known as Half-Moon Valley. Countless invaders had struggled to their deaths here, until their last drop of blood fell upon this tranquil place.

But this time, it was different.

Magical creatures possess an innate sensitivity. The long, slender knuckles of the leading elf, resting on his bowstring, were trembling against his will.

Kriesmeier was the worst enemy imaginable. Abyss demons, compared to other races on the Mirar Continent, were basically like large carnivorous predators in the jungle. To be under a predator’s cruel and violent gaze would evoke the image of prey destined to be torn apart.

“Elven warriors never fear to bleed for the Goddess,”

The elven leader’s jaw was taut, already prepared for the worst. “Demon King of the Abyss, you have come to the wrong place. None among us will submit to violence and tyranny. Even if this land is destroyed, we will never let you have your way.”

The elven valley behind him darkened and brightened like breathing, in response to his words. An invisible barrier formed with the west wind that swept through the forest, shimmering like freshly blown glass under specific angles of moonlight.

This was one of the Elf Forest’s closely guarded defensive measures. When the dark elves betrayed and attempted to invade here, they were blocked by this very barrier.

Pure, gentle, absolute light power—

But for some reason, it felt a little familiar.

The black cat leaped from Kriesmeier’s arms. Its tail wasn’t even equipped with a staff, the reason for which could be entirely attributed to making Kriesmeier more comfortable holding it.

But this undoubtedly put itself in danger, such as the arrows aimed at it, and the huge barrier in front that covered the entire Elf Forest, whose violent natural essence was enough to burn any approaching black cat into charcoal.

Kriesmeier’s embrace suddenly felt empty.

The warm, dry fur had slipped from his hands. Behind the black cat was the living Archmage; it was inherently difficult to hold onto and control. The Demon King stared at the black cat, Roland, his expression unreadable, his dark golden eyes now condensed into beast-like vertical pupils. The black cat’s purring meow earlier was undoubtedly meant to soothe him.

But Abyss demons have peculiar temperaments and are not easily placated.

Especially when several arrows rained down, dangerously brushing past the black cat’s fur.

Kriesmeier remained silent, but he did not stay put as Roland wished. Instead, he took a few steps forward with an oppressive presence.

His massive wings behind him gathered like a dark whirlwind, and sharp feathers flew out like blades, slicing the elves’ arrows in two mid-air.

This was practically a declaration of war.

The elves, as if facing a formidable enemy, quickly re-nocked countless arrows, looking like a shimmering white ocean at a glance.

Before Kriesmeier’s overprotectiveness made things spiral out of control, the black cat Roland was already very close to the protective barrier. The Demon King basically attracted all the firepower, and as a harmless black cat, as it approached the barrier, it even saw a flash of unbearable pity on the faces of some elves from afar.

It must be noted that this barrier was incredibly powerful.

When the dark elves, who had betrayed the light, attempted to break through with their hellish beasts and skeleton legions, their screams upon touching the barrier were still vivid in memory, and the invaders were then burned into chunks of charcoal.

At that time, the transparent barrier glowed with unparalleled light, as if patterns of stars flowed within it.

Roland, of course, had no intention of being killed.

And he knew deeply that even if the black cat were accidentally killed here and disappeared from Kriesmeier’s sight, the enraged Demon King would basically define this as betrayal and naturally express despairing hostility towards the elven race. Given his clear understanding of Kriesmeier, Roland had long decided not to do dangerous things.

However… the Archmage thought, annoyed yet sweetly: should he say Kriesmeier was a little too clingy?

He decided to quickly end the farce.

In full view of everyone, the Demon King, like a dark storm, approached the elven barrier in pursuit of the black cat. The activated barrier emitted a stable, gentle glow, with the power of natural essence flowing over it.

This barrier was also a challenge for the Demon King, but Kriesmeier narrowed his dark golden eyes, looking at it with little interest, still deciding to bend down and grab the cat first.

At this moment, the elven elder finally arrived on the scene.

The elder had lived for over five hundred years. Basically, this scene was something he could hardly imagine even in his nightmares. First, the legendary Demon King Kriesmeier, destroyer of worlds, stood at the entrance of the Elf Forest. He definitely didn’t look like the type to politely knock. Arrows rained down, but were all intercepted by his hard wings.

Secondly, a black cat crossed the Elf Forest’s protective barrier right in front of him.

For a moment, the elder suspected he was hallucinating. He comforted himself that his apprentice had probably added psychedelic mushrooms to his soup that morning. Otherwise, how could a black cat so easily cross the most crucial defense, even blinking its round, amber pupils and showing an expression that seemed to be smiling?

Kriesmeier was clearly a little surprised by the scene before him as well.

But the situation now was that the barrier separated him and the black cat, so he had no way to simply bend down and pick the black cat up. Kriesmeier unhesitatingly reached out to try and cross the barrier. When the Demon King’s pale knuckles touched the barrier, an incredibly intense light erupted, pushing his hand back.

To summarize with Roland’s newly learned modern knowledge, Kriesmeier basically equivalent to sticking his finger in an electrical outlet.

The barrier’s light startled the elven elder, who still felt he was dreaming. The electrocuted Demon King seemed largely unharmed, but his mood was clearly a little worse. He scrutinized the barrier, as if studying from which angle he could tear it open alive.

However, his gaze quickly settled on the elven elder within the barrier.

Just then, the most bizarre of this series of incredible situations occurred.

The black cat spoke.

The voice coming from the black cat was faint, audible only to the elder and the surrounding leaders. Judging by the elder’s deeply shocked expression, despite his extensive experience, it was clear that something had happened at this moment that could reverse everything that had come before.

For example—

For example, the black cat’s voice sounded exactly like that of the creator of the Elf Forest’s protective barrier, the late Archmage Roland.

Kriesmeier was silent, a dangerous black glow flashing in his hand. He noticed the elven elder leaning down and saying something to the black cat, Roland, then cautiously cast his gaze towards him. That gaze carefully brushed past the broken horn on his head, maintaining a level that wouldn’t offend him.

He truly wasn’t offended by this.

Moreover, he wouldn’t have needed to reach this point to guess that Roland had some connection to the Elf Forest.

That barrier had explained everything. But the blazing fire in Kriesmeier’s heart did not extinguish because of this. He looked at Roland, who was conversing with the elven elder, and still felt dark and dangerous thoughts, like lingering smoke, filling his mind.

The Archmage was popular on many levels.

He had to suppress his Abyss demon instincts to barely believe that the living Roland would stay by his side forever. Roland had convinced him once, and a second time would take more time. You see, Roland had many places he could go: the Western Church, the Mage Tower, the Elf Forest… The doors to these places were often tightly closed to him.

Kriesmeier disdained to look into the startled eyes, but occasionally felt a sense of unresignation spread within him.

While the Demon King contemplated his inner thoughts, the situation on the scene had undergone a massive change.

“Fellow elves, please wait,”

The elven elder announced in a solemn voice. Beside him were the bewildered, shimmering eyes of elves like a tide. This made the following words a little difficult, but fortunately, not much time had passed since the events.

“—I think you can put down your weapons. The newcomers are not our enemies.”

The barrier faded into the night, starlight flowing within it.

Roland was quite pleased to have protected his past work. The elven elder still wanted to say something to the black cat, but the black cat in front of him clearly rushed towards Death—towards Demon King Kriesmeier, who was even more terrifying than Death—more eagerly than anyone else.

Even knowing the other party had no hostile intent, the elder still avoided dwelling his gaze on him for too long.

The Demon King’s embrace carried the scent of blood and rust, cold and cruel.

Kriesmeier’s hand, reaching for the black cat, paused. The black cat’s pupils were round as amber stones. There was no amber in the Abyss, no bright minerals, and those faintly glowing stones contained some meaning of life, making the Abyss demons instinctively feel repulsion.

Seeing that he made no immediate move, the black cat leaned in and licked his finger.

A warm, rough tongue, a slightly damp sensation transmitted to his fingertip.

The Demon King lowered his head, his silver hair falling like dull silk. Still unable to betray his own will, he quickly picked up the black cat.

“What did you just say to him?” Kriesmeier asked.

The Demon King himself didn’t realize his tone held something deep and threatening. His voice was heavy, carrying the authority of an Abyss monarch. Other beings treated with such a tone would probably fear being devoured by the Demon King the next second—treating their own kind as deadly predators, that was the characteristic of Abyss demons.

Fortunately, Roland didn’t find Kriesmeier’s dangerously ominous state to be wrong.

Kriesmeier held the black cat, its soft, fluffy long tail pressed into his palm, occasionally squirming restlessly. The black cat’s fur now seemed overly fluffy from scampering around in the forest; the Lust Lord’s entire meticulous gift-grooming routine had clearly lost its effect. Roland maneuvered the black cat to turn its head, its soft fur rubbing slightly ticklish against the Abyss Demon King’s finger.

“I explained a few things, so the elves let us in.”

Roland said, “Next, we’ll go pick fruit from the Elven Mother Tree. Although they have supplies, fresh ones are more effective. But it’s too late today.”

“You’ve done a lot for them,”

Kriesmeier himself didn’t realize his voice had grown cold. He whispered, like a sharp blade,

“Realizing it was you, they naturally wouldn’t be disrespectful to their savior. The Elf Forest’s barrier has your magical imprint; I could sense it when I touched it. But even so, for the elves to willingly heal me is simply a slight to the Abyss demons.”

The black cat paused, then those magical amber eyes shifted to look at him.

“Kries,” Roland asked, “So you touched the barrier because—”

The Demon King stiffly averted his gaze.

He knew that when it came to anything related to Roland, he would become very irrational. Perhaps “irrational” wasn’t the right word, as Abyss demons had no rationality to speak of. Knowing full well it was a barrier crafted by Roland himself, yet insisting on forcefully clashing with it using his own power, was nothing more than a childish act.

“Of course, that can’t be called childish either,”

Roland chuckled again. His laughter was light, coming from some unknown distant place, making one feel something light and airy growing in their heart. “Although it’s not good, Kriesmeier, you’re truly especially cute. Do you remember what topic we discussed before the entrance to the Elf Forest? It was about imprisonment and death.”

“…”

Don’t say it, Kriesmeier thought, don’t you know I really want to do that—

“If you think this kind of thing is impossible to achieve,”

Roland continued, “Hmm, considering that many people know me, they would also want to find me, or wholeheartedly rescue the poor Archmage imprisoned by the Demon King. This situation is actually already happening. I mean, I have a way to solve it. Very simple.”

Kriesmeier tried to pretend he didn’t care, but he stopped anyway, his gaze involuntarily drawn to the black cat.

Then Roland said:

“I just need to tell everyone who knows me that I’m already with you.”

There’s a type of person who is beyond salvation: a fool completely consumed by love. Dating Demon King Kriesmeier was practically gambling with one’s life. When the elven elder watched Saint Roland rush into the Demon King’s embrace, the wise old man’s expression at that moment was utterly stunned. However, most people would also carefully maintain distance from other people’s relationships, especially those that seemed utterly insane.

So, if everyone knew Roland was with the Demon King—

That would mean whatever Kriesmeier wanted to do to Roland would become an effortless matter. Even if Roland were forever imprisoned in the Demon Palace by Kriesmeier, to outsiders, it might just seem like a lovers’ jest.

Even if Roland died at Kriesmeier’s hands, it would take a long time to be discovered.

Roland then methodically helped Kriesmeier envision his insane plan:

“I’ve already told Hilda, so the Mage Tower won’t be an obstacle. And, what I just explained to the elven elder, most of it isn’t what you think—I basically told him that you are my current boyfriend in a passionate relationship, my only companion for the rest of my life. Given that I helped them a lot during the war, they allowed me to bring a relative in.”

“Enough.”

Kriesmeier cut him off in a low voice. “You know I’d really do that.”

“Since you say so. Then, what is stopping you?” Roland asked slowly, incisively.

At this point, they finally reached the end of a path illuminated by fireflies. There stood the room prepared by the elves for honored guests, and thanks to Roland’s absurd story, there was only one bed. While this was of little use to Roland in his black cat form, even as a mere symbol, it held value for Kriesmeier.

Roland had clearly asked a question Kriesmeier couldn’t immediately answer.

Ever since the Archmage returned to his side in black cat form, he had simply indulged every thought of the Abyss Demon King. Not only that, he actually did it. He declared the Demon King’s ownership of him to everyone he knew.

But, the more this happened—

The Demon King of the Abyss then decided to first handle other issues before sleep. He said nothing, nor did Roland urge him. The elves’ hospitality was clearly impeccable; there was nothing to fault in this room. It was filled with elven characteristics, even the light on the ceiling was a shimmering source of light within a string of bellflower-shaped buds.

The Demon King retracted his massive wings, which shimmered and vanished between Kriesmeier’s ribs.

At the same time, the black cat, for cleanliness’ sake, had slipped into the washroom and splashed around in the bath, and was now standing dripping wet in front of Kriesmeier, shaking its fur. Roland swore he absolutely did not jump in because he saw the “can jump in” prompt.

The Demon King seemed unimpressed with the black cat’s efficiency.

In an instant, the black cat was engulfed by a dark hurricane. The rapidly spinning wind blades avoided cutting the black cat, merely accelerating the drying of its fur without mercy. Roland watched the black cat he controlled being swept up by the hurricane, swirling in mid-air, then precisely dropping back into Demon King Kriesmeier’s presence.

At this moment, the other party had already bent his legs, half-sitting on the bed, looking at him with darkened eyes, with only half of his broken horn looking a little glaring under the lamp.

The Demon King before sleep had shed most of his defenses and dangerous aspects.

Unfortunately, most people would never get to see this scene.

He silently opened his arms, his silver-gray hair falling along his cheeks, leaving a faint scent of cold gunpowder on him. Seeing that the black cat made no move, he raised his pupils, searching the surrounding void for a tangible point where his gaze could truly land, which was essentially urging the black cat to quickly burrow into his arms.

Clearly, the monarch from the Abyss intended to sleep with the cat tonight.

And would tolerate no objections.

“I’ll have to go to sleep soon too,”

Roland stared at the screen, finally pulling himself away from it slightly. “Leaving the game idle here should be fine. The black cat will stay put, but it probably won’t do anything. I’ll be back for the audience with the Queen tomorrow. If anyone needs to see me in between, just say I’m busy. Is that okay?”

The black cat’s heart beat fragilely in Kriesmeier’s palm.

The Demon King, uncharacteristically, said nothing more on the topic, merely holding the black cat tighter.

“Alright then,”

Roland said softly, “Good night, Kries, I’m leaving now.”

The black-haired youth rubbed his eyes. He released the keyboard; staring at the screen for a long time had made his eyes sore. Physiological tears blurred his vision. He switched off the voice function on his Bluetooth headset and carefully stood up from the chair, so that the rough sound of the chair moving wouldn’t reach Kriesmeier’s ears.

But after standing up, taking a step forward suddenly seemed like a difficult task.

After Roland said he was leaving, Kriesmeier’s dark golden eyes remained fixed on the black cat. Roland stood motionless, watching Kriesmeier for a while, before finally moving his heels, which felt as if they had rooted to the ground. Just then, he suddenly heard a voice from his unremoved headset.

“You,” the Demon King said, then slowly repeated, “It’s you.”

It took Roland a moment to realize Kriesmeier was answering the unanswered question.

What was stopping you?

Kriesmeier probably thought Roland had already left as he said, so at this moment, he was simply talking to the black cat: “What you told me in the past wasn’t like this. If one expresses affection for a human… it shouldn’t be by devouring them; besides the demons’ slaughter, there’s a true way to keep a person by your side forever. Killing you, perhaps, isn’t enough to obtain your soul.”

“Why are you starting to indulge those thoughts now?”

In the dark room, Roland stood silently before the computer desk.

He gazed at the Demon King across the screen like this, while Kriesmeier was completely unaware, or rather, had no chance of knowing. Because that gaze was silent in one world, and in the other, it would leave no trace whatsoever.

“…Because my past self was wrong.”

Roland hesitated, feeling this wasn’t an answer, so he didn’t press the voice key that connected the two worlds again. He stood for a long time, watching Kriesmeier finally give up on thinking about the question. The Demon King closed his eyes; it would take time to fall asleep, but at least at this moment, he held the cat, trying to step into a dreamless, long night.

Leaving only new, unanswered questions for the other world.