Chapter 133 – Chapter 23: Cross #3
“You woke up?”
Carack’s face was visible in his distorted view. Instead of answering, In-gong blinked several times. Every time his eyelids closed and opened, his field of vision became clearer.
“Master, I let the orc wake you up after the time that Master said. Is this okay?”
He heard Green Wind’s voice from her bedside. In-gong reached out and stroked Green Wind’s head.
“Okay, well done.”
Green Wind’s face brightened at In-gong’s praise, and he thought of the dog’s tail he had seen in his dream.
After raising his upper body, Carack handed him a glass of cold water and looked at the Lucid Dream Pillow.
“It looks like you used the pillow. What type of dream did you have?”
In-gong looked down reflexively at Carack’s question. His face was redder than usual.
“Huh?”
“That’s great. Your face has revived. You are like a new recruit who survived alone in his first battle after all the troops have been killed.”
In-gong laughed at the odd details but nodded.
“Well, it is similar.”
“Prince?”
Carack asked again, but In-gong didn’ give a specific answer. Then Carack scratched the back of his head before changing the topic.
“Prince, quite a bit of time has passed. Today, we are departing after lunch. There is still some time, so there is no need to hurry. Lunch is going to be a little earlier than usual. Oh, and the princesses want to see Prince.”
Carack’s report flowed over him. In-gong blinked.
“Noona?”
It was common for the two people to look for In-gong, but they wouldn’t come in the morning for no reason.
As In-gong stood up, Carack said,
“Karma went to inform them that Prince is up, so both of them will come soon. Additionally, Nayatra has prepared breakfast for when Prince wakes up, so you just need to wash and eat.”
These days, it was Nayatra who prepared breakfast for In-gong every day. Carack had been confused by Nayatra’s cold attitude, but it seemed like he had now adapted.
“Your Highness, it is Nayatra.”
He could hear Nayatra’s voice from outside the tent. Carack laughed as he held out the water, and In-gong began to wash hurriedly. After washing up and eating breakfast, Caitlin and Felicia entered the tent. The two of them appeared at the same time.
Caitlin saw the Lucid Dream Pillow and asked with a bright face,
“Shutra, you used the pillow. How is it? Did you dream? Did you really dream of anything you wanted?”
In-gong laughed at her curiosity. Once he saw Caitlin’s enthusiastic response, it seemed strange that Caitlin gave the Lucid Dream Pillow to In-gong instead of keeping it for herself.
‘It feels good.’
His mood improved due to Caitlin’s emotions.
“Yes, I tried it last night. It was really amazing as it did what my mind wanted.”
Caitlin’s eyes started to shine like lanterns at In-gong’s words, and she asked with an excited face,
“Shutra, did I appear in the dream?”
“Amita appeared.”
In-gong laughed awkwardly. He hadn’t expected her to ask directly like that.
Caitlin’s eyes widened at In-gong’s answer.
“Amita?”
Did he say the wrong answer?
Carack asked from the right side,
“Prince, you slept on the dream pillow, and the raccoon came out? What did you dream of?”
Carack struggled to imagine it. Right then, Green Wind spoke up,
“Master, did I appear?”
“Uh, yes.”
She was making a face full of expectation, so In-gong replied hurriedly. Green Wind sighed with relief and gloated,
“Master is a great master.”
“Eung.”
In-gong replied awkwardly and felt a tinge of remorse. He couldn’t tell her she had appeared with a dog’s tail.
However, the others now started to ask questions. The first one was Felicia.
“Shutra, did I show up?”
“Uh… yes.”
“Hoh…”
As In-gong avoided her gaze, Felicia’s eyes narrowed strangely. He didn’t know if it was a good or bad thing, but then Carack went on to ask a question,
“Prince, did I appear?”
“You appear…ed?”
He had clearly appeared, but unlike the others, all In-gong had done was change his clothes.
After Carack, Nayatra spoke from a corner,
“Your Highness, what about me?”
“Eung.”
In-gong avoided her gaze again. Caitlin’s eyes narrowed even more than Felicia’s as she asked,
“Shutra, then was I the only one who didn’t appear?”
“No, that…”
“Prince, what did you dream of?”
Carack asked the question that everyone was wondering. In-gong started to explain with a relieved expression,
“I dreamt about fighting the barbarian king. I can dream whatever I want. I thought it could be used for combat simulations.”
“Then why did we come out in the dream? What about 6th Princess and the raccoon?”
“Shutra, did you dream about fighting me?”
“If it is a fighting dream, then shouldn’t I appear?”
Carack, Felicia and Caitlin spoke in turn. The more he said, the more the situation seemed twisted. In-gong changed the subject hurriedly,
“Ah, well! I had a dream about fighting the barbarian king, and it was a great help. Thank you for the great gift, Caitlin noona. Then, why did both of you want to see me?”
It was obvious that he was changing the conversation, but it was accepted. Felicia patted the head of Caitlin, who was sulking, and said,
“Amita said to gather. They have completed more equipment.”
“Oh, finally.”
It had been a long time since they left the Demon King’s Palace for Evian. High-end equipment wasn’t created in an instant, and they had used this time to finish more of them.
Felicia gave a long sigh.
“She didn’t have proper working conditions because we kept moving. Shutra doesn’t know, but Amita has been angry every day. Daphne was truly suffering.”
“I will praise them later.”
Daphne wasn’t a member of the King’s Knights but she belonged to In-gong’s faction. An appropriate reward was required.
“Karma will bring them soon.”
Karma was busy moving this morning. Meanwhile, In-gong was locked in his thoughts as he waited for Amita.
Then something came to his mind again.
‘There has been quite a lot of progress.’
It had been several months since he set up his tent in the Jishuka Mountains, and many things had changed since then.
In-gong had many subordinates. He also had supporters, such as the sword duke and the 4th Queen Elaine Moonlight, and had even created a faction which contained five of the demon king’s children.
‘I also obtained Nayatra, and I will soon get Vandal.’
They were two of the three subordinates he loved the best in Knight Saga. Now was the time to move one step further.
It wasn’t just strength which was necessary to become the demon king. Of course, the power of the royal child was an important factor, but it was impossible to take on the whole Demon World alone. So, the royal child’s armed forces were necessary.
His forces…
The outline was starting to form. He hadn’t met 3rd Queen Sylvia Doomblade yet, but the dark elf reinforcements sent to this battle meant her support. So, In-gong could think of the dark elves as his.
‘Moreover, there is Felicia.’
The dark elves were a maternal society, so Felicia’s position was significant. Without her, it wouldn’t be easy to get the support of the dark elves.
The dark elves and the lycanthropes… Two children of the demon king were supporting In-gong. It was a solid background, but he couldn’t depend on it. In-gong had now reached the stage where he could have an intelligence organization move independently.
In Knight Saga, Nayatra was both an escort knight and the head of his information organization. Vandal was also in command of Zephyr’s armed organization.
Once all the rewards for Evian were settled, the merit level would be quite high. Hopefully, it would be possible to have his organization official registered with the Demon King’s Palace.
‘And… it is time to contact the religious churches.’
Religion wasn’t something he could pass over. The species in the Demon World believed in different gods.
The lycanthropes followed Stella, the goddess of the moon and hunt, while the dark elves followed Camilla, the goddess of dreams and shadows.
The humans disparaged the gods as demonic gods, but the same doctrines existed.
In fact, he didn’t know if they were the same or distinct existences, but it was a world where divine power existed in the same way as magic. The power of the churches was quite intense in the Demon World.
The religion with the greatest power in the Demon World was the Erebos religion which worshipped the god of the night and the darkness, who could be called the god of the demon king. In Knight Saga, they could be allies or enemies depending on Zephyr’s choice.
‘Dark Saintess Altesia.’
If Beatrice, the saintess of light, was on the side of the Human World, the dark saintess Altesia would be on the side of the Demon World. They were beauties with tremendous divine powers, but the positions of the two were quite different in Knight Saga.
Unlike Beatrice, the so-called heroine, Altesia could either join or not join Zephyr. If she joined Zephyr, she could be used for the long term. However, if she were an enemy, Zephyr would trample on her without any hesitation. So, Nayatra wasn’t the only one he wanted in the Demon World.
Anyhow, now was the time to contact the Erebos religion. Maybe he wouldn’t need to move first.
‘It will be very helpful.’
Altesia wasn’t the only one who belonged to the Erebos church. There were many other talented people, such as the church’s ruler Floriodus and Antonios, the chief knight. Moreover, the Erebos church dispatched pilgrims throughout the Demon World. Their intelligence would help find Sektum, whose location was unknown.
‘Okay, okay. I will pull them in one by one.’
In-gong was burning with ambition.
“What were you thinking about so intently?”
In-gong raised his head at Felicia’s voice. Amita had arrived at the entrance of the tent without him realizing it. As always, Daphne was accompanying them.
“This Amita has finished!”
Unlike the usual, their tail was waving in the air. so Amita seemed to be feeling quite good. Amita folded their arms proudly. After Amita, Daphne appeared, dressed in very colourful clothes, with orc soldiers who were carrying a few boxes.
“Our pretty Daphne’s clothes are finished. It is a great piece of clothing which increases her affinity with the spirits. It contains defensive spells that I designed specifically.”
Daphne laughed at Amita’s proud words and added,
“It isn’t an exaggeration to say that every embroidery is a magic circle. Amita’s skill is really great.”
“Well well. I guess so.”
Daphne winked at everyone from behind Amita’s back. Everyone understood the meaning and kept silent to make Amita feel better.
“Hrmm, next is the equipment for 8th Princess.”
“Me?”
“Yes, it was originally part of 9th Prince’s full set, but it will be given to you.”
Amita responded to the excitement and pointed to the smallest box. Daphne opened the lid to reveal a pair of gauntlets. The part where the hand would be inserted was blue, while the metal part was silver. Unlike Earth Quaker which was tough and intense, these gauntlets were sophisticated and gave off a luxurious feel.
Caitlin asked with shining eyes,
“Amita, can I try it?”
“Of course. It is yours.”
As soon as permission was given, Caitlin quickly pulled on the gauntlets. The dark clothes were slightly big, but they resized as soon as Caitlin put them on.
“8th Princess is still growing up, so I added a resizing feature.”
Amita started to recite the performance of the gauntlets like they were a professor. Caitlin listened to the explanation and laughed as she looked at In-gong.
“Thank you, Shutra. I will use them well.”
“I was the one who made it. Yes?”
Amita pounded the ground with their tail, and Caitlin laughed before hugging them. With that, Amita felt better and started opening more boxes. There were two armour pieces belonging to Karma and Seira. Both were black due to the black dragon’s scales and leather, but the designs were quite different.
Karma’s was a leather armour which clung to her body, while Seira’s was close to heavy armour with sharp edges. There were black metal plates attached which seemed to have a resizing function like Caitlin’s gauntlets.
As Karma and Seira accepted the armour, Carack asked in a coy voice,
“Raccoon, is mine ready yet?”
“There is still a long way to go. Don’t I have many pieces? You should be satisfied since you were the first one to receive your shield!”
Carack stepped back with a sullen expression. In-gong laughed and complimented Amita more.
Three days later, they recaptured the fourth base the barbarians had abandoned.
Then In-gong and Vandal faced each other; it was the day of the promised fight.
